Congrats to

Jennifer Saracino

Kari Lee

Debra Edwards

on winning the Hellion Giveaway!

I’m about 12K into a new book, a paranormal suspense. It’s interesting because I’m trying to keep the supernatural bit not as overwhelming as sometimes portrayed and there’s a delicate balance between… subdued and why bother?

I mean if someone is going to be a “supernatural” creature, shouldn’t they have some benefits?

World building happens in every book, even contemporary novels. I’ve always preferred for the environment to play a character part as much as the characters themselves because I think that paints a backdrop to where they are. Someone who has never been to Los Angeles will never know the mind-numbing monotony of the 405 at 3 in the afternoon unless an author creates that scene for them. In a lot of ways, even the tiny details are important.

Why?

Well, if ever you’ve read a book where there’s a drive-thru Starbucks in downtown Manhattan…. in 1998, you’ll know details are very important. We won’t even talk about the 1958 Ford Mustang a mechanic was “restoring”.

It does help if you’ve been someplace yourself but research is also good. Google Maps is very handy for checking out how an area looks and if you’re doing a spot check of neighbourhoods, it’s great to “walk around” the district to get a good feel of what you can see.

What also helps is reaching out to people who live there or perhaps know someone. Not to say you should post things to your Facebook feed like: What’s a good place to eat hot dogs in North Carolina or help me plot what this character says when he finds he’s stubbed his toe on something in the gutter in Philly… like what would you stub your toe on there?

That kind of stuff really should come from you. Get recommendations, sure… but balance it with your own experience. If it’s really key to the story, see if you can buy that brand of hot dog and see what it’s like. Believe or not, there’s a “red” hot dog we ate a lot in Hawai’i from Redondo’s and it has a very different taste than a normal Ball Park frank. If I were writing about that kind, I’d taste it.

It’s a part of world building and in a lot of ways, as important to establish as writing a character whose ethnic origins aren’t your own. Regions have quirks… I’m looking at you Chicago with your hot dogs… and what’s acceptable in one place… like Appalachian chocolate gravy… might be considered off putting in another. Chili on spaghetti noodles? Not in SoCal but definitely Cincinnati but keep in mind, there’s Mediterranean spices in there, not so much Italian.

So… that’s where I’m at right now, building up a world I’ve never played in and figuring out where everything fits. With luck, I’ll get something down and then get a great idea of how something should work and have to rewrite half the book 😀

And it will ALWAYS be DB5K. Not 2VXQ.

I have opinions 😀

To start a new book.

Beginnings are always hard. Because the start point seriously moves in your head. I’m doing something new because I had an idea and I wanted to take a stab at it before I went back to something I’d done before. Sometimes it’s good to clean the brain before I head back into voices I’ve already written.

Now, mind you finding the voices of new characters is always difficult but fun. A few missteps though and well, I’ve already tossed out a few thousand words because it wasn’t fitting right.

Now I’m on the track and we’ll see how it goes.

Hellion will be out soon and well, I loved writing Ivo. Now I loved writing Trey and Kuro and the seekrit project is on the horizon as well. That was a hard one to do because man, the balance of that book was soooooo  tetchy. But I think it worked out.

So that’s where I am today. Working and plotting. With luck, you’ll see me come out of the darkness in a couple of months with 85,000 words on the page and ready to tackle the next project. Which will be a doozy.

I spent the weekend doing nothing but socialize, cook and well, plot.

There’s a new book on the horizon and I’m excited about it but it’s time to break down the chapters.

I also spent more than 40 minutes watching this.

Seriously, I adore this channel. I wish he did one every other day but let’s face it, that’s not realistic.

So, that’s where I am this weekend. Tomorrow, the wording begins!

Welcome to the Ramen Assassin Blog Tour  where I’ll be sharing recipes of foods I love to prepare and well, eat. I hope you hit up every stop on this tour not only for the fooding but also for the giveaway at every stop!

Be sure to enter at each blog we visit along the way. There will be One $20 USD Dreamspinner Press gift certificate given away with each recipe.

Today’s Stop is: Archaeolibrarian

Hit up all the stops as they happen and be sure to come back to my blog at the end for a breakdown on… ramen!

June 19: It’s All About The Book
June 20: Reading Reality
June 21: Blogger Girls
June 22: Boy Meets Boy
June 24: Joyfully Jay
June 25: Archaeolibrarian
June 25: rhysford.com

Ramen Assassin by Rhys Ford
Coming from Dreamspinner Press on June 25
Available in ebook and paperback.
Soon coming in Audiobook and Narrated by Kale Williams

When life gives Kuro Jenkins lemons, he wants to make ponzu to serve at his Los Angeles ramen shop.

Instead he’s dodging bullets and wondering how the hell he ended up back in the Black Ops lifestyle he left behind him. After rescuing former child star Trey Bishop from a pair of thugs in the middle of the night, he knows it’s time to pick up his gun again. But it seems trouble isn’t done with Trey, and Kuro can’t quite let go… of either the gun or Trey Bishop.

Trey Bishop never denied his life’s downward spiral was his own fault. After a few stints in rehab, he’s finally shaken off his Hollywood bad-boy lifestyle but not his reputation. The destruction of his acting career and his relationships goes deep, and no one trusts anything he says, including the LAPD. When two men dragging a dead body spot him on a late-night run and try to murder him, Trey is grateful for the tall, dark, and deadly ramen shop owner he lusts over—not just for rescuing him, but also for believing him.

Now caught in a web of murders and lies, Trey knows someone wants him dead, and the only one on his side is a man with deep, dark secrets. Trey hopes Kuro Jenkins will stick around to see what the future holds for them once the dust settles, but from the looks of things, neither of them may survive to find out.

You can buy Ramen Assassin at:
Dreamspinner Press https://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/books/ramen-assassin-by-rhys-ford-10582-b

Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Ramen-Assassin-Rhys-Ford-ebook/dp/B07P74D3WD

And other online bookstores