Starting October 19th, I will be teaching my romantic suspense class.

Here’s the description:

Fall Suspense Thing Writing Workshop is now accepting students!!!

National bestselling, Emma-award winning author for Romance Suspense Deirdre Savoy will be facilitating this month-long workshop set to begin the week of October 19. This workshop is for authors wanting to learn the basic craft of writing romantic suspense or those seeking to add a bit of dramatic spice to any novel.

Course syllabus:

October 19: What is suspense–how do you achieve it and how do you use it:

October 25: Dark suspense vs. light suspense–how to create the effect you want

November 3: The devil in the details–making suspense believable.

November 10: Love on the run–how to use suspense to heighten the romance and vice versa.

Each week, a lecture and assignment will be posted. Completion and posting of assigned work for peer review is not mandatory but advised if students want to get the most from the class.

Who should take this course:

–first time R/S authors looking to learn the basics

–R/S authors looking to hone their craft

–any author interested in taking their writing to new levels

How to register:

Apply for group membership here. You will receive an e-mail telling you how to make payment. Once tuition is received, you will be added to the group.

Tuition: $25. (First 5 students to complete registration will receive a free synopsis critique.

Oops.

I hadn’t planned on disappearing. Unfortunately, my gmail account got corrupted in a way I still don’t understand and can’t access on the computer I used to use in the same way.

I have had sooo much going on that real life overtook the life of my fiction and my communication with you all. I’ve had to deal with folks getting ill, folks falling down and not getting up, myself catching the (ahem) tail end of the piggie fluj-like that afflicted us here in New York. On the flip side, I’ve also been healed of an illness I’ve been dealing with since childhood and discovered I have a calling  I hadn[t anticipated (more on that at a later date).

But I’m back hoping all of you will forgive me for not posting the results of the contest sooner (again, couldn’t access mail) but it is up now. Congrats to our winner Phyllis Lamken.  Way to go!

I’m also announcing the classes I’ll be teaching this summer and fall. First, we’ll have a little summer suspense thing. In September I’ll focus on helping you make your love scenes sizzle.

So thanks for your concern folks. You can always reach me on my contact me page.

Until next time –
Dee

Most readers are not too fond of the TSTL heroine unless she manages to redeem herself (or she’s Stephanie Plum–sorry, I couldn’t help myself), but since they’re only fictional folk, there’s not too much damage done, except to the psyches of the young girls who admire them.

But I was tooling around the blogosphere today and I happened on an article at the Women in Crime site talking about gullible real-life women who risk much to be with men who mistreat or kill them. Case in point: Sandra Boss and her daughter who was duped by a supposed Rockefeller, a man with no social security card, no job or history of having one, no real family. How the hell did this guy fool a supposedly smart woman duped into sharing their lives and their fortunes with reprobate men.

A big part of the equation is that these men don’t want you to know. They go to great lengths to preserve their con. This is their whole life and when it starts to unravel, they usually do one of two things–kill to cover their tracks or disappear. Luckily for little Reigh Rockefeller (now Boss) her dad chose the latter route even if he took her with him.

Conventional wisdom would suggest that there is something lacking in these women that these men pick up on and exploit. I would agree with that. When you consider that many of these type of love stories begin with the same formula: a whirlwind courtship followed by a quick marriage. Then the woman finds herself separated either emotionally or physically from her family and friends. It’s the same way many abusers and other predators behave: separate the weak one from the herd.

Another part of the equation is the pervasive sentiment that we women are still not complete without a man. We spout crazy statistics like we are more likely to get hit by lightning than to find that man after a certain age. Like a demented game of muscial chairs women are afraid to be the one left without a place to call their own. So, many close their eyes to signals anyone else would see. They don’t want to admit, until perhaps too late, that their (possibly) one shot at love isn’t who or what they claim to be.

But I think it’s also true that some folks take the fantasy of the romance novel and the movie theatre too literally. Some guy sweeps into their life and rather than being suspicious about why some man with millions wants ordinary ol’ you, you swoon. It’s not like Cinderella stories never happen, but more than likely the heroine ends up in divorce court trying to salvage some bit of her life, in a shallow grave–or, perhaps, my next novel. We’ll have to wait and see.

“Why I Love the Book
Must I count the ways? I haven’t read any mysteries/suspense novels for a long time, but when I received Body of Lies from Ms. Savoy I couldn’t put it down. Suspense is this author’s forte. This story kept me on the edge of my seat. The characters aren’t cardboard cutouts: Although Alex was victimized as a child, she is not a victim. Although Zachery broke her heart years ago, the author doesn’t vilify him. Both characters learn from their mistakes and become better individuals.”

Just as I was basking in the glow, I came upon another review from Reading While Black. Again I was surprised and pleased. Here’s my favorite part of that review:

“One thing I can say for Savoy is that she doesn’t hold punches. This isn’t your Disneyland version New York or of a serial killer. She didn’t hold back on the reality of violent, destructive forces and gut-wrenching circumstances that affect the lives of everyday, ordinary people–especially your average cop.”

Ah, if only I could manage to get the smile off my face.

So, if you were thinking about taking this course, no you haven’t missed anything. Class doesn’t start until June 30th. Registration is open until the Friday before the first class. Just in case, here’s the complete, revised announcement.

National bestselling, Emma-award winning author for Romance Suspense Deirdre Savoy will be facilitating this month-long workshop set to begin the week of June 30. This workshop is for authors wanting to learn the basic craft of writing romantic suspense or those seeking to add a bit of dramatic spice to any novel.

Course syllabus:

June 30: What is suspense–how do you achieve it and how do you use it:
Jul 7: Dark suspense vs. light suspense–how to create the effect you want
July 14: The devil in the details–making suspense believable.
July 21: Love on the run–how to use suspense to heighten the romance and vice versa.

Each week, a lecture and assignment will be posted. Completion and posting of assigned work for peer review is not mandatory but advised if students want to get the most from the class.

Who should take this course:

–first time R/S authors looking to learn the basics
–R/S authors looking to hone their craft
–any author interested in taking their writing to new levels

How to register: Apply for group membership here. You will receive an e-mail telling you how to make payment. Once tuition is received, you will be added to the group.

Tuition: $25.00 (plus a $2.00 administrative fee).
BONUS: FREE SYNOPSIS CRITIQUE FOR THE FIRST FIVE STUDENTS TO COMPLETE REGISTRATION!

Course syllabus:

June 30: What is suspense–how do you achieve it and how do you use it:
Jul 7: Dark suspense vs. light suspense–how to create the effect you want
July 14: The devil in the details–making suspense believable.
July 21: Love on the run–how to use suspense to heighten the romance and vice versa.

Each week, a lecture and assignment will be posted. Completion and posting of assigned work for peer review is not mandatory but advised if students want to get the most from the class.

Who should take this course:

–first time R/S authors looking to learn the basics
–R/S authors looking to hone their craft
–any author interested in taking their writing to new levels

How to register: Apply for group membership here. You will receive an e-mail telling you how to make payment. Once tuition is received, you will be added to the group.

Tuition: $25.00 (plus a $2.00 administrative fee).
BONUS: FREE SYNOPSIS CRITIQUE FOR THE FIRST FIVE STUDENTS TO COMPLETE REGISTRATION!

Well, readers of crime fiction like to feel smart. To the extent that you can debunk closely-held myths in the course of your writing, agents, editors, and ultimately readers will love it. If you can tell readers how things REALLY happen—as opposed to the way they look on TV, it will give your work a feeling of authenticity that’s often missing in crime fiction (and nonfiction.)

That’s always been my goal in writing crime fiction–to show what I know that the reader doesn’t without making them feel foolish for believing everything you see on CSI.

So, I end by asking you the same question as Mr. Hoffman does his readers–whast are your bugaboos and pet peeves about crime fiction (or even reportage of true crime)? What story line could you do without ever seeing again? Fess up!

This is how the post starts out:

A legitimate criticism of romance as serious literature is it’s often cavalier treatment of important life topics. Too often, war, separation, human indignity, are treated as plot devices, conflict mechanisms, and not given the attention and treatment those important issues deserve. How many romance books are thought provoking? How many challenge your personal concepts of right and wrong? How many portray multi hued individuals as both heroic and villianous? Surely within the umbrella of the romance genre, there is room for these books.

I can’t argue with anything that is said here, which does not mean, in my opinion, that no romances deal with important issues head on, but, in my opinion, fewer than should do. In other words, if you’ve got a protagonist recovering from a bad marriage, missing child, breast cancer, rape, whatever, or you’ve got a character who’s a soldier or cop, nurse or counselor, they experience life in particular ways that are often glossed over rather than exploited properly for the verisimilitude of their story.

This to my mind doesn’t mean every story has to be heavy or heavy handed. However, if you’re going to bring up the heroine’s unkind personal history, or whatever, let the effects of it reverberate in her life on a deeper level than making her wary of the hero’s attentions. Almost any serious event injected into a character’s life produces a constellation of effects. These can be explored even if you do it in a less than grave way.

I know that I had a hard time writing my hero for Soldier Boys. The story was supposed to be light and airy, so I kept it that way as much as I could. However, the guys a freaking marine sniper, and after reading even minimally about these guys and giving him the background that I did, I knew I couldn’t divorce the story from the realities of the ongoing war and keep it in any way beleivable. So I didn’t. The result is a deeper story, I hope, even though it is also really, really hot. I’ve got my fingers crossed that it works.

But I also don’t think that romance is alone in glossing over serious events or issues. The more suspense and mystery I read, the more I become aware that every genre has its way of trivializing that which it isn’t prepared to deal with. Ever read a sex scene in your average testosterone-filled thriller? Either it’s one of those wham-bam- excuse me while I come, ma’am, deals where it’s over in two seconds (doesn’t say much for the hero if you ask me) or it’s the sappiest bit of crap that no romance writer could get away with in a million years.

The truth of it is, there is room for shades of gray in every genre: true exploration of the human psyche and human emotions in every genre; contemplation of right and wrong and just in every genre and when we gloss over it or exploit it not for what it is but what we want it to be, we do both ourselves and our readers an injustice.

I never liked Spitzer, despite his squeaky clean reputation. He just didn’t do it for me and besides, there’s something about the word “spit” in a person’s name that gives me the willies. There are just some bodily functions I’d rather not know about. But what really disturbs me, particularly of late, is that it seems to be those people who campaign and win on their vows to clean up corruption are the very ones that are proven to be most deeply entrenched in it. I doubt I’m the only one on overload.

And now, from what I understand, Spitzer has no choice but to resign. What he did was similar to, but not quite the same, as other recent sex scandals. Not only did he deal with an organized prostitution ring (illegal) he flew one of said high-class hookers from NY to DC at his expense (very illegal). Just in case anyone forgot, the Mann Act, which bars the transport of young lovelies across state lines for a little suh-um suh-um, is still in effect.

Last I heard on the news, Spitzer may be trying to trade his resignation for a guarantee of no prosecution. I know I wouldn’t want to take that deal if I were the one able to prosecute him. Those who make their name exposing others ought to have to suffer the same kind of scrutiny themselves should they take a fall.

Two further ironies come out of this scandal, however. The first is that if Spitzer resigns, David Paterson, currently the Lt. Governor will become the first ever black Governor of the state of New York and only the third overall since Reconstruction. Paterson, who has been legally blind since infancy, would also be the first visually impaired person to preside over the folks in Albany. Aside from that, he’s credited with being a true man of integrity who can reach across the divide that is NY State politics to get everyone to get along. Sounds like there’s no downside to this deal to me.

The second is that Spitzer was a superdelegate pledged to Hilary Clinton at the upcoming convention. The old girl can’t get a break can she? Well, Paterson has also been in her corner, though I don’t know if he is a superdelegate or if superdelegatedom is transferable thataway.

Now I know I pledged to keep this blog more about the writing, so I don’t want to leave out that connection either. I was having trouble figuring out the crime and the motive for the crime for a romantic suspense I’m working on. Usually with RS, the crime sort of comes first, then the characters, then more details. For this one, the characters came first so I was like, okay folks, what’s going on? And they were like, hey, you’re the writer. You tell us. This is the kind of rebelliousness I have to deal with. But anyway, I started thinking high-class hookers, hmm, I could do something with that. You’ve got to take your inspiration where you can get it, right?

The easiest to comprehend is the last. Some regular guy or girl has to defend themselves, their loved ones or their property and takes a life in the process. Facing such a dilemma we all have the capacity to kill.

Comprehensible to is the made killer, to some extent. The man or woman who was abused, neglected, or otherwise deprived psychologically of the right socializing influences. They know no remorse, no conscience, no compassion, no understanding. As the saying goes, they’d cut you as soon as look at you. You may not like what they are, but you can see where it came from.

Then there’s my least favorite–those folks whose warpedness seems to have no genesis. Their wiring must be screwy since nothing in their background explains why they behave as they do. The “just plain crazy killer.” I hate this guy, partly because I want my villains to make sense, both in real life and in fiction. I want to be able to say this crazy mo fo is crazy cause of X and Y, and I don’t mean his faulty chromosomes. I know there are folks who love this just plain crazy guy, but I don’t.

In fact, I’m reading Allison Brennan’s Killing Fear right now, which has a “just plain crazy” villain. Even though this is the first book I’ve read by her, I can say I like her work (though her heroine in this one suffers from what I call Pretty, pretty princess disease). Her villain is nasty enough to overcome any of my misgivings about his origins as a bad guy.

So I ask you, what kind of villains do you prefer–the crazies you can figure out or the ones nature made that way? Do you prefer nature as an explanation or nurture? Who’s your favorite fictional killer? The creepiest? Who made you sleep with the lights on? Do tell!