WHAT'S IN A SHOE?

Any fashionista will tell you that the right shoe, be it stiletto, open-toed sandal or riding boot, will make your outfit. Apparently, what you wear on your feet tells the world a lot about you. Me, I’m a loafers and sandals kinda gal. Anything higher than an inch, and I get dizzy. I’d like to think that this tells the world I’m practical, no nonsense and ready to move quickly if I have to.

After all, you never know when I may have to chase a bad guy.

What about you? Do you stride confidently down Montreal streets in your three-inch heels like a true femme de ville? Or are you ready to move fast in your running shoes? Do you wear comfy shoes to get from Point A to Point B and then switch into your killer pumps?

And what does it mean when you lose your shoes?

Kate Williams, Mendenhall’s new chief of police, is a woman with both work-boot-clad feet planted firmly on the ground. She took the job hoping it would be a change from the crazy pace of the big city. Instead, she finds internal rivalries threatening to tear apart a deeply divided police station. So when a crazy old man walks into her station with a kid’s high top sneaker and a bizarre story about a kidnapped boy, she is tempted to ignore him. She doesn’t have time for flights of fancy.

But then it turns out a boy really is missing, and Kate has to find a way of turning her deeply dysfunctional detachment into a working police force to find him before it’s too late.

In honour of Release Day for The Shoeless Kid, I’m having a CONTEST. Tell me about the kinds of shoes you wear, or don’t wear. Be honest—we’re all friends here! I’ll draw a winner from among the commenters on Friday, May 20. And be sure to check out Endless Night by Maureen Miller, my Release Mate at Carina Press.

Endless Night and The Shoeless Kid are available from Carina Press and most other online outlets.

You can read the first chapter of The Shoeless Kid here.

Marcelle
http://www.marcelledube.com/


THE SHOELESS KID

The shoe appeared on her desk, gently deposited on top of the pile of occurrence reports from the last week.

It was a kid’s high-top—left foot—and it was red and grubby, but not worn.

Kate automatically picked it up, more to keep it from dirtying her paperwork than out of curiosity. It was damp. On the inside of the tongue, in red marker, was written “Josh H.” She flipped the shoe over to look at the underside. A size four. It would fit a…what? A four- or five-year-old?

Bobby MacAllister’s age.

She slowly looked up. Marco Trepalli, youngest and newest member of the Mendenhall police force—and too handsome for his own good—smiled down at her. The morning sun gilded his tanned cheek and added a twinkle to his eye. Kate stifled a sigh. Marco had the makings of a good cop, if he ever learned to get over himself.


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Characters Without Blood

We all have them from time to time.  How often have you seen an inanimate object play a prime role in a novel? Some notable lifeless characters that come to mind are Wilson, the volleyball and even Linus's blanket.  


As a child, the believability of inanimate characters is nurtured by fantasy. Herbie the Lovebug seemed completely feasible to me at the time, and my brother will testify that the General Lee from Dukes of Hazzard far out-acted the leading characters. 

In romantic suspense, heroes or heroines sometime host inanimate characters.  Perhaps a doll that holds enough significance to warrant its own spotlight-or even a gun that is used with enough frequency to be referenced by name. Some people have pet dogs...who is to say our characters don't have pet weapons? 

In ENDLESS NIGHT, my upcoming Carina release, a house shares equal billing with the two main characters.  Wakefield House sits on a rocky Maine cliff like a gargoyle with its claws sunk into the bedrock. It is riddled with wraith-like sounds and offers the charm and enthusiasm of a funeral home.  

As a fan of gothic romances, the house was critical to me. Do you know what they list as the fundamental element of a Gothic romance?  "The setting is in a castle, preferably connected to or near caves." I'm glad they got specific on that!!! Well, I don't have a castle, nor do I have any caves, but Wakefield House offers enough atmosphere to qualify. It definitely would not be the first time a building took top-billing. Perhaps the best example would be the hotel in the "Shining", although one could make the argument that "The Overlook" was indeed alive. 

Can you think of any other famous inanimate characters?  

Cliche

Once upon a time in a land far far away....I ran upon a little creature they said was named, Cliche.

He was a hairy little bugger who mumbled and repeated himself.  If confronted, Cliche would raise his mutant fist and warn, "Read my lips." But you really couldn't read them.  They looked like tractor tires in need of air. If you ever tried to correct Cliche, he would point one of his two fingers at you and retort, "Rome wasn't built in a day, you know." And then he would stomp off with feet that looked like flattened sausages.

Cliche was often seen about town, grumbling softly and carrying a big stick. He moved as slow as molasses and had a protruding stomach acquired from an avid habit of dumpster diving.  Antennas twitching over a sea of fast food wraps, he would hold aloft a chicken bone and let loose a demonic laugh.  "Waste not, want not," he'd preach and then execute a perfect swan dive back into the rubbish.

If you tried to warn Cliche that his lifestyle was detrimental to his health he would just snort and wiggle his whiskers.  Turning his scaly back on you, he would slink off into the shadows and proclaim, "don't you know, a Cliche has nine lives?"

Have you seen Cliche?  What have you heard him say?

Holiday Travel and Romantic Suspense

Holiday Travel and Romantic Suspense...

Greetings! I am a new fish in this talented pool of authors. My romantic suspense novel, ENDLESS NIGHT will be released by Carina Press this spring.

I am about to embark on the long trek home for the holidays, which brings me to my topic...what brings holiday travel and romantic suspense together?

The easy answer is that you read romantic suspense to get away from the stress of holiday travel. You read on the plane to avoid the meddlesome person in 14C asking where you are going, who you're visiting, and what you're having for your holiday feast. You read to ignore the fact that the gentleman in 14A has just inserted his elbow into parts normally reserved for your husband.

You read in the car to tune out the litany from the back seat. "I'm hungry. This car is lame. Are there any french fries left? I'm going to be sick," and yes, the resounding chorus, "are we there yet?" Once at your holiday destination, you read on the couch to avoid doing dishes because even though you are now mature, you still lack incentive to participate and are old enough to figure your way out of it.
In the evening, you read because most likely you are staying at the in-laws who believe that one pillow can be shared per couple—and that pillow has now been claimed by your other half.

But why romantic suspense?

Maybe now you’re sitting with your back against that stiff headboard, and you want to taste what life would be like if you weren't sleeping at the in-laws. You want to dabble in danger and fantasize that this handsome man under your blanket isn't actually your husband, but rather a government operative who has just scaled the side of the three story colonial house and climbed in this attic window to seek refuge from military forces. Tomorrow, as you sit on the couch and the kids play Wii, you hear their odd cries and envision them as a band of Navy Seals sent to rescue you.

As much as you may enjoy the escapism of romantic suspense, when you finish your book and look around the in-law’s diminutive attic room, you rehash the past twenty-four hours and come to the conclusion that your life is perfect, and you wouldn't have it any other way.

I would like to wish everyone happy holidays and safe travels. I hope to be offering you escapism for many books to come, and as a great fan of romantic suspense, I'd like to ask what draws you to this genre?