Hey, Meradeth, thanks so much for having me back on your blog. You’re the best(est).
My new supernatural thriller, Neighborhood Watch, just came out. I hear you asking, “Hey, what makes this ‘Neighborhood Watch’ any different from the 6,000 other books out there with the same
title?” For one thing it’s priced at .99 for the initial two weeks. The other thing is “shut up for a minute and I’ll tell you.” (So impatient…)
Meet Derek and Toni, a happily married middle-aged couple living in a Kansas City suburb. Their lives are nice, quiet, content…boring, really. But that’s quite all right with Derek. The problem is things change. The new neighbors move in around the same time the elderly neighbors start dying off at an alarming rate. At first Derek is put off by the new neighbors’ attitude. Brash, rude, anti-social. But there’s something else about them, something Derek can’t quite put his finger on. Something sinister.
Without giving away spoilers, I’ll just drop a few key words and phrases: Something’s in the basement; Ghosts; Murder; Haunted land; Mental breakdowns; Native-American folklore; Annoying psychiatrists; Timid ghost-hunters; Barbeque; Satan worshippers; Tornadoes; Secret smoking…in other words, lots of fun!
Secret confession time…the two main characters are based on my marriage. I haven’t even let my wife read this book yet because…well, I could be in trouble when she does. I’ll let you know. But that’s us in the book, more or less (although I haven’t ever suffered a mental breakdown like Derek has. Been close a couple times, mind you! Being a parent will do that). So it was an odd book to write.
But the true genesis of the book came from my new neighbors across the street. That’s them in the book, as well. They annoy the crap outta’ me and the red-hoodied wife is downright rude. Pretends like she can’t hear me when I holler “hello.” (I’ve reached the point where I’ve made it a game. My daughter’s impressed it took me four “hellos” before I got the woman to acknowledge me. My daughter held the record previously with three “hellos.”) Anyway, I don’t like ‘em. Not one bit. But…I kicked it up a notch, started asking “what if” questions.
Voila! Neighborhood Watch!
Neighborhood Watch is my ode to great paranoia thrillers such as Rosemary’s Baby and The Stepford Wives. Done up Kansas suburbia style, of course. There are some fun scares to be had, nice subtle spooky ones, I hope. I like spooky. So drop a buck, curl up and take the Winter chill off with…um…a chilling book.
Meet Derek and Toni, a happily married middle-aged couple living in a Kansas City suburb. Their lives are nice, quiet, content…boring, really. But that’s quite all right with Derek. The problem is things change. The new neighbors move in around the same time the elderly neighbors start dying off at an alarming rate. At first Derek is put off by the new neighbors’ attitude. Brash, rude, anti-social. But there’s something else about them, something Derek can’t quite put his finger on. Something sinister.
Without giving away spoilers, I’ll just drop a few key words and phrases: Something’s in the basement; Ghosts; Murder; Haunted land; Mental breakdowns; Native-American folklore; Annoying psychiatrists; Timid ghost-hunters; Barbeque; Satan worshippers; Tornadoes; Secret smoking…in other words, lots of fun!
Secret confession time…the two main characters are based on my marriage. I haven’t even let my wife read this book yet because…well, I could be in trouble when she does. I’ll let you know. But that’s us in the book, more or less (although I haven’t ever suffered a mental breakdown like Derek has. Been close a couple times, mind you! Being a parent will do that). So it was an odd book to write.
But the true genesis of the book came from my new neighbors across the street. That’s them in the book, as well. They annoy the crap outta’ me and the red-hoodied wife is downright rude. Pretends like she can’t hear me when I holler “hello.” (I’ve reached the point where I’ve made it a game. My daughter’s impressed it took me four “hellos” before I got the woman to acknowledge me. My daughter held the record previously with three “hellos.”) Anyway, I don’t like ‘em. Not one bit. But…I kicked it up a notch, started asking “what if” questions.
Voila! Neighborhood Watch!
Neighborhood Watch is my ode to great paranoia thrillers such as Rosemary’s Baby and The Stepford Wives. Done up Kansas suburbia style, of course. There are some fun scares to be had, nice subtle spooky ones, I hope. I like spooky. So drop a buck, curl up and take the Winter chill off with…um…a chilling book.
What do you all think? Have you written a book that relates to real life? Or used a person close to you as a character? :)
Sounds good. You realy grabbed me at the non spoilers paragraph.
ReplyDeleteLife imitates art, or is that intimidates...
lol! Great line :)
DeleteHey David! I, too, love that great line. Sounds like a terrific blurb. Thanks for the kind words.
DeleteSounds interesting. I like the cover too.
ReplyDeleteIt is a great cover, isn't it? (I'm partial, too, because it's done by my CA :)
DeleteIt is a great cover, isn't it Kelly? Charlie Volnek knocked this one out of the park, my favorite she's done for me yet. This book was really the easiest of mine to write, possibly because it was partly autobiographical (um, excluding the ghosts, murderous cult and other little details like that).
DeleteThe best characters are drawn from real life. Their voices are so much stronger when committed to the page. They're usually the standouts in any novel.
ReplyDeleteOkay, now I'm curious--which characters are based on real people, Faith? :)
DeleteThanks for dropping by, Faith. And I agree with you.
DeleteBy the way, has anyone else been having problems with Blogspot via Internet Explorer? It hasn't worked right on there for weeks. Had to finally resort to Firefox. Cursed internet!
DeleteSounds suspenseful, Stuart!
ReplyDeleteIn regards to your question, I've used Google Chrome for composing blogs for months. IE is okay for reading blogger links, but impossible for writing blogs.
Chrome all the way! Google owns my life... But I love the linking between computers--that's awesome and incredibly useful for me :)
DeleteHi William: I'd like to think the book's suspenseful, but then again I'm biased.
DeleteI'll have to look into Google Chrome. IE used to be fine, but they switched it up lately. "Improved it."
Neighborhood Watch sounds like a fascinating read. I love that we found out that the married couple is based on Stuart and his wife. I am curious about what her reaction will be when she reads it (because I know she will at some point). I think it is awesome that the annoying neighbors helped to spark the story! My mom has a neighbor that I play the same game with. I can't imagine not saying hello back to someone, but I guess not everyone feels that way. If anything, it only makes me say hi every time I run into her. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing!
It's a fun backstory to the book, isn't it? And I must admit I'm grateful not to run into my neighbors much--they're not generally the friendly sort either.
DeleteHey Stephanie. Thanks for the nice words. I'll post on my blog my wife's reaction. Thus far--and she's only read a little bit--she said "it's good...but weird." Methinks she doesn't want to finish it! Maybe that's not a bad idea. Keep playing with your Mom's neighbor! It's the only thing we can do once they draw the (for whatever reason) battle-lines! To war!
DeleteOooo... sounds haunting and action-packed! I like.
ReplyDeleteRight? Good way to describe it! :)
DeleteYay, Morgan! You sound like you have tastes like mine! Thanks for dropping in.
DeleteI love thrillers...and ooh, something's in the basement. Sounds like a wonderful read.
ReplyDeleteRIght? Lots of fun times in this one!
DeleteOkay, this one went on my TBR list as soon as I finished reading the synopsis and your review. It gave me chills and sounds fantastic!
ReplyDeleteLove it!!!
Michelle
It really does sound chilly and creepy, right? In the best possible way!
Delete