The Nora Formula

There are lots of great writers out there that I love to read. Sometimes I go for literary. Sometimes I need some down and dirty erotica. Often, I'm in need of thrills and chills, and occasionally, I want to my historical fiction. You can clearly see that I'm all over the place as a reader when it comes to genre.

As a writer, I can't help but pay attention to how some of my favorite writers put their stories together--particularly the ones who are very well established and have a niche in the genre world. What do they do that keeps their readers coming back? Is it just good writing? Are we drawn in to their character's worlds? Is it that these writers just seem to always know how to spin a good yarn for their genre?

I think all of the above things can be true, but for some writers the secret seems to be The Formula. They've figured out what "secret" formula works for them and they stick to it no matter what. This can be a good thing as far as book sales and pleasing both old and new readers. However, it can also be a turn off and leave some readers feeling a little cheated.

To illustrate my point, I give you The Nora Formula.

By Nora, I mean Nora Roberts.

I've been a fan of Ms. Roberts for years. She knows her stuff and can suck a reader in with a wave of her magical writing wand. Most people think she is strictly a romance writer, and while it's true she is known for that, many of her current stand alone stories are more in the thriller genre with a splash of romance thrown in. Even her romantic trilogies tend to have some thriller themes to them. I really enjoy reading most of her work.

And yet...lately, I've noticed that I'm disappointed in her newest trilogies. They still have the same rich descriptions about new and exotic locations. There is lots of humor and that sizzle of romance. But...I feel like I've heard all of these stories before. So I asked myself why that is? Why can I figure out by the end of Chapter 3 who will end up with who in subsequent stories and how the end of the trilogy will turn out? Why can I figure out too quickly who the bad guy is? Why can I see the twist coming? Has Nora let me down?

My realization? It's due to The Nora Formula. She has figured out a floor plan for her novels that she uses time and again. The only changes she makes are her character names, their location, and parts of their back story. But the basics remain the same.  Typically, her trilogies consist of the following things:

• A new comer to a town or location who has been burned by a past relationship whether it be a family member or lover.
• Something supernatural that may be a ghost or a witch of some sort that causes problems or has it's own love story to be solved.
• At least, one story will have a single parent with kids.
• There is always a dog.
• One of the men will be super smart, one will be funny, one will be the sexy jerk that gets brought down to Earth by his compatible love interest.
• One of the women will always be the more beautiful of the three and show an innate natural confidence that gets under some man's skin.
  
• There is usually some jerky ex husband, boyfriend, or lover that physically threatens one of the women.
• They all end up married.
• You will meet the bad guy by the end of Chapter Three. He'll be the one she randomly mentions who doesn't pop up again until almost the end of the book. By the way, that's the bad guy for this leg of the story. There is also a three story arc bad guy, too.
• Ireland will be brought up even if the story doesn't take place there.
• Often there is a family matriarch who is a no nonsense type, but has no problem talking to her sons about sex and still bakes cookies. Eventually, you find out she's been having a quiet dignified affair with some minor character.
• The words "roughshod" and "three fingers of whiskey" will pop up.
• The sex will always be well written.

Am I wrong? Those of you who've been loyal Nora fans can probably think of several other pieces of the formula I've left out!

Does this make me like her writing less? Not really, but I do think she is very talented and it wouldn't hurt to get something fresh ideas going on in her trilogies. On the other hand, The Nora Formula works for her. It's kid tested and parent approved. It sells books. It generates new readers. Hell, I wish I had The Mary Ann Formula that did the same for me!

What do you think, fellow writers? Who else has their own writing formula that seems to work?

Shrouded in Ilusion by H.D. Thomson--Book Review

I love finding a great summertime read! Today's book was given to me courtesy of the fabulous folks at Innovative Online Book Tours. If you're ready for a little mystery, a little romance, and a little telekinesis with a slice of thriller on the side, then H.D. Thomson's Shrouded in Illusion is the book for you!

Here is the publisher's blurb:

Someone wants Skye Hunter’s son and they’re willing to kill her or anyone else to get to him. On the run for her life, she is forced to turn to the only person who can help her—a complete stranger with a shared past—David Bishop, a renowned illusionist.

David’s life is also an illusion, built of smoke and little else. He meets Skye, a woman filled with passion and conviction, and the pain he sees in her eyes is a mirror to his own soul. But when he realizes she has the same strange, telekinetic phenomenon inside her body that he does, he is forced to question his life, his childhood and the father who raised him. Can these two lost souls uncover the mystery behind their powers and save Skye’s son and themselves in the process?

This was a fast-paced read that I finished within a day--that's always a plus when you're looking for a great beach read. The story opens with Skye and her son caught up in convenience store robbery. I thought this first chapter was a great set up for the reader to discover exactly what is important to Skye and what kind of person she is. She's a woman on the run who will do anything to protect the child she loves.

Her journey has led her to Vegas where she hopes to run into David Bishop--a man whose name keeps popping up in her dreams of the past. David has a magic act and is a big time, good looking illusionist. When he sees Skye working her telekinesis mojo on the roulette table, he is drawn to her, though something about her also makes him apprehensive.

I loved the chemistry between these two characters. There is a lot of great, smoldering dialogue that really keeps you turning the pages as you wonder whether or not they will get together. The character development for the minor characters was strong and there were lots of turns and twists in the plot. I felt like the climax of the book where you find out what exactly is going on could have been tightened up and some description cut out, but maybe that's because I was so into the tale that I wanted to hurry up and find out if the bad guy gets what's coming to him or not.

This book is the third in a series, but I felt it was a great stand alone title. If anything, it made me want to go back and read the other two.

Click on the Amazon link to get your copy!

Shrouded in Illusion--Amazon

Shrouded in Illusion--Barnes and Noble

Author Bio:

 H.D. Thomson moved from Ontario, Canada as a teenager to the heat of Arizona where she graduated from the University of Arizona with a B.S. in Business Administration with a major in accounting. After working in the corporate world as an accountant, H.D. changed her focus to one of her passions-books. She owned and operated an online bookstore for several years and then started Bella Media Management. The company specializes in web sites, video trailers, ebook conversion and promotional resources for authors and small businesses. When she is not heading her company, she is following her first love-writing.

Forgive Me, Alex by Lane Diamond--Review

 

Okay, here's a read that I couldn't put down! Check this one out over the holidays!

 



 

Here is the blurb:

Tony Hooper stands in shadow across the street, one amongst many in the crowd of curiosity-hounds gathered to watch a monster's release. Seventeen years after Mitchell Norton, the devil, terrorized Algonquin, Illinois on a spree of kidnapping, torture and murder, the authorities release the butcher from psychiatric prison. Tony longs to charge across the street to destroy Norton--no remorse--as if stepping on a cockroach. Only sheer force of will prevents his doing so. The devil walks the world again. What shall Tony do about it? Aye, what indeed. After all, this is what Tony does. It's who he is. The devil himself long ago made Tony into this hunter of monsters. What a sweet twist of fate this is, that he may still, finally, administer justice. Will FBI Special Agent Linda Monroe stop him? She owes him her life, so how can she possibly put an end to his? Tony Hooper and Mitchell Norton battle for supremacy, with law enforcement always a step away, in this story of justice and vengeance, evil and redemption, fear and courage, love and loss.

Okay, I chose to review this one because there were elements of the story that reminded me of Dexter. I'm a fan of both the show and the book and wanted to see if this story could possibly hold up next to Jeff Lindsey's tale of  a serial killer who kills other serial killers.

It does!

And then some....

Let me just say that while, yes, there are some Dexter comparison's to be made here, Forgive Me, Alex is a great tale all on it's own. It's dark, twisted, fast paced and allows you to really understand what the main character, Toby Hooper, has become and why. I thought this was an extremely well written thriller with just the right twists and turns to keep me wondering about how the end would turn out.

As far as character development, you've got two distinct voices in this novel. The book is broken into sections where it is narrated by Toby and at other times, by Mitchell Norton. Though both men are considered killers, their mindset and reasons for what they do are vastly different. At first, I thought this technique of being inside their minds at varying points was a bit distracting, but it really hooked me as the book progressed.

There are also flashbacks in the book that take you back to 1978 when terrible things were afoot in the small town of Algonquin. These things are pretty graphic and not for the reader who isn't prepared for them. I have to say that the scene I knew was coming, the one the author sets you up for, was handled really well. It involves the death of a child, (I'm a teacher so the thought of that makes me flinch), and Mr. Diamond could have gone really far with the graphic nature of the crime. Instead, he chose not to and that particular scene ends up standing out for me as being very well written and memorable--almost comforting to the reader.

I enjoyed the female characters in this book. Both came across as strong women.

I did know what was going on when the new murders began in Algonquin. That's probably just my own writer brain working and it's pretty hard to pull one over on me. Of course, I say that, but I was surprised by the very end where there is a slight twist to the story. Obviously, I don't want to give away too much, but I noticed there is a second book in this series. Yes! I will definitely read it!

Christmas is coming friends and Forgive Me, Alex would be a great gift for someones Kindle this holiday season! Congrats, Mr. Diamond on writing a fun thriller that I would recommend to our readers here at All Things Writing.

Here is his author bio and book links:

I write fiction, long and short. My writings cross over many genres and focus on diverse subjects, ranging from the mysteries of the human mind, with its fragile psychological and emotional states, to the everyday joy and anguish of life on Earth.

I've been an avid reader my entire life, and started writing at the age of 12. I love a good story, of course, a compelling plot and satisfying conclusion. Yet as a reader, I've always been drawn to great characters. The characters bring me back to an author time and time again. This shows in my writing, where I attempt to create authentic, complex, real characters you can come to love, and in whose company you feel at home. Or maybe you'll despise a character and want to stick a fork in his eye. Hey, bad guys are fun too!

I did my tour in the real world, serving in the U.S. Air Force, then working as everything from a forklift operator to a bartender in my youth, before settling in as Business Services and Project Manager for a large manufacturing and distribution concern. Now, at long last (Man! Why did I wait so long?), I'm putting pedal to the metal in pursuit of the author's life.

After many years as a Freelance Editor, with several clients published or aspiring to be so, I co-founded Evolved Publishing, where I wear hats as Publisher, Executive Editor, and Author. As an author, I started with a few short stories, and released my debut novel, a psychological thriller called "Forgive Me, Alex," in December 2011. The sequel, "The Devil's Bane," is under way and due Spring 2013.

You can find out more about me at my website: www.LaneDiamond.com.

FORGIVE ME, ALEX KINDLE EDITION
FORGIVE ME,ALEX PAPERBACK