Do I Have a Criminal Mind?

Photo courtesy of Wiki Commons from the public domain.

Why am I fascinated with serial killers? I don’t know. You know, I’d never heard of the BTK killer until I researched serial killers several years ago. The story got to me so much that I stopped doing what I was doing that night and prayed the killer would get caught. The next day they arrested the guy. After years of looking for him. Was there a connection between my prayer and his arrest? I don’t know. Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe it was just his time to get caught. Or maybe, like they say, God works in mysterious ways. Whatever the case, I’m glad the killer is locked up.

Real life is a lot different from a television show or a novel. Real people died at the hands of BTK. Real people lost loved ones. Fiction is a lot easier to handle. You can distance yourself from the horror of it by telling yourself it’s not real. Sometimes. One of my favorite shows is Criminal Minds. Every episode is about a serial killer or a spree killer. Yesterday, I watched several episodes back to back. I had to stop watching after a while, because that much twisted stuff can get to me. After a few episodes, I started wondering if that kind of stuff can really happen. And then I thought about BTK.

They caught that guy through his computer. Imagine. What would my computer say about me? If a forensic computer geek were to check my Google history, he or she might find some interesting searches. In my quest to add a bit of authenticity to my writing, I’ve asked some questions that might look...I don’t know...questionable. I’m no criminal mind. The thought of hurting another living thing makes me cringe. But certainly my Google searches might appear a bit...criminal. Here are a few examples:

1.     Has anyone ever hid a meth lab in a cave?

2.     How does one fire a gun properly?

3.     How can you tell someone has been in prison by their body language or mannerisms?

4.     How long does one stay in prison for possession of meth with intent to distribute?

5.     How long does it take for a body to completely decompose?

6.     How does one acquire a permit to carry a gun in Arkansas?

7.     How long does a body stay in the water before it floats to the surface?

8.     How long before the tracks of someone’s drug addiction disappears?

Of course, my obsession with serial killers might arouse suspicion. Then, there’s my frequent searches for abandoned buildings in various locales. Or my search of the various canals in New Orleans. Whatever do I intend to do with this information? The searches for how different drugs interact with each other doesn’t look good for me either.

So here’s my disclaimer. I’m a writer. I research weird stuff. That’s what I do.

New Book Series! #HauntedHearts Coming September 2014

Introducing an exciting new series filled with paranormal activity, delicious romance, and plenty of suspense.

Photo by the ultra-talented Keri Neal.

Haunted Hearts Series

Coming September 2014!

Book One: Laurel Heights

Look for the cover reveal early July 2014!

Want a blurb? Okay! Here it is!

A dark cloud of deceit hovers over her family tree...

Laurel Standridge hopes to leave a difficult past behind her in California when she heads to the hills of Arkansas to claim her inheritance. Left an estate by an aunt she’s never met, Laurel takes possession of Laurel Heights, hoping it will be the safe haven she needs to recuperate from her ill-fated relationship with Rand Peterson. Secrets long buried rise to the surface when her cousin James is murdered and dumped on the highway just outside the gates of Laurel Heights.

Her past trails her to the mountains of Arkansas...

To make her dream of opening a romantic bed and breakfast getaway reality, Laurel hires Chase to help her with the renovations to the old dilapidated house. Trusting Chase is hard when she discovers he is more than just a handyman. Caught in an obligation Chase feels he cannot ignore, he agrees to help his brother take back the property Rand believes Laurel stole from him. Chase remains at Laurel Heights even after he determines Laurel took nothing of Rand’s away with her from California except nightmares, fading bruises, and a fractured rib.

Unexplained disturbances shatter her hopes of a normal life...

As Rand seethes in prison, Chase fears he will send someone to Arkansas to seek revenge on Laurel for testifying against him. Are the strange bumps, thumps, and bangs reverberating through the night caused by the murderer of Laurel’s cousin James, the man Rand has sent to exact his revenge, or a disturbed soul existing in another dimension, trying to communicate with the living? Drawn together by the intrigue surrounding Laurel Heights, Chase and Laurel become hopelessly entangled in a relationship that goes deeper than mere physical attraction. Can their love survive the haunting of Laurel Heights?

Look for excerpts from the first chapter beginning in mid-July!

Cover Reveal - Love & Redemption by Chantel Rhondeau

Title: Love & Redemption (Agents in Love - Book 2)

Author: Chantel Rhondeau

Will be released: April 18, 2014

Genre: Romantic Suspense

Swearing off sex is anything but easy for bad girl Shelley Daniels. Especially after she bumps into super sexy Gavin Hart, who’s running for his life.

All Gavin wanted was fast money and a chance to start fresh. Now this jewelry thief is the target of professional assassins, ones he witnessed murder a woman in cold blood.

Gavin drags Shelley into the world she was desperate to escape, full of secret agents, assassin plots, and a frantic plan to stop a terrorist group from perfecting a new weapon. Gavin also attempts to steal what’s left of her jaded heart while they hide from the murderers.

The killers strike again, drawing the pair back to the city. When a child’s life hangs in the balance, Shelley and Gavin have a chance to make up for prior sins, but finding redemption means risking everything—including their chance for true love.

CONTENT WARNING: Language, violence, and sizzling love scenes

Add to your Goodreads TBR pile or sign up for Chantel's newsletter to get an email notifying you when the book is available!

If you missed the first book in the series Love & Deception (Agents in Love - Book 1) now is the time to get caught up with Nick and Carlie's story.

What if everything you believed in was a lie?

In hiding for six years, Carlie Hollis is tired of running. All she wants is to stay in Sayle, Washington and make a success of her struggling delicatessen. Because of her past, she’s suspicious of anyone who takes an interest in her.

Nick Kendall works as a spy in a top-secret government operation, protecting innocent people from danger. Sent to Sayle on a mission to infiltrate a suspected terrorist organization, Nick finds himself attracted to Carlie, an alleged key player of the group.

Despite her misgivings, Carlie develops feelings for the handsome stranger, believing he is there to help her. But when Nick finds evidence of her guilt, he’s given orders to do the unthinkable—eliminate the target, one he's fallen hopelessly in love with. Will he follow orders...or become hunted himself?

CONTENT WARNING: Violence, language, sizzling love scenes.

Buy it now:

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#WeWriWa #8Sunday #SnippetSunday 09.08.13

It's a Sunday thing...

Each Sunday, Weekend Writing Warriors hosts a fun new blog hop. If you would like to participate, link to the list at http://www.wewriwa.com/ and post eight sentences from a published or unpublished work to your blog on Sunday. Follow the same link on Sunday to read excerpts from other authors.

SNIPPET SUNDAY

Each Sunday, fellow writers on the Facebook page, Snippet Sunday, share excerpts from their work on their blogs. To read more follow this link, https://www.facebook.com/groups/SnippetSunday/461163367303186.

This week's eight comes from my recently released romantic suspense novel, The End. Here's the set up... Ellie's husband, Tab, a part-time writer, part-time cabbie, has been dead almost a year.

I’d put the idea of reading his final words aside, but then I couldn’t stand it anymore. I had to read what he left behind.

When I opened the file, I expected to read something sentimental and just a little cheesy, something with a made-for-television happy ending. I expected to cry like a baby when I read his final words. Tab was the most dramatic man I’d ever met.

Instead, I became engrossed in a thriller that read so real I wondered if he had written a true story. All the plot needed was a realistic ending.

And the end came to me in the middle of the night.

Here's the blurb...

Sometimes the end is only the beginning...

Almost a year after her husband dies, Ellie Marston opens the file for Tab’s last manuscript, a thriller so compelling it reads like a true story. His manuscript needs an ending, so Ellie writes the obvious conclusion. The same morning she types The End, her career as an assistant district attorney falls apart. Accused of throwing the high profile Patterson case, she resigns in disgrace. The only friend she has left in the criminal justice system is Det. Paul Santiago, a man she has worked closely with on numerous cases. While she was married to Tab, she squashed her growing feelings for Paul, determined to make her deteriorating marriage work, but circumstances after Tab’s death bring Ellie and Paul together.

Ellie’s paranoia increases as she becomes convinced Patterson is harassing her, certain that someone is searching her belongings for any hidden evidence she might have that would reopen his case. It becomes clear there was a conspiracy to release Patterson. She seeks help from her former co-worker, Presley Sinclair, but soon discovers Presley is deeply involved in the subsequent cover up. Worse yet, Tab’s affair with Presley drew him into the twisted conspiracy as well.

Together Paul and Ellie attempt to uncover the conspiracy in the District Attorney’s office, the set up that forced her to resign. The key to the mystery is hidden in the pages of Tab’s manuscript. Once Paul and Ellie come to the correct conclusion—Tab’s manuscript is a true story and Ellie’s added ending is the only logical outcome—Ellie attempts to reveal Patterson’s hidden partner in the District Attorney’s office, but the co-conspirator she uncovers is not whom she suspects. Danger swirls around her as she steps further and further into the conspirator’s trap.

***

I hope you enjoyed the eight and the blurb. The End is only 2.99, that's less than the cost of a gallon of gasoline. Less than a gallon of milk. Click on the book cover above for the purchase link.