Monday, October 28, 2013

New Release: The Goddaughter's Revenge

by
Melodie Campbell

 

 Just in time for Halloween … MESS WITH ME, DARLIN’?
 WATCH ME KILL YOU WITH WORDS.
(Revenge is sweet when coupled with royalties.)
Here’s some news for all those sociopaths out there, and just plain nasties: Don’t mess with a crime writer.  We know at least twenty ways to kill you and not get caught.
On paper, of course <insert nervous laughter>. We’re talking about fictional kills here.
Or are we?
My name is Melodie Campbell, and I write comic mob capers for a living. And for the loving. So I know a bit about the mob. Like espresso and cannoli, you might say they come with my Sicilian background.
This should make people nervous. (Hell, it makes ME nervous.)

But I digress. To recap:  the question offered was:
Are any of your victims based on people who pissed you off in real life? Do you ever take out real life rage on fictional murder victims?
Oh sweetie, don’t I ever.
One of the joys of being a writer is playing out scenarios in your fiction that you dream about at night.  One of these is murder.  (The other is sex, but that would be my other series, the Rowena fantasy one.)
Back to grievous bodily harm. Like in Gilbert and Sullivan’s Mikado, I have my little list.
To the covert colleague who made out to be friends and then bad-mouthed me to the board at a previous job.  Yes, you got caught red-handed. I called your bluff.  But better than that, I made your mealy-mouthed sorry hide a star of THE GODDAUGHTER’S REVENGE.  Take that, Carmine the rat.  You live forever in fictional history.
He never will be missed.
Oh, the joy of creating bad guys and gals from real-life creeps!  The crafty thing is, when you design a villain based on people you have met in person and experienced in technicolor, they sound real. Colorful.  Their motivations are believable. No cardboard characters here!
Of course, I may fudge a few details to keep out of jail. Names and professions change. Males can morph into females.
But fictional murder can be very satisfying. (Definitely more satisfying than fictional sex.)  Revenge is sweet, when coupled with royalties.
You can ignore that crack about fictional kills only. Of course we’re only talking books; in my case, light-hearted murder mysteries, and mob crime capers.
That’s right: mob capers. Like I said: never mess with a Sicilian Goddaughter.

Melodie Campbell achieved a personal best this year when Library Journal compared her to Janet Evanovich.  Her first book, ROWENA THROUGH THE WALL, was an Amazon Top 100 bestseller. Her fifth novel, THE GODDAUGHTER’S REVENGE, has just been released by Orca Books. 
Library Journal says this about Melodie`s third novel, The Goddaughter (Orca Books):
``Campbell`s crime caper is just right for Janet Evanovich fans.  Wacky family connections and snappy dialogue make it impossible not to laugh.``


     Okay, I admit it. I would rather be the proud possessor of a rare gemstone than a lakefront condo with parking. Yes, I know this makes me weird. Young women today are supposed to crave the security of owning their own home.
     But I say this. Real estate, shmeel estate. You can’t hold an address in your hand. It doesn’t flash and sparkle with the intensity of a thousand night stars, or lure you away from the straight and narrow like a siren from some Greek odyssey.
     Let’s face it. Nobody has ever gone to jail for smuggling a one bedroom plus den out of the country.
However, make that a 10-carat cyan blue topaz with a past as long as your arm, and I’d do almost anything to possess it.
    But don’t tell the police.


THE GODDAUGHTER’S REVENGE on Amazon http://tinyurl.com/kmgjgsf

THE GODDAUGHTER on Amazon http://ow.ly/dnObH

Follow Melodie’s comic blog at  www.melodiecampbell.com