NOT YOUR USUAL SUSPECTS

A group blog featuring an international array of killer mystery, suspense, and romantic suspense writers. With premises and story lines different from your run-of-the-mill whodunits, we tend to write outside the box. We blog several times a week on all topics relating to romantic suspense and mystery, our writing, and our readers. We welcome all comments and often have guest bloggers. All our authors can be contacted separately, too, using their own social media links.

We find our genre delightfully, dangerously, and deliciously exciting - join us here, if you do too!

NOTE: the blog is currently dormant but please enjoy the posts we're keeping online.


Julie Moffet . Cathy Perkins . Jean Harrington . Daryl Anderson . Nico Rosso . Maureen A Miller . Sandy Parks . Lisa Q Mathews . Sharon Calvin . Lynne Connolly . Janis Patterson . Vanessa Keir . Tonya Kappes . Julie Rowe . Joni M Fisher . Leslie Langtry

Monday, May 23, 2016

Redeemable Characters



Broken, hurt, angry. We’ve all been there. Those are emotions we can all relate to. While I try not to make decisions while in a state of emotional upheaval, sometimes that's hard to avoid. But the extreme choices, the ones that would cause a person to seek retribution or exact vengeance or put someone in danger... Those, I reserve for my characters. Exploring the "what ifs" is part of the fun of being a writer.

That must be why characters who tend toward the extremes, who seem irredeemable—and then redeeming them—is so appealing to writers and readers. In my Redemption Club series, I enjoyed exploring heroes and heroines who didn’t always display the most heroic traits. We all have our skills, our strengths, and those usually stem from our life experiences. 

But what if your experiences weren’t primarily positive? What if you were raised on a ranch, off the grid, among anti-government rebels? Or by parents who ran con games for a living? Or by a father who was wanted for running a secret, underground crime ring? How would these influence your behavior and worldview? 

I enjoy exploring how what others may perceive as weaknesses can become strengths. How the gun-for-hire heroine uses her survival skills to hunt an evil man. How the ex-con artist uses her experience in manipulating people in order to set up a sting and take down a bad guy. Or how the daughter of an infamous crime boss finally learns who she can trust (the hero, of course!) to help bring down her father.


What characters have you enjoyed reading about lately? Have any of them surprised you, using a tarnished past, perhaps, to save the day?



RAISING THE STAKES (Redemption Club, Book 3)




At Global Security Solutions, Devlin Grimm is more accustomed to playing bodyguard than kidnapper. However, when the beautiful and untouchable Ivy Stone enters his office with a strange request, it’s like a gift from the heavens. She could be the key to finally taking down the notorious Redemption Club. However vulnerable and enticing she appears, Dev suspects the woman has secrets, and she may well be manipulating him. Will Ivy be the source of his salvation or his demise?

Victor del Fuego seeks one thing—to destroy Robert Stone. And there’s no better way to crush a man who’s intent on leaving a legacy than to use his own daughter against him. But when the men face off, with Ivy caught in the middle, there’s more at stake than anyone realizes—including Ivy and Dev’s newfound love.

iBooks  |  Kindle  |  Kobo |  (& more e-tailers to come!)

About ANNE MARIE:

Anne Marie has always been fascinated by people—inside and out—which led to degrees in Biology, Chemistry, Psychology, and Counseling.  Her passion for understanding the human race is now satisfied by her roles as mother, wife, daughter, sister, and award-winning author of romantic suspense.  

She writes to reclaim her sanity.

Find ways to connect with Anne Marie at www.AnneMarieBecker.com. There, sign up for her newsletter to receive the latest information regarding books, appearances, and giveaways.


6 comments:

jean harrington said...

An intriguing question, Anne Marie: a character with a tarnished past who saves the day. Rhett Butler leaps to mind and somehow he always looks like Clark Gable. The bad guy who has a heart of gold, to paraphrase a saying usually reserved for a woman with a past.

More thought needed. I'll sign off so I can dwell on it. Thanks for getting me thinking about this aspect of characterization.

Elise Warner said...

Fascinating. Perhaps that's why--sometime in their lives--women are attracted to men who would be considered tarnished.

Anne Marie Becker said...

Jean, I find this topic...and nature v. nurture, if you want to think of it that way?...very interesting. And I suppose it shows that my stories are about hope. And choices. Thanks for stopping by today!

Anne Marie Becker said...

Elise, there seems to be so much depth to someone who exudes an air of mystery. And hurt. Characters/people who've survived in tough environments are so much more interesting because of what they've overcome, IMO.

Rita said...

Woot super duper congrats on the new book. Wishing you many sales. As for a tarnished past....depends on whose definition of tarnish we're using. ;-)

Anne Marie Becker said...

Rita, thanks! And yeah, I suppose "tarnished" is a matter of perspective, and is all relative. ;)

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