Oh well, my insanity is your gain!
This time around I will be giving away yet another RWA 2012 conference tote bag, along with a number of romantic suspense titles. Most of these are from Harlequin (the Romantic Suspense and Intrigue) lines, but I've also tossed in a couple of Avon releases from Wendy Corsi Staub to give you a little single title fix.
To enter, all you have to do is leave a comment on this blog post answering this question:
If you were writing a suspense novel, what spooky setting would you choose as the back-drop for your story?
This giveaway is going to have a quicker turn-around time. The winner will be drawn at random, and announced on Sunday, September 2. Giveaway is open to US and international readers.
24 comments:
I'm going to be first again because I have the time to comment now. :)
My answer: The beach in a tropical island.
You'll say wow, that's not spooky. But, if you've ever been to a deserted beach in a tropical island day or night, believe me, you might not think it's sexy. It can be spooky as hell, particularly if there are a lot of trees surrounding it! Plus, I love that a place that is considered safe and sexy can be turned into a scary and spooky hellish place as a setting. *g* [I know, I'm a little strange, lol]
A library basement. I've worked in a number of library basements, and they are always more than a little creepy.
I'd have to go with Charleston, SC. I love the city (visiting) - and there's enough beaches and historic houses to add locations to "retreat" to. Also on the list are all the totally awesome creepy places (the tower jail, the slave market, all the ironwork...)
We just visited carrickfergus castle near Belfast and it has me totally intrigued. It's been around for 900 years and there's a murder hole next to the chapel. It's set on a rocky coastline and is cool and windy in the summer so winter could get downright miserable. The surrounding town would be small town buy body gold.
Honestly?
The suburbs. Because a) it's where I live and b) it's humdrum, nothing ever happens territory. So I would find it all the more terrifying, if done well.
I think I would have to go for Next Door. I read one by Brenda Novak, that was terrifying to think what went on and the neighbors had no clue!
Sandi
I'm thinking an abandoned research facility or prison.
Hhmm...another good question! I am a Karen Marie Monig 'Fever' series fan, so I would have to Dublin. But ony in the daylight!
I actually wouldn't choose a setting that was already spooky. I'd just choose where I live, Costa Mesa, and make it spooky. I mean, write what you know, right? And it's not like my little blip on the map doesn't have it's dark side.
The Snake River Canyon and this (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:U.S._Highway_93_bridge_from_within_Snake_River_Canyon.jpeg) bridge. I'm imagining something ala Cary Grant and North by Northwest.
I'd pick the place where I lived in Wisconsin as that town was pretty spooky even in the daytime.
I've always liked New Orleans and the Louisiana bayous as a romantic suspense setting.
Isolated small, unfriendly town - why are they that way would be a big question.
I'd say the Piney Woods of east Texas. Thick forest of towering pines cutting off the lights, lonely roads winding through them, lots of streams and swampy areas with snakes. On a dark and lonely road through the forests you better hope your car doesn't break down.
A small town in the middle of nowhere
I'd pick (a fictionalized to protect me from my neighbors version of) the little town in Indiana where I'm currently living. It all looks so boring and ordinary, but there are a lot of lonely roads, empty fields and desperate people (the economy here is still terrible) around here. Written correctly this place would be creep as anything.
Hoo... The boggy moors of Scotland. In winter, they can feel so haunted - perfect for a murder and body disposal.
hmmm...something spooky would be an old abandoned sorority house!
I would choose Oxford as you have all those old universities that may have forgotten rooms and passages plus the old William the Conqueror castle.
Regards, Ruth (CO)
I'd choose Ft. Delaware on Pea Patch Island on the Delaware River and off Delaware City, Delaware. A former Civil War prison for Confederate prisoners...'Ghost Hunters' filmed two shows at the fort and caught some spooky goings on...I've been there several times myself and thought how it would be a great setting for rom sus or a paranormal rom...
Debora
I would definitely choose a castle of some sort, similar to Northanger Abbey or Jane Eyre :)
There's a 2 story house in my hometown. Note I said "a" two story house, because seriously? In a town with a population of about 5,000, I think it's the only 2 story house. It's actually a multi-story house, with room on the bottom for a small, very small airplane. Rumor was that the place was haunted. Fortunately/unfortunately I lived about 100 yards from said house. While I will be the first to say it was spooky, never did I think it was haunted. However, it would make the perfect setting. Just put it in interesting little town, not the dreary, dying town where it really is. :)
Supposedly, the basement of the main branch of the El Paso Library is haunted by 2 ghosts, no less.
Based on how freaked out I am when I am there, I'd put my story in a high school building at night when no one else is there. I promise you, all those noises old buildings make at night are pretty darn creepy. Even in the daylight hours though, it can be a scary place :).
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