Guest Post: Dark Pursuit by Jennifer Chase

From the International Award Winning EMILY STONE THRILLER SERIES:

Vigilante detective Emily Stone has covertly hunted down killers and closed more serial cases than most seasoned homicide cops combined. Her exceptional profiling skills and forensic techniques, along with deductivecrime scene investigations, have made her a compelling force that cannot be beat.
She has reached her ultimate breaking point and now must face her toughest opponent yet – her biggest fears.

With preciseness, the Tick-Tock Killer has taken his next child victim and promised to dump the body precisely four days later, mocking police and the community. Stone struggles to balance her inner demons and ghosts from the past, against the wits of a brutal and cunning serial killer in an all-out battle of psychological warfare.

Can Stone save the next child in time? Dark Pursuit is an action-packed cat and mouse game that will take you to dark places rarely explored.

Buy on Amazon US | Amazon UK 

                                                                  Guest Post:

Writing in the Moment

A few years ago, I discovered the term mindfulness and incorporated it into my everyday life.  It has helped me to combat my anxiety issues.  It simply means what it implies.  On one level, it means paying attention to details of what is going on around you at any given time, but on a much deeper level, it brings your conscious awareness to a moment-by-moment basis.  It is where you pay attention to what is happening right now, but in a non-judgmental way.

Writing is a demanding, but a rewarding profession.  I have found myself taking part in standard Yoga stretches to ground myself before beginning my day.  I have recently taken it a step further by using the meditation technique to mindfulness to de-stress and balance my mind and body.  It works wonders on writing. 

I wanted to take the “in the moment” or “mindfulness” into my writing.  I have finished my fifth Emily Stone Novel, Dark Pursuit, where my protagonist, Emily Stone, pushes new levels of suspense as she chases after serial killers. It is the feeling of being caught up in the moment where you can almost feel the killer’s breath or feel their touch.  

As I briefly outlined the chapters and scenes for this book, I have found myself creating the suspense and tension of the storyline by using some simple techniques.  I take a moment to view things from Emily Stone’s perspective of “in the moment” methods.  It definitely gets the writing juices flowing.

For example, if Emily Stone finds a new clue that can help track down the killer, I ask myself several questions.  What does she do?  How will she move forward in a moment-by-moment way?  What are some of the observations, emotions, and details that she can accomplish in this particular task?  I break down the scene into action/reaction from beginning to end.  The beginning is when she finds the clue and the end is the result I want her to accomplish.  It sounds simple, but breaking it down moment by moment is challenging. 

You can take this writing task a step further into your own day.  Write the “in the moment” observations of a typical day.  Create a scene when you run errands, watch your favorite movie, or take a lunch break with a friend.  Write everything down that you observe.  What are the moment-by-moment actions that happen?  Decipher them.  Study them.  It opens up a new perspective into a storyline and you begin to see things differently.

Personally, I have found that by writing in the moment, you discover not only things about yourself, but also about your characters.  The next time you feel that little procrastination writing bug nipping at you, pull back, and write in the moment.