~ GREAT ESCAPES BLOG TOUR STOP ~
-- 'SLIGHTLY MURDEROUS INTENT:
A SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA MYSTERY' --
AUTHOR LIDA SIDERIS
~Post Includes: Book Spotlight, Unique Guest
Post Shared by the Author, Author Bio & Giveaway~
Slightly Murderous Intent: A Southern California Mystery
by Lida Sideris
About Slightly Murderous Intent
Slightly Murderous Intent: A Southern California Mystery
Traditional Mystery
4th in Series
Publisher: Level Best Books (October 20, 2020)
Print Length : 323 pages
ASIN: B08J8C7YJY
There's a shooter on the loose who keeps missing his target. But that doesn't stop him from trying again…and again. It's up to Corrie Locke, rookie lawyer and spunky sleuth, to find the gunman before he hits his mark, Assistant Deputy D.A. James Zachary, Corrie's hunky and complicated frenemy.
When Corrie is stuck with more questions than answers, she enlists a team with various strengths, from weapons to cooking skills, to help her find the shooter. Her computer whiz boyfriend Michael is onboard. So is former security guard Veera. Toss in an over-the-hill informant and a couple of feuding celebrity chefs and Corrie's got her very own A-Team. Okay, maybe it's more like a B-Team.
Can Team Corrie hunt down the shooter before he scores a bulls-eye?
About Lida Sideris
Lida Sideris is an author, lawyer, and all-around book enthusiast. She writes soft-boiled mysteries and was a recipient of the Helen McCloy Mystery Writers of America scholarship award. Slightly Murderous Intent is #4 in her Southern California Mystery series, published by Level Best Books. Lida lives in the northern tip of SoCal with her family, rescue dogs and a flock of uppity chickens. To learn more, please visit: www.LidaSideris.com
MAKE WRITING FUN
By Lida Sideris
Writing is a passion of mine, which automatically equates to
doing something fun and exciting, right? Not necessarily. It’s up to each
writer to create and find the fun. Kind of like planning a party or a vacation
or even teaching kids. Fun may run and hide once in a while, but we can gently
reel it back where it belongs.
Remember your early school days? You probably had a
stand-out teacher. Exceptional teachers aren’t born that way. They’ve got a few
simple tricks up their sleeves, which we writers can borrow. A few suggestions
to rev up the fun meter when writing:
– Read before you write. Not just anything, but
something inspiring. Something you find well written that contains punchy
words, lines and action. Sources might be a newspaper article, a book, a poem
or even a quotation. Studying those individuals that you find talented helps to
increase the flow of our own writing talent.
– Take notes. Eminem provided
this tip: collect bits and pieces of inspiration wherever you can find them,
write them down and save them in a shoebox. Inspiration equals fun. Eminem
shuffles through the box when he’s writing a song, and picks out words or lines
that might lead him to an idea. I write ideas in a notebook as they pop into my
head, and run through them once I’m done with the first draft. Reading these ideas
inspires me to make the story shine.
– Don’t forget to do something fun that isn’t writing. We
need down time to regenerate. If I don’t utilize downtime now and then, I feel
like I’m studying for the Bar Exam…again. Which means there’s a possibility my
head may explode. How fun would that be?
But there are deadlines that must be met. This is the part
where you remind yourself there are carefree ways to write or rewrite that
don’t involve sitting/standing behind a desk. In fact, it doesn’t involve a
desk at all. I rework my writing when commuting to work, when watching TV, when
walking or petting my dogs. Washing dishes is a great writing stimulator (and
makes for clean dishes). Agatha Christie thought so, too. This desk-less
writing allows for more relaxed thinking, leading to a flow of ideas. We don’t
need to feel pressure while writing.
I remind myself often that I need to put the fun of writing
in the forefront to keep that spark lit and find ways to restore the sheer joy of writing. That’s what we signed up for!
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