Serendipity, A Friend to My Suspense Novels by Rolynn Anderson

Why do fiction authors strain to be authentic?  Seems paradoxical, doesn’t it…but true.  Made up stories laced with accuracy?  You bet.  My brother writes non-fiction books, built brick by brick with carefully researched facts, but I’ll bet I do as much research to authenticate my fiction novels as he does.  We both yearn to have our readers believe that what we say is the truth.

Archives are our bread and butter, but serendipity makes our research exciting, especially to this writer, who composes from the seat of her pants.  Heck, I never know what I’m going to write until I sit down at my computer!

Here’s an example.  I’m surprised to be writing about people caught in a forest fire, an experience I’ve gladly never suffered.  I learn from Google sources that caught in a forest fire, my characters must stay low and head downhill to water.  The thing is, I’d sent my characters to a specific local area that may or may not be a place where a forest fire might happen.   Have I written myself into a corner?  Will I have to change the setting of the whole book, requiring hours of rewriting?

So I check the local fire department records for past fires.  Two years ago, a brushfire swept the exact area I’d chosen for my nail-biting scene to take place-two years ago.  The conflagration burnt more than a thousand acres, with hundreds of firefighters, fire trucks, a helicopter and a fixed wing plane helping to put it out.  Camping grounds had to be evacuated and roads closed as the forest service controlled the fire.

Can you believe my luck? I’d already inserted a helicopter in my scene, but newspaper articles about the event gave me names of roads (I didn’t have to make up), numbers of acres burned, and other details I could use verbatim!

How I love being an author when serendipity sits with me in my desk chair.  Have you got a lucky story to tell about when your made-up facts and reality aligned in such a magical way?

Speaking of magic, my third book in the boutique funeral planner series, will come out early in 2015.  Catch up on the suspense by reading FADEOUT, the first book in the series:

FADEOUT http://amzn.com/1612173616

More on my website: http://www.rolynnanderson.com

CRISP LETTUCE, WATERPROOF MASCARA AND 16 HOUR LIPSTICK by Rolynn Anderson

Most of you know about Hints from Heloise or other columns like hers which transmit tips for easing our everyday lives and eliminating peevish behavior.  I'm adding three pieces of advice I learned late in life which might be useful to users of lettuce, mascara and lipstick.  

1.  I hate limp lettuce.  My sister (a home economics teacher) told me to bathe the lettuce in ice water to crisp it up.  The problem: sorting the ice out of the drained lettuce.  Better: put the ice water in the bottom of your spinner and cut the lettuce in the strainer portion of the spinner.  Set the strainer section into the ice bath, with the ice imprisoned below the strainer.  When the lettuce is nice and crisp, lift the strainer out of the water, dump the water and spin! 

2.  I  dislike seeing mascara smudges under/around the eyes.  Waterproof mascara is the answer.  The only answer.

3.  I'm offended by lipstick marks on cups, glasses, clothing, cheeks or any other part of a victim's body.  Simple solution: use 16 hour lipstick.  My favorite is Cover Girl.  I pick from among a multitude of colors that remain on my lips.

Next, I'd like to list simple advice for how to market my books.  So far, the list looks like this:

1.  ?

2.  ?

3.  ?

If only I could fill in THESE blanks!

So, here's SWOON, of the Funeral Planner Suspense Series.  She's a boutique funeral planner whose dead clients refuse to rest in peace.  Trust me, she knows how to wear lipstick and mascara and her salads are fabulous!

“Don't miss SWOON by Rolynn Anderson! If you like an interesting cast of characters, a heavy dose of mystery and a lot of fabulous surprises, you'll be happily turning pages late into the night.ˮ

~ Brenda Novak, NYT and USA Bestselling Author of WHEN LIGHTNING STRIKES

When the dead tell tales, Jan Solvang’s first reaction is to RUN!  But then she gets caught up in their mysteries.

Jan’s a boutique funeral planner, new to risk, hired to bury a missing woman and memorialize an infamous man.  Yet when she digs for clues to write their eulogies, she disturbs family secrets and unmasks killers.

Roman Keller, hard-driving documentary writer, is in complete control of his life and his stories, until he falls for Jan, a woman who trusts her dog, her faint-dreams, and her instincts more than she trusts him.

Can they make the sacrifices necessary to cement their relationship or will the mayhem caused by the dead ruin their second chance at love?