Shannon here: Leeann Betts shares the inspiration for her latest Contemporary Suspense, Hidden Assets. Comment or answer the question at the end of the post to enter the drawing for a print copy (US only) or e-book for international. Deadline July 29th, 11:59 pm central time. Here’s Leeann:
Stories are everywhere, if we simply look for them.
I spent some time last year with a friend who had just taken a train ride from Denver to San Francisco. She gave me a lot of insight into how the ride went, about the dining room, the movement of the train, the miles during the night where there isn’t much to see, and how she’d read three books in three days, which was a real treat for her.
I got to thinking how much more exciting the trip would have been if she’d stumbled across a body. Or saw someone being thrown from the train. Okay, I love The Orient Express by Agatha Christie.
When I sat down to start writing Hidden Assets, I just knew there had to be a train involved somehow.
Except, the bulk of the story takes place at a B&B in Wyoming.
But then I remembered Carly’s second book, There Was a Crooked Man, and how an unrelated mystery happened on their plane ride to New Mexico. So I decided to change it up a bit by making the mystery on the train part of the overall story.
I did some research on train travel, and I’ve been to Wyoming a number of times, so pulling together a mystery set in a small town in rural Wyoming wasn’t too difficult.
Carly Turnquist, forensic accountant, visits a friend in Wyoming who is in the midst of a nasty divorce. Her friend thinks her soon-to-be ex is stealing assets and hiding them so he won’t have to split them with her in the divorce, and asks Carly to look into this. When the ex turns up dead, Carly’s friend is suspected. Toss in a body thrown from a train, and Carly is up to her nose in trouble again.
As I said, stories are everywhere. We simply need to look for them and ask the big What If? questions.
About Leeann: Leeann Betts writes contemporary suspense, while her real-life persona, Donna Schlachter, pens historical suspense. She has released five titles in her cozy mystery series, By the Numbers, with Hidden Assets released the end of June. In addition, Leeann has written a devotional for accountants, bookkeepers, and financial folk, Counting the Days, and with her real-life persona, Donna Schlachter, has published a book on writing, Nuggets of Writing Gold, a compilation of essays, articles, and exercises on the craft. She publishes a free quarterly newsletter that includes a book review and articles on writing and books of interest to readers and writers. You can subscribe at www.LeeannBetts.com or follow Leeann at www.AllBettsAreOff.wordpress.com
All books are available on Amazon.com in digital and print, and at Smashwords.com in digital format.
Learn more and connect: Leeann’s Amazon
About the book – Hidden Assets:
Carly Turnquist, forensic accountant, responds to a call from her friend, Anne, who is in the middle of a nasty divorce, and travels to Wyoming to help find assets Anne thinks her husband has stolen. But the mystery begins before Carly even arrives when she sees a man thrown off a train. Except there’s no body. Husband Mike uncovers an illegal scam in a computer program he has been asked to upgrade, and then Anne is arrested for her ex’s murder. Can Carly figure out what’s going on, and why a strange couple is digging in Anne’s basement? Or will she disappear along with the artwork, coins, and money?
Question for Readers: Do you prefer to read a series or standalones? If a series, do you have to read them in order?
Come back July 21st for Dawn Ford!
Hi Shannon and Readers: Thanks for having me here today. Excited to be here on this glorious July day!
I like both types of stories. if it is a series I dont’t have to read in order but sometimes I do
Hi Shelia: Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment. Sorry I’m so late on the reply. I was out of town for a couple of weeks.
I prefer series books — BUT I like to wait until the series is finished. If I read books 1 and 2, then have to wait for 3 — it’s unlikely that I’ll ever get back into it.
Hi Dianna: I hear you! Which is why I am writing 2 books a year for this series. I don’t want readers to have to wait.
Either
Hi Karen: You sound like the kind of reader every author wants! Thanks for stopping by.
how fun that the story takes place in a B&B. I like to read them both. But I really love series. And I love to read in sequence.
Hi Lori: When I find a new author, I always start at book 1. And if I can’t find a book in the sequence, it bums me out, especially when the book is referred to in a subsequent book. The real trick for authors is not to give away the story for those who haven’t read the series in order.
I work in the church library and we have both, stand alone and series books. I came up with the idea to put a colored dot on the spine of the book with each number of the series on it. If an author wrote a lot of books, than, each series would get a different colored dot. It made it easier for our readers to see which book to read next.
Hi Janet: Authors love librarians! What a great idea to color code. When I find a new author at the library, I get all their books in the series at once, then check online to see if any are missing, which I either request from other libraries or try to find at a local bookstore.
I like to read either one. I don’t necessarily have to read a series in order but usually prefer to. This sounds like a very interesting story! Thanks for the giveaway.
Hi Donna: Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment. Good luck in the drawing. Smashwords.com has a sale on until the end of July, and I have discounted some of the earlier books in the series.
Hey Leeann. Sorry I’m just now popping in. I had a deadline and then my brain wouldn’t function after that. I love stand alones. And I love series, but I like them clearly marked so I know what order to read them in.
Hi Shannon; Me, too! I hate reading a book and then find out it’s part of a series, halfway through 🙂
I have a winner! Dianna won the drawing. I appreciate Leeann for being my guest and everyone else for stopping by.