Pamela S Thibodeaux ~ "Inspirational with an Edge!": hollywood

Showing posts with label hollywood. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 12, 2019

#WednesdayWordswithFriends with Janet Elizabeth Lynn & Will Zeilinger

Good Morning!

I'm LOVING this weather here in SW LA! Cool mornings, hot afternoons. Enjoy opening up the windows and letting fresh air in when possible. This is my idea of perfect weather and I wish it would stay this way. All. The. Time.

Alas, perfection in any area doesn't last long. Life is always moving, always changing, always evolving and hopefully we're growing right along with it. I know, change isn't always easy and sometimes we're dragged into it kicking and screaming LOL!

Today our guests speak to us about Ending a Novel Series so please welcome Janet Elizabeth Lynn and Will Zeilinger!

Accomplishing the Final Book

My husband, Will Zeilinger and I co-write the Skylar Drake Mysteries, a hardboiled detective series that takes the reader to 1950s Los Angeles and other areas of the west. Our new book, GAME TOWN, is set in Hollywood and exposes a scandal that rocks the toy industry in Los Angeles. GAME TOWN is the fifth and final book of the series.

We knew that GAME TOWN was going to be the last book of the series. We also wanted to write this series as an episode series. That is, someone can pick up anyone of our books and enjoy the story instead of starting in the middle and getting confused. Also, we began writing the series keeping in mind what kind of endings we could use.

There were several things we wanted to accomplish with this final book. We wanted to:
- tie-up loose ends by taking care of the lingering questions throughout each book.
-re-orient our characters so the readers would know that they would be okay in their next phase of life.

Tying-up loose ends was easy since we kept notes on all our characters, their flaws and goals. However, after the joy ride of 1950s Hollywood, it was coming to an end. And re-orienting our characters was tough.

Re-orienting our characters was difficult. We had been living with them for five years. It was sad. Not because each character had sad endings, but because our relationship with them was coming to an end. It was like ending a relationship with dear friends or moving away.

We wanted to be sure our readers were happy that the major question about the death of Skylar Drake's beautiful wife and sweet daughter was answered. And to be sure our characters did not have sad endings but that everything would work out okay, not necessarily happily ever after, but okay.

It was bittersweet as we wrote the last chapter. Sadness swept over us when we held the finished manuscript in our hands for the first time. The realization that we would not be writing any more new adventures for them. And that we would not be moving the characters forward.

One of our readers asked, "What about Fan Fiction?"

Sure, why not. Some of our fans have tried it and said it was fun. So it can be done. Remember, just because we are not writing the story doesn't mean you need to stop the story.

Many have asked, "What are you going to do now?"

We will continue to write separately and together, more books and short stories as well as essays or articles as we come across them. And though we are not writing about Skylar Drake and his friends, the memory of the plots, sub plots and people in his life will be fond memories.

GAME TOWN is the fifth and final book in the series and yes...we are still married!

That's wonderful Janet & Will! Having written my Tempered Series, I can definitely identify!

Published authors Will Zeilinger and Janet Elizabeth Lynn write individually until they got together and created the Skylar Drake Mystery Series. These hard-boiled tales are based in old Hollywood of 1956-57. Janet has published seven mystery novels and Will has three plus a couple of short stories. Their world travels have sparked several ideas for murder and crime stories. This creative couple is married and live in Southern California.

The next Skylar Drake Mystery, GAME TOWN, the fifth and final book in the series, will be available April 15, 2019 and yes...we are still married!

Find out more about Janet and Will at the following locations...

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/janet.lynn.5477

Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/home?trk=nav_responsive_tab_home

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JanetLynn4

Blog: http://janetelizabethlynnauthor.blogspot.com/

e-mail: janet_lynn51@yahoo.com

website: www.janetlynnauthor.com

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Contact info for Will:

Twitter: @Will_Zeilinger

Facebook: www.facebook.com/wzeilinger

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/pub/william-zeilinger/15/48/9a7/

website: http://www.willzeilingerauthor.com

blog: http://www.booksbywilzeilinger.blogspot.com

Get a sneak peek into Game Town on last month's Saturday Spotlight and check out Janet & Will's previous Tuesday Treasures, Thursday Thoughts and Saturday Spotlight

Hope you enjoyed today's post and that you'll check back weekly for more Saturday Spotlights and Wednesday Words with Friends!

Until next time, take care and God Bless.

PamT

Saturday, May 18, 2019

#SaturdaySpotlight is on Janet Elizabeth Lynn & Game Town

Hello from Meade, OK!

I've been here all week for a writing retreat and am happy to report I've actually made progress on one of my WIPs. Hopefully I'll get it finished and have more news to report later in the year on it.

Meanwhile, please welcome Janet Elizabeth Lynn back to our blog with a new release!

Skylar Drake and his partner are hired as bodyguards for two young starlets. They deliver the actresses home after the Oscar Awards ceremony, but stumble onto the murder of Silver Brovor-Smith, the mother of one of their charges, actress Holly Becker. Drake wonders why the FBI is on the scene when it looks like a simple case of murder.

Drake is now embroiled in the murder investigation of Silver Brovor-Smith. Suspicion shifts between her husband Peter Smith, and Silver’s three older brothers.

At every turn Drake and Dolan are lied to or misled. Kidnapping and mysterious deaths follow them as they weave their way through the maze of Hollywood’s movie and TV backroom deals. The FBI shows up to make sure Drake and Dolan keep the high-profile people involved from becoming front page news.

Drake meets and falls in love with Miss Anne the perfect woman to help him move on with his life. But is she a suspect? Then there is Holly’s friend, the sexy, young starlet Theresa Lee who has her own plans for him.

The letters P-E-G-O seem to appear everywhere, and Drake wonders if they have anything to do with Silver’s murder or her husband’s kidnapping.

Follow the detective to Hollywood parties where the forbidden is accepted and the games played are for keeps.

Excerpt: Two o'clock in the morning. I'd just left the Emmy Awards ceremony at the NBC Television Studio in Burbank. All of Hollywood and its finest had shown up tonight to honor the best of television for 1956. The winners and losers were either at a party celebrating or hiding somewhere licking their wounds. I'd just left the event driving south on Cahuenga toward Hancock Park. My partner, Casey Dolan was in the passenger seat. It was pouring rain when we left Burbank. It seemed to be lessening as we headed away from the valley.

We'd been hired by Epic Studios to escort a couple of their up and coming starlets to and from the event. In truth, we were their bodyguards. The motion picture and TV studios weren't taking chances with their human investments.

The two young ladies in the back seat were passed out cold. I suspected they'd had a little too much Champagne before and during the ceremony.

I drove through the Wilshire Boulevard entry gate and onto Fremont Place, one of the most exclusive and expensive neighborhoods in Los Angeles. Ahead we spotted a lot of activity on the street. Dolan sat up and stared at the mess ahead, “What the Hell?”

Several police cruisers and what looked like government cars were lined up in front of a house with their spotlights trained on it. As we got closer, I saw the address. 859 in brass letters, attached to the beam above the front door – the address where I was to deliver the girls.

Oh boy, sounds like another great Skylar Drake Mystery! Pick up a copy at Amazon in Print or for Kindle.