Featured Author: Carol Davis Luce

My friend Carol Davis Luce is one of the first authors I got to know when I published in 2011. She's been writing for decades, and her talent shines through in her wonderful body of work. A perfect example of that is her novel, Night Cries, about a thirty-year-old woman named Maddie who has no memory of her adoption, and is haunted by her haunting past. With a 4.9 star rating, this is a perfect example of Carol's impressive talents. 

Carol has a lot of great insight into the writing industry, and she was gracious enough to share her thoughts on the writing biz below with all of you:

If the path of my writing career were a chart, it would resemble a picket fence. Extreme up and downs over a thirty year period. I wasn’t born to write, but when I did take it up later in life, I jumped in with both feet and wrestled the beast to the ground. After the success of five traditionally published novels, my career suddenly stalled. However, I didn’t give up. Just changed direction by becoming a novel writing instructor for the next generation of aspiring authors.      

Fast-forward fifteen years. My good buddy, bestselling author J. Carson Black, encouraged me to join the twenty-first century. I converted those five novels into digital format where they found a whole new audience of modern day e-readers.

The good times didn’t stop there. Last year, with the help of a group of smart and exceptionally talented writers (waving at Cheryl Bradshaw), I became a New York Times bestselling author. It doesn’t get any better than that!

Success Begins Where Others Quit. That was my motto through the years. Take your knocks and move on. Develop a thick skin. Take comfort in those good days of writing where everything falls into place. Associate with people who lift you up. The first check I received for my writing was $10 for 3^rd Place in a magazine writing contest. It wasn’t much, but it validated me as a writer and was a portent of good things to come.

The Next Big Thing

Last week, talented author Suzanne Tyrpak (who I will always admire not only for her talent, but because of my jealousy of her friendship with equally talented Blake Crouch) tagged me in her "The Next Best Thing" blog post.  I feel like I've just boarded a train with friends that never stops...so let's see if we can keep it chugging right along, shall we? 

For my part, I will be answering a series of questions and then tagging five other authors to do the same one week from today. 

Here we go...(I keep wanting to say "choo-choo," but that would be entirely childish of me)

1) What is the title of your next book?

I've just released a new book, called Stranger in Town, and I'd rather discuss Stranger over what I am currently working on, since I've got at least three irons in the fire right now.  How's that for rebelliousness? ;)

2) Where did the idea come from for the book?

I knew this question would come sooner or later, so why not sooner? 

When I was a girl, about the age of sweet Olivia, the girl in my story, I had a frightening experience that could have ended much worse than it did.  In my story, I took Olivia and put her in the same situation, except I changed the outcome.  I am all about the "what if's" of life, and this seemed like a good opportunity to draw on the fear I still feel when I recall the experience today.

3) What genre does your book fall under?

Mystery, suspense, thriller, romantic suspense...shall I go on?

4) What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?

I am never able to answer this question.  No matter what I say, the actor is never quite right.  Therefore, I cannot answer this.  Sorry!

5) What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

One sentence will not suffice.  So here's a few.

Six-year-old Olivia Hathaway tiptoes down the center aisle of Maybelle's Market, stopping once to glance over her shoulder and make sure her mother isn't watching. But Mrs. Hathaway is too preoccupied to notice her daughter has slipped away. Moments later, a frantic Mrs. Hathaway runs up and down the aisles, desperately searching for her missing daughter. But little Olivia is already in the arms of a stranger.

Makes you want to go back and read how I answered question two, doesn't it? 

6) Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

I am represented by Pixie Publishing, but I own the rights to my books.   

7) How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?

Four months from the first line to the publish date.  Dilly-dallying does not exist in this dojo.

8) What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

Truthfully, I don't know.  I haven't ever read anything that reminds me of my story to any great degree.  Maybe a really, and I mean really, loose version of Two Little Girls in Blue by Mary Higgins Clark.  But, I only started that book and never got around to finishing it, so...

As a side note, I love Mary Higgins Clark with a capital L.  I never finished it because life got in the way, and by then, I'd forgotten a lot of what I'd already read and had moved on to about three other novels.

9) Who or what inspired you to write this book?

I believe I answered this in #2, but I will add to it.  I wanted to take my main protagonist, private investigtor Sloane Monroe, and throw her into a case that's very different from what she's used to.  I also wanted to get her the hell out of Utah and felt introducing her to the dashing Cade McCoy was an excellent idea, since he will be having his own series ***spoiler alert***.

10) What else about the book might pique the reader’s interest?

The ending isn't common.  The reader will NEVER guess until I point them in the right direction when I'm ready.  And readers love that.  I like taking a plausible, realistic situation and then turning the tables.  If I can find a way to spin a story so what the reader thinks is going to happen ends up being completely different than what they've assumed (because readers love to see if they can figure out the ending before it comes), I've done my job. 

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And now to throw five more irons into the fire...sorry gals, but you've been tagged.  What are friends for?  Look for me to link their posts from here next Wednesday...and may none of them be too angry with me over this.  It is, after all, holiday time.

Christine DeMaio-Rice

Julia Crane

JCarson Black

Carol Davis Luce

Elle Chardou

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Indie Chicks Series with my Guest Carol Davis Luce

I am thrilled to have Carol Davis Luce on my site this week sharing her Indie Chick story from the Indie Chicks Anthology.  Carol is a talented writer, and I've downloaded just about all her books.

SELF-TAUGHT LATE BLOOMER

Carol Davis Luce

            My motto is, “If I can do it, anyone can do it.” I wasn’t born to write. I didn’t aspire to be a writer from the time I could hold a Crayon. I could, however, draw, and make things take shape through form and color on paper and canvas, and that’s the path I traveled well into midlife. The artist’s life opened up my eyes and mind to expression and sometimes stories through composition on that blank eighteen by twenty-four inch stretched canvas. Then one day it changed.

            As a voracious reader, I was content to read what others wrote. I admired those writers who had mastered the craft. I was happy to dwell in their world for 300 pages, to laugh, cry, and be enlightened and surprised. Until one day when I closed a book by my favorite author and felt something was missing. The novel was a mystery/suspense with elements of romance. The suspense was killer. The romance, however, was lacking, missing those subtleties that resonated with me. I wanted more. The promise of romance was there, but fizzled somewhere along the way. For me, it wasn’t about graphic sex. It was about sexual tension, passion, love. After searching unsuccessfully for novels to satisfy my romantic suspense fixation, looking for just the right balance, I realized I had to write the book myself.

            Only I knew nothing about writing a novel, let alone a genre book with a sub-genre. So I went to the library and checked out a reference book titled, HOW TO WRITE A NOVEL. Easy enough, right? If dedication is easy, then it was easy because I was driven. My artist’s passion shifted to focus on the writer’s canvas. That canvas was structure, words, emotion, and truth. And the rest is history.

Well, almost.

I burned up two electric typewriters before investing in a computer. I checked out every book on the “book writing” reference shelf, and many grammar and stylebooks, and two years later, my 800-page opus, NIGHT STALKER, was finished—

Almost.

I learned about the important shaping process, without which most stories would be unreadable. Editing. The passion and pain of cutting and revising. Finding the jewels that lie buried in too many, or misguided, words. Three years and a dozen revisions later, 400 pages lighter, it found a home with a traditional publisher. Within the first few months of release, it went into three printings and became the flagship for the sub-genre "Woman in Jeopardy/Romantic Suspense" at Kensington Publishing.

            Where it started. . .

I left school at sixteen to marry my high school sweetheart. Six years later, as a housewife and mother, I channeled my artistic talent into sketching and painting, selling my work at a local art gallery. A quarter century later, I traded in my paints and brushes to hit the keyboard. Our three sons, not much for novel reading, are waiting for my books to be made into movies. That childhood sweetheart I married a lifetime ago is now my soul mate of 50 plus years. His encouragement fueled me, and his support allowed me to pursue my goals.  

            Going back to my motto of, “if I can do it, anyone can.” There has never been a more opportunistic time to try your hand at writing a book. Or taking the plunge and self-publishing. My decision to self-publish my upcoming suspense novels came about when I hit the proverbial brick wall after five published books. With a stalled career, I had a choice. Teach, or see my stories in print again. I chose the latter. My first self-published book is the short story trilogy, BROKEN JUSTICE, followed by my suspense novel, NIGHT WIDOW.

Agents and editors think they know what readers want. They don’t always know. Readers know what readers want, and they’re expressing their wants by buying books written by indie authors. Give yourself a hardy pat on the back if you’ve completed a manuscript, but the big applause goes to our devoted fans and readers. Without them, we would be nothing.