This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Victoria Weisfeld will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour. Buy the book HERE.
Travel writer Genie Clarke arrives in Rome seeking inspiration, but her trip turns deadly when she overhears two mafia operatives discussing a secret "Project." Before she can escape, she's attacked and left for dead. Awakening in a hospital-alive but hunted-Genie finds the police unwilling to believe her. Only Detective Leo Angelini takes her seriously, uncovering ties between her assault, a murdered woman, and a powerful criminal network.
With the threat escalating, Leo moves Genie into hiding, where she becomes both key witness and prime target. Cut off from safety and unsure who to trust, Genie must outthink the conspirators determined to silence her.
From Rome's bright piazzas to its shadowed alleys, she faces a terrifying fight for survival-and an unexpected connection with the detective risking everything to protect her. She Knew Too Much is a lean, suspenseful psychological thriller about fear, courage, and the price of knowing too much.
Read an Excerpt
I crossed the one-way traffic to reach the Piazza del Popolo’s spacious central rectangle. People ambled toward one or another of the half-dozen streets that converged on the Piazza or to the steps leading up to the Villa Borghese Gardens, where I’d spent the afternoon. I was aiming for the Via del Babuino, street of the Baboon, which got its name from a particularly hideous sculpture. In a few blocks, that street ended at the Piazza di Spagna and the always-crowded Spanish Steps, a half block from my hotel.
On the far side, I again negotiated the circling rush of traffic and chanced a look behind. What the hell? The spiky-haired blond had crossed the first stream of traffic. Now he jostled through the crowd, coming straight my way. He was tracking me, and he didn’t care if I knew it. I was in trouble. And, if I didn’t want to believe my eyes, the hair on the back of my neck confirmed it. I picked up my pace, walking as fast as I could in my flimsy sandals.
Dozens of times I’d traveled the few blocks connecting the two piazzas. Now this familiar street radiated hostility, and the stones of the Sunday-shuttered buildings reflected no warmth. Surely something, some business, would be open. I sped past my favorite stationery store, the gallery whose owner I’d interviewed. Shut tight as oysters.
Why hadn’t I asked someone near the piazza for help? Could I have made myself understood? Would they have agreed to get involved? I shook my head in frustration.
Many really fine books about the writing craft are
available, and I reread the ones I have often. Sometimes a bit of advice just
doesn’t quite “stick,” but some months later, when I’m at a different point in
my writing, it makes perfect sense. For writers starting out, Carolyn Wheat’s How
to Write Killer Fiction clearly explains how writing techniques differ
between mysteries and thrillers. This was all news to me. And Chris Roerden’s Don’t
Murder Your Mystery has good solid advice on avoiding basic mistakes in
plotting and presentation. For authors who have a healthy start in their
writing, Stephen King’s On Writing is excellent. A book that has helped
me a lot (notes are scribbled all over it) is Donald Maass’s The Emotional
Craft of Fiction. These are just a few.
What have you learned throughout your writing process?
I’ve learned a lot about crime! But I’ve learned things about myself as a writer too. First, I keep at it. There are frustrations, but I keep going, keep learning, keep practicing. Second, rejection? I’ve learned not to take it personally. Yes, there will be books and short stories published that I think are sub-par. But finding someone to accept my work depends on many factors I can’t control. Agents and editors and publishers have their own preferences, bad days, hangovers—whatever. I keep at it. I read a statement by a Canadian author who said by the time she finishes writing a novel, she’s read it four times! Four? Try forty! Well, twenty. I keep reading a book or story until nothing nags at me, no word seems out of place.
During the time I wrote She Knew Too Much, I was
working on two books at once—sounds crazy, but there was a strange logic to it.
I’d spend a month or two painstakingly going through one of them, until I
brought it up a notch, then I’d turn to the other one. By that time, I’d been
so deeply immersed in the first book, the second one was all new to me. I could
really see it with fresh eyes. I went through several cycles of this, and the
books got better every time.
What has inspired you to become a writer?
Because I so love to read, I always wanted to be a writer.
It’s magic, really, putting black squiggles on white paper that make people
laugh or cry, that make them feel like they’ve had an adventure or found a
friend for life.
Do you have a specific writing process?
The best way to describe my “process” (I’m laughing) is to
call it organic. I start with a character and a situation and build from there.
How would a person like my character respond, what would he do, whom would she
call? And then what? Because I work that way, rather than plotting everything
out in advance, I discover the story, the “what happens next?” just like the
reader does.
Do you have a favorite author and/or favorite book?
Hmmmm—can’t pick just one. My very favorite author for
memorable characters is Charles Dickens, and my favorite among his novels is Our
Mutual Friend. In contemporary fiction, I really enjoy political thrillers,
and favorite authors in that genre are Alan Furst and the crop of new thriller
writers taking on the mantle of the late John Le Carré: Philip Lazar, I.S. Berry, Merle Nygate, Harriet
Crawley, David McCloskey. No longer solely a man’s world—three of those authors
are women. As for favorite book, I default to Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the
d’Urbervilles. Nice and depressing.
What do you do when you’re not writing?
Between my short stories, my blog, theater reviews, book reviews for the UK website crimefictionlover.com, and my family history, I am always writing something!
I hope your readers take the opportunity to read She Knew Too Much. I think they will find it a fast-moving story with touches of romance, humor, and a big dose of humanity. I welcome their responses. Thank you for inviting me to share these few words.
About the Author:
Website: http://www.vweisfeld.com">http://www.vweisfeld.com
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Victoria-Weisfeld/author/B07J1X2B48
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6815763.Victoria_Weisfeld
2 comments:
Thank you for hosting.
Thank you so much for the chance to connect with your readers about writing. I welcome any questions they may have!
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