Old-Fashioned Thrills & Chills by Stuart R. West

Click here to find out about Stuart R. Wests books.

As a thriller writer in the 21^st century, several things gum me up. Like a bug caught in a fly-strip, though, I keep struggling, fluttering my wings over the keyboard.

Technology has stomped on good ol’-fashioned thrills and chills. Edge of the seat, run for your life suspense sequences have morphed into guys looking at computer screens. Bah. If I desired that as entertainment, I would’ve never left the corporate sector. (There is one minor plus, though: in books, you don’t smell the “cubicle odor.”)

I liked the old thrillers when finding a phone booth and a quarter qualified as a life-saver. Nowadays, characters stop at Starbucks, get their java on, plug in, and cybernetically—magically!—find whatever they want. Computers and the “geeks” who wizard over them pull off a seemingly endless stream of deus ex machina. There’s always a guy who can “hack” into any database.  Always. In nanoseconds! Like on all of those TV police procedurals where the stereotypical “goth” girl pulls up information on anybody with hi-tech equipment dreamed up in some writer’s head.

Having said that, I, too, have used “that guy” in my suspense series, Killers Incorporated. These days, it’s hard to ignore technology. But I generally strive to take the road less traveled, working hard to earn my thrills the old school route. Lots of chases, brawls, explosions, double-crosses, unsavory characters, etc. And yes, there’s still “that guy” when I get stumped on a plot point.

I try not to use “that guy” too much. As a writer, he makes me lazy. Predictable. Ultimately boring.

Sigh. But nowadays “that guy” is an unfortunate necessary evil.

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Another change I’ve noticed in thrillers is a heavy reliance on psychology. Back in the day, thriller writers never offered reasons why jerks threw wheelchair-bound old ladies downstairs. They just did it. Gleefully so. No reader really lost sleep over the reason behind it either. The villain just epitomized evil and that was good enough for an earlier, starkly good-or-evil (innocent in a way) era.

These days, readers want “motivation.” Background. Why are the villains evil? 

I dunno, ask my high school bullies. They never offered any reasons for their behavior. But it was always painfully clear who to run from.

Is it pure coincidence that the first four letters of “analysis” are “anal?” I think not. Freud, I’m looking at you. Regardless, nowadays more sophisticated thriller readers demand reasons behind villains’ psychotic behavior. Back stories involving horrible bed-wetting, whatever. Fine, I’ll cop to supplying background motivation to most of my serial killers in the Killers Incorporated trilogy. Except it takes out some of the mystique, the fun of their villainy. That’s why I never delve into “The Man with the Shoebox’s” past. Some things are better off left unstated and he’s one of my favorite characters for it (Just what is in his shoebox anyway?).

Today’s thriller readers like the world of high-tech espionage, populated with rooms full of spies punching buttons and breaking into covert databases. Me? I still prefer heroes who punch faces and physically break into evil corporations’ headquarters. That’s the Killers Incorporated trilogy, an ode to good ol’ fashioned thrills and chills, topped with a dose of sardonic black humor.

One click away from finding out how the action-packed saga concludes!

Better Late than Never by Nancy M Bell

His Brother's Bride is the second release in Books We Love Canadian Historical Brides series to celebrate Canada's 150th Birthday. YOu can click on the image to be taken to my author page at Books We Love to see more.

I apologize for posting late this month. I'm off to beautiful Banff Alberta with Victoria Chatham, author of Brides of Banff Springs, and publisher Jude Pittman to promote the series with a reading at Banff Library. So I apologize again for the lateness and shortness of this post. But I leave you with images of the lovely mountain town I'm about to leave for. It's supposed to snow this afternoon so the roads may be a bit tricky but the scenery is certainly worth it.

Til next month...be well...be happy...buy my new book...opps did I say that out loud? LOL

A Belated Valentine's Day Story

Many years ago, my husband and I had our first date on Valentine's Day. I was on crutches. Made for an interesting day but let's go back to the why. It really began with me turning him down with these words, "I hate doctors. Get lost."




Why would a mild mannered Cancer who was usually nice say those words to a potential mate. The day began with the surgical intern helping a patient out of bed. Though there was a sign on the bottom of the bed that said Bed Rest, he helped the man to stand so he could use a urinal. Guess what! He left and the patient fell on the floor and fractured his hip. The patient had terminal cancer and very fragile bones. After screaming at the intern, who appeared not my future husband and my response.




The evening became worse. This was the US Steel ward. An admission had arrived at change of shift and I had done nothing more than assessed him. I was returning to the nurses' station when my aide came flying out of the room and smashed into the wall. Fortunately he wasn't hurt.




"He's having the DTs," she said.




I went in to assess the situation and approached the patient. "When I went to take his pulse, he swung. I did one of those quick football turns and you could hear the cartilage pop. I went out to call the intern and the patient's doctor. Took three of us to medicate him. The wife arrived for visiting hours. I took her aside to talk about his history.




"Me, Does he drink."




Her. "He never touches alcohol."




Me. "Really."




Her, "He does drink a case of beer a day but that's not alcohol."




Me. "Duh."




Two days later, The orthopedic surgeon went in to repair the cartilage. Fortunately he was the Steeler's orthopedic surgeon and my scar was a mere two inches long. A week after the surgery, I returned to work.




And that's how I had my first date on crutches.

The art of being sorry

The Twisted Climb - a novel for teens, young adults and adults young at heart.

As a Canadian, I reserve the right unapologetically for being sorry. I'm sorry - for whatever it is that has disturbed the air between us, around us, behind us. You see, being sorry is the Canadian custom.
It's like this:
Sorry if I'm in your way when you walk past me on the street. Also sorry that you're in my way when I walk past you.
Sorry for not keeping the mall entrance door open for an extra second or two as you walk out.
Sorry for my shopping buggy blocking your outstretched arm for that specific jar of jam.
Very sorry. Truly.
And meaning every apologetic syllable. Sor-ry. Tru-ly.
We are so darn polite! It's become the Canadian way.
But being courteous and civil is something I've grown up with - maybe my Irish heritage (sorry, but it's true. There's that sorry again.)
And being sorry - or is it really being humble or kind or polite? - is something that I tried to engrain in my three children, too.
I believe I've succeeded when my son opens the door for me. When he says sorry for not calling more frequently. I believe I've succeeded when my other son helps me put on my coat. And says sorry for not calling more frequently. And I believe I've succeeded when my daughter says sorry for calling me so frequently. Aren't these great things to be sorry for?
It's a very nice thing to offer loved ones and strangers alike kindness instead of rudeness. Perhaps it's the Canadian in me? It really is like this. Sorry if you don't agree. So sorry. Truly!

WINNER - The Best Young Adult Book 2016, P&E Readers' Poll

I am absolutely thrilled (and not sorry about it), that my book took first place in the P&E Readers' Poll. The Twisted Climb was published in June 2016 (ebook) and July for the paperback, so it's so very exciting to win this award.
I am grateful for the support from colleagues and readers alike. Thank you!


J.C. Kavanagh
The Twisted Climb
A novel for teens, young adults and adults young at heart.
www.facebook.com/J.C.Kavanagh
Twitter @JCKavanagh1 (Author J.C. Kavanagh)

Back Pain and Alternative Medicine

In a remarkable new set of guidelines, the prestigious American College of Physicians has recommended that doctors avoid opiods or any kind of medications for lower back pain as a first option, a departure from previous guidelines.

Instead, the guidelines suggest alternatives: yoga, acupuncture, massage therapy and cognitive behavior therapy, among others.

Lower back pain is incredibly common. It is in the top ten reasons why patients visit their doctors. Yet no is quite sure what causes it. Besides structural reasons, it is associated with smoking, obesity depression and anxiety. It can also be more complicated than that. “Our best understanding of low back pain is that it is a biopsychosocial condition—meaning that structural or anatomic causes play some role, but psychological and social factors also play a big role,” says Roger Chou, a professor at Oregon Health and Science University.

The report recommends over-the-counter medications only if the patient requests it. Opiods, now commonly prescribed, are discouraged as they have a high risk for addiction and accidental overdose. Dr. Morton Tavel, a clinical professor of medicine at the Indiana School of Medicine, recommends avoiding opiates entirely, as they don’t speed up recovery anyway.

This is not news to Nancy Servine of Moline, Illinois. She is seventy-six years old and uses her yoga practise to prevent pain. “The stretches like this are like you would get in therapy,” she says. “So my doctor says keep doing what you’re doing.”

Her instructor, Tricia Fuelling says that while it helps prevent pain, it also helps treat it. “You don’t get groggy side effects from yoga, you don’t have nausea or any of those, you can drive after doing yoga, where you can’t necessarily do that after taking medication.”

Mohan Ashtakala is the author of "The Yoga Zapper-A Novel," published by Books We Love Ltd.

www.yogazapper.com