L.E. Fraser's Blog

So far, 2018 has been a barnburner. Ray and I are posting a sign over our front door. Hapless visitors deserve a warning that they’re entering a ring of hell when they step over our threshold.

While writing Frozen Statues last winter, I had the irrational fear that art would imitate life. One scene—vital to the plot, or I would have cut it—felt like an ominous premonition. Sadly, my instincts were correct. Seven months after the book released, I had to live out the scene that I had found so difficult to write.

So 2018 opened with devastating news, an Arctic front so frigid that pipes froze and cars died, a major career setback for my husband, an irreconcilable extended family relationship, and our sons’ house deal tanking due to a dishonest seller. As if that wasn't bad enough, while grieving the death of my beloved Pearl, I received the dire news that I was a victim of credit card fraud. At least the bank caught the irregular spending and froze the card. Had they held me liable, our family’s horrendous winter would be careening toward a miserable spring. But hope springs eternal, finer weather is on the horizon and things will get brighter.

Until then, the best remedy I’ve found to cope with uncontrollable events is a bit of escapism, which one can dependably find in a good mystery-thriller. A number of authors shared their novels during this difficult time, so I’m paying it forward and offering my latest psychological thriller Frozen Statues, Perdition Games FREE worldwide until the end of March.



If the book doesn't interest you right now, please scroll down to read how my pug saved my life.

Frozen Statues received outstanding editorial reviews. Book critics are hard nuts to crack, especially for Indie authors. Kirkus Book Reviews featured the novel in their magazine, Underground Book Reviews certified the writing, editing, and design, and Awesome Indies Books approved it for inclusion in their program. The positive response thrilled the book team.

“Careful details about the murders, like the staging of victims during foul weather to ruin forensic evidence, are impressively geeky.”—(2017, August) Indie. Kirkus Reviews Magazine, vol. LXXXV, No.15, pp. 198

“A deeply compelling psychological thriller.”—Marta Cheng, Self-Publishing Review

“A masterpiece, an absorbing story that defines its place in the area of crime and psychological thrillers.”—Romuald Dzemo, Readers’ Favorite

“A complex and mesmerizing puzzle with a cunning serial killer and a likable protagonist that twists and turns with every chapter. ”—Awesome Indies Books

You can download your FREE copy at any of the below links until the end of March—Amazon will redirect you to your country’s site:

Amazon

Barnes & Nobel

Kobo

iBooks

In November, we received devastating news about Pearl-Pug, my furry soul mate and the eldest in our grumble of pugs. She’s the fawn sweetheart in the middle, between Porsche and Cole.



A year ago, Pearl’s health began to fail. Based on human medicine, I suspected congestive heart failure. But Pearl didn’t present with a heart murmur or ascites (swelling in her legs and/or abdomen) or cyanosis of her tongue and gums. The vet doubted my diagnosis, and rightly so because Pearl’s symptoms didn’t support my hypothesis. By June, her cough was worse. A new vet had joined the hospital. He recognized a neurological issue in her spine that medication would correct. I wasn’t convinced that was the entire cause of her problems, but people dislike how direct (humph, tactless) I am. Fearing I’d inadvertently offend our new vet, I didn’t insist on a chest x-ray. Five months later, a bilateral chest x-ray confirmed my worst fear. Fluid encased Pearl’s enlarged heart: stage III CHF with pulmonary edema. Medication could only slow the inevitable because stage III advances quickly to stage IV. Even with high-quality veterinarian care, Pearl progressed to stage IV within twelve weeks. When she experienced seizures, I made the difficult decision to euthanize. Had I insisted on the chest x-ray even a few months earlier, we would have caught it at stage II. Medication would have maintained stable health, maybe for years.

Losing a pet is hard, especially when you spend 24/7 with your animal. They’re my muses in my office all day. They cuddle with me all night. When one is gone, the whole pack grieves. But what made Pearl-Pug’s death extra hard was that she saved my life. And I let her down because I didn’t speak up in time to save hers.

THE AMAZING STORY OF HOW A WEE PUG SAVED MY LIFE

When Pearl was an only pug, I used to take her running in Reservoir Park—a gorgeous area with meandering paths that wind through a beautiful forest. Reservoir Hill boasts a steep drop to a busy road about thirty-feet from the crest. At the time of the war of 1812, it was Hungerford Hill and the bustling road below was part of the native trail; a main artery for military transport through southwestern Ontario. During the Battle of the Thames, opposing forces fought a skirmish on that hill. Too bad the city disrespected history by building an atrocious high-rise on it a few years back.



People don’t frequent Reservoir Park too much (probably not at all with the addition of a grotesque condominium) because the jewel of the city is a 300-acre park down the street with an array of recreational amenities and attractions. I prefer unspoilt nature, so Reservoir’s isolated atmosphere and dog-friendly hikers used to be my favourite spot. Beautiful, wasn’t it?

It was an unusually wet summer that year and I kept Pearl-Pug a few feet to my right, so the crest of the hill was to my left and I could prevent her from getting too close to the edge. She obeyed my hand signals and trotted along beside me. I remember taking pride in how well trained she was. I suppose that’s when I stopped paying attention. I slipped in a spot of mud and slid feet first over the edge. As I pummeled down the slippery slope to the bustling traffic thirty-feet below, I grappled to clutch something—anything—to thwart gravity. I caught a root with my left hand. With nothing else to grasp, I couldn’t pull up my body weight. There I dangled, while Pearl-Pug stared down at me with woeful eyes. Then she disappeared. So much for the hours of training, I thought

But enjoying an unsupervised frolic wasn’t her plan. Pearl galloped to one of the main paths. When she gained the attention of a black lab, Pearl turned and ran. The dog chased after Pearl, and the owner chased after his dog. So I was rescued by my brilliant little Pearl-Pug... oh, right, and the man who pulled me up.

I tore ligaments in my left wrist and dislocated a finger, but I didn’t plunge to the road below to have multiple cars run over me. I didn’t fall that day because of a smart little dog. Yet I couldn’t save Pearl-Pug because I ignored my intuition and didn’t request a chest x-ray earlier.

I’m beginning to forgive myself, but it isn’t easy. To immortalize my precious girl, I got my first (and probably only) tattoo last week on my left wrist.



Whenever I look at it, I think of her full of life at Reservoir Park, especially on that fated day when I held on to a scrap of root for dear life.

Thank you for letting me share Pearl's story. Telling it reminded me to celebrate her life, rather than focusing on her death.

I hope you decide to download Frozen Statues, Perdition Games at your favourite online retailer. It is FREE worldwide until we bid farewell to March. Then, April showers will bring May flowers and perhaps a pug puppy to rejuvenate our pack.

Amazon

Barnes & Nobel

Kobo

iBooks

Pug-Hugs, Lori

LAST WEEK I bought a zero-gravity chair and marble table for the patio. There was a lovely spot under the Magnolia tree that needed a quiet reading chair. Isn't it cute?



Sadly, it's rained every day since I tucked it into position. So, I'm stuck in my office with my three pug Muses. Cole and Porsche are post-operative and recovering nicely from surgery. They're enjoying lots of snuggles, although the kitchen island resembles a pharmacy because of all their medication. It's going to be a long two weeks of compounding pills into liquid form and stuffing syringes full of bitter medicine into their squished, wrinkly snouts. Pearl-Pug is unimpressed with the attention the other two are receiving. And, since they're on a restricted diet, it means no treats for Queen Pearl either. Fair is fair.

Frozen Statues is out in the world and I'm confident that the rest of the summer will be full of heat and sun. So I'm looking forward to watching healthy pugs frolic in the garden while I work outside and develop the disturbing plot for my new book, scheduled for release next summer.

August is a fun month for my family because my husband and elder son share August birthdays. We're a huge foodie family and celebrate every event with a bevy of gourmet delights.

To share my special month with you, Skully is FREE internationally.



So grab yourself a lawn chair and settle down in the August heat with a spine-tingling thriller. It's a dark tale, so reading it in daylight may be a good idea. I hope you enjoy the story and consider adding a short review on Amazon and Goodreads so I can hear your thoughts. Or let me know HERE

It's available at all online retailers. Simply click on the icon of any store to download your FREE copy.

Due to life getting in the way, I’m a tad late announcing the release of my fourth book, Frozen Statues. The announcement went out to the subscriber list a few weeks ago, so if you’d like to hear about new releases (hummm, promptly, I mean) you can sign up HERE.

In addition to life, I procrastinated over a laundry list of chores, such as disabling the Goodreads' RSS feed to my website blog. You may have noticed that anything uploaded from our website looked as if one of my pugs designed it—without the advantage of opposable thumbs. Goodreads, as usual, was awesome and helpful. The problem is resolved, the website is updated, and we're finishing off the new branding for the social media sites. If you're in the publishing world and cringing over this disjointed release of a fourth book, I feel you. What can I say? Life happens at professionally inconvenient times.



Frozen Statues (June 30, 2017) is dark and delicious. It is my favourite because of the depth of the characters. I had the most fun with Incubus but he also took the most amount of thought and research. It was important to me to stay true to the psychological pathology of a psychopath. That required showing accurate diagnostic criteria for APD (Antisocial Personality Disorder). As I began to write the Incubus character, I faced some unique challenges. A true psychopath isn't driven by typical motivation. Since Incubus couldn't have any emotional depth, his character arc couldn't follow traditional creative writing rules. There could be no transformation or inner journey for Mr. Psychopath. That would be a cheat. And since a psychopath exhibits deficient emotional reactivity, I couldn't overlay inner struggle. He wouldn't have doubt over his behaviour, nor would he experience a moment of reflective insight or a private desire to change. Although I've never asked one, I feel confident that a lion doesn't feel bad pouncing on and eating a zebra. No residual feelings of shame or guilt for the lion. He's higher on the food chain. It's instinct and nature. In Incubus's case, the character's absence of depth was key to portraying a terrifying complexity, incomprehensible to the majority of society.

Protagonists Toronto PI Samantha McNamara and former police inspector Reece Hash are back. In addition to running the investigation firm, Sam is in her fourth year of her psychology PhD and Reece is finishing his final year of law school. For returning readers, you’ll recognize old friends, meet new characters, and—as usual—crawl into some deeply disturbed minds. I do love to share dark psychology.

If you aren't familiar with the books, these aren't episodic and there's no need to read them in order. Each novel has a standalone plot with a resolution to the storyline. Not that they’re always happy outcomes. Reality often isn't and justice doesn't always prevail.  If you enjoy reading fiction with serial killers, you can start with Frozen Statues without feeling confused. If you click HERE and scroll down, you can download the first three chapters to see what you think. There are lots of twist in this one, which is fun.

I was also late this year submitting the ARCs—shall I whine here about how well organized I usually am?—but the editorial reviews are coming in. Kirkus Reviews liked the book so much that they’re including Frozen Statues  in the August 1st edition of their magazine, which is an honour.



Love that impressively geeky line. You can read the full review here HERE.

A colleague, Joseph Hirsch, provided some excellent advice during the developmental phase. It would be idiotic not to heed the advice of this talented man, so I did. The imagery in his novels is absolute art. up in the treehouse is one of my favourites, in case you're unfamiliar with Hirsch's work. But following his excellent advice was emotionally difficult for me. I hope that means I did my job right and the reader will feel the character(s) angst in an honest and unapologetic way. But descending into the abyss to experience the strength of the character's pain in the given moment was a tough journey. I cried the entire time I wrote one chapter.

One of the best parts of my job is working with the talented professionals I'm blessed to have on the book team:

Sadie Scapillato developmental editing
Jennifer McIntyre substantive content editing
Ellen Michelle copy proofing
Mike Doyle Design Studio graphic artist. Mike is also the artistic genius behind the cover of Red Rover, Perdition Games, which was the first project we worked on together. He did the web design and the new social media banners.

To celebrate the new release, we’re running a FREE campaign on Skully, Perdition Games  over August.  Click HERE and pick the icon for your favourite online retailer.

Thank you for allowing me to share my news. I can't wait to hear your opinion on Frozen Statues, Perdition Games. Good or bad, all feedback is priceless.


Pug Hugs,
Lori

SPRING IS FINALLY here. The snow is gone and crocuses are sprouting in southwestern Ontario. The pugs are happy to be outside without sinking to their curly tails in snowdrifts. Soon we’ll be able to relax in the garden with a good book.

To celebrate, I’m offering Red Rover, Perdition Games FREE for a limited time. Grab a coffee and a snack and enjoy the ride.




Click on your favourite online retailer to download your FREE copy today

AMAZON

BARNES & NOBLE

KOBO

iBOOKS


SPRING IS A reason to celebrate, but my motivation for festivity is because my new book Frozen Statue, Perdition Games went off to the editor for substantive content editing. Yippy! I confess that I had doubts over whether I could pull it off this time. But I always keep my pinky-swear, and I promised some of you the story of Incubus, the serial killer who murdered Sam’s sister.

Protagonist Samantha McNamara is a complicated character. And much of her personality—warts and all—is because of her sister’s murder. The one thing I never take literary license with in my stories is the psychology. Trauma impacts people. It changes the way they interact. That’s a fact of life. Love her or hate her, Sam is a good example of that reality.

My conundrum was how to show you the past without stepping back in time. Eliminating Reece Hash would disappointed many readers. And I had a great plotline for the new book that I didn’t want to abandon. Then I had an epiphany. The new case would bring up terrible memories for Sam. What a perfect segue for showing Incubus's reign of terror. Because victims of violent crimes seldom emerge psychologically unharmed, Sam’s voice had to be different in the reflective scenes. To understand the character’s motivation today, the reader must understand her reaction to past events. Those scenes had to be up close and personal, which required writing them first-person.

Could I do it? The psychological thriller side, sure. But could I execute the technical aspect of nonlinear creative writing? Hum, self-doubt was why I wrote Skully, Perdition Games in a linear narrative—Gabriella’s childhood shown in chronological order with a jump to current day. Great novelists (Stephen King being one of many) warn against flashbacks. Readers don't want an author to shove them into the past with harp music and a blurry fade-in. If you watch classic black and white television shows, you know what I mean.

I started with a detailed synopsis that told the entire story. My fantastic editor, Sadie Scapillato, edited the developmental stage. There were issues with convoluted character arcs and superfluous subplots. Once we had the synopsis nailed, I figured it would be a breeze to write the novel. Oh the joy of naivety! As I wrote, I had the uneasy sense that I was dragging Sam and Reece behind me.

Enter my content editor, Jennifer McIntyre. She visited London from Toronto to have a sit-down. Her advice after listening to me:

"Go for a walk with your protagonist and listen to what she has to say."



Precious Pearl-Pug, our senior girl, enjoyed her romp in the woods

THE PUGS FROLICKED in the woods (Pearl-Pug taking lots of breaks) and I did indeed listen to Sam. Reece walked along with us for a bit. If you’re thinking it sounds as if I suffer from delusional disorder, I don’t blame you. The creative process is unique to everyone, but most authors follow their characters. Perhaps not so literally...

It wasn’t always smooth sailing because I wrote Frozen Statues, Perdition Games in hypercritical mode. Life is about learning and growth. The only way we do that is by exiting our comfort zones and embracing challenges. Editorial reviewers praised Red Rover, Perdition Games. I am many things, but stupid isn’t one of them. If I hope to impress critics such as Kirkus Reviews again, this next book has to be outstanding.

My wonderful book team navigated me to smoother waters


IN ADDITION TO my developmental editor and content editor, Elizabeth West is my talented proofreader. She also offers a final evaluation on the book prior to publication. Along the way, there are critique partners—authors who write in the mystery-thriller genre—and beta-readers. I appreciate all the feedback and make adjustments at every stage. So we have miles to go on this journey, but we’re on schedule for the June 2017 book release.

I’m excited to announce that Mike Doyle is doing the Frozen Statues, Perdition Games cover. He did a fantastic job on Red Rover, Perdition Games. The second the team approves the graphics for the eBook, we’ll post a sneak peek.

The most important person is you, the reader. To show my thanks, I'm offering you a FREE book. Come play a dark game with me and get to know Toronto PI Sam McNamara and ex-OPP Inspector Reece Hash.



Download your FREE copy of Red Rover, Perdition Games today












Happy spring from me and my three pug Muses,

Lori
Perdition Games
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Facebook

Huge thanks to everyone who participated in the Skully, Perdition Games giveaway. 2067 people entered to win an autographed copy, making the book one of the top 5 most requested titles for that end date. I’m so honoured by the interest!

Congratulations to the three winners, Andrea, Peter, and Carlos. I’ve sent off the packages and hope you enjoy meeting Samantha McNamara and Reece Hash.



In addition to Kirkus Reviews featuring the novel in their August 15th print magazine, another great editorial review has arrived: "A solid novel with good pacing and many twists, L.E. Fraser is a storyteller to watch and has a promising series on her hands."
--San Francisco Book Review

To celebrate the outstanding Kirkus Book Reviews, San Francisco Book Review, and Readers' Favorite editorial reviews, we’re doing a bundled giveaway during September to win copies of both Perdition Games: Simon Says and Skully, Perdition Games. It will commence on the 15th.

We’re still excited to launch the new website, but hit an unavoidable delay. I’ll be reaching out to a few authors whose books we’d like to feature in the monthly Authors to Read segment. It’ll be exciting to add a short interview with the creators of the featured novels.

Don't forget that we're still holding the monthly website draws to win a copy of Perdition Games: Simon Says. Simply send in a comment at www.perditiongames.com and ask to be entered. You won't be spammed, we hate spam.

Pug-Hugs and remember, a happy day includes a book.
Lori

I'm thrilled to announce that we're offering three copies of Skully, Perdition Games in a Goodreads Giveaway, open globally. No matter where you live, you can enter to win an autographed copy and a nifty Perdition Games device stand.


In addition to using it for phones, iPads, and eReaders, I love mine for holding recipes. Yup, I'm old school and haven't converted family recipes to digital format. Seeing my grandmother's handwriting on those index cards makes me smile.

This promotion is one of my favourites. It's a fun way to showcase a new release book to readers who enjoy the mystery-thriller genre. If you win and want to review it, great. If reviewing isn't your thing, no worries. If you want to give it a friend or relative who enjoys thrillers, I'm flattered.

The best part about this promotion is I'm able to gift you the book. No strings attached. Gifts don't come with conditions. You get to be one of the first people to read the printed copy, and my hope is that you enjoy the story.

Let's get this party started! The giveaway is open until August 27th.

Why not add it to your summer reading list?

Lori

I’m excited to welcome a web developer to the team. He’ll be designing and building the new Perdition Games website. His plans include: creating the ability to interact with visitors, live Twitter feeds, and a blog with a review page to highlight talented indie authors. It will be fun to poll readers to identify hidden gems and feature one outstanding author each month.

My main goal with the website blog is to confess all the stupid mistakes I made over the past year with my two books. For Skully, Perdition Games I considered traditional publishing. With only one novel under my belt, I was fortunate to have a publisher show interest in the second book. As I worried over the pros and cons, poor friends and family were bored to tears. Eventually, I popped on the therapist cap and realized that viewing the opportunity as a conundrum meant I’d made my decision. My head just hadn’t caught up with my heart. There were aspects of the deal that weren’t a good fit for me right now. Maybe another time. I chose to stick with my amazing freelance team and try Indie, which I didn’t know anything about because I didn’t handle the backend of Perdition Games: Simon Says.

As I frantically dog-paddled in Lake Ignorance trying not to drown, indie authors reached out and offered advice. I appreciate every conference invitation, book recommendation, and life raft they tossed my way. I’d like to pay it forward by sharing templates and project plans that I created to navigate the choppy waters of quality indie publishing.

For now, thanks to everyone for the support and love. It’s been a wild ride. The pugs are eager to retire psycho publishing mom and have happy writing mom back. At least until June 2016, when we do it all again for book three. But with knowledge... and templates... and tested project plans... it’ll be a breeze, right? Hum... and no one can see where the wild animal tore up the corner of the new outdoor carpet. Oh boy, the things we tell ourselves!

Pug-hugs
Lori

I’m excited to announce the second book, featuring PI Samantha McNamara and ex-OPP Inspector Reece Hash, is now available. Skully, Perdition Games

Huge thanks to my great book team for all their hard work: Sadie Scapillato (editor), Elizabeth West (copy proofreader), Andrew Larson (Web Developer), & iDontSee Studio (cover).

I am thrilled to tell you that Kirkus Reviews enjoyed the story:

“The writing throughout is taut and focused, capturing the reader’s attention and constantly upping the stakes as Sam tries to untangle the mystery that is Gabriella.... A fast-paced mystery featuring plenty of excitement."—Kirkus Reviews

You can read the full review here: Kirkus Reviews Skully, Perdition Games

It’s been a busy six months and I’m looking forward to interacting with my friends on Goodreads and writing the third book that follows Sam & Reece’s adventure. It will take readers even further into the Psychological Thriller genre and promises to be a dark, twisting journey. Poor Reece is going to have to face his demons and make some hard decision.

Thank you for all your support and I hope you decide to give Skully, Perdition Games a chance. Remember, these are dark stories. They aren’t cozy mysteries with pugs solving crimes. Although... my three babies, Pearl-Pug, Porsche, and Cole have a tertiary role. I couldn’t resist.


Pug-hugs,
L.E. Fraser

During dinner with friends last week, one of the women stated how shocked she was over the process genre authors go through to publish a book. Sure, she said while stuffing shrimp into her mouth, if you’re trying to win a prestigious literary award, there’s more to it. She believes “mainstream” genre writing is easy breezy, apparently.

The fact that all authors bleed for months or years, while quivering with insecurity, came as a surprise. Her mouth gapped when I explained that our trembling paws deliver our manuscript to an editor whom we pay to tear the story to shreds. We then struggle with months of rewrites before repeating the process. Nothing about writing is “easy.” At this point, a close friend shared that my editor had returned 7,308 notes in the 75,000-word manuscript of my new book. This revelation instigated a spirited discussion regarding the author-editor relationship.

No, I’m not cross with my editor because she didn’t swoon over my brilliance. I’m relieved she put so many comments into the manuscript. If she’d hated the story, she wouldn’t have bothered. That’s how this works. Editors are gifted professionals, identifying mistakes that are outright stupid: airport security has external surveillance cameras... someone couldn’t be in and out of arrivals without his car showing up. Editors understand readers and the genre: Your protagonist looks like a wimp and your reader demographic won’t like her. Editing is much more than correcting spelling and grammar.

When asked, the advice I offer new authors is to find a qualified editor and follow his/her advice. Editors don’t have a hidden agenda to make your life difficult. They didn’t pick this career so they could attack hopeful authors and crush dreams. They aren’t mean people. Editors love books and have studied hard to develop their skill. They want you to succeed. They know writing techniques that produce a gripping read and understand the psychology around how people read. The key to writing well is working with a good editor.

I will be spending the next two months rewriting, developing creative solutions and restructuring. I already have some exciting ideas to fix the creative mishaps. Sure, my feelings might be hurt a time or two as I read my editor’s comments, and some of my new ideas may not work as I weave them across the plot. I suspect my three dogs will be wishing they had opposable thumbs and a red pen. At the end of the process, the book will be better because my editor’s only goal is to help me to deliver a humdinger of a good read. That’s what you deserve and that’s what you’ll get. Well... assuming I listen to my editor!

Gotta go, Pearl-Pug is dipping her paw into red ink.

There’s discussion amongst authors whether giving away your book is smart. Some arguments against are compelling. Some feel, well, self-important. Confidence is an admirable character trait. Arrogance... hum, not so much.

Should you give away your book? Honestly, it depends on your marketing objectives. Without a clear goal, no promotion is going to be a success. What do you want? If it's sales, then a giveaway campaign may be counterproductive. If it's exposure and reviews, a giveaway can rock.

Over 700,000 new book titles are released per year in the US and Canada. The global number is astonishing. In business terms, that's a saturated market in an industry flooded with new product introductions. As Pooh says, You can’t stay in your corner of the Forest waiting.

For the next ten days, you can download a FREE copy of Simon Says, Perdition Games on-line at Story Cartel in epub, mobi or PDF format. Click the book cover and it will take you to the site or hit the link at the end of this post.

Why am I doing this? Because it’s important to find out what readers in the mystery-thriller-suspense genre think of Simon Says before Skully is released. Your opinion empowers me to create better fiction that entertains you. If you’ll be generous enough to take the time to read it, I’ll give it to you.

No, you don’t have to write a review if you don’t want to. Yes, Story Cartel asks, and a review—good or bad—would be lovely. However, it’s 100% up to you. Story Cartel is great, and I frequently download books from them for my own reading enjoyment. They do remind me about the review "deadline" via email, but they've never scolded me when I didn't have time and posted it later. Authors don't want you to read their work feeling pressured by a deadline.

If you accept this gift, I would love to hear what you think. It won’t hurt my feelings if it’s not your cup of tea. No rush to read it, take your time. If you download a copy, happy reading and I hope you enjoy the story.
Simon Says, Perdition Games Gift