Guest Post by Marlene Bell, Author of A Hush at Midnight

Today we’re sharing a guest post by author Marlene Bell, author of A Hush at Midnight, as part of her blog tour through WOW! Women on Writing.

About the Book:

Celebrity chef Laura Harris dwells on the horror of finding her mentor’s body in the groundskeeper’s disheveled bed—pillow and bedding half covering her open eyes—purple bruising around her mouth. A grisly snapshot in time revealing the Texas woman’s last moments during her attack. The elderly matriarch from the small town of Stenburg has left the physical world, and Laura is shattered.

She is catapulted headlong into the pursuit of a casual executioner, one bold enough to come and go from the crime scene with ease, dropping bizarre crumb trails designed to mock the deceased. But Laura herself doesn’t go unnoticed. As she digs deeper, she is followed and bombarded by warnings to leave the state.

When the victim’s attorney informs Laura that she’s to inherit the entire Stenburg fortune, the last act of kindness has made Laura the main person of interest in the investigation. Message by message, Laura is methodically taunted by someone so deranged and driven they’ll do whatever it takes to dislodge Laura from Texas – permanently.

Publisher: Ewephoric Publishing (October 1, 2024)

ISBN: 979-8-9863409-6-8

ISBN: 979-8-9863409-5-1 

Print length: 350 pages

You can purchase a copy of the book on Amazon. Be sure to add it to your GoodReads reading list.

About the Author:

Marlene M. Bell has never met a sheep she didn’t like. As a personal touch for her readers, they often find these wooly creatures visiting her international romantic mysteries and children’s books as characters or subject matter. 

Marlene is an accomplished artist and photographer who takes pride in entertaining fans on multiple levels with her creativity. Marlene’s award-winning Annalisse series boasts Best Mystery honors for all installments including these: IP Best Regional Australia/New Zealand, Global Award Best Mystery, and Chanticleer’s International Mystery and Mayhem shortlist for Copper Waters, the fourth mystery in the series. Her children’s picture book, Mia and Nattie: One Great Team!, written primarily for younger kids, is based on true events from the Bell’s East Texas sheep ranch. The simple text and illustrations are a touching tribute of belonging and unconditional love between a little girl and her lamb.

You can find her online at: https://www.marlenembell.com/

X/Twitter: @ewephoric

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marlenembell

Guest Post from Marlene Bell:

Challenges of Writing a Mystery Series

When I began to write fiction, I started with the idea to author a single romance novel. Within a couple of years pounding out the first draft, I realized the twists and turns in a crime mystery felt right for my abilities more than romance, so I stayed with a genre I could excel in. My characters’ romantic relationship was too difficult to keep in line as authentic, so I kept their relationship more to the backseat while concentrating on a whole host of villains causing havoc with the mains in the series. I truly enjoy writing villains…

Mystery manuscripts do have their challenges, especially if the writer sits in front of a blank screen and hasn’t outlined where the story begins, its middle, and the ending. That’s how I started my international mystery series; flying by the seat of my pants without a plan in my head. This caused the story to develop at least five different subplots—taking the focus away from the main plot and my protagonist’s goal in the book. I hadn’t defined the central plot as supporting characters steered the story in every direction. Theirs, not my main character’s. I’d allowed the secondary players to take over the book! It’s clear to me now, but at the time, I had no clue how to write fiction and which genre best suited my writing style. I love using red herrings and challenging the reader to work out who the killer might be. A murder mystery/crime-based series is where I eventually settled in the early years of my writing career.

A mystery should be mysterious and stay that way. An inciting event occurs in the first chapter where most of the book is spent on finding the perpetrator of a crime, murder, or mystery in general. Learning from the mistakes of my first novel, I outline each new book on 3×5 cards in general chapter notes to keep my focus from wandering. I want to make the killer seem cagey and not easy to spot among the other characters in each novel. Most times, I enjoy writing each character in a way that any of them could be the murderer. If I can fool my developmental editor from uncovering the villain, I’m on the right track with readers. A HUSH AT MIDNIGHT had my editor stumped.

Keeping the reader in angst as they work out the puzzle will have them returning for future books because mystery fans love that challenge. Have you ever read a book and figured out who had committed the crime by the novel’s midpoint? I have, too. Telling myself the writer couldn’t have made it that easy to spot. Could they? Unfortunately, some do.

HERE’S THE MYSTERY CHECKLIST I use while outlining a new story:

1. Make the story more interesting by using all five senses when describing events and places visited. (Describing smells in one of my favorites.)

2. Plan each character’s possible motive to make them a credible suspect.

3. Give each suspect a list of quirks where they stand out from the others.

4. Add in questionable people that a reader will love to hate. (At least in the beginning.)

5. Make the novel plausible and not too outlandish in deeds or personalities. Unless you’re after humor in the story. (Harlan Coben comes to mind.)

6. Toss in red herrings, throwing off the reader’s calculations while taking them in a different direction.

7. End the novel on a satisfactory note for the reader.

8. Tie up all loose ends and leave no questions unanswered after THE END.

9. If possible, bring in a pet to help with the investigation occasionally, but never, ever kill off any pets!

Lastly, if I’ve created a love interest for my main character, have that relationship end in a happily ever after scenario. If I can carry out all of the above in every series installment, or standalone, then I’ve written the best mystery with the reader in mind.

Giveaway Alert!

This tour will host a tour-wide giveaway of 3 books. Everyone can join in the fun by posting the entry form on their blog! The grand prize winner will also receive Wildflowers Across America by former First Lady, Ladybird Johnson, a bag of wildflower seed, and a $50 Amazon Gift Card. The giveaway ends December 15th. 

Click here to enter the giveaway.

Thanks again to Marlene for sharing her writing advice with us today and we wish her the best of luck with A Hush After Midnight!