Book Details:Genre: Amateur Sleuth/Mystery/Cozy Mystery
Published by: Ewephoric Publishing
Publication Date: October 1, 2024
Number of Pages: 368
ISBN: 979-8-9863409-6-8
Book Links: Amazon | Goodreads
AUTHOR BIO:Marlene M. Bell has never met a sheep she didn’t like. As a personal touch for her readers, they often find these wooly creatures visiting her international romantic mysteries and children’s books as characters or subject matter. Marlene is an accomplished artist and photographer who takes pride in entertaining fans on multiple levels of her creativity. Marlene’s award-winning Annalisse series boasts Best Mystery honors for all installments including these: IP Best Regional Australia/New Zealand, Global Award Best Mystery, and Chanticleer’s International Mystery and Mayhem shortlist for Copper Waters, the fourth mystery in the series. She offers her children's picture book, Mia and Nattie: One Great Team! written primarily for younger kids based on true events from the Bell’s East Texas sheep ranch. The simple text and illustrations are a touching tribute of belonging and unconditional love between a little girl and her lamb.
Why I decided to write A HUSH AT MIDNIGHT
For the second time since my writing journey began in 2009, I temporarily pushed myself away from adding the next installment to my Annalisse romantic mystery series. Instead, I went to work on fiction fundamentals—to hone my skills and become a better writer. A HUSH AT MIDNIGHT has been as therapeutic as jumping into the children’s book adventure was for me. When I wrote Mia and Nattie, One Great Team, I needed the outlet to get over the loss of our sweet Dorset ewe we’d raised in our laundry room for eight weeks and beyond. Nattie the Horned Dorset sheep spent thirteen incredible years with us. How she came to join the flock unlike our other sheep in the pasture, is a chronical of love and belonging. Both hers, and ours. Nattie had a special bond with my family—her existence an excellent reminder to children as well as adults. Nattie’s story became the little girl and her lamb working together and changing lives for the better. A great deal of time is spent examining editorial reviews and readers’ comments for each new body of work I publish. After my last book, Copper Waters went live, I realized the time had come for me to take a break from the familiar and sharpen the characterization skills that had become too mushy for most readers. Writing a series can be tricky, especially in the area of backstory. How much past information does a new reader need, to be brought up on the current book? How many events and details from previous novels should be presented? Developmental editors are helpful but their ideas can be subjective, each having a different viewpoint. Fiction authors put out books for reader entertainment. Reviews tell a writer everything they need to know about their genre skill level. I set up a challenge for myself. The task to write a standalone novel unrelated to my series with new characters in a different environment—and give them entirely new problems to solve just made sense. The new mystery presented hurdles I hadn’t expected, even though pulling ideas from personal experiences helped the creative process. In the case of my series books, I love to immerse myself into Annalisse Drury’s day-to-day issues. Writing a flawed character comes easily when a push and pull in a troubled relationship is involved. Following Annalisse through seemingly insurmountable odds and coming out on the winning side with each book is exhilarating for this author. She does encounter more problems than most when all she has to do is marry that rich man of hers and hang with her mother-in-law in the antique world Annalisse loves so much. Readers want the happy-ever-after, and so far, they hope that Annalisse and Alec can work out their differences. In Annalisse’s case, her fears about Alec’s past stop their forward motion. The series has four books so far—and Alec has asked her to accept his ring in three of them. Will she finally allow herself to be happy in book #5 or #6? I haven’t decided yet! I love the Annalisse series, but a mystery like A HUSH AT MIDNIGHT was necessary to propel me toward that upcoming installment in Annalisse’s saga with the debonaire, but not always perfect, Alec Zavos. The literary break from them has made a world of difference in the possibilities… A HUSH AT MIDNIGHT releases in eBook via a preorder and launches on October 1, 2024. The early paperback proof went to bloggers and reviewers in August and September for their feedback—something new I tried with this novel. Time will tell if my strategy to step away from the series will strengthen later books and entice new readers. I hope so. I decided to write A HUSH AT MIDNIGHT for the reasons mentioned in addition to giving me the chance to showcase a few of my other pastimes: Cooking from scratch and learning more about the history of our great nation. This novel takes place in the fictional town of Stenburg, in the historic South. Rural East Texas is where we live with our newest members to the flock. Katahdin hair sheep. GIVEAWAY:This is a giveaway hosted by Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours for Marlene M. Bell. See the widget for entry terms and conditions. Void where prohibited.This tour will have THREE (3) winners (US ONLY). ONE (1) winner will receive GIFT BOX from our author Marlene M. Bell to include: An autographed proof copy of A HUSH AT MIDNIGHT by Marlene M. Bell, Vintage hardcover with dust jacket of Ladybird Johnson’s book, Wildflowers Across America, One pound of wildflower seeds, AND a $50 Amazon gift card; TWO (2) winners will each receive a print edition of A HUSH AT MIDNIGHT by Marlene M. Bell.
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Great guest post. Thanks so much for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Connie, for joining the PIC Tour- A Hush at Midnight, and posting the article on the topic above. This book was a challenge, but it will help me to get to book #5 in the Annalisse series.
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