Guest blog: Secrets and lies and more secrets about lies (that are secret) …

• Posted in About Books, Guest blogs, On Writing

Today, I’m happy to welcome urban fantasy and young adult author Stacey Jay to the blog. A few months ago, I was asked to give a cover blurb for Stacey’s new urban fantasy, Dead on the Delta, which is out today (yes, that is my quote on the cover).

I thought it was a cool book with some really interesting world building (just thinking about those killer mutant fairies still gives me the creeps). You can check out my review here.

And, without further ado, here is Stacey’s blog:

First of all, I’d like to say thank you to Jennifer for having me over to her blog. I love blogging (this is a lie, blogging makes me strangely anxious), and Jennifer is super cool (not a lie, obviously, you’ve read her books)!

So I’d love to tell you more about how I came up with “Dead on the Delta’s” world of poisonous killer fairies (but it’s a secret) (not really, that’s a lie. But I’m already blogging about that somewhere else). I’d also love to talk more about what it’s like to be caught between three or more men—the way Annabelle, “Dead on the Delta’s” heroine — is. But that would be pure speculation, as I have never dated more than one or two men at a time (this is a lie, but don’t tell my husband — just kidding, we have no secrets).

Anyway! You get my point. Secrets and lies. I think they play a big part in any work of fiction, but in writing a mystery the secrets and lies are especially vital. “Dead on the Delta” is the first book I ever outlined extensively before I started writing. I knew I wanted a traditional mystery as my base, and I wanted one big series mystery with several interlinking mini-mysteries to use as the core of each book. And I knew I’d never be able to pull that off unless I knew ahead of time every clue that would be discovered, every red herring that would lead my heroine down the wrong path, and what the Big Twist would be at the end.

At first I tried a mechanical approach — deciding what events would happen when and how Annabelle would respond — but after three early drafts of chapters one-three and a mess of post-it notes littering my wall that I couldn’t make sense of, I knew I was going about the process in the wrong way. That’s when I started my secrets and lies journal. Every morning for a week, I picked one or two of my characters and wrote a journal entry from their point of view about all the things they were keeping from the other characters.

And man, oh man, did I ever get some great dirt! These people all have dark, scary secrets, and tell a lot of lies — both to other people in the story, and themselves.

I found these secrets and lies were the best places to start building my mystery. The lie one character believes provides the perfect false clue for my heroine. The secret she’s keeping leads to a lot of misunderstandings and conflict that add another layer to the story and force my main characters to confront demons from their past (especially in book two, which I’m drafting now).

Just a few days worth of journaling, and I’ve got enough drama to keep the town of Donaldsonville, Louisiana humming for two 100,000-word novels (and hopefully beyond if sales are strong. Please buy books, thankyouverymuch). It’s also given me a strong sense of who every character in this world is when they turn off the light, and that’s made this series my favorite ever to write.

I love all the people in this town (not a lie), but I’ll tell you a secret: Loving a character won’t keep me from killing them off. A few of them are going to have to die!

And I know exactly who.

(This is a lie. I have no idea who to kill at the end of book two. I have a few contenders — all with secrets — but I can’t decide who the body will be. Decisions, decisions … so hard to make — also a lie. These kind of decisions are what writers live for. So much fun!)

Thanks for having me over, Jennifer! Happy reading to all!

DEAD ON THE DELTA GIVEAWAY

Thanks for being here, Stacey! To celebrate her release day, Stacey is giving away two copies of Dead on the Delta (open to US/Canada residents only). To enter, just leave a comment on this post and answer this question: Do you like a little mystery with your urban fantasy? Why or why not?

The contest will be open through Friday, June 3, and I’ll announce the winners on June 6 here on the blog.

MORE ABOUT STACEY

If you like Dead on the Delta, the second book in the series is tentatively titled Blood on the Bayou and is tentatively set for an April 2012 release. Also, Stacey has a young adult book coming out called Juliet Immortal that will hit shelves on Aug. 9. Here’s more about it:

“These violent delights have violent ends And in their triumph die, like fire and powder, Which as they kiss consume.” —Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

The most tragic love story in history …

Juliet Capulet didn’t take her own life. She was murdered by the person she trusted most, her new husband, Romeo Montague, a sacrifice made to ensure his own immortality. But Romeo didn’t anticipate that Juliet would be granted eternal life, as well, and would become an agent for the Ambassadors of Light.

For 700 years, Juliet has struggled to preserve romantic love and the lives of the innocent, while Romeo has fought for the dark side, seeking to destroy the human heart. Until now.

Now Juliet has found her own forbidden love, and Romeo, oh Romeo, will do everything in his power to destroy their happiness.

Sounds pretty cool, huh? And that cover is absolutely gorgeous. For more information on Stacey and her books, visit her website.

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28 Responses to “Guest blog: Secrets and lies and more secrets about lies (that are secret) …”

  1. Natascha F. says:

    The concept of the “secrets journal” sounds like a great tool for writing. How smart.

    I like mystery in my UF, because it makes the story’s world appear to be more dangerous and risky.

  2. stephanie l says:

    I think mystery adds to a story. It keeps the reader guessing and makes them more interested on finding out what will happen next. I love the addition that it brings to a book

    • Jennifer Estep says:

      I agree with the comments about liking mystery elements in books. I always enjoy trying to figure out who the killer is before the heroine does — but I never do. LOL.

      Rhonda — No worries. For some reason, the blog is acting strangely today.

  3. Kristen Thompson says:

    I always enjoy a little mystery it always come with surprises and as the reader your trying to guess who, what , where , when and why things happen before the characters, I really enjoy doing that. I like the little kick it adds and the shocker that some UF have done with the addition of mystery.

    Awesome guest blog 🙂 Dead on the Delta sounds like a great new urban fantasty, very much my kind of book. Plus the cover give an awesome creepy tone 🙂

  4. Rhonda Mitzel says:

    Hi. I do like some mystery in my urban fantasy books. It makes the books more exciting and suspenseful. This books sounds good. I also like the fact that my teen daughter can read this also. She is really into reading the House of Night series by PC and Kristen Cast. She has all these books.
    Thanks for a chance to win one. Her birthday is coming up and this would be a great gift for her, if I win. 😉
    Thanks again!

  5. Rhonda Mitzel says:

    Hi. Thanks for a chance to win this book. I do like a little mystery in my books. It makes the book more exciting and suspenseful. I also like the fact that my teenage daughter can read this book. She is into these kinds of books also. She loves the House of Night series by PC and Kristen Cast. She has the whole series.
    Her birthday is coming up soon so this would be a great gift for her, just saying. 😉
    Thanks again.

    • Rhonda says:

      Sorry, didn’t mean to duplicate comment. It kept saying error. I didn’t think the first one went through.

  6. Stephanie says:

    Yes I love it when an U.F. has a mystery in it. A mystery so good that you think about night and day. A mystery that keeps you flipping through the pages faster and faster, until you reach the conclusion, and say “oh my god, I didn’t see that coming!”.

    I also love it when there is a good love triangle. I can’t wait to read this book 🙂

  7. Nora-Adrienne Deret says:

    I love having some mystery in my Urban Fantasy’s. They add another layer of interest to the story, also don’t mind a bit of romance either. It gives the character a depth of life that makes them stand out in the crowd.

  8. Ash says:

    I think a little mystery is good for a lot of different genres, but I for sure love it in my urban fantasies. It of course adds depth and I love trying to out-figure the characters and/or the author when it comes to solving the case.

  9. Christa says:

    I love Mystery in my Urban Fantasy, as long as there’s lots of action! : ) The mystery keeps me curious & reading, as long as the characters are engaging as well & not just sitting around thinking, lol.
    I’m really looking forward to both Dead on the Delta and Juliet Immortal! They’re both on my “buy/pre-buy” list just as soon as I read some of the books already on my shelves so there’s room! : )
    Thanks for the giveaway.

  10. Shawn says:

    The mystery is the thing, no matter how minor, that keeps the pages turning. It’s the key to immerse you into the imagined worlds created by our favorite authors. When words grace the page there is a mystery hiding among them.

  11. Megan says:

    I love a little mystery with my urban fantasy! It definitely keeps things interesting!

    Can’t wait to read this book! I love Stacey Jay =)

  12. Steph says:

    Damn, I think I put my comment in the wrong spot. This is so confusing. Here it is again. We can have do-overs right?

    Heck yeah I like a lit­tle side of mys­tery with my UF. Isn’t that what draws most folks to UF? UF is more inter­est­ing than your run of the mill mys­tery thriller though, since you are deal­ing with super­nat­ural forces. My life is quite bor­ing, so I must have my UF fix to deal. That is all. Plus, I really inter­ested in read­ing this new book. Thanks for the opportunity.

  13. sara says:

    This book sounds like the start of a great series. I love when UF stories have mystery involved. It keeps me guessing, of course 99% of the time I am wrong lol. It also makes it hard for me to put the book down! I can’t count how many times I have stayed up till the wee hours of the morning because of this, I keep telling myself “30 more minuted and I’ll go to bed” lol. I must say I have had this problem with every Elemental Assassin book so far LOL.

  14. Jennifer Estep says:

    Hi, everyone! I just wanted to chime in and say great discussion. I agree with what you guys have said — a mystery definitely adds another layer to UF (or any genre) and keeps me turning the pages to find out what’s going to happen next.

  16. ang e says:

    I do love a bit of mystery in what I read… but I’m the kind of person who has to read the last page of a book. I’m silly that way, I guess I want to be surprised all at once and sometimes it builds a lot more mystery and suspense and then I can’t stop reading.

  17. Stacey Jay says:

    Thanks so much for all the comments, guys! So glad we have so many mystery fans. And so great to hear people excited about the read.

    Best and lucky vibes to all,

    Stacey Jay

  18. Kathy says:

    I love mystery with ANYTHING I read…I love to keep at guessing who, what or when…I love it in Urban Fantasy…It is so much fun to be wondering in the back of your mind the whole time!! Soo yes I would love to read your book!!

  20. Anna says:

    Yes, I do like mystery in urban fantasy novels. It brings out the intellectual side of the characters. Also, mysteries usually involve murder which add an emotional element. As an investigation digs into an individual’s psyche (thoughts, motivations, and personality) it adds depth to a story and it’s characters. Plus, the hero/heroine are brought together by something external besides a flaming case of the hormones, although some cases are acceptable when well-written.

    Patricia Briggs’ Alpha & Omega and Mercy Thompson series are choice examples of the mystery/urban fantasy blend. Cry Wolf is my favorite.

  21. Erin says:

    Ooooh what tangled webs writers weave. I love stories that have many hidden secrets, seeing the twists and turns, and reading how characters develop and react to each other. Mysteries often disappoint me because the author reveals too much or too little, but if they are done right those are the ones that I don’t put down.

    Thanks Jennifer for having Stacey as a guest, I will be adding her to my list of must reads. And thank you Stacey for taking the time to blog here as well! <3

  22. Stacey Jay says:

    You’re so welcome, Erin. I was so flattered to be asked to visit. Jennifer has some amazing readers. So glad to meet all of you.

  25. Leslie Whitaker says:

    I LOVE mystery with my UF!! I love the twists and turns that make the characters interact. I try to help solve the mystery with them and try to pick up clues along the way..

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