mystery – Ruff Drafts

Pre-Sale Now Available for Sea Scope by Debbie De Louise

Posted on March 16, 2019March 16, 2019 by Debbie

I’m proud to announce the pre-sale of my standalone, psychological mystery, Sea Scope, is now available.

eBook & Kindle Unlimited: https://amzn.to/2uc0mt2

Sarah Collins needs an escape. Mourning her brother’s death and the impending breakup of her marriage, she accepts an invitation to return to her childhood home in South Carolina, where her family operated an inn.

She hasn’t been back to Sea Scope for twenty years; not since she and her brother Glen discovered a body by the nearby lighthouse. She never understood why her parents left Sea Scope so suddenly, or the reasons behind her father’s suicide.

After Sarah returns to the inn, she faces long-buried memories, text messages and strange clues. Something is not right in Sea Scope.

Reunited with people from her past, she tries to figure out what’s going on in her childhood home. As the past and present collide, she must face truths about her family, and what happened that summer day by the lighthouse. But will she survive to tell the tale?

Author Bio

Debbie De Louise is an award-winning author and a reference librarian at a public library on Long Island. She is a member of International Thriller Writers, Sisters-in-Crime, the Long Island Authors Group, and the Cat Writer’s Association. She has a BA in English and an MLS in Library Science from Long Island University. Her novels include the four books of the Cobble Cove cozy mystery series published by Solstice Publishing: A Stone’s Throw, Between a Rock and a Hard Place, Written in Stone, and Love on the Rocks. Debbie has also published a romantic comedy novella featuring a jewel heist caper, When Jack Trumps Ace, a paranormal romance, Cloudy Rainbow, and has written articles and short stories for several anthologies of various genres. She lives on Long Island with her husband Anthony, daughter Holly, and three cats.

Social Media Links

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/debbie.delouise.author/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Deblibrarian

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2750133.Debbie_De_Louise

Amazon Author Page: Author.to/DebbieDeLouise

Website/Blog/Newsletter Sign-Up: https://debbiedelouise.wordpress.com

Sneaky the Library Cat’s blog: https://sneakylibrarycat.wordpress.com

Debbie’s Characters Chat Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/748912598599469/

Books, Solstice Publishing

Special Announcement

Posted on August 1, 2016 by Debbie

It’s my pleasure to announce that I’ve signed with Solstice Publishing for my new mystery, tentatively titled “Between a Rock and a Hard Place.” Further details will be announced as soon as I have them along with an excerpt.

Subscribers to my Ruff Drafts newsletter receive the news first and are also eligible for giveaways and other promotional offers. To sign up, fill out the pop-up form from my website at https://debbiedelouise.com.

A Stone's Throw, Books

Putting Some Mystery into Romance

Posted on February 13, 2016 by Debbie

I’ve always enjoyed reading mysteries and romantic suspense novels. My favorite current authors are Nora Roberts and Mary Higgins Clark. I also like to read new authors and different genres, but I prefer a little romance with my mysteries.

When I first started writing, A STONE’S THROW (Limitless Publishing 2015), I knew I wanted to include both romance and mystery in the book. Everyone likes a nice love story, but adding an element of danger or suspense can make a plot more gripping. Likewise, adding some romance to a mystery can create more relateable characters.

It’s interesting to note that even though a book may be categorized and marketed as either a mystery or a romance, most books include both in varying degrees. A STONE’S THROW is more of a mystery, but I believe the romance that develops between Alicia Fairmont, the widowed librarian main character and small town newspaper publisher, John McKinney, increases the appeal of the book.

During February, bookstores and libraries tend to display romance novels for those seeking a romantic read for Valentine’s Day. As a librarian as well as an author, I’ve followed this trend and was happy to learn that my library decided to participate in a book selection program this year that other libraries have already been offering to their patrons each February. The program known as “Blind Date with a Book” involves putting out a display of gift-wrapped books for patrons to choose from without knowing what book they are selecting. Since the wrappers are barcoded, patrons can check out the books and open them at home. This allows them the surprise of a book they may not have ever heard about let alone selected to read on their own.

By adding a touch of mystery to a patron’s book selection, “Blind Date with A book” can introduce a reader to a new author, series, or genre for them to consider reading in the future. A patron can also rate their date if the library provides a card or form in with the book. This can be used by the library for user feedback statistics.

The “Blind Date with a Book” concept is another perfect example of combining romance with mystery. People who love to read and are willing to take a chance, will appreciate the opportunity to “date” an unknown book during the romantic month of February.

My own romantic mystery will be 99 cents on Sunday, Februray 14^th. Order it here: http://amzn.to/1Ta6zfe

This blog post was reprinted from the guest post that appeared on Sophia Valentine’s Lifestyle and Literature blog on February 12, 2016.

A Stone's Throw, Books

Announcing the Release of A Stone’s Throw

Posted on November 17, 2015 by Debbie

“A Stone’s Throw” is now available in paperback and eBook. Grab your copy today here

A Stone's Throw, Authors, Books, Characters, Romantic Suspense

Romantic Suspense vs. Mystery

Posted on August 11, 2015 by Debbie

I consider my upcoming book, “A Stone’s Throw,” a romantic suspense novel, but it contains a mystery, so why isn’t it classified as one? There are many types of mysteries. Most people are familiar with the Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie detective mysteries or, more currently, the crime solving amateur sleuths featured in Sue Grafton or Janet Evanovich’s books. “A Stone’s Throw” features two detectives, the nasty and arrogant, Ron Ramsay and the nice cop, Michael Faraday. Neither of them are very useful in solving the mystery but that is not why “A Stone’s Throw” is romantic suspense. Would you classify a Mary Higgins Clark novel as a mystery? What about a Nora Roberts book? Compare them to her JD Robb series of books which are mysteries (but include romance, too).

The Romance Writer’s of America define romantic suspense as a subgenre or romance in which “suspense, mystery, or thriller elements constitute an integral part of the plot.”

When I was a young girl in the 1970’s, my older brother gave me my favorite Christmas gift. It was the novel, “Winter People” by Phyllis Whitney. Once I read that book, I was hooked. I gobbled up everything Whitney wrote and then began reading similar authors – Victoria Holt, Barbara Michaels, and others. I was transported to faraway places. I fell in love along with the main character with the mysterious and attractive stranger who might or might not be a killer. These books, sometimes referred to as gothic novels, were very popular at the time. They were also a form of romantic suspense. Daphne Du Maurier was one of the master writers of this genre. All these authors were my teachers and mentors in writing because I was learning their style as I absorbed their words.

The Wikipedia defines romantic suspense as “a blend of romance and mystery.” According to the Wikipedia, “This blend of the romance and mystery was perfected by Mary Stewart, who wrote ten romantic suspense novels between 1955 and 1967. Stewart was one of the first to seamlessly combine the two genres, maintaining a full mystery while focusing on the courtship between two people. In her novels, the process of solving the mystery “helps to illuminate” the hero’s personality, helping the heroine to fall in love with him.”

As I matured, I progressed to other authors and sampled many genres. As a librarian, I had the advantage of access to a wide variety of reading material. However, I still had a preference for mysteries that featured a heroine thrust into danger who was saavy enough to save herself and find love in the process. I began reading Nora Roberts, Mary Higgins Clark, and others. I also realized that romantic suspense authors are not exclusively female and neither are the protagonists or main characters of these novels always women. The prolific James Patterson writes novels that might be considered romantic suspense in addition to his mystery series.

So how would you define romantic suspense? Is it mystery or romance? It’s actually both and that’s why it’s such a popular form of writing and reading.