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Say It With WeedsFebruary 23, 2008 at 4:09 pm | Category: blog
As happens with children, Shelley grew up and boys distracted her from childhood dreams. She found a boy she really liked and married him, traveling the world at his side until returning to settle in New Zealand to write hot and spicy tales for Ellora’s Cave, some of which contain the odd body or two. Yes, it’s all true. I live in New Zealand, I write and I love to add a suspense angle to my books and chuck in a body to generally upset my long-suffering characters. If there’s not a body, they have a stalker after them or some other dilemma where they face danger. I lay the blame squarely at my mother’s feet. After all, she was the one who arrived home with the very first Enid Blyton Famous Five mystery for me to read while I was in bed with chicken pox. Along with my tendency to add bodies, I like to add touches of humor. A weird mix perhaps but it works for me. I’m always searching for interesting ways to baffle my characters and present them with a body in an original manner, although sometimes conventional manners work just as well. In THE SHADOW I have my cat burglar heroine coming across a gunshot victim. In PLAYING TO WIN I have a stalker who becomes increasingly violent, and in my upcoming release FANCY FREE I have a different sort of stalker and there might be knitting needles involved somewhere. Author Gemma Halliday who writes the High Heel mysteries has a victim who is pushed into some buttercream frosting in an upcoming book. I loved this idea and badly want to steal it…maybe she won’t notice? My upcoming April romantic suspense WANDERLUST has lots of deaths and since it’s set in India I had lots of interesting possibilities. How does being trampled by an elephant sound? While I was researching an article I wrote on the Language of Flowers, I discovered weeds also had meanings. Straightaway my mind leapt to mull over the possibilities. Yes! I thought. The perfect way to terrorize some poor victim. And if they were a little slow on the uptake and didn’t understand the subtleties, the murderer could leave them a book of flower meanings. Heck, I could have my murderer start off with real flowers so the victim thinks she has a secret admirer and then, bam! Bring on the weeds and flowers with nasty meanings. The possibilities are endless…I just love being a writer! Does anyone else like the mix of murder and mayhem with romance as much as I do? If so what are your favorites? Did you start reading mysteries at a young age like me? And if you prefer your romances murder-free, tell me what you’re reading at the moment. I love to add to my to-read list! Everyone who comments will go into a draw to win their choice of a download from my Ellora’s Cave or Cerridwen Press backlist. I’ll draw the winner on 26 Feb so don’t forget to check back to see if you’re the winner. You can visit Shelley at her website, blog or MySpace for more information about her books. |
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I’m Shelley Munro. Thanks so much to Sandra for having me to visit today. I’m going to start with my bio first because that will help explain things and prepare you for my post. From the time Shelley Munro was a little girl living in New Zealand, she wanted to be a detective. She read all the Famous Five mysteries by Enid Blyton before graduating to Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys. Her favorite television viewing was Scooby Doo where she, in her invisible guise, helped Scooby solve the crime.
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On February 23rd, 2008 at 4:29 pm, Sandra said:
Welcome to my blog, Shelley. What an excellent post! Hmmm…I love action, danger, suspense, humor, and I know that’s why I love your writing. I can’t wait to read Fancy Free.
Sandy
http://www.sandra.barkevich.com
On February 23rd, 2008 at 6:24 pm, Shelley Munro Blog » Blog Archive » Say It With Weeds said:
[...] guest blogging over at Sandra Barkevich’s blog today and giving away a download from my Ellora’s Cave or Cerridwen Press backlist. I’m [...]
On February 23rd, 2008 at 6:26 pm, The Dynamic Trio – Blog » Blog Archive » Say It With Weeds said:
[...] guest blogging over at Sandra Barkevich’s blog today and giving away a download from my Ellora’s Cave or Cerridwen Press backlist. I’m [...]
On February 23rd, 2008 at 6:48 pm, Ann M. said:
I wondered what weeds had to do with mysteries.
I was an avid Nancy Drew girl growing up. I devoured her books. This was before the modernized Nancy.
Romantic suspense is what brought me back to reading romances. I love the hint of danger and solving the mystery lots of fun. One series that I LOVE is JD Robb’s In Death series. I would love to jump in and see cars that hover and blimps with ads plus get a look at Roarke’s abode.
On February 23rd, 2008 at 6:50 pm, Larena Wirum said:
Hi Shelley
I love when there is murder & mayham with romance. One of my favorites authors is Kay Hooper. She does that mix very well. The first books that go me reading was mysteries. Anymore I pretty much read anything.
On February 23rd, 2008 at 7:53 pm, Shelley Munro said:
Hi Sandra – thank you very much! There’s not long to wait until Fancy Free is out. I’m looking forward to it
Ann – LOL and now you know. It’s my twisted mind! I’m a huge fan of the In Death series. I see there’s a new one out. I must search one out next time I go to Borders. I think a lot of us started out with Nancy Drew books.
Larena – I like the paranormal part of Kay Hooper’s books as well. They’re very readable!
On February 23rd, 2008 at 7:54 pm, Amy Gallow said:
Murderers leave messages behind for two reasons. They either want to be caught because they feel guilty or they want to demonstrate their mental superiority, which separates them both from their victims and their pursuers. In either case, it is for their benefit.
I’m a greater fan of the Agatha Christie type detective rather than the CSI technician. The former uses observation, deduction and knowledge of human frailities, rather than scientific advances and is much more at home in romance–the latter are more likely to be motivated by lust than love(It puts me in mind of an Engineer writing love stories–highly improbable, as everyone knows. Almost as unlikely as a male romance author!)
On February 23rd, 2008 at 8:23 pm, Pamk said:
romantic suspense is my one of my three favorite genre’s.
On February 23rd, 2008 at 10:23 pm, Shelley Munro said:
LOL – Amy G. Improbable?
I’ve seen both types of books detective/CSI technician done in romance. I think, like you, I prefer the detective style and especially amateur detectives. Amateur detectives work really well with humor.
Pam – I’m betting paranormal is one of your favorites. A combination between the two makes for a good book. JD Robb’s In Death books and Jayne Ann Krenzt do combos.
On February 23rd, 2008 at 10:28 pm, Emily Ryan-Davis said:
I love mayhem in a book…especially mayhem that hits a point of absurdity that makes me sit up straight on the edge of my seat, biting my nails and holding onto a breathless, slightly hysterical giggle. An author who can provoke that response from me has a reader for life.
On February 24th, 2008 at 10:46 am, Jane said:
I love murder and mayhem with romance, it’s my favorite. Allison Brennan and Linda Howard are some of my favorite romantic suspense authors.
On February 24th, 2008 at 3:58 pm, cathy M said:
J.D. Robb is probably one of my favorites for murder/mayhem and romance. Plus she always has humor in her stories, which makes a great combo. Love some good paranormal suspense stories too. A couple of other good suspense stories this month : Night Season by Eileen Wilks and No Control by Shannon Butcher.
On February 24th, 2008 at 8:10 pm, Estella said:
Romantic suspense is my favorite genre, followed by contemporary romance and paranormal!
On February 25th, 2008 at 11:05 pm, Shelley Munro said:
Emily – I have to agree. I really like Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series. That always cracks me up.
Jane – I’ve read a couple of Allison’s books and enjoyed them. I think I’d have nightmares doing the research for them though!
Cathy – I love the dynamics between Peabody and Eve. Peabody just makes me laugh so much! I haven’t read Shannon Butcher’s books yet. I will as soon as I get time.
Estella – we have this in common.
On February 26th, 2008 at 2:14 pm, cathy M said:
I love watching Eve react to the fact that despite what she may think, she now has friends who care about her, and that these friends are now in turn, “hers”.
On February 27th, 2008 at 1:23 pm, Shelley Munro said:
Congratulations to Ann M who wins a download from my EC or CP backlist.
Email me at shelley munro @ gmail.com and let me know which book you’d like and the format.
Thanks to Sandra for being such a wonderful host and to you all for visiting. Happy reading!
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