Unsuspected (buy the book)

A serial killer is on the loose in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The killer is seductive and methodical as he preys on prostitutes and other lonely women. Those women are later found in shallow graves on the West Mesa, but lack of forensic evidence at the burial site has not helped to catch the killer, and the case remains unsolved. Living in a small peaceful town along the Rio Grande is a troubled family where violence is only a few drinks of gin away.

Rosa, a beautiful and resourceful young girl, is growing up in a traditional Hispanic family household with her parents and older brother, Ray. She is flirty and full of life, but family secrets and tragedy threaten to overwhelm her. Ray, on the other hand, is destined for the life of a business professional and while close to his sister, he lives in the city and stays removed from family problems. What isn't known, and can't be imagined, is that the serial killer lives among them, a family member whom no one suspects.

Sample Article Headline

Dolores Borrego Jacobs joins the ranks of writers who favor Southwestern themes and landscape, such as Leslie Marmon Silko, Rudolfo Anaya, and Tony Hillerman, and speaks to the reader in the language of the local people of New Mexico. She gives an intimate view of their lives, and establishes for us a strong sense of place that makes her novel both a timepiece beginning in the 1980's and a culturally relevant modern day murder story in the True Crime tradition. Her characters accurately portray people who could be your neighbors. Their dialogue is authentic and provocatively peppered with colorful expressions in Hispanic slang.

On Writing Chase Scenes

By Carolyn Howard-Johnson Author of The Frugal Editor, the winning-est in her award-winning HowToDoItFrugally Series of books for writers This article is excerpted from some editing I did for a writer of experimental fiction when I was on a Greater Los Angeles Writers Society panel writer of any genre can apply these suggestions to the chase, getaway, or high action scene in your script or manuscript before you send it to an agent or publisher or, better still, while you are writing the first draft. Sometimes even the most fascinating, interesting and irresistible detail can slow down the forward movement of your story. So as much as writers are told that detail is important, purge as much as you can from your action scenes and put it somewhere else or dribble it into narrative in other places in your manuscript. In the process, ask yourself if your reader really needs to know the color of the protagonist’s eyes. As important as detail is, some is better left to t

Ampersands: Pretty Is as Pretty Does

By Carolyn Howard-Johnson Author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally Series of books for writers Have you noticed how ampersands turn to gibberish when they are entered into some blog services like Google's blogpsot.com? That is only the beginning of problems ampersands cause for editors, and publishers of all kinds. Many of the difficulties they cause go unnoticed except by the publishing pros we would all like to impress like agents, librarians, bookstore event directors, and the acquisition editors at Knopf! That's why I added a new section to the second edition of the winningest book in my #HowToDoItFrugally Series of books for writers, The Frugal Editor . Because ampersands seem to be so popular these days, it's especially important for editors and authors who publish books to know a little about their history, how to use them, and how gatekeepers and readers of Lynn Truss's famous zero-tolerance a

MARGARET FIELAND INTERVIEW (guest blogger)

When did you first know you were destined to be a writer? LOL, I never realized I was destined to be a writer -- I fell into it. I'd written poetry for years, collecting it in notebooks stacked in my attic when I wrote one I wanted to keep. This led me to several online sites and ultimately to discovering the Muse Online Writers Conference where I hooked up with Linda Barnett Johnson and joined her writers forums. She required everyone to write both fiction and poetry, so, with much trepidation, I started writing fiction. Then I got hooked on it, wrote a chapter book, took the ICL course and actually learned how to write it. Then in 2010, I was seized by a desire to write a sci fi novel, so I spent six weeks or so on world building, mostly, with a bit of plotting thrown in for good measure. Who would you cite as your influences? I'm a way-back sci-fi fan, and Robert A. Heinlein influenced me heavily. I took a lot away from his writing, notably the value of surpris

Linda Barnett-Johnson

Search This Blog