Tag Archives: tourist

Sequel exposes dark side of tourism in Florida

Posted on by under Authors, Books, e-books, Fiction, Novel, Writers, Writing

If tourism is the lifeblood of Florida, the killers in Tourist in Paradise are intent on draining the state dry. Whether they succeed depends on a female sleuth who moved to the Sunshine State to escape this kind of violence.

What CW McCoy finds is a tsunami of corruption and deceit as she battles punks and politicians in the second in the McCoy series of mystery/suspense novels.

TIP covers top bookThe stakes are high for residents of the fictional city of Spanish Point, a tony resort town located between Tampa and Naples on Florida’s Gulf Coast. When a gunman mistakes CW for a wealthy tourist, the real estate agent is thrust into a series of crimes that pit visitor against visitor. Is the violence the start of a full-blown war on tourists? Or are the attacks a smokescreen for an even greater threat?

And if CW unmasks the killers, will it spell the end of her career, her friends and her life?

Published by Allusion Books, Tourist in Paradise is the sequel to Peak Season, a book Kirkus Reviews calls “an entertaining mystery romp.” The crime novel is available through Amazon, iBooks and Barnes & Noble in both e-book and trade paperback formats. Readers can view the book trailer at jeffwidmer.com or YouTube.

Fans of Janet Evanovich, Robert B. Parker, Ruth Rendell and Chelsea Cain should enjoy the book.

I hope you’re one of them.

All the news that’s fit to break

Posted on by under Audio, Books, Culture, e-books, Fiction, Novel, Writers, Writing

Fans of “The Office” will enjoy the mockumentary format of the new book trailer for Peak Season, which came out in audio last week.

Breaking News 'Peak Season' trailer.jpgIn a tongue-in-cheek takeoff of shows like “Entertainment Tonight,” the broadcaster casts the debut of the CW McCoy crime series as breaking news, giving it the proper gravitas, with a bit of wink-wink, nudge-nudge.

Here’s the video. (You can also watch it on YouTube.) Enjoy the show.

 

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Breaking the writer’s blockade

Posted on by under Authors, Books, Culture, e-books, Editing, Fiction, Novel, Writers, Writing

Today I’m working on the sequel to Peak Season and I’m stuck. The sequel’s called Tourist in Paradise. Someone is hunting visitors in the idyllic beach town of Spanish Point and CW McCoy will either solve the murders or wind up a victim of one.

The first 11 chapters went fairly well, with a bit of a rough patch during an open house at her new real estate office. I struggled with that scene for weeks until I hit upon the solution: cut the chapter. And like an ice-breaker in the arctic, that cleared the path.

Synopsis and scribbling

Until I got to Chapter 12, the bar scene where two of the Three Stooges (you remember them from the first novel) reappear to menace our heroine. Well, maybe I hadn’t paid attention to motive or maybe I hadn’t laid the groundwork for the scene, but it just didn’t work. And it went on forever. So, where is the ice-breaker when you need it?

When in doubt, think it through. Why is CW at the bar in the first place? What does she want to know? What would she logically do in the preceding scenes that would place her there?

I need a scene before this one. I actually have a scene I can use, one I’d placed further on in the book, one that addresses the logistical issues. What if I move that one? Chapter 12 becomes lucky Chapter 13, and now things makes sense.

Or will, whenever I get around to rewriting the new scene. Right now I need a break. My drink is warm.

I need some ice.

Writing from the distaff side of life

Posted on by under Books, Commerce, Creativity, Culture, e-books, Fiction, Novel, Writers, Writing

It’s time to switch genders.

In the genre of mystery and suspense, women have pioneered a tradition of writing as men: Agatha Christie, Elizabeth George, Ruth Rendell, Martha Grimes. Poirot, Linley, Wexford, Jury . . . masculine characters come alive in the hands of female writers. The men seem real, the writing accepted by the public.

But what happens when men write about the distaff side of life?

Peak Season 3D cover 375x548Sure, men have written about women since cave days. Their work ranges from sparkling (Robert B. Parker’s Susan Silverman) to riotous (P.G. Wodehouse’s characterization of Honoria Glossop and other females in the Jeeves and Wooster stories). But when it comes to getting into women’s heads, do men get it right?

Some authors seem to meet the challenge without effort: Anthony Doerr’s blind French girl, Marie Laure, in All the Light We Cannot See and Tony Hillerman in Listening Woman. Others, like Parker in his Sunny Randall series, seem to present female versions of their male characters.

Ignorant or undaunted, I’ve entered the fray with Peak Season, a novel about a former detective who surrenders her gun, her badge her and confidence after shooting a fellow officer. Moving to Southwest Florida to care for her ailing grandfather, CW McCoy swears off violence until a fugitive kidnaps her family and she’s forced to decide which side of the law she’s on.

In portraying life through CW’s eyes, I’ve steered clear of stereotypical male and female roles. She swears off guns but will defend herself. She longs for a relationship but doesn’t make it her life’s pursuit. Even while navigating the mostly male world of law enforcement, she puts a high premium on family and friends, qualities exhibited by both women and men.

When I began the CW McCoy series, I wondered whether I could voice the feelings of a woman. Now I wonder about a more practical question: can the public embrace that voice?