Schimanski: METER OF CORRUPTION second book in action/thriller trilogy

Welcome to Wolf Schimanski, a man of many interests and talents. He has trained in martial arts, enjoys a variety of sports and is an accomplished guitarist and musician. Professionally Schimanski worked many years in the information technology, management and financial planning industries.

            

An avid reader turned breakthrough author, Schimanski brings his own unique spin to the action/thriller genre and thus far has released two exceptionally gripping, fast-paced works of fiction---Meter of Deception and Meter of Corruption.

            

Schimanski lives with his wife Terri and divides his time between their lakeside home in Mount Forest, Ontario, in the summer and their winter residence in London Ontario, Canada.  He is currently working on his third novel, the final installment in the Meter trilogy.

What brings your writing into focus? I would say the characters, the story line as well as exciting and intriguing my readers. There is nothing more gratifying to have your readers telling you how much they enjoyed the book and asking when the next one will be available.

What inspired your latest book? Actually it was the first book in the Meter series, Meter of Deception. The characters were so unique and my readers as well as myself were dying to find out what happens to them 5 years later. And with the totally unexpected ending, a third novel is now on its way to finalize things and tie up loose ends.

What do you think readers will like about your book? My books appeal to a special kind of reader who loves action, adventure, thrills, intrigue and mystery. My latest book has all that and so much more.  The fact that some readers said they could not put it down once they picked it up was like music to my ears and my main aim as an author. To thrill, surprise and entertain.

What's your favorite way to interact with fans/readers? Hands down in person at book signings and events. But I do enjoying interacting online via email, twitter or facebook as well although it is a lot less personal.

What makes your book/characters unique? My book is about four friends who 5 years ago got mixed up in something deadly, dangerous and unprecedented and now face a menace even more sinister after living peacefully once again. The characters are almost real and could be the people next door. The villain is evil, ruthless and spins a web of corruption and devastation locally and throughout the world. 

Find Wolf's books on: Amazon | Books Go Social 

METER OF CORRUPTION: Jon-Erik, Joey, Angel, and Tina have been through some severe tough times together, and they’ve made it through to the other side. But just as things are finally calming down and starting to go smoothly for them, chaos reenters their lives, and it threatens to destroy everything they hold dear.

This highly anticipated sequel to author Wolf Schimanski’s debut novel Meter of Deception finds the fearless foursome comfortably settled into a domestic paradise. Jon-Erik and Angel as well as Joey and Tina have settled down and are engaged to be married, and the men are working together as partners in Joey’s family furniture business.

But corporate shark Richard Rasmussin has his sights set on their business, and he’s determined to swallow it whole. A ruthless, underhanded, crooked man, he’ll stop at nothing until he takes hold of the business, and he’ll do whatever it takes to make sure that no one interferes with his larger, wide-sweeping wicked schemes.

Can these four friends muster up the courage and skill to survive Rasmussin’s attacks? Or will they fall victim to corruption, depravity, and danger that is unprecedented even for them?

The second installment in the Meter trilogy, Meter of Corruption, follows the protagonists as they battle to protect their lives and livelihoods from the sinister web that threatens to suffocate them. Full of non-stop action, unexpected plot twists, and spine-tingling revelations, this page-turner spans wayward and exotic locations, such as Jamaica and Russia, and delves into an underworld so dark and diabolical it’ll leave you at a loss for words.

Monday's Book Give Away: Cemetery Girl

Cemetery Girl is a thriller by David Bell. "Every truth has its price." 

From the back jacket:

"Tom and Abby Stuart had everything: a perfect marriage, successful careers, and a beautiful twelve-year-old daughter, Caitlin. Then one day Caitlin vanished without a trace.  For a while they grasped at every false hope and followed every empty lead, but the tragedy ended up changing their lives, overwhelming them with guilt and dread, and shattering their marriage.

"Four years later, Caitlin is found alive--dirty and disheveled yet preternaturally calm. She won't discuss where she was or what happened. Then the police arrest a suspect connected to her disappearance, but Caitlin refuses to testify, leaving the Stuarts with a choice: Let the man who may be responsible for destroying their lives walk away, or take matters into their own hands. And when Tom decides to try to uncover the truth for himself, he finds that nothing that has happened yet can prepare him for what he is about to discover."

HOW DO YOU WIN A FREE COPY OF CEMETERY GIRL?  To enter the contest, simply leave a comment or question on the Writers' Lens between now (Aug. 13) and midnight, Aug. 18, 2012. Please include your email so we can reach you if you win. The more comments you leave, the greater your chance of winning the contest. If you refer others to The Writer's Lens who mention your name in their comments, I'll enter your name again in our random number generator along with theirs, also increasing your chances at winning! Good luck and comment often!

Thank you for reading and please visit www.davidalanlucas.com and www.thewriterslens.com. You can also follow me on twitter @Owlkenpowriter and the Writer’s Lens @TheWritersLens. Fiction is the world where the philosopher is the most free in our society to explore the human condition as he chooses.

Monday Book Giveaway: Serial by John Lutz

This week, The Writers' Lens is honored to bring its readers a master--a legend--of the thriller and mystery genre: John Lutz.

"If I've scared somebody enough to disturb their sleep--that's good."--John Lutz

The Writers' Lens: When you are starting to work on a new novel, what do you find brings the story into focus for you? A Character? A setting? Something else?

John Lutz: Almost always the characters, and something of their relationship with each other. The interplay between the characters is as important as the characters themselves.

WL: How did you learn to write suspenseful thrillers?

JL:  By writing and writing and writing. I think the more you write, the more you learn, and the better you write. Also I enjoy reading suspense novels; especially if they are set in New York City, such as Lawrence Sanders’ “Deadly Sin” series, published in the seventies. New York is a great place to set a novel.

WL: What key things make your thrillers work?

JL: I would like to think they work because of the characters. They have to be real enough for the reader to identify with them and on a certain level feel what they are feeling and share in their experience.

"As a writer you're getting inside the skin of your character in your book in the same way an actor gets inside the skin of a character he plays on stage."-- John Lutz

WL: What was the hardest part of writing thrillers and suspense?

JL:  It’s more difficult and time consuming to write a long, multiple viewpoint novel than to write a linear detective novel or conventional whodunit. There are more plates to keep spinning.

WL: You are currently writing about serial killers.  When you write their scenes, do you ever scare yourself?

JL: Nope. I’m too wrapped up in technique, and wondering if what I’m doing is working, to feel what I hope the reader will feel. It’s gratifying to receive e-mails from women thanking me for having scared them. Makes me think I’m on the right track.

WL: How do you sharpen your suspenseful scenes and when do you know, as the writer, that you have it the way you want it?

JL: When I believe I’ve revised enough, I set aside what I’ve written and come back to it later with a fresh perspective. If it still feels to me that I’ve nailed a scene or story, I’m satisfied.

WL: What themes in your fiction writing seem to drive you the most?

JL: I like my fiction to convey the notion that there are patterns and  real cause and effect in life (which is for the most part  pretty random) and that once we discern what’s happening, we have the ability to cope with it, or at least learn to accept it.

WL: Do you work on multiple novels at once? If so, how many?

JL: I take it one book at a time, though if I’m between phases, such as a finished first draft, or a second, I might work on another project. I’m probably giving the impression that I revise a lot. I do.

WL: How easy was it to take the leap of faith to become a serious writer and chase this career? What did you find that you had to do to take the step?

JL:  When I received a surprisingly large advance for a novel, it became apparent to me that this was my most marketable skill. I knew I could combine what I very much enjoyed doing (writing) with obtaining what I very much needed (money). A liberating moment.

WL: In years past, new writers would battle their way in the pulp magazines to build their readerships and their careers. Do you think that is still the case in the explosion of electronic readers, blogs, e-zines, and other like media? Who do you see as the current gatekeeper of the good writers and those who are still developing?

JL: A comprehensive answer would take several pages, and then it might be far wrong. Maybe the most interesting thing about book-biz these days is that no one knows for sure where it is headed. Where we’ve been, and where we are, might be much different from where we’re going. There seems to be no gatekeeper, and the gate is wide open.

WL: When you plot your novels, from whose point of view do you plot from? The protagonist’s? The antagonist’s? The narrator’s? Some one else?

JL: In a thriller I write from several alternating  points of view. I also like to write more linear PI novels from the protagonist’s POV, and in third person.

WL: Arthur C. Clarke once wrote that when science catches up with the science fiction writer, the science fiction writer needs to make a leap forward.  With fictional shows like CSI and reality TV shows like Killer Instinct, do you feel that you have had to take a leap forward as a thriller writer to stay atop of the changes in the science of criminal investigation? How do you stay ahead of the game?

JL: Definitely we have to leap, or at least crawl, forward to keep up. DNA alone has forced many changes. Cell phones mean everyone can be in touch with everyone else. The Internet provides information it took fictional detectives not so long ago weeks (or chapters) to obtain. The more sophisticated cell phones become, the more we crime writers have to adapt, because almost everyone now has a cell phone, which is also a camera, which is also a GPS system, which is also a research library, which is also a newspaper morgue, which is also a recorder, which is also…

WL: What novels, books, articles, magazines or other media most useful when you are researching serial killers and criminal investigation?

JL:  See above. Google is probably my main source of research material.

WL: You are a master and a legend in the genres of suspense and mystery.  What was your biggest fear when you decided to first be published as a novelist?  Do you still have those fears with each new book or are there other fears that come up?

JL: Like most of the writers I knew when I was starting out, my biggest fear was that I wouldn’t sell enough copies to prompt the sale of another book. Fewer fears now. I’m more confident that if I take the time and trouble to revise, I can make whatever it is I’m writing work, Unlike many writers, I really do enjoy revising, so that’s not much of a problem. It’s meticulous work, but it’s what  lends the fiction life.  To paraphrase Mark Twain: “The difference between the adequate word and the precise word is the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.”

WL: What is your writing schedule like?

JL: I usually work in the morning, then after lunch revise what I’ve written.  In both morning and afternoon, before starting to work I check e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, to make sure nothing requires immediate attention.

WL: If you could have coffee (or drink of your choice) with four other authors from any time period, who would you choose and why?

JL: Shakespeare, to see if I could get an honest answer out of him.; H.H. Munro (Saki) to see if I could figure out how he did what no one else has been able to do; Joseph Conrad, to see if he talks as rhythmically as he writes; Edgar Allan Poe, to see if I could cheer him up.

WL: How could my readers learn more about you?

JL: They could visit my Facebook author page, Twitter, or my website, http://www.johnlutzonline.com

Here are some additional videos on YouTube about John Lutz and his stories:

Meet John Lutz: http://youtu.be/aOsTgiwxUMM

John Lutz: The World of Frank Quinn: http://youtu.be/ZrH6MlWQaek

How do you win a free signed copy of this novel?  To enter the contest, simply leave a comment or question on the Writers'Lens blog between now (April 9th) and midnight April 14, 2012. Please include your email so we can reach you if you win. The more comments you leave, the greater your chance of winning the contest. If you refer others to The Writer's Lens who mention your name in their comments, I'll enter your name again in our random number generator along with theirs, also increasing your chances at winning! The winner will be chosen after midnight on Saturday, April 14 and the announcement made on Sunday, April 15, Good luck and comment often. Good luck!

Thank you for reading and please visit www.davidalanlucas.com and www.thewriterslens.com. You can also follow me on twitter @Owlkenpowriter and the Writer’s Lens @TheWritersLens. Fiction is the world where the philosopher is the most free in our society to explore the human condition as he chooses.

A Con for Mystery and Detective Fiction Lovers

Charline Harris and Laurell K. Hamilton kick off Bouchercon XLII with event for the St. Louis Public Library

While many genres have them, usually when you hear the word "con" (for convention) many people think of the big science fiction and fantasy cons where it is quite common to see fans dressed as favorite characters (from Star Trek to Anime to Super Heroes and everything in between). These are great places to meet some authors and other fans of that genre.  But, did you know that there is an annual mystery and detective lovers con? Traveling from city to city every year, it is four day Con with panels of mystery and detective crime fiction writers who range  from the new author to the legendary. It is Bouchercon!

Bouchercon (Anthony Boucher Memorial World Mystery Convention) is named after writer, editor, and reviewer, Anthony Boucher (who wrote under his name and H.H. Holmes). It started in 1970 and is attended by writers, publishers, agents and devoted fans of mysteries. In 2011, it came to St. Louis, Missouri.  The guests of honor were Robert Crais, Charlaine Harris, Colin Cotterill and Val McDermid with special living legend guests of John Lutz and Robert Randisi and toastmaster was Ridley Pearson. At Bouchercon, the fans and fellow writers can interact with speakers, discover new authors they might like, and immerse themselves in the dark world of crime fictionas they discuss the trends in the genre and our social issues.

While there were a lot of books for sale, so to were there a lot of free books given to each attendee and there was a lot of book trading. If you needed to pick up new mystery books or to start a mystery library, Bouchercon will take care of you (as an attendee, I picked up enough books to cover my dining room table). Below are pictures of the various panel discussions and the party from Bouchercon XLII.

The next Bouchercon will be October 4 - 7 in Cleveland, Ohio. For more information, please visit: http://www.bouchercon.info/index.html and http://www.bouchercon2012.com/

While it will occur in October, it is best to plan ahead if you wish to go.

Grave Secrets with Charlaine Harris

Burning House of Love (sex and crime fiction panel)

Clear Cut Case of Murder-or is it-panel

  

I Will Rise Up panel

Night Chills panel

 

No Way to Treat a Body Panel

Sparks Fly Out panel

 

Spellbound panel

 

The Dead Land panel

Time to dance! (or just relax to a band of mystery writers)

  

Thank you for reading and please visit www.davidalanlucas.com and www.thewriterslens.com. You can also follow me on twitter @Owlkenpowriter and the Writer’s Lens @TheWritersLens. Fiction is the world where the philosopher is the most free in our society to explore the human condition as he chooses.

The Writers' Lens Presents--A Series on Writing Hitchcockian

The slap-squish click-ity click of brick smashed into mortar and moved against the others to fit it in place was followed by the scraping of the trowel removing the access. The scraping of the goo back on top of the next brick in the wall was accompanied by the clinking of chains and the stifled moans of a helpless man, his mouth duct tapped and his eyes wide as the last smells of the world he would know was the smell of the basement as I slowly walled him up.

"Oh, hello! Please ignore the redecorating I am doing to my little corner of The Writers' Lens. "

"Who is this man?" Your voice trembles.

"Nothing to worry about. He's my inner critic, just suffering from a bout of . . .  talking too much while I write."

Please do ignore the mess I am making as I prepare to launch a new series of blogs about a man, who has rightly been crowned the Master of Suspense, Alfred Hitchcock and what it means to be Hitchcockian. His name is synonymous with thrillers and mystery--and macabre humor (like the above ala Hitchcock Presents). His films spanned horror, suspense, romance and comedy, while he explored the dark side of our psyche. 

Alfred Hitchcock was a master of storytelling with the art of film. This series of blogs, which will be held over the next several months, will take the master's film techniques and see how they can be applied to our shared art of writing (even if you don't write mystery, suspense, or horror).

While preparing for this series, I have seen some posted articles and comments that too much has been read into what Hitchcock--reading meaning into something that had no meaning. I couldn't disagree more. Hitchcock controlled his films too much, not giving the film editors much of a choice when it came to cutting shots or the choice of the camera view.  In fact, to quote him, "The writer and I plan out the entire script down to the smallest detail, and when we're finished all that's left to do is to shoot the film."

Over the next several months, as we rotate blogs on the Writer's Wednesday, I will explore the following Hitchcock techniques and touch on some writers who use them (intentionally or not):

• The use of psychological theory in our writing and how to use it to affect our reader;
• The use of story description to set the mood and convey what dialogue can't;
• The use of symbolism to trigger a subconscious response;
• The use of themes;
•  The use of thrills and chills--what to show and what not to;
• The use of macabre humor;
• The use of big shockers;
• Teasing, playfulness, sexual tension, and undercurrents;
•  The explorations of the unsettling relationship between violence and sex;
• The signature

The Writers' Lens would like our readers to comment often and have a hand in the exploration of the Hitchcockian style and how it might help in all of our writing. For those who read this blog who are not writers, it is our hope to bring into focus how Hitchcock's techniques are used today in what you read and watch on TV or in the movies.

Thank you for reading and please visit www.davidalanlucas.com and www.thewriterslens.com. You can also follow me on twitter @Owlkenpowriter and the Writer’s Lens @TheWritersLens. Fiction is the world where the philosopher is the most free in our society to explore the human condition as he chooses.

Comment to win signed copy of SERIAL by NY Times bestselling author John Lutz

Recently I had the opportunity to meet New York Times bestselling author John Lutz at a lecture offered by the St. Louis Writers Guild. I didn't miss the chance to pick up a signed copy of SERIAL, his new Frank Quinn novel.

  

"The killer becomes the hunted...She was gagged. Violated. Tortured. Nailing the killer is priority number one and only the best will do--that means Frank Quinn. And Quinn wouldn't want it any other way. Because he recognizes the victim. Years ago, as a homicide detective, he saved her young life. Now the hunt is on, and deep in his gut, Quinn welcomes it. he knows he's seeing the work of a truly twisted serial killer. Except it's not the ritual weapon that makes this killer so disturbing. It's who he kills--and how he makes them suffer..."

John Lutz is the author of more than 40 novels and over 200 short stories and articles. His SWF SEEKS SAME was made into the hit movie SINGLE WHITE FEMALE, starring Bridget Fonda and Jennifer Jason Leigh, and his novel THE EX was made into the HBO original movie of the same title, for which he co-authored the screenplay. 

To enter the contest, simply leave a comment or question on The Writers' Lens blog between now (Nov. 21) and midnight Nov. 26, 2011. Please include your email so we can reach you if you win. The more comments you leave, the greater your chance of winning the contest. If you refer others to The Writers' Lens who mention your name in their comments, we'll enter your name again in our random number generator along with theirs, also increasing your chances at winning! The winner will be chosen after midnight on Saturday and the announcement made on Sunday, Nov. 27. 

Thanks in advance for your comments, and good luck!