Guest Post: Kelly Irvin - A DEADLY WILDERNESS

Hello book people. As the weather warms across the United States, people’s minds turn to various outdoor activities: visiting local parks, cookouts with family and friends, boating, swimming, hiking, warm weather sports, or just sitting in the sun. Authors have the unenviable task of crafting a setting and describing it in a way that the reader can picture it in their minds, even if they’ve never been to that particular location. The setting and action have to be realistic, or at least plausible, for me to gain any enjoyment from the story. I’m pleased to welcome back to the blog, Kelly Irvin, as she celebrates the re-release of her suspense thriller, A Deadly Wilderness. Today, Ms. Irvin will be sharing with us her thoughts on setting and character. Thank you, Ms. Irvin, for this return visit. I’m looking forward to learning more about setting and character. I’ll now turn the blog over to you.

Park setting, Swoon-worthy Cop Combine for One-Two Punch in A Deadly Wilderness
By Kelly Irvin

Readers often want to know how I get my ideas for my romantic suspense novels. It can be a difficult question. Sometimes I find a kernel of a story in a newspaper article or a TV news piece. Sometimes it simply comes to me while I’m washing dishes or taking a shower. That’s not the case with A Deadly Wilderness. With this novel, the setting(s) drove the story development, and the hero barged into my brain from an earlier unpublished manuscript. I simply had to figure out what to do with these two elements.

Here’s how it started. I worked as the public relations manager for the San Antonio Parks and Recreation Department for more than 20 years. The city has myriad of beautiful parks ranging from large, historic parks that date back to the 1800s to small neighborhood parks crowded with amenities, to sports complexes to a few virtually undeveloped wilderness areas. It occurred to me that especially the latter would make great spots to pounce on an unsuspecting victim with murderous intent. They also would make lovely places to stow bodies where they won’t be found for a long time. Because that’s the way a crime novelist thinks. The PR manager in me didn’t necessarily think it was a great idea, but the writer in charge off-the-clock loved it.

Then there was my hero Ray Johnson. I never intended for this cowboy from East Texas turned homicide detective to be a leading man. I actually created him as a sidekick to a hero in an earlier novel (which was never published). This homicide detective needed a partner so I gave him Ray. But Ray refused to remain in the background. He kept hogging the scenes. He proved himself to be everything a hero should be—brave, loyal, smart, loving, kind, and yep, good-looking. But he was a cowboy from East Texas, and I’d never even been in that neck of the woods. It didn’t matter. Ray was the closest thing to a swoon-worthy leading man I’d ever written so I gave him a novel of his own.

Then all I had to do was find a suitable plot to test the man to his limits. That’s when the fun really began. I love writing villains, and Lalo is the most dastardly villain I’ve ever written—and I’ve created some doozies. Lalo is a paid assassin who truly enjoys his job. They say characters—even the bad guys—should never be flat. In other words, all good or all bad. Lalo has at least one good quality. He loves his wife. No matter how busy he is pursuing a victim, he tries to make it home for meals. He knows she’s lonely in a town where she has no family or friends, and he worries about her. That’s about it, though. Otherwise, he’s a stone-cold sociopath.

So what about the heroine? It’s important to create as many problems for a hero as possible, right? Ray’s a widower, and it’s taken a long time for him to get over his wife’s death. Finally, he falls for Suzanne. Suzanne is a widow who lost her firefighting husband in a fire. She’s not interested in a relationship with another man who puts his life on the line every day. Did I mention that Suzanne is the sister of Ray’s boss, who is very protective of his grieving sibling? Cue the conflict.

It’s no wonder I had such a good time writing A Deadly Wilderness. I hope reading it will be equally enjoyable. One final note: San Antonio parks are very safe places for family fun. I don’t work for the Parks Department anymore, but the PR manager in me just had to point that out for the record! ♦

Synopsis:

A frantic anonymous crisis center hot-line call propels counselor Susana Martinez-Acosta smack into the center of a murder investigation and a homicide detective’s arms. Exactly where she doesn’t want to be. Following the tragic death of her husband, she’s struggled to build a safe haven for herself and her son. That new world doesn’t include hit men and persistent detectives with dangerous jobs.

An idyllic wilderness hike turns deadly when homicide detective Ray Johnson tumbles into a ravine and lands on a corpse later identified as the son of a prominent citizen. Ray works to solve the political hot potato murder before city leaders bumps him from the case. His determination to find the man’s killer leads him from the wealthiest enclaves in San Antonio to the city’s dark underbelly, all the while trying to win the woman he loves.

A Deadly Wilderness is a romantic suspense novel that will take the reader along on a tumultuous journey as the consuming need for material wealth drives a deadly wedge among family members who haven’t learned when enough really is enough.

The journey ends where it began—in a deadly wilderness. Not everyone will survive the trip.

Book Details:

Genre: Romantic Suspense
Published by: Ally Press
Publication Date: May 23, 2023
Number of Pages: 388
ISBN: 9781953290229 (Paperback)
ASIN: B0BZX54S1G (Kindle edition)
Purchase Links #CommissionEarned: Amazon | Amazon Kindle | Goodreads

Author Bio:

Kelly Irvin is the author of more than 30 Amish romance and romantic suspense novels. She has penned eight critically acclaimed romantic suspense novels, including Trust Me, which debuted in 2022. Publisher’s Weekly said of the novel: “(In this) whirlwind romantic thriller . . . Irvin follows the characters through twists and turns, writing through the lens of faith and broken faith, while illuminating a bridge across shattered relationships to second chances.” Her latest novel is A Deadly Wilderness, released May 23, 2023, from Ally Press.

The Kansas native is a graduate of the University of Kansas School of Journalism. She has been writing nonfiction professionally for more than 30 years, including 10 years as a newspaper reporter. She retired in 2016 after working 22 years in public relations for the City of San Antonio Parks and Recreation Department. She is a member of ACFW and Alamo City Christian Fiction Writers. She and her husband make their home in South Texas. They are the parents of two children and the grandparents of four grandchildren. In her spare time, Kelly reads, writes poetry and short stories, and spends time with her grandchildren as often as possible.

Catch Up With Kelly Irvin:
www.kellyirvin.com
Goodreads
BookBub - @KellyIrvin
Twitter - @Kelly_S_Irvin
Instagram - @Kelly_Irvin
Facebook - @Kelly.Irvin.Author

Tour Participants:

Visit these other great hosts on this tour for more great reviews, interviews, guest posts, and giveaway entries!

https://www.linkytools.com/basic_linky_include.aspx?id=310539

ENTER FOR A CHANCE TO WIN:

This is a giveaway hosted by Partners in Crime Tours for Kelly Irvin. See the widget for entry terms and conditions. Void where prohibited.

https://kingsumo.com/js/embed.js

Get More Great Reads at Partners In Crime Tours