The Suspense Sisters On Sassy in the South

28/06/15, SARA blog – Sassy in the South, http://romancesa.blogspot.com.au/  

The Suspense Sisters

The Suspense Sisters are two Adelaide authors who have teamed up to provide entertaining and informative workshops for writers of all levels, and author talks in conjunction with some of Adelaide’s best book shops.

Who are these Suspense Sisters?

We specialise in courageous heroines and pacey suspense.

Sandy Vaile is a motorbike-riding daredevil, who isn’t content with a story unless there’s a courageous heroine and a dead body. With an eclectic background as a chef, lead auditor, and graduate of Fiona McIntosh’s Master Class, she is now published by Crimson Romance, judges competitions for Romance Writers of Australia and America, and coordinates the Novelist’s Circle writing group.

Recently Sandy participated on a panel of inspirational women at the Festival Fleurieu at Normanville, and presented a back story workshop to the Seaside Writers group in Brighton.

 

Rowena Holloway is a book reviewer, interviewer and writer of short stories and novels, which have won and placed in numerous competitions. As a former tenured academic, she holds a PhD in Business and has extensive experience in face-to-face and online teaching at a tertiary level. Fiction is her first love.

Rowena has been writing for twelve years and been mentored by award-winning author Carol LeFevre and is a graduate of Fiona MacIntosh’s Masterclass. She has published two novels through by Fractured Press.

Upcoming Events

Catch the Suspense Sisters:

·         Tribe FM radio interview on Thursday 2^nd July, 3.30 pm (91.1FM streaming live online).

·         Book signing on Friday 17^th July, 1 pm, at Collins Bookshop, Castle Plaza, Edwardstown.

·         Author talk and book signing on August 27^th, 2-4 pm, at the Hamra Centre Library, 1 Brooker Terrace, West Torrens

Workshops

We are offering three workshops to suit all levels of writing skills.

1.      Hook ‘em and hang ‘em

Avoid your story being abandoned partway through. Hook your readers and them keep them hanging so they are compelled to turn the page. This workshop proves suspense is for everyone, no matter the genre.

2.      Stir the pot: treat back story like a pungent spice

Back story is like a flavour you can’t quite pick, lurking in the layers of your curry. You know it’s there and it enhances the experience, but it’s intangible and fleeting. Learn how to infuse back story without sacrificing pace or suspense.

3.      Courageous heroines

Have you ever wondered why some female characters intrigue, while others make you toss the book at the wall? This workshop will show you how to create inspirational and courageous heroines your readers will admire and want to read about.

SARA News - The Audio Edition

Ever wondered if Carla Caruso is a schmexy in real life as she is is print?  *

Well, beloved readers, wonder no more!

Here's an interview Carla did recently with the South Australian Writers Centre...

Find out Carla's favourite authors and Rom Coms, what she's working on now, and bonus points if you can pick the well-timed drop of other SARA stars' names!

And don't forget to check out The Un-Italian Wife.

Until next time,

Emmeline.

* Answer:  HELLS, YEAH.  :)

Reading Adventures during the month of lurrrrv....

Welcome to the latest Reading Adventures where the SARA members let us know what they are or have been reading...Get ready to write add some titles to your TBR pile.


Liana Skrzpczak

My February reading has consisted of White Fang by Jack London and The Road to Ruin by SARA's very own Bronwyn Stuart, both of which I'm absolutely loving! Although White Fang isn't a typical 'romance', I guess it could be considered a romance about the relationship between master and companion. :)

Sandy Vaile

Fear for Hire by Natalie S Ellis.

Wow! I highly recommend this fast-paced, unique romantic suspense. Jack is a born protector who is struggling to keep his head above the water of failure. Molly is feisty and tenacious and doesn’t take kindly to being accidentally kidnapped, even if her assailant is gorgeous. She’s convinced he’s the perfect big break story, until she’s embroiled in a mess of falsehoods and terrifyingly twisted minds. But who is pulling the strings in this perverted puppet show? Jack vows to protect Molly until he finds out the truth, but the forces conspiring against them may prove too powerful.

Emmeline Lock 

Rated 5 stars to The Perfect Match by Kristin Higgins, and 4 stars to Club Shadowlands by Cherise Sinclair

Carla Caruso

Gave 4 stars to Be My Baby by Laura Greaves

Khloe Wren

Gave 5 stars to Viper Game (Ghost Walkers #11) by Christine Feehan

Virginia Taylor 

5 stars to Fake by Beck Nicholas

"Although I read books in every genre, Fake is the first Teen Romance I’ve read. I don’t know what I was expecting, but I got a beautifully written, gorgeous story about a girl who isn’t tattooed, doesn’t smoke or drink, and isn’t trying to have sex with the school’s best male athlete. She’s smart, thoughtful, and a loyal friend. 

I loved Kath. That’s right. She doesn’t have a clever name, or a nickname like Bones or Skull. Just Kath. She has a nice mother whom she doesn’t resent and she has a horrible background, like most of us. Well, some of us. She rises above her background and she chooses her friends for the right reasons. 

This is in a closing scene with her mother. ‘Her hands cup my cheek. “If you have to, you will. And with class.”’ That’s Kath – a heroine with class. I loved Kath’s sincerity, her social conscience, and her problems and solutions touched my heart in a very special way.

Fake’s author, Beck Nicholas, is one of those authors who has latched onto the ‘craft’ of writing. Her voice is light and smooth. She doesn’t use clichés or done to death prose. However, my advice is not to begin the book when you should be doing something else, because you’ll forget and end up with no bread for lunch". (review on Goodreads)

and now for moi, Eleni Konstantine

For sweet romance, I read our very own Claire Baxter's  More Than Just One Night. It's a lovely read about second chances at love and allowing them into your life.  

I also love the cover - Disclaimer: My alter ego designed the cover. ;)

4 stars!

For paranormal romance, I read (and chuckled) Dressed to Slay by Harper Allen. This is the first book in a series about the stunning & sarcastic Crosse triplets. The Russian heritage comes to the forefront as Grandpa 'Darkheart' visits and confides that the family business is vampire slaying. Normally they would have confined him to the looney bin, but they'd just been attacked by their Vampire fiances. Throw in a prophecy or two, a club called the Hot Boss, and a very sexy werewolf - oh and the sister who is the Daughter of Lilith (THE vampire slayer of this generation) and there you have it. Fun, adventure, sex, love, family - the works.

I had read book two of this a while back so some of this was familiar but it had been long enough ago, and from another triplets perspective to still make it an enjoyable read. I'll be rereading book 2 before moving to book 3. Helps the little neural pathways connect the dots.

4 stars!

Shifting to my audio - I listened to Shakespeare's Champion (Lily Bard #2) by Charlaine Harris

Lily Bard seems to attract trouble which finds infuriating as she tries to have a quiet normal life. Her past precludes her from that, and so does the town she now lives in. It's a small southern town with ingrained ideas about the social structure - though most people are nice enough, there are those few who want to stir trouble by picking on others. This book looks at racism, sexism, and violence used against others. It's a thinker though having it seen through the eyes of Lily who has been touched by violence and who protects herself by putting up walls. Though the walls have started breaking down. A good story. 

4 stars!

That's it for this time around. I hope we've given you some ideas of books to read - and don't forget our SARA books!

~Happy Reading~

 

Character Questionnair With Mya Jensen from Inheriting Fear by Sandy Vaile

Today we have the wonderful Sandy Vaile with us. Mya from her new release has agreed to have a little chat with us.She sounds like a great character with a lot of sass so she is perfect for Sassy in the South

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Mya Jensen from Inheriting Fear by Sandy Vaile

Character Questionnaire

1.      What do you do best? Take care of myself, because there has never been anyone else.

2.      How would you describe yourself in one sentence? Don’t mess with me or I’ll knock you on your arse!

3.      What do you like least and best about the person you are? There’s nothing wrong with me. Who said there was? Okay, if I’m honest with you, I may be a bit of a control freak, but if you’re a woman who needs protecting from an abusive man, then you’ve come to the right place.

4.      Where do you call home? I thought moving from one side of Adelaide to the other would be far enough to out run my past. I was mistaken.

5.      What makes you laugh out loud? Luca when he’s all bashful and gentlemanly. What a spunk!

6.      What makes you really angry? Men who beat women.

7.      How do you feel about authority figures, like the police? They’re necessary in the community, but the law didn’t keep my mum safe. They always let Jack Roach back out of the lockup.

8.      Who do you wish you were closest to? Doing the horizontal tango with that hot detective from down the road would have to be at the top of my list.

9.      Do you have a secret? The list is long, but they’re not really secrets if they’re no-one else’s business, right? I figure that if I keep to myself, the world will let me be. Pity it doesn’t seem to work that way.

10.  What is your greatest regret? Not getting Mum out of Jack Roach’s house.

11.  What is your most prized possession? My Triumph Speed Triple motorcycle. It’s black and red, loud and full of grunt. Riding it and feeling the wind on my face gives me a sense of freedom.

12.  On what occasion would you lie? Maybe you should ask when I wouldn’t. Nah, just kidding. I don’t much reason to fib, but I’m not one to volunteer information unnecessarily, either. A girl has to look after number one you know. You can take me at face value.

13.  What is your greatest achievement? Dragging myself out of the gutter I grew up in.

14.  What is your greatest fear? Letting my guard down long enough for a man to get under my skin.

15.  Tell us a memory of childhood? When I was in primary school, I bought Mum a glossy, black jewellery box from a second hand shop. She said it was the best birthday present ever and we used to imagine visiting the menagerie of African animals painted on the lid. We imagined daring to get so close to a lion that the hairs on the backs of our necks stood on end, and looking up at a strange giraffe with its long lips, doe eyes, and not-quite horns.

16.  Have you been in love and had a broken heart? There’s no past tense, my heart is still broken from losing Mum.

17.  Do you believe in luck? There are no silver spoons in Croydon. I make my own way in the world through blood, sweat and tears.

18.  What would you do to save someone you love? Throw myself under a bus, if I knew it was coming… And therein lies the problem with saving someone.

19.  What is your idea of happiness? A gourmet meal made with fresh produce from my garden, eaten in the peace of my own home. Sometimes it would be nice to have a little company though.

20.  What is the strangest thing to happen to you? Discovering that I have something other women need. I’m happy to share it, but my services are not for sale. Can you guess what it is? Pick up a copy of ‘Inheriting Fear’ and find out. 

 

·         Website: http://www.sandyvaile.com

·         Twitter: https://twitter.com/Sandy_Vaile

·         Facebook: https://facebook.com/sandyvaile

http://www.crimsonromance.com/romantic-suspense-novels/inheriting-fear/

 

SARA News - kicking 2015 off with a bang!

Hello, dear readers, and welcome to the first 2015 instalment of the very sasstacular SARA News!
All of us at SARA trust you have had an excellent start to this brand new year, and we KNOW it's going to be full of fabulously excellent reading.
Oh, the excitement!

What better way to start news for 2015 than with a few tasty tidbits from Lilliana Rose?  

Lilliana has a novella coming out mid-March, called The Clockwork Heart from Less Than Three Press.  Want to know the bestest part?  If you pre-order it now, you save!

Haunted by a past lover and left with scars so deep Libby gave up her life as an explorer, she spends her days trying to avoid bad memories by training ruthlessly with Helen, the woman she hired to teach her self-defense. Helen is beautiful, appealing, and could be what Libby needs to climb out of her past once and for all.

Until the past returns and threatens to destroy Libby, and all that she holds dear, once and for all.

In other very marvellous news, Lilliana is also on film!  Well, not her, precisely (actually, I can't be definitive about that... :)), but a script that she has penned:

The TAFE SA students have made my short script into a short film; Collection. (I was one of four scripts selected to make into a film, from over 50 entries).

It was exciting seeing the film and the students did an excellent job capturing the essence of what I had written. 

The film is about a young girl, Tammy with an over active imagination and the adventures she conjures when she has to take out the rubbish, down a very long driveway!

In our second piece of newsiness, Sandy Vaile has recently signed a contract...

Motorbike-riding chef, Mya, has a serious mistrust of men. Since she became the guardian of her disabled mother, self-reliance is a way of life. She doesn't need a man -- in fact she can knock most of them on their arses -- and she definitely doesn't need her cocky new neighbor, Detective Luca Patterson, linking her to his latest jewelry counterfeit investigation.

Luca's professional boundaries blur after an unexpectedly, sizzling interlude with Mya. She is sexy, feisty and so many kinds of wrong, but he can't stop thinking about her. The problem is that her name keeps popping up in relation to his case.

Mya is threatened by an anonymous foe who is hell bent on revenge. Will she try to fight her way out of this one, or put her faith in Luca to avoid becoming the next victim?

A romantic suspense story published by Crimson Romance.

Stay tuned for pre-order info.


Until next time, happy reading.

Emmeline.