Roses and Readers, please welcome Teresa Inge to our blog today. And be sure to leave a comment for your chance at her giveaway.
The history of female crime writers is a long, undervalued profession. Many
of the women who paved the way for today’s fiction writers are no longer in
print, with the exception of Agatha Christie, Dorothy Parker, and Patricia
Highsmith. Those who remain in print are generally from the British tradition
of detective fiction, rather than American noir. Others who helped develop the
genre have found a home in classics, genre fiction, and literary fiction.
During the golden age of crime fiction, stories were written about femme
fatales who lured men to their doom with a seductive approach. Hard women with
sharp tongues became the norm, often written by men. But when Dorothy B. Hughes
wrote In a Lonely Place, it became groundbreaking when
Hughes got inside the head of a war veteran, serial killer who preyed on young
woman. With the introduction of a beautiful neighbor and the astute wife of a police
detective, Hughes’ story gained two powerful women.
This spurred momentum to how female crime writers crafted their stories
with strong women leads. Along with the feminist movement, the time period
brought diversification of women and contributed to crime books written by Mary
Higgins Clark, Patricia Cornwell, Sue Grafton, and Sara Paretsky.
Which leads to today’s crime writers. Take Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl that told a cruel tale of
marriage and murder in which the female protagonist killed for no other reason
than self-validation. The book sold millions of copies.
But modern-day female crime writers generally tend to write crime novels
with more relatable characters and empathy. They write strong female
protagonists and don’t believe much in heroes, which makes their storytelling
light on gunplay and heavy on emotional violence. This makes their writing a
better fit for current times.
Today, women crime fiction writers are here to stay since the momentum
continues with more diversification of voices in regards to ethnicity and
class. This movement has taken a further approach with mysteries being written
by women and read by women.
Contest:
Leave a comment for a chance at receiving a copy of 50 Shades of Cabernet.
50 Shades of Cabernet – A collection of short stories, each blending a mystery
and a glass of Cabernet.
Excerpt:
Love the Wine You’re With – written by
Teresa Inge in 50 Shades of Cabernet
“Get up, Em!”
Jules Riley yelled at her sister passed out on the couch.
Em opened her eyes
and rubbed her throbbing head. “What time is it?”
“Five o’ clock.
You’ve been hungover all day.”
Em twisted her
aching body into a vertical position. “How did you get in here anyway?”
“The door was
unlocked… I’m serious, Em. You missed a big event today.” Jules was regretting
hiring her sister to coordinate events for her event-planning business.
Em ran her hand
through her long blonde hair.
Jules pushed a
pair of stilettos, earrings, an empty bottle of cabernet and a Post-It note to
the back of the couch and sat. She snatched the note, read it, then slapped it
against Em’s arm.
Em grabbed the
Post-It. “Jax broke up with me?”
“Yes, another
boyfriend sick of your partying.”
Em slumped on the
couch. “My life sucks! My boyfriend dumped me on a Post-It, and all I do is
plan events that I don’t enjoy and book trips that I don’t take. Ugh!”
“That’s what we
do. We plan events for our clients and not for us to party. Now listen up. You
need to be at Virtually Yours by three o’clock tomorrow for the wine tasting.”
Jules turned toward the door. “And clean this place up. It reeks of wine.”
About the author:
Teresa Inge grew up reading Nancy Drew mysteries. Combining her love of reading mysteries and writing professional articles led to writing short fiction and a novel.
Teresa Inge grew up reading Nancy Drew mysteries. Combining her love of reading mysteries and writing professional articles led to writing short fiction and a novel.
Today, she doesn’t carry a rod like her idol but she
hot rods. If she’s not signing books, she is assisting two busy executives at a
financial firm, attending a car show with her husband, or serving as president
of the Sisters in Crime, Mystery by the Sea chapter in Chesapeake, Virginia.
Visit Teresa at www.teresainge.com
Buy Link AMAZON
Teresa Inge: www.teresainge.com
Twitter: @teresainge7 / publisher:
@koehlerbooks
Book Cover (attached to email)
Author Photo (attached to email)
13 comments:
Interesting info about female crime writers. My current WIP has a super-strong, bad-ass female lead. I'm afraid she overpowers the hero. We'll see how it goes. Thanks for visiting us today and sharing your book!
Thank you, Jannine. I love to read mysteries with strong, female leads. It makes me connect to the character better. Good luck with your WIP. Your protagonist sounds great!
The four novels in my Kim Reynolds mystery series feature a strong female lead. My latest novel Death Promise features a woman who is also a strong character yet has certain vulnerabilities. I think modern mystery fiction provides more depth and well-rounded characterization to female sleuths.
Welcome to the Roses of Prose. And here I sit, trying to wrap up a shape shifter romance where a couple women are quite handy with machetes. I keep wondering if I'm making it too gory. I don't usually write...well, there were those two books that took place in Paris. Okay, I have a weird mind. Good luck to you. Love the premise.
I think so too. Female readers seem to want a strong female lead that they can relate and connect to. I will check out your Kim Reynolds series it sounds great!
Women can do so much today and our readers love it! The machete is an interesting weapon of choice. Sounds intriguing!
Thanks for joining us today, Teresa. Love you cover!
It’s been fun! I want to do a giveaway of 50 Shades now. And since Jannine was the first to respond she’s the winner! Jannine can you send me your address via messenger. Thank you!
Thanks for joining us, Teresa! I, for one, was a 13 year old who learned about modern heroines from novels...my first was Herman Wouk's Marjorie Morningstar. Back in the day, I had two choices of 'high paid' careers...nursing and teaching. 33 years later, I retired as the first female high school principal in a all-male administrator district. It ain't easy, but the battle was worth it! Now, I'm writing about heroines who no one thought could make it...but they did! Love this genre!
Good morning and welcome to the Roses, Theresa - My apologies for being late! Great post about the evolution of women crime writers. This year's Amazon series "Mozart in the Jungle" has been exploring the evolution of women composers and conductors. They've come a long way, too! We're getting there! 50 SHADES OF CABERNET sounds terrific! Wishing you and all the authors the best with it
Sorry for being late, too. Welcome and thanks for sharing your story with us. Strong female characters are the norm these days. Forget the wimpy heroine who needs rescuing. The pioneers in this genre showed us how it's done. Yet, there is more diversity in these characters today from lovable amateur detectives to those with a hard edge. I'm so glad they all have a place.
Some reviewers believe women are becoming the better and ultimately more believable crime writers, because they delve more into the complexities of their characters emotional state, rather than relying on firepower. Good article on this cited at vweisfeld.com/?p=5802. It's interesting the way men write about women protagonists; some are great at it, and others just put give a woman's name to a character that's essentially male in outlook and action.
Excellent post! I am continually amazed at the wide range of women in crime fiction, everything from the cozy, naive bookseller to the kickass detective. Can’t help falling in love with all of them!
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