Deadly Choices by Karen Randau (Spotlight, excerpt, review, and GIVEAWAY) GFT

Deadly Choices

by Karen Randau

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GENRE: Mystery/Thriller

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BLURB:

In book 3 of the Rim Country Mysteries, an elderly woman stumbles into the campsite as Rita, Cliff, and Rita’s long-lost mother Willow enjoy s’mores and folk music around the fire. The action heats up when Willow falls for the key suspect, Rita’s old friend and mentor. Rita discovers her mother isn’t the woman she thought she was, and Rita must overcome a spate of life-threatening obstacles before anyone else dies.

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EXCERPT

“You’ve become an accomplished musician.” I envisioned Willow sitting in a circle with other artists who lived at the commune where she retreated after my father’s death.

We all leaped to our feet when a gunshot sounded in the distance.

“What was that?” Willow looked like a spooked gazelle ready to sprint to higher ground.

“Someone’s target practice, I imagine.” Cliff used his calming police detective’s voice but took a step toward the trail where Lucy McMann had gone earlier.

“So late at night?” Willow sounded unconvinced.

“Yeah.” Cliff rolled his tongue against the inside of his cheek. “Seems strange.”

I hoped my smile wasn’t too taut to hide my concern from Willow. I stood beside her and watched the beam from Cliff’s flashlight as he walked several yards down the trail. When he returned, he tried a nonchalant tone to ask for another s’more. Despite emoting confidence, he sang with less gusto, often squinted into the surrounding darkness, and monitored the path leading into the forest.

An hour later, I heard a feeble cry for help and stood to face the trailhead.

A white-haired woman in a red gingham shirt stumbled from the forest. She collapsed next to our tent and rolled to her back. I gasped at the arrow protruding from her chest. Light from the fire flickered on the arrow’s bloody shaft.

Cliff rushed to her. “It’s the woman we met earlier. Lucy McMann.”

Amazon

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

A native of the southwest U.S., Karen Randau pens the Rim Country Mystery series set in the quaint fictional mountain town of Rim Vista, Arizona, below the Rim of the Colorado Plateau.

The series features fast-paced stories with intricate plots, lots of action, and a pinch of romance, told from the point of view of protagonist Rita Avery.

Karen has traveled internationally and witnessed famines, violence, and hopeful people working to overcome abject poverty. She draws on both her creativity and personal experience to weave together an interesting cast of characters with rollercoaster-like twists and turns.

Links:

Website

Facebook

Twitter

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GIVEAWAY

a Rafflecopter giveaway


The tour dates can be found here


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My review:

Deadly Choices by Karen Randau is the third book in the ‘Rim Country Mystery’ series and follows Rita Avery as she and her police-detective husband Cliff get ensnared in a new murder investigation. Their new married life is complicated by both the reappearance of her long-absent mother and the danger that seems to stalk Rita as clues are being uncovered. Cliff’s methodical investigation is complemented by Rita’s unconventional approach but they may be unable to overcome the determined assault that seems determined to end Rita’s life.

This contemporary mystery story is chock full of exciting and hair-raising adventures that challenge the heroine’s ability to heal and her investigative contributions. I actually was tired by the time the story ended because it seemed like there was never any downtime and I would have thought she would have been REALLY traumatized by at least one of the things that happen to her in this story, let alone the sequence of adventures that take place. The awkwardness of her mom’s confession and the conflict of interest so soon into their new relationship was a little awkward for me, not to mention the fact that Cliff takes Rita with him to so many sensitive interviews. That being said, this is a story that stands alone with no problem, and provides an entertaining puzzle that takes twists and turns and gives both a view of a loving relationship and the tenacity required to solve a thorny mystery. I like the give and take between Cliff and Rita and I am curious to read the previous stories to get more information on how their relationship started…although, given this tale, I suspect Rita is even more of a trouble magnet, lol.

A copy of this title was provided to me for review

Deadly Deceit by Karen Randau (VBT, guest post, excerpt, and GIVEAWAY) GFT

I have a very informative and eye-opening guest post by author Karen Randau about her publishing journey.

The Hard Part About Getting Published

By Karen Randau

The most difficult thing about getting Deadly Deceit published through Short on Time Books was the part leading up to writing it.

I’ve been writing ever since an elementary school teacher showed me how to print my name and a few short sentences. I processed life events by writing about them. If my older sister hurt my feelings, I wrote about it. When my first boyfriend kissed another girl, I wrote about it. When my mom divorced my dad, well … you get the picture.

I’m a writer.

English was my favorite subject in school. I got a degree in journalism, and it only took one newspaper assignment to realize that journalistic writing wasn’t my cup of tea. I got a job in marketing communications and found my life’s purpose through an international relief and development organization that helps the world’s most vulnerable people to overcome extreme poverty. Better yet, they let me write about it!

I know all about sentence structure, and I always answer the questions of who, what, where, why, and how. I avoid passive sentences like the plague, use power words in my sales copy, and try to understand what motivates my reader.

Novel writing draws on those skills, but writing a mystery novel is different.

When you write a mystery novel, you have to think about structure, plot, character development, character arc, and that most troubling of novel writing techniques called point of view. You have to have conflict (and oh how I hate conflict!), major plot twists, clues that don’t give away the story, and red herrings that don’t lie to your reader. And all of those things have to be placed at just the right spot.

My first attempt at writing a novel was a disaster. I, of course, thought it was a masterpiece and submitted it to a publisher after spending a whole two months writing it – a lifetime compared to what I was used to.

After I read the book on point of view that the publisher recommended, I chose a main character, and rewrote the manuscript. Then I sent it to a professional editor, who sent me her class notes on mystery structure. So I rewrote the manuscript again. I sent it to a different editor, who showed me how to avoid bogging down the action. So I rewrote the manuscript again. I went to novel writing seminars and conventions, pitched my manuscript, listened to constructive feedback from absolutely everyone who read the manuscript, changed my characters, and rewrote the manuscript again.

By the time I had rewritten the manuscript five times, it was destroyed.

I started over on a new story that incorporated everything I had learned with my practice novel. It took three years to learn how to write a novel, followed by six months to write to a publishable manuscript. I only asked subject experts to read the Deadly Deceit manuscript. I already knew I had learned how to write.

When my subject experts offered advice, I considered it but made wise decisions about what to change and what not to change. When I was happy with it, I sent it to a small publisher of books like mine, who accepted it.

To me, the hardest part about getting a novel published was the discipline it takes to learn how to do it right, research publishers that might be interested in my kind of story, and find the courage to put myself out there by submitting it for publication. Conquering those challenges required determination, commitment, and the stamina to keep trying. 



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Deadly Deceit
by Karen Randau

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GENRE: Mystery/Thriller

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BLURB:

A cocoon of naiveté shatters on Rita Warren’s thirtieth wedding anniversary, when a terrorist murders her ex-Marine husband Jared and thirteen other movie goers. Ensnarled in a cover-up that puts her in an assassin’s crosshairs, Rita must unravel a web of lies and connections that date back to Jared’s service in the Iraq war – before a mysterious kidnapper returns Rita’s daughter Zoe one body part at a time. This fast-paced story is one you won’t want to put down from beginning to end.



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EXCERPT

Through a stunned haze, I saw him look down at me and disappear. He returned with Zoe over his shoulder and rushed down the hill toward a black pickup parked on a narrow side road.

At last, I gulped in air and jumped to my feet. I remembered my gun, and pulled it from my purse. While running toward him, I forced a bullet into the chamber and fired. Missed. I continued running until he turned Zoe toward me, and I lowered my gun. He dropped her into the bed of the truck, slipped a gun from under his shirt and pointed it at me.

“Take the antiquities certificates to the same park bench. No tricks this time. You have until noon tomorrow.”

“I’ll do whatever you want, but please don’t take my daughter. She needs a doctor. Take me instead if you think you need a hostage.”

Gunfire cracked behind me, and the man grabbed his left arm. Blood oozed from between his fingers. “If I see any cops, I’ll kill her. Then come after you.” He slid behind the steering wheel, and I turned to see Cliff at the top of the hill, his gun by his side.

I ran toward the dust stirred up by the truck as it sped away and shouted into the wind. “This is about my necklace?”

Amazon link

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

A native of the southwestern U.S., Karen Randau has been writing and telling stories since elementary school. She holds a degree in journalism/public relations from The University of Texas at Austin and has enjoyed a long career in marketing communications. In her work with an international non-profit, she has traveled to numerous developing countries, witnessing famines, violence, and hopeful people working to overcome abject poverty. She loves fast-paced mysteries and thrillers, especially those with intricate plots, lots of action, and rollercoaster-like twists and turns.

Blog
Facebook Author Page
Twitter
Goodreads Author Page
Amazon Author Page

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GIVEAWAY

 
a Rafflecopter giveaway

The tour dates can be found here