Weird Crime

Weird crimes are the source of infinite story ideas for writers. There isn't enough time in the world to write about all the crazy stuff that happens in our mixed up world. Take this story about a murder attempt and a Ouija board where the writer of the article says things went from "buddy to bloody." Sometimes, truth is just as strange as fiction and we writers dig that stuff.

Unstoppable, the next in my Untouchables series, is no exception. While it is fiction, the real world does provide plenty of inspiration. There were two real world crimes, plus my Police Informant, that added realism to Dez and Mick's story. The first weird crime aspect relates to something absolutely unheard of in our neighborhood. We live in a very suburban suburb, the kind where people walk their kids to school. After dinner they walk their dogs or a baby stroller through the neighborhood. We're Mayberry normal in the middle of a midsize city.

What isn't normal is guns in the street, but that's literally what happened. Twice.

The second incident I'll post next month, but the first instance was just bizarre. My daughter the ballerina came home to say she had to drive the long way around because the police had blocked off an entire street. Because this is abnormal, we hit the Internet to figure out what the heck was going on. Turns out, this suburban street wasn't Mayberry after all.

Witnesses said that they heard gunfire first. Moments later, two guys ran out of a house and into a newer red pickup truck. Another man chased after them firing a handgun. The pickup goes tearing off and the man who had chased them sat down on his front porch holding his gun. This happened just before 4:30 in the afternoon. People were outside doing yard work and kids were playing. What the heck?

The original scenario in itself is bizarre, but what happened next is even stranger. The truck was found at a stoplight less than two miles away. One person was dead at the scene and the second was in critical condition. Had they driven out of the neighborhood the other direction, they would have been at a major hospital, but that wrong turn caused at least one death.

Police aren't saying what incited the incident, but that just makes it more interesting for my writer mind. So of course, I had to put the puzzles together in a way that made sense for me.

Unstoppable opens in what Dez considers a sickeningly sweet suburb where things immediately escalate. Gunshots fired and... well, the AND is what happens next in Unstoppable. :) I'll post that opening scene later this week.

To celebrate the release of the new cover, I've got a giveaway going through Rafflecopter. Be sure to add Unstoppable to your Goodreads TBR list. The prize is a list of romantic suspense titles that are on *my* TBR list! One winner walks away with 5 ebook titles.

Unstoppable releases 5/1/17.

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a Rafflecopter giveaway