The Book Connection...: Guest Blogger: Joel Andre, Author of A Death at the North Pole

Joining us today is Joel Andre, author of A Death at the North Pole.

Detective Lauren Bruni has dealt with death for her entire life. She has watched it ruin lives, and brought people closer together. Her job taught her to separate fact from fiction.

But on a cold December day, all Lauren had believed in would be shattered and tossed aside. Thrust in a world unlike any she has seen before, she investigates a prominent figure’s grisly murder, and searches for answers along a strange new set of people.

All while a killer watchers her every movement from the background. He waits in the shadows, waiting to strike at her when the time is right.

What is the secret of the death at the North Pole, and what is the larger horror at hand? Life lessons are learned and a realization that sometimes the most real things in this world are the ones we believe in the least.

The Art Of Writing Suspense by Joel Andre

Writing suspense can certainly be tricky for some people. In most cases, the writer struggles and a scene that should be suspenseful will often come off as cliché, or just forced. While I am in no way an expert on the topic of writing suspense, I will be more than happy to give some tips that I think will help the avid writer expand on their content.

One of the most important things the individual writing suspense can do is to take the time to get the tension into their story. This tension should offer some emotional weight for the reader and this tension should have the reader fearful for the characters involved. Usually, if I place a character in danger, there is a very good change they are going to die and my readers get that. Getting a reader emotionally connected to even minor characters is essential to help build the suspense in the tale you are telling. If you have disposable characters that are thinly written, your readers won’t react when you kill them off.

Sometimes, time can be another way you can help to add some suspense to your story. When there is a ticking clock that your hero is up against, this gives a sense of urgency and each page they turn can keep that urgency alive until time runs out. While doing this, just make sure that you have a crisis that is set to happen at a moment’s notice. By keeping the stakes high in your book, your reader is going to get more from the overall experience.

While going through the story, add complications as often as possible. No one wants to read a simple story where a problem is discovered and solved. Make the characters work for the ending. This doesn’t mean making things so complex that they can’t make ground. You just want something that will keep the reader invested and add depth to the story you are writing.

Along with that, never become predictable. Instead of writing how you think the reader wants a story to go, add some twists. In life, nothing goes from point A to point B smoothly and you will want to be sure that you take that the story you are writing reflects these real life scenarios.

Above all, make sure your villain and hero are people that can be related to. The best villains come across as the other characters in the books and they will often shock the reader when they are revealed. In turn, the hero of the story should complement this character as well. If you invest a lot of depth into the villain and flesh them out better than your hero, you will find that your story doesn’t hold up as well.

Keep in mind that these are just some of the ways you can build a suspense tale. Use these ideas to help flesh out your story and have a blast writing a story that keeps your adrenaline pumping.

Joel M. Andre was born January 13, 1981. At a young age he was fascinated with the written word. It was at fourteen that Poe blew his mind, and Andre began to dabble with darker poetry.

Between the years of 1999 and 2007 Joel was featured in various poetry anthologies and publications. In 2008 he released his first collection,Pray the Rain Never Ends.

Knowing there was something deeper and darker inside of his soul, Joel decided to take a stab at commercialism. Releasing the dark tongue in cheek, A Death at the North Pole, created a dark world among the death of Kris Kringle. Ultimately providing a tale of redemption.

October of 2008 saw Joel release his second book, Kill 4 Me. A tale in which a woman is haunted by a vengeful spirit through text messages and instant messaging.

Taking some time off and doing a lot of soul searching, Joel took things in a new direction and dabbled in the Fantasy Genre with, The Pentacle of Light. The tale dealing with five major races battling for control of Earth, and the acceptance of their God.

Finally, after missing his detective Lauren Bruni, he released the book The Return in October 2009, this time moving the action from the North Pole and placing it in the small Arizona community he was raised in.

Andre’s latest book is The Black Chronicles: Cry of the Fallen about a dead man who seeks revenge on the woman that tormented him in peaceful Northern Arizona.

Currently, he resides in Chandler, AZ.

You can visit his website at www.joelmandre.info.