News Flash — FREE Kindle ebook

Indelible: A Sean McPherson Novel, Book One is now available for FREE on Amazon Kindle from May 16 to 18! Don’t miss out on this limited-time offer. Download your copy today and spread the word to friends and family. With over 300 five-star reviews, they’re sure to love it! 

For your convenience, here’s a LINK.

© lauriebuchanan.com

A favor s’il vous plaît

Iniquity hits the shelves three months from today and will be available at your favorite booksellers in paperback and ebook formats. The audiobook version will be available on or shortly after April 9.

Please follow this LINK to Goodreads and press the big green WANT TO READ button below the Iniquity book cover.

The behind-the-scenes algorithm responds to numbers. The greater the WANT TO READ number, the greater the visibility Iniquity will receive.

You probably already know that Amazon owns Goodreads. It works the same way but with the number of reviews. So, once you read Iniquity (please and thank you), please post a review. It can be as short as “I enjoyed the book.”

© lauriebuchanan.com

Similar yet Different

If you’re a fan of reading books with white-knuckle, adrenalin-pumping storylines, you might be under the impression that some of those genre category titles are interchangeable. Interestingly, they’re similar yet different:

THRILLER — The s/hero must thwart an enemy’s plans rather than uncover a crime that has already happened. 

MYSTERY — The reader doesn’t know “who done it” until the end.

SUSPENSE — The reader knows “who done it,” but the book’s characters don’t find out until the end.

PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER — The main character usually experiences a “dissolving sense of reality.”

CRIME — The focus of the storyline is on a criminal who must be apprehended.

POLICE PROCEDURAL — The emphasis is on the procedures used by law enforcement to solve the crime.

My publisher categorized my next book, Indelible: A Sean McPherson Novel, Book One, in the following three genres:

Advance Praise for Indelible
“Buchanan’s narrative is well-paced, flying right along. . . . the author has delivered an exciting beginning to an intriguing series.” —KIRKUS REVIEWS

SERIAL KILLER THRILLER — The s/hero must thwart a serial killer’s plans and possibly uncover previous crimes during their current quest.

PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR MYSTERY — The reader and the PI see many of the puzzle’s pieces, but the full “picture on the box” isn’t revealed until the end.

SUSPENSE THRILLER — A exhilarating one-two punch that combines the reader’s knowledge of “who done it,” with the un-knowing s/hero’s efforts to thwart the antagonist’s plans.

What’s your favorite book genre?

Indelible: A Sean McPherson Novel, Book One
Release Date: April 6, 2021

© lauriebuchanan.com

Details Please

Two weeks ago, I dangled a carrot to entice readers over to my author website for a sneak peek at the cover of my new book, Indelible. The analytics show that 2,200 people visited lauriebuchanan.com in the week following that post—many of you asked for more details.

I got the idea for the suspense/thriller series while staying in one of the cabins at Hedgebrook, a writing retreat—where women author change—on Whidbey Island, just off the coast from Seattle, Washington.

Indelible takes place takes place at Pines & Quill (a writing retreat that’s a figment of my imagination) in Fairhaven/Bellingham, Washington (a real location). I took these photographs to give you a sense of location:

If you wrote a suspense/thriller, where would the location be?

© lauriebuchanan.com

Mystery Writers Academy

On January 24th, I attended the Mystery Writers Academy hosted by the Idaho Writers Guild and presented by Vickie Gooch, a detective in the Major Crimes Unit of the Idaho State Police.

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I now know more about sex crimes, the production and sale of drugs, violent offenders, “suicide by cop,” probable cause affidavits, ViCAP (the FBI’s violent offender program), human trafficking, Touch DNA, cold case homicides, and serial killers than I ever dreamed of. All of it is necessary knowledge when you’re writing a suspense/thriller novel and you want the details to be accurate.

Vicki Gooch’s presentation and examples were outstanding. She’s knowledgeable, humorous, approachable, and a high-energy presenter who kept her writing audience right where she wanted us—dangling at the end of her sharp hook! She’s a great teacher who looks sweet, loving, kind, and thoughtful. But as we all know, appearances can be deceptive. This woman can kick butt and take names!

On February 28th I’m taking a tour of the Idaho State Police Crime Lab. Just imagine what I’ll learn there!

What’s your most recent learning?

© lauriebuchanan.com