I’ve gutted and redone two homes and even designed a house from the foundation up. I love it! Well, not the gutting part, but the point where the sheetrock is newly primed and the floors are bare. And it doesn’t matter if it’s a bedroom or the living room, the decorating possibilities are endless. What mood and tone do I want in this room? Energetic? Relaxing? Peaceful? Paint color and furniture style make the biggest impact. Bold paint choices and colorful furniture beg for attention from the moment you enter. But subdued lighting and overstuffed chairs invite a visitor to sit and linger. When you add the little details, plants, curtains, pillows and pictures, the room takes on a life of its own.
And I’ve discovered writing is very much like this.
Like entering a room, the tone and mood of a story is set from the very first paragraph. I make a promise to a reader when I write that very first line and I need to carry that throughout the journey. I can’t have a reader begin with a humorous scene, light and filled with silly antics and then introduce a dark villain, action and danger. That would be like setting up an exercise room and randomly putting out beanbag chairs for lounging. It wouldn’t make sense.
I’m what’s called a “pantser”. That is, I don’t know the full extent of my story or my characters until I’m writing. Then slowly after I’ve written a chapter or two, like painting the walls and laying the floor, my story has a mood and tone. The quirky details my characters develop, how the secondary characters interact with them and the way they move within the setting, like the knick knacks in my rooms, need to match the pace and tone I’ve set.
My newest release, IN HIS EYES, is a romantic thriller with a very dark villain who stalks the heroine…his intentions less than honorable. I’d like to think the suspense and edge-of-your-seat tension begins in chapter one. I want the reader to know right from the get-go what type of rollercoaster ride they’ve boarded when they open this book.
How do you feel about the tone of a book? Have you ever read the back cover copy thinking you’ve picked up a particular genre and found out that’s not the story on the pages? Did you finish it?
BLURB:
It’s always wonderful to be noticed … or is it?
To those around her, Maggie Callaghan appears to have the perfect life…a handsome husband, three beautiful children, and her own business. But beneath her thin veneer lies a dark past and self-doubts. When evidence of her husband’s infidelity surfaces, Maggie leases a cottage on the Maine coast and prepares for her inevitable divorce. But a serial killer is on the hunt—and he’s marked Maggie as his next victim. Now her beachside retreat is the focus of an undercover FBI investigation targeting the murderer who’s left a trail of bodies across two states. As lies and secrets are revealed, Maggie realizes her life depends on knowing who’s protecting her—and who’s got her in his sights.
EXCERPT:
Like most nights, he sat in the alabaster sand, sifting grains slowly from hand to hand as if measuring time. Watching.
Always watching.
People rarely saw him, unless he chose for it to be so. And the woman meandering along the water’s edge was no exception. She had no idea he was admiring her. Appraising her. Measuring her.
With the tide so low, he’d been able to study the exotic creature whose hair rode the wind like black silk. She dragged her feet in the shallow surf, her eyes cast down as if the ebb and flow of the ocean could soothe away her troubles. The dip of her chin and the graceful arch of her neck spoke of a heavy burden.
She walked without a companion. Alone was good.
Lord, she was beautiful.
The sadness that curved her body in on itself made her that much more irresistible. He imagined he could hear the sweet strains of her loneliness carried on the evening breeze.
He didn’t know he was searching. Didn’t realize the moment had come again.
It had been a long time since he’d found someone who obviously hungered for the kind of solace only he could offer. He replayed the scene over and over again, long after she’d left the beach, long after the day had surrendered to the night. How serendipitous for her to be here on his beach.
He sat, quietly measuring time in handfuls of sand, thinking about the grace of her walk, the gentle swell of her hips and breasts, the lovely mane of hair—and he knew.
You are the one. I’ve been waiting for you.
In the solitude of the new moon, he sat for a long time committing to memory every detail of their encounter and formulating a plan to make the woman his own. Satisfied, he strolled back to his cottage—his heart and soul as dark as the murky shadows swallowing him.
Buy from:
Amazon: http://amzn.com/B00H2BBPNG
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/in-his-eyes-nina-pierce/1117544616?ean=2940148950561&itm=1&usri=nina+pierce
Kobo: http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/in-his-eyes-5
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USA Today bestselling author, Nina Pierce, resides in New England with her high school sweetheart and soul mate of twenty-nine years and several spoiled cats who consider her staff. She spends her days at the keyboard writing romance stories, blissfully creating chaos for her characters by throwing in a villain or two, a little murder and a whole lot of mayhem as they struggle toward their happy-ever-afters. You can check out all her books on her website (http://www.ninapierce.com) and follow her day-to-day happenings on facebook (http://www.facebook.com/author.nina.pierce) or twitter (http://www.twitter.com/ninapierce).
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Thanks so much for having me today, Kate. I’m so excited about IN HIS EYES and I’m always happy to have the opportunity to talk about it!
Thank you for being here, Nina!
Ooh you’re going to the dark side, Nina! And here I thought you were the scifi girl!