The life of a writer,  Wings of Mayhem

I’m So Excited, and I Just Can’t Hide It…

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12063561_937577162946491_2757398587977245548_nYou might remember my post Snarky characters: Love Them or Hate Them? Well, I have an update. My editor loved Wings of Mayhem so much that she insisted my publisher interrupt her holiday break and send me a contract on Christmas Eve. That’s a lot of love!

Because the contract is signed and sent back, I can now officially announce that Wings of Mayhem will hit the shelves on May 18th, available for pre-order in April. Yay!

And there’s more good news, about Marred, but I’m not at liberty to say…yet.

As if this wasn’t enough, I received word that my article on radiocarbon dating and skeletal differences will be published in the March issue of InSinC magazine. For those unfamiliar with InSinC, Sisters in Crime publishes both in digital and in print. The editor told me the copy was so clean that she barely had to touch it. Apparently that’s rare. The best part is, she said she LOVED (all caps) the article.

What a way to start the year!!! 

I can hardly believe all this good news. Upon hearing the news, my dog was gazing at me as if I’d lost my mind, with all the hooping and hollering and hi-fives between me and Bob. All he knew was that Mommy wouldn’t stop dancing around the living room and Dad kept funneling treats his way.

Mind you, he wasn’t complaining. The more treats the better. He probably thought if the excitement continued he’d even score a Frosty Paw.

Which he did.

Shawnee Daniels, the protagonist in Wings of Mayhem, has been screaming in my ear for years. Which makes this victory all the more sweet. My snarky and massively flawed cat burglar will finally take her place in the spotlight. You’d think that would be enough to satisfy her, but no. She wants more.

As I was writing the sequel to Marred, Shawnee kept barging in. I finally had to stop and get to work on Mr. Mayhem, book 2 in the Mayhem series. Now, I have no idea which book I’ll finish first. But if I know Shawnee, she won’t let me rest till I put her through hell for another 300 pages.  You’d think she’d want a reprieve. Not Shawnee. She’s not your average character. Far from it.

It’s gotten so bad that she consumes my dreams too. Anyone else ever experience this? Her voice is so loud that it bleeds through everything I write lately. I have no choice but to obey. Perhaps it’s because she waited so long for her shot. She’s been with me for years, biding her time till the right story came along. And now it has.

What’s Wings of Mayhem about?

Never steal a killer’s trophy box.

Cat burglar Shawnee Daniels always believed her “fearlessness rules” mantra would keep her on top and out of jail.  When her latest break-in leads her to a secret lair, she instantly realizes there are some people more dangerous than cops…serial killers.

She thinks she made it out clean until a deadly package arrives at her door. He’s found her. When he taunts her through Skype, she knows he’s not going away. As an eagle glows on the dark screen his demonic voice whispers how she stole his precious trophy box — and he wants it back!

The only problem is, she can’t find what he wants. Did the box fall out of her backpack when she bolted from the house? Fear ripples across her skin, but outing her secret life isn’t an option. By day, she runs the computer lab at the Revere Police Department. And when her “helpful” best friend, librarian Nadine Couture, convinces her to give into charismatic Detective Levaughn Samuels’ charm, her two worlds might collide. Ordinarily Shawnee keeps a firm line between her professions, but dating Levaughn might help her get this psycho off her tail.

Now she’s juggling being stalked by a killer, dating the lead detective on the case, and trying to keep herself out of jail. Plus, the closer she gets to Levaughn and the case, the more she wonders who to trust. If she doesn’t find the trophy box, the killer’s coming for her. If she doesn’t come clean with Levaughn, more will die. And if she does, she could lose her freedom and everyone she holds dear.

***

Bob is taking me for a celebratory lunch. Talk to you when I get back!

Sue Coletta is an award-winning crime writer and an active member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and International Thriller Writers. Feedspot and Expertido.org named her Murder Blog as “Best 100 Crime Blogs on the Net.” She also blogs on the Kill Zone (Writer's Digest "101 Best Websites for Writers"), Writers Helping Writers, and StoryEmpire. Sue lives with her husband in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire. Her backlist includes psychological thrillers, the Mayhem Series (books 1-3) and Grafton County Series, and true crime/narrative nonfiction. Now, she exclusively writes eco-thrillers, Mayhem Series (books 4-9 and continuing). Sue's appeared on the Emmy award-winning true crime series, Storm of Suspicion, and three episodes of A Time to Kill on Investigation Discovery. When she's not writing, she loves spending time with her murder of crows, who live free but come when called by name. And nature feeds her soul.

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