Scrambled Eggs

Reinventing our website, which contain three different markets that need to be woven together, is a challenging job. What 'mood' do we want to emphasis? I like noir. Maybe we could call the adult entertainment (not THAT kind of adult entertainment) 'hard boiled'. Then the kids' entertainment could be soft boiled and all the trivia content that I've taken from here and there could be poached!

Like this little gem taken from P.D. James:

"I had an interest in death from an early age. It fascinated me. When I heard ‘Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall’, I thought, ‘Did he fall or was he pushed?’"

Review: The Secret Ever Keeps

5/5 New – Fiction
MUST READ

The Secret Ever Keeps

Great story! Loved the flashbacks sequences!

Art Tirrell’s The Secret Ever Keeps is a modern Cinderella story, with a rum-running, sunken treasure twist. On the shores of Lake Ontario, Laurel Kingsford discovers that there is more to her family’s past. There is a secret that has laid buried, one that is yearning to be revealed.

While searching for a treasure buried far beneath the sea, she uncovers a conspiracy, a passionate new love, a jealous and formidable rival, more family than she wants, and riches beyond her dreams. But of course, something—or someone—wants to spoil her plans at happiness and they will go to any length to take her breath away—permanently.

The Secret Ever Keeps is a tantalizing read. Fast-paced, sexy and sensationally plotted, it will keep you guessing and cheering on the heroine until the explosive and satisfying ending.

I have given this novel 5 stars because it deserves it! The story is awesome and it is believable and well-researched. Great work! I look forward to Art’s next novel.

~ Cheryl Kaye Tardif is a freelance journalist, book reviewer and editor. She is also the author of three mystery novels set in Canada, including the bestselling ‘assisted suicide novel’ Whale Song, which was released April1st, 2007, by provocative publisher Kunati Books.

My First Time!

First times can be so many things: scary, exciting, frustrating, amazing, disappointing. Always though they are memorable. With the publication of my first book - Murder Makes Mischief - I'm experiencing lots of firsts.

Seeing my little puzzle mystery in book form, now that was a thrill. No longer is it a stack of computer printed pages. Gone forever are the original handwritten pages.

The first time I saw the cover picture was another WOW. It had captured the elements of the story as I had hoped. It was in fact exactly what I had pictured in my mind only better.

Seeing my book available at Amazon.com and various other book sites made the whole experience real for the first time.

None of that though compared to the best part: hearing the reactions from my first readers! I was especially pleased to hear that I'd managed to keep them guessing to the end!
And now I'm doing my first blog. What next?!

W.G. (Wendy) Eggleton

Murder Makes Mischief - read an excerpt or place an order at: Trafford

The River and Whale Song: Hot Movie Ideas

Okay, I can smell fresh popped popcorn with extra melted butter...and a large ice tea to wash it down. There is nothing better than popcorn at the movies. Oh, wait! Yes there is! Eating popcorn at a movie...that is based on YOUR novel! At least, that is what I am imagining and have been for the past few years.

With three novels published and all three capturing the attention of the film industry, I think I may be on to something. Maybe all these years of visualizing my novels as movies while I write them is a form of deja vu. Regardless, I believe it is only a matter of time.

Well, yesterday was an exciting day. I opened up my email in the morning and found an enquiry from a film producer/director who is very interested in my eternal youth conspiracy thriller The River. Of course, I'm not mentioning names here, but I will tell you that we are already discussing the creation of a screenplay, one that will follow my novel very closely.

One of the thrilling aspects for me is the opportunity to work on this screenplay with the producer, to have input in the process and to feel part of the movie's creation. Like my bestselling assisted suicide novel Whale Song, I have seen The River unfold in my mind, from beginning to end, even before I started writing it. And like Whale Song, I smell popcorn when I even start to think of a movie.

I can visualize the mysterious Nahanni River, an area that has been referred to as the Bermuda Triangle of Canada. I can clearly see Virginia Falls in my mind, taste campfire smoke in my mouth, see and hear the rapids...and a strange blue light...

So, for all of my fans who have emailed me over the past 2 years, it looks like your good wishes and all those crossed fingers may just pay off. I will keep you informed of this as things develop, but in fairness to the producer, I won't be releasing his name until he gives me the okay.

Take the ride of your life...
on
The River

Order The River on Amazon
Order Whale Song on Amazon
Order Divine Intervention on Amazon

Mystery Clues

Just finished reading a book by a popular, highly-recommended author. It was very well written and hard to put down but I knew 'whodunnit' during the first third of the book. Because it was so well done, I continued on, hoping I would be proved wrong - but no. It was who I thought it was alright. The least likely suspect, but not least like enough, did indeed do the deed.

Agatha Christie remains the champion of tricking the reader - my hero. I've read and analysised most of her books and other writers whom I consider masters of the 'clue' craft.

For anyone interested in creating cluetrails, here's a very simple beginning explanation of how it works:

¨ Mysteries (the way I write them) are puzzles. Clues are the puzzle pieces. Clues can be physical evidence or intangible evidence such as information or dying words.

¨ Physical evidence clues will have two halves: one half is crime scene evidence, and one half is identified with a suspect.

¨ Intangible evidence can be something that the crook knows or does not know, because he is the crook. This information, or lack of, is an unknown clue and will only be recognized when the detective comes across it or, for the sake of suspense, it will be recognized for what it is at the last minute, when the heroine is tied to the tracks and the clock is ticking away and the train's a comin'... With physical evidence the two clue halves will be fairly obvious like fingerprints go with fingers and footprints go with shoes. With clues like dying words, the detective has no idea what the match is... more suspense.

¨ Physical evidence is based on Locard’s Exchange Principle that everytime two objects come in contact with each other they leave something behind and take something away. A clue can be something the culprit left at the crime scene or something he/she took away.

¨ The detective spends the book looking for what the clues are and mean, eliminating red herrings along the way.