With the advent of Amazon’s latest platform, I am able to modify more of my novels 
to audio
books.
I have just finished several books,
including Mother Mac’s 
Boarding House and Ain’t Nuthin’ Gonna Separate Us.
Also, Women Outside the Walls, and
Coming Soon! More of the World of Murder series, in AUDIO.
My collection of true crime mysteries is drawn from the ten books in the series. Now available in audiobooks.
Click here for more information and to hear a sample of the audio.
Included are three complete novellas.
* Dance of Murder
* Act of Murder
* Angel of Murder
Synopsis: In the World of Murder series, Detectives Jack O’Roarke and Stella Garcia, two murder cops, seek out killers on the streets of New York City. Their investigations take them from the sleazy world of strip joints to Manhattan’s upper Eastside. Poor and rich alike, no one is exempt from murder. O’Roarke and Garcia are stars at NYPD with their careful forensic investigative skills and just plain, solid cop work.
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Q. What first inspired you to write?
MC. I grew up in a family of storytellers. We were poor, and often didn’t have a TV, or, when we did, not a very good one. As a young boy, I’d sit on the porch and listen to my aunts tell stories while we shelled peas. As I got older, I’d help my grandpa mend fence or hoe okra. He kept me entertained with stories about his boyhood. My aunt, a librarian, introduced me to Where the Red Fern Grows when I was eight years old. It was one of the first ‘chapter’ books I read. It made me cry. I took it to school and begged my third-grade teacher to read it to the class. She did. It made her cry. Shortly after that, we moved to a farm in central Texas. It was a different time and at ten, I was allowed to roam and explore with my dog. I read Old Yeller and Savage Sam—and started writing what we would call fan fiction nowadays—about brave boys and good dogs and their adventures together.
Q. What comes first to you? The Characters or the Situation?
MC. Sometimes one, sometimes the other—but most of the time it’s the character.
Q. Do you ‘get lost’ in your writing?
MC. When it’s going right, that’s exactly what happens. I tend to watch the story unfold like a movie in my head.
Q. What compelled you to choose and settle on the genre you now write in?
MC. I wrote all over the place when I was younger—Fantasy, Science Fiction, Adventure, Westerns. With my background, it was natural that I eventually found my way into contemporary Thriller/Crime fiction.
Q. Are you working on something now or have a new release coming up? If so tell us about it.
MC. Tom Clancy RED WINTER is out now.
Then, BREAKNECK, my next Arliss Cutter novel, a crime fiction series about an deputy US marshal based in Alaska, comes out in April of 2023. I’m working on the next Tom Clancy/Jack Ryan now. After that, I’ll jump back into another Cutter and finish up another Jericho Quinn.
Q. When did you begin to write seriously?
MC. Charlotte Skidmore, my English teacher in eleventh grade, was known to be the hardest teacher in our high school. Early that year, she gave me a C- on a creative writing assignment. I’d written it in pencil when it should have been typed. The format was wrong, and there were gobs of spelling errors. Her famous red pen had bled all over my story. I deserved the grade—or worse. But, at the top of the page, written in pencil, was a note from her that said, “Marc, this looks publishable to me.” Those six words from the hardest teacher in the school changed the trajectory of my life. I tell this story all the time, but when we were fist married and living on slightly over six bucks an hour as a rookie police officer, my wife bought me a bullet proof vest (the PD didn’t provide them then) and a Smith Corona electric typewriter. I spent the next twenty years or so writing short stories and walking to the mailbox for rejection letters before I finally got a story published. My wife was always supportive, but when we received that first little check in the mail, she met me at the door with a rolled up magazine, swatted me on the butt, and said, “Congratulations. Now go write us a new refrigerator.” It’s been fairly steady since then.
Conclusion next week!
Did you miss the beginning?
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Watch for more interviews with authors. October: Simon Gervais for ROBERT LUDLUM, November: Horror writer, Kevin J. Kennedy, December: Marc Cameron, writing for TOM CLANCY
A few BOOKS BY TRISHA SUGAREK
5 out of 5 stars ~~ Book Review
Mike Lupica returns to write this most current release, FALLOUT. Another Jesse Stone true crime created by Robert B. Parker. And it’s flawless, as usual. Mike writes in the voice of Parker effortlessly and I really enjoyed this one. 
The small town of Paradise is devastated when a star high-school baseball player is found dead at the bottom of a bluff just a day after winning the team’s biggest game. For Jesse, the loss is doubly difficult—the teen was the nephew of his colleague, Suitcase Simpson, and Jesse had been coaching the young shortstop. As he searches for answers about how the boy died and why, he is stonewalled at every turn, and it seems that someone is determined to keep him from digging further. (www.amazon.com)
I never cease to marvel at these authors who keep Parker’s storytelling alive for us. All successful authors in their own right. Lupica, one of the most prominent sports writers in America, and Reed Farrel Coleman for Jesse Stone. Ace Atkins for Spencer and Sunny Randall. There is a list too long to list here. All speak with the same clarity and write as if they are Robert B. Parker incarnate.
Check out my fascinating INTERVIEW with Mike Lupica and Ace Atkins.
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Watch for more interviews with authors. October: Simon Gervais for ROBERT LUDLUM, November: Horror writer, Kevin J. Kennedy, December: Marc Cameron, writing for TOM CLANCY
A few BOOKS BY TRISHA SUGAREK
Several years ago a friend asked me, “when are you going to create audio-books? Your kids’ books would do great. Anyone under the age of 25 is ‘listening’ to books not reading.” This friend even found www.acx.com (Audiobook Creation Exchange) for me so I had no more excuses as to why I wasn’t putting my books on audio. Since acx.com was an Amazon company, I knew there would be quality there and a great distribution plan in place.
It’s a pretty easy web site to use and they have a very large ‘stable’ of narrators to choose from. As the author, you are in control every step of the way. You start by posting an audition excerpt from your book. Professional narrators then send you their audition. I have always received 8-15 auditions for each book, so I had many to choose from. You can pay them outright from a sliding scale (which is my preference) or give them a percentage of the book sales. It took me two tries to find the ideal narrator, Carin Gilfry, for my children’s books. She is open and friendly and extremely patient making any changes I want, no matter how small.
After you find your narrator and they accept your terms of the contract, there are very easy steps you go through as they narrate your book. You proof chapter by chapter, (on line) ask for the corrections or tweaks via acx.com email or personal email.
I then went on to launch my true crime series into audio-books. Daniel Dorse is the voice of my lead detective, Jack O’Roarke of the NYPD. His voice is right out of the Jack Webb, Dragnet era and I love it!
Tip: You should always review and edit the manuscript that you are converting to an audio book before giving it to the narrator. I find that with an audio book, I delete about 50% of the: ‘she said.’ ‘he replied.’ ‘she exclaimed.’ ‘he told her.‘ They are just not necessary because you have a voice telling the listener who is speaking.
The result is that I have a steady stream of sales every month from these books.
Emma and the Lost Unicorn
Dance of Murder
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BOOKS BY TRISHA SUGAREK
You find inspiration in the strangest places. I was dedicated to writing scripts for the stage. A few years back, I attended this production of my children’s play, Emma and the Lost Unicorn, outside of Boston .
After the actors had their curtain calls, the Director told them that if they changed out of their costumes and did their assigned tasks back stage, they could ‘have some time with Trisha’.
So I found myself holding impromptu stage craft classes with these adorable young actors (age 5–18). I was struck how serious they were about their craft. Their questions were very sophisticated. And then it happened……the inspiration to dare to write something completely out of my comfort zone…..a book.
The youngest ones begged me to write the stories from my scripts into storybook form. They wanted to have Emma, Stare, Cheets, and Stanley in their personal libraries. Six children’s books, a mystery series and three novels later I have found a new outlet for my story 
telling. These children, who knew no fear, gave me enough courage to try chapter books, poetry, and becoming a novelist. Experimental at times, risky at times, scary, but so rewarding.
I was lucky and had a head start using my stage plays as a story outline as I adapted them to story book form. But for my true crime series and the novels, I was flying solo….staring at a blank screen, typing that first sentence (that I am always talking about).
So step out of your comfort zone and try writing in a different format… it’s very liberating and you might surprise yourself. I did!
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My weekly BLOG features INTERVIEWS with best-selling AUTHORS!
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On the home page, enter your email address. Thanks!
BOOKS BY TRISHA SUGAREK
It is time to remind my fans and readers about the murder mystery series that I have been writing over the past years. I am currently working on Book #11 .
It’s an exciting series (even if I do say so myself) with two fascinating homicide detectives working the murder beat in New York City.
Here’s the first three synopsis in the series but there are 10 in all. Very story line driven so best read in sequence.
Brush with Murder, Book #1
Ben is a struggling, unknown artist, living in a loft in Soho. From his third floor walk up, he watches his beautiful neighbor as she comes and goes. Too shy and reclusive to ask her out, he paints her again and again. Suddenly the police are at his door. His goddess, his dream woman is dead
and the police like him for the crime.
Dance of Murder Book #2
‘Strippers have been found with their throats cut and their dead eyes filled with glitter and the killer’s rage is escalating. To make things worse, Homicide Detectives, O’Roarke and Garcia have several dozen potential suspects all with a reason to murder these girls.’
Now the press has gotten hold of the story dubbing the murderer, ‘The Glitter Slasher’. City Hall is breathing down the necks of the Homicide Squad and insisting that they ‘get this
thing solved!’ Before there are more dead bodies. Finally the two murder cops make an arrest.
But, do they have the right person in custody?
Act of Murder Book #3
O’Roarke and Garcia are called when a famous Broadway director dies. It appears that everyone hated this man, making the murder cops’ job just that much harder. They have their pick of suspects as everyone within a five mile radius of Broadway had a reason to want this guy dead. From the jealous stage manager, to the resentful actors, to a disappointed and hurt lover.
From a scorned understudy, to his ex-wives, any one of them could have cheerfully done him in. This mystery takes the reader back stage into the tumultuous, gossip ridden, passionate world of the theatre.
5 out of 5 quills
Mike Lupica writes so well in Robert B. Parker’s voice that you immediately feel you’re driving your rental car up the main street of Paradise Massachusetts. You drive towards the beach, park, and walk up the path to a piece of land that’s called The Throw. It reveals some of the most beautiful views of the Atlantic ocean on the East Coast . After you get your fix from the ocean views you drive over to the local police station to say hello to your friend and deputy chief, Molly Crane. Chief Jesse Stone and Molly are working a case. The beloved (by everyone) mayor of this small town has….. (Opps! Almost gave it away).
One of my favorite characters, Crow, returns in this story. If you’re a fan of Robert B. Parker’s (and Mike Lupica’s) I don’t need to elaborate. If you’re not, well….you should be. The plot twists and turns and surprises the reader with a page turning cop/murder mystery.
Right up to, literally, the last page. SURPRISE! Thanks, Mike!
The writing is just as excellent as the rest of Mike Lupica’s work. Mike writes all of the Jesse stone and Sunny Randall murder mysteries for the Parker estate so we can look forward to more from this fine writer.
Did you catch my Interview with Mike Lupica?
Release date: September 6th
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My weekly BLOG features INTERVIEWS with best-selling AUTHORS! January: Madeline Hunter, February: Mike Lupica, March: Lee Matthew Goldberg, May: Jenny Colgan, June: Don Bentley writing for Tom Clancy, August: Veronica Henry and October: Life Coach, shaman, author, Jennifer Monohan.
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BOOKS BY TRISHA SUGAREK
A fellow writer and friend asked me this question: “What does the process of going from “no book” to “finished book” look like?” After years of writing my blog and interviewing other authors, it seemed to be each featured author’s favorite question. Having also completed several novels I’d like to add my two cents:
When writing my first novel, (Women Outside the Walls) I did not have a deadline and it probably would have really helped. I was my own deadline setter and that didn’t work out so well. On the other hand, I think having a publisher breathing down my neck would have stifled my creative flow. When life got in the way I wouldn’t work on it for weeks but then I would get inspired and work on it for days, weeks, non-stop, sometimes 10-14 hours a day. So I guess it all evened out. Whatever you do, don’t beat yourself up if you don’t write for a few days….you’ll make up for it with better, more relaxed creative writing.
Because I inherently ‘rush’, I found that I had to watch-dog myself and be careful not to leave out important roads of the story. I was in early proofing of the final product of my novel and realized (in a countless re-read) that I had never described my female negotiator’s physical appearance. (Yikes!). Again, (if the writer tends to rush) go back and re-read your work to see where you need to flesh out a chapter or a character.
I am not structured at all, if ‘structured’ means writing an outline, a story plot and character descriptions. I write a new project in my head for days, weeks and then when my brain is about to burst I begin putting it down on paper (or in my case, sitting at the keyboard). I also write out of sequence and I think that’s okay. My novel’s last chapter was completed months before the middle was written.
Some writers have actually written whole books while blogging; they found it less daunting by writing in segments. At the end they had a book and then they published. If you need a deadline the days that you commit to writing a blog would serve. For me this wouldn’t work; I would feel too exposed having my rough draft out there for the world to see as I am a writer who slams it down the first time around and then edit, edit, delete, edit. Did I mention that the lettering is worn off my ‘delete’ key?
Frequently I will begin a story that has inspired me, not knowing much about the subject. It has sometimes stopped me dead in my tracks while I researched (example: hostage negotiations for Women Outside the Walls). I had 8 pages of a new play about Winston Churchill written and had to stop to do research on his life during WW II. I find that it can be done while I am writing and that is what I prefer. It’s more fun and keeps me interested. I don’t think I would do well having my research all done before I put my story down. I find that the research itself inspires my story line.
And then there is that unseen, unheard phenomenon where, with any luck, the characters take over and you become the typist. Your muse begins to tell you the story. This has happened to me time and again, and while I resisted at first (being a control-freak) I now embrace and welcome it. In Women Outside the Walls my character Alma, at sixteen, is abandoned by her promiscuous mother. Alma is befriended by the ex-girl friend of the man Alma had a teen crush on. They end up being room mates. I could never have dreamed that one up; but my characters got together and decided that this was what they would to do.
I don’t think that there is a right or wrong way to go through the process. Each writer should be unique in how they work. Instead of thinking of it as a project/deadline ‘thing’; think of it as a work of art, created just for you and by you. Where possible, let the characters lead you. They will never steer you wrong!
well, there you have it…the process such as it is and how it works for me. (First posted January, 2013)
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My weekly BLOG features INTERVIEWS with best-selling AUTHORS! January: Madeline Hunter, February: Mike Lupica, March: Lee Matthew Goldberg, May: Jenny Colgan, June: Don Bentley writing for Tom Clancy, July: Veronica Henry.
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On the home page, enter your email address. Thanks!
BOOKS BY TRISHA SUGAREK
5 out of 5 quills ~~ BOOK REVIEW 
Flawless writing and plot. Sunny Randle, PI is like a horse fly. No frills and tenacious. Not unlike the fly, Sunny looks for a patch of unprotected skin and then she stings. It hurts like hell.
Mike Lupica is a maestro when writing in Robert B. Parker’s voice. In this new Sunny Randall murder mystery the whole gang has returned (I love when that happens.) Jesse Stone, Richie Burke, Tony Marcus, Frank Bilson, Susan Silverman, Tie bop and all the rest. Sadly, Hawk was out of town.
Robert B. Parker’s wonderful tales live on. I highly recommend the book to the fans of Robert B. Parker, old and new. This collection of authors writing in Parker’s voice keeps his work alive and fresh.
Did you miss my Interview with Mike? It’s great reading. He’s a fascinating guy.
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My weekly BLOG features INTERVIEWS with best-selling AUTHORS! January: Madeline Hunter, February: Mike Lupica, March: Lee Matthew Goldberg, May: Jenny Colgan, June: Don Bentley writing for Tom Clancy.
To receive my weekly posts sign up for my
On the home page, enter your email address. Thanks!
