Check Out Patricia Bradley's Heart-Stopping New Series

 Patricia Bradley

A brand new heart-stopping series from a USA Today bestselling author

No sooner has Alexis Stone been sworn in as the interim sheriff for Russell County, Tennessee, when a serial killer dubbed the Queen's Gambit Killer strikes again--this time in her hometown. Pearl Springs is just supposed to be a temporary stop along the way to Alex's real dream: becoming the first female police chief of Chattanooga. But the killer's calling card--a white pawn and a note with a chess move printed on it--cannot be ignored.

Pearl Springs chief of police Nathan Landry can't believe that his high school sweetheart Alexis (he refuses to call her Alex) is back in town, and he can't help wanting to protect the woman he never stopped loving. But as the danger mounts and the killer closes in, can Nathan come through on the promises he makes to himself to bring a killer to justice before it's too late.

USA Today best-selling author, Patricia Bradley is the recipient numerous awards, including an Inspirational Readers’ Choice Award in suspense, a Selah winner, was a Carol and a Daphne du Maurier finalist. Her romantic suspense novels include the Logan Point series, the Memphis Cold Case Novels, and the Natchez Trace Park Rangers. She is now hard at work on the second book in her new Pearl River series set in the Cumberland Plateau area above Chattanooga. The first book in the series, Counter Attack will release in mid-2023.



She has conducted writing workshops for American Christian Fiction Writers, the Mid-South Christian Writer’s Conference, the KenTen and Scrivener retreats (where she was the keynote), the Memphis American Christian Fiction Writer group, and the Bartlett Christian Writers group.

She and her two cats call Northeast Mississippi home--the South is also where she sets most of her books, and when she has time, she likes to throw mud on a wheel and see what happens. https://ptbradley.com/

Patricia Bradley Talks About Deception

Patricia Bradley

When I turned in the manuscript for Deception, one of the comments my editor made was: Deception is the perfect title for this one. No one is who they seem to be.



Knowing it was the last book in the Natchez Trace Park Rangers series made writing it bittersweet. I really didn’t want to leave Natchez behind. I have grown to love the town with beautiful old mansions and sweet people. And the Trace. I’ll miss the Spanish moss hanging like wisps of lace from three-hundred-year-old trees, and the original sections of the Trace where so many trod hundreds of years ago as they made their way from Natchez to Nashville.



And the food. My characters ate at places like Fat Mama’s Tamales, Jughead’s, Mammy’s Cupboard, The Camp Restaurant, The Grand, Kings Tavern…they’re all real and if you’re ever in Natchez, be sure to eat at one of them.



When I started the story, I knew I wanted an ISB ranger as the heroine. In case you don’t know, ISB stands for Investigative Services Branch—they are the FBI of the National Park Service. There are only thirty-three of them, and they don’t have the fancy equipment that the FBI does. But they do have the advantage of working a case from beginning to end, usually all by themselves.



ISB Ranger Madison Thorn is unusual in that she investigates white-collar crime, but that wasn’t the case when I started the book. She was a tough, violent crimes investigator, and I intended her to keep on doing that. However, by the end of the first chapter, it all changed when the FBI agent she’d fallen in love with went rogue and tried to kill her. That was a total surprise.



When I tell people that, they usually look at me like I’m crazy, and say something like, “But you’re the author—you tell your characters what to do.” Ha! Maybe some authors can get away with that, but not this one. If I try to make my characters do something they don’t want to do, they quit talking to me. And if your character won’t talk to you, you don’t have a story. So, I tend to listen to my characters and go along with what they want. It makes writing the book so much easier.



And then there was Clayton Bradshaw, a swoon-worthy hero. Madison had it in her head that he had bullied her when she was a child visiting her grandfather, and no amount of me telling her otherwise did any good. So, I had to figure a way out of that because my hero couldn’t ever be a bully, even as a child. You’ll have to read the book to find out how I resolved that one.



Besides, Clayton had enough problems without being labeled at bully. He was a recovering gambler, and very short on patience. Plus, it was very hard on him when Madison refused to let him protect her. Her I-can-take-care-of-myself attitude drove him up the wall, especially since she had someone trying to kill her.



I did a lot of research for the Natchez books. Like looking for places to hide bodies. Once, I stopped at the ranger station at Mount Locust to ask the ranger on duty if there was a way to get to the backside of Mount Locust. You see, I’d found the perfect place to put a body, but I didn’t know how to get it there. It was simple, he said, and I did as he told me, then looked for the road he’d told me to take to get back on the Trace…never did find that road. The one I was on turned from a gravel to sand to dirt. Oh, and did I tell you was one lane?



Ten miles later (it could’ve been five and just seemed like ten) on that one-lane road with bayous and alligators and creepy Spanish Moss with nowhere to turn around, I’m asking myself if I’m crazy. Here I am, a lone woman without a gun on a dirt road that didn’t seem to be going anywhere—is it any wonder that I heard the banjos from the movie Deliverance playing? I did finally find a place to turn around. And I found the road I was supposed to turn on—a quarter of a mile from the Trace.



Like I said at the beginning, I’ll miss my wonderful times in Natchez and my adventures on the Natchez Trace. Writing Deception, Book Four in the Natchez Trace Park Rangers series was fun to write. I can’t say that about every book.

Patricia Bradley: I’ve been writing since I was thirty-five, and I won’t tell you how long ago that was. I will tell you that Woman’s World published the very first fiction I ever wrote. But that was a God-thing, because, by all rights, the editor should have stuffed the story into the SASE and mailed it back to me since I’d sent her 4,500 words when the limit was 2,500. After that I was certain I would have a novel published within the year. Not. It was many years of studying the craft of writing before that happened. But it did happen back in 2014. Since then, I’ve written fifteen books and three stories for anthologies, two that debuted on the USA Today Best Seller List. I thank God every day for letting me live my dream.

I live in Northeast Mississippi with my two rescue kitties, and when I have time, I like to throw mud on a wheel and see what happens.

Patricia Bradley is the author of Standoff, Obsession, and Crosshairs, as well as the Memphis Cold Case novels and Logan Point series. Bradley won an Inspirational Reader’s

Choice Award in Romantic Suspense, a Daphne du Maurier Award, and a Touched by Love Award; she was a Carol Award finalist; and three of her books were included in anthologies

that debuted on the USA Today bestseller list. She is cofounder of Aiming for Healthy Families, Inc., and she is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers and Sisters in Crime. Bradley makes her home in Mississippi. 

Learn more at www.PTBradley.com.

Crosshairs 2021

Patricia Bradley

Last year, 2020, was one of the hardest writing years I’ve ever experienced. While many authors were able to pound out stories during our ‘stay-at-home’ period, I wasn’t one of them. My creativity shriveled up like a raisin. July came and went and I had less than 10,000 words written on Crosshairs, book 3 in my Natchez Trace Park Rangers series. It was due November 1.


I learned a few things during 2020 as I wrote Crosshairs. One, if I show up at the computer and make myself write, the words will come. Eventually. Two, I can’t edit what I don’t write. Three, this too shall pass—“And it came to pass” has long been a favorite Bible scripture.


It wasn’t like I didn’t love the story in Crosshairs, more that my mind was paralyzed. I found it easier to spend waste time on social media. Before I knew it, it was September and I only had two months to finish the book.


That’s when I learned the most important lesson—if I practice 1 and 2, the words will add up, ideas will come, and the story will come together, and I will have a completed manuscript and three becomes true.


Someone asked me what character was the hardest to write in Crosshairs. I’ll have to say Lincoln Steele was. As a former FBI sniper who suffered from PTSD from almost killing a child and who believed he was responsible for his friend’s suicide, it was hard to flesh out a hero who was no longer a hero—or who at least didn’t see himself as one since he could no longer even hold a gun. Yet, he had to be strong, someone Ainsley, the heroine, could trust. I discovered there are other ways to show strength in a character—like throwing himself in front of Ainsley to protect her. His willingness to do anything to keep her safe showed his true character, and eventually he came to embrace who he was.


As for Ainsley, she wasn’t a piece of cake to write, either. Stubborn. Strong-willed. She didn’t want to admit she had any faults. And she certainly didn’t want to forgive Linc and her father for undermining her singing career. But if she hadn’t lost the singing career, she would never have found her life’s work—that of an elite Investigative Services Branch Special Agent.


Researching about the Natchez Trace Parkway Rangers and the Investigative Services Branch (ISB) was fascinating. First the ISB—it has thirty-seven special agents who are regarded as the FBI of the National Park Service. They are spread out all over the US and are sent in when needed, sometimes even undercover. The Natchez Trace Parkway Rangers are separate from the National Park Service, although under the same umbrella. That really changed the way I wrote about them.


Linc is an interpretive ranger with the National Park Service in Natchez, while Ainsley is an ISB Special Agent. Interpretive rangers in the South don’t carry guns which worked well for Linc since I wanted him to be a ranger. Writing this series has changed the way I look at the National Park Service. I’ve always admired rangers, but even more now!


Writing Crosshairs, even during a pandemic, was so satisfying. I want to thank Revell for giving me that opportunity and for their support. I hope you enjoy Ainsley and Linc’s story.

Patricia Bradley is the author of Standoff and Obsession, as well as the Memphis Cold Case novels and Logan Point series. Bradley won an Inspirational Reader’s Choice Award in Romantic Suspense, a Daphne du Maurier Award, and a
Touched by Love Award; she was a Carol Award finalist; and three of her books were included in anthologies that debuted on the USA Today bestseller list. She is cofounder of Aiming for Healthy Families, Inc., and she is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers and Romance Writers of America. Bradley makes her home in Mississippi. Learn more at www.ptbradley.com.

Suite T Salutes Patricia Bradley

Suite T is bringing author Patricia Bradley to our blog today for readers to get to know more about her personally and her books.



If you ask Patricia Bradley what is her top priority she says, "To honor God through my writing."  She has done this in every book she has written.

She is a Romantic Suspense writer who lives in the "Deep South." It is often said "She writes suspense with a twist of romance."

You will be interested to know that Patricia's first published works were short stories that Woman's World published. You won't want to miss reading one of these stories. Here is a link to one of those short stories called Blood Kin~A Biter-Bit Story

From there her writing took off with her creating those wonderful romantic suspense novels we can't get enough of. She also created a couple of novellas. Everytime she has a new book out readers are waiting in line to get them. How do I know this? I know because I am one of them. I hate for the book I am reading to end!

We talked about how she became a writer. She said, "I was a reader until I turned thirty-five. That was also the year I couldn’t sleep, and one night as I lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, an older man appeared in my vision. He stood at a window with smoke stacks billowing behind him. He turned to me and said, “This isn’t the way my life was supposed to turn out.”"

I wanted to know more about this man in the vision. She continued, "After hearing the man's  statement, I was intrigued and I began telling myself stories of the different things that went wrong in his life. It wasn’t long before other people came to live in my head, and they refused to leave until I wrote their stories down…on a blue Hermes 3000 portable typewriter. Woman’s World bought the very first short story I wrote—"The Snow Leopard.”

Patricia is a goal setter in her writing on word count verifiying often where she stands with her word count and how many more words she needs to in order to reach her goal.

But what does this author do when she is not writing? One outlet is speaking to groups, such as students and adults on abstinence and healthy relationships.If you would like to have Patricia speak to your group you can contact her here.

So what does she do when not writing or speaking? She throws mud on a wheel. She said, "I try to make something beautiful! Long before I became a published writer, I saw a potter working the clay, making beautiful vases and bowls. I immediately knew I wanted to write a story with a potter as my heroine. Since I knew nothing about ceramics, I took lessons for a year and a half. That was back in 2001. It was another ten years before I’d use what I’d learned in a story. But I did use the pottery in my “day” job as an abstinence teacher to show teens how they could reclaim their lives if they made a mistake in the same way a potter reclaimed clay he messed up. At the end of our sessions, I took a portable potter’s wheel into the class room and demonstrated how easy it was to ruin a vase or bowl on the wheel. Then I showed how I reclaimed the clay to use again, and how once it was fired, no one knew a vase or bowl was made with reclaimed clay. Sometimes I think that demonstration spoke louder than anything I said.

You will enjoy this short video of Patricia on her wheel as she reveals how it relates not just to the pottery but the analogy of our lives.

Patricia's first series was Logan Point. There were four books in the series: Shadows of the Past, A Promise to Protect, Gone Without A Trace, and Silence in the Dark. Revel, a division of Baker Books published her first series. Click here to find out more about Logan Point Series . . . "The quiet town of Logan Point, Mississippi, set just outside of Memphis, is no stranger to evil, and each story is a classic tale of good triumphing over the villain.

Her next series, Memphis Cold Case had four books in the series. Justice Delayed, Justice Buried, Justice Betrayed, and Justice Delivered.You can learn more about this series here. The series has the perfect mixture of intrigue and nail-biting suspense. Award Winning Author Patricia Bradley invited her readers to crack the case––if they can––alongside the best Memphis as to offer.

She also wrote a straight romance in September 2014 Matthew's Choice: A Clean Romance and found out it was a lot of fun. So in 2015 she added The Christmas Campaign and in 2020 The Gingerbread Pony.

The next series is Natchez Trace Park Rangers. The books are Standoff, Obsession, and Crosshairs releasing in November and then Deception releasing in the spring of 2022. Patricia Bradley introduces you to a new series set in the sultry South that will have you wiping your brow and looking over your shoulder. You can learn more about that series here.

In talking with Patricia about the Natchez Trace Park Ranger series she related an interesting story that happened during her research pertaining to one of the books. Here it is in her own words:


"While researching Obsession, the 2nd book in the Natchez Trace Park Rangers series, I needed a place to bury a body, and I knew I wanted it to be at Mount Locust. The historic site is filled with so much history and is the oldest “inn” on the Natchez Trace that still stands. It has two cemeteries, and I wanted to hide a body in one of them.

"I stopped at the ranger station and the park ranger, bless his heart, didn’t faint when I asked if there was a way to get a body onto the Mount Locust property from the backside. He told me how to get to the road that ran behind the property, but once I was done, to be sure I took a right at the next road.

"After quickly discovering the perfect place to bring in the body, I drove on, looking for that road to the right…and drove…and drove as the road wound down to a one lane sand road with bayous on each side. There were no houses and absolutely no place to turn around until about five miles later. At that point I questioned my sanity of being a lone woman on a deserted road in the middle of nowhere.

"When I finally did get turned around and back to Mount Locust, I found the road I was supposed to turn on. I had missed it because the road I was on curved to the left, and I thought the little lane on the right was a driveway."


You will want to go over and visit Patricia on her website, https://ptbradley.com/. While you are there check out her blog, you will enjoy her post and be sure and sign up to get her blog post so you will not miss it. It is very informative and a lot of fun. She has a great segment called CRIMES GONE AWRY––MYSTERY QUESTION

Be sure and sign up for her newsletter and for doing so, you will receive her novella Revenge!

You will be glad you did. It's a suspense novella about a murder that becomes a case of mistaken identity at a remote drug rehab facility. An old threat resurfaces and Andi Hollister finds herself in the crosshairs of a killer. You will not want to miss this!.



Patricia Bradley has won an Inspirational Reader's Choice Award in Romantic Suspense, a Daphne du Maurier Award, and a Touched by Love Award, and she was a Carol Award finalist.


She also has won readers from all over the world who never miss reading her books. If you have not read one, choose any one of them, and you will not put it down until you finish it, and then you will find yourself reading all of them.


So what is next on the horizon for Patricia Bradley?


"In November, Crosshairs, the third book in the Natchez Trace Park Rangers series releases, and then in the spring of 2022, Deception, the fourth and final book in the series comes out. By then I’ll have the first book in my next romantic suspense series, tentatively called The Pearl River Series, almost finished. That series is set in the Cumberland Plateau somewhere around Chattanooga, Tennessee, and features a female sheriff doing battle against the evil trying to infiltrate her small county.

"And last of all, I’m excited to take part in an anthology of short stories based on the titles of the Oak Ridge Boys’ Christmas Cookies album. Joe Bonsall, the Oaks’ tenor, is also contributing to the anthology."




We want to thank Patricia Bradley for listening to the voices that came to live in her head and writing these great books to entertain us.

Patricia keep listening and writing!

Suite T

The Best Laid Plans…

Patricia Bradley

Well, it’s time to see how my plans worked out since my February post. At that time, it was almost the end of February, and I had set what I thought were reachable goals. Let’s see how that turned out:



February 28, 2021, I had 18,000 words. That was 2K less than I’d hoped for, but not bad. After that it was all downhill, and I don’t mean in a good way. My daughter contracted Covid 19 which threw me for a loop. She is almost 800 miles away, but fortunately she had a mild case. Unfortunately, just as she was getting ready to go back to work, she developed Covid pneumonia. Since February 26th she has been in and out of the hospital four times, the last stay lasting almost three weeks. I flew down there for eight days.



It’s amazing to me that there are writers who can write under any circumstance. I am not one of them. By the time I got my head back into the book and had 45,000 words written, guess what? Edits for Crosshairs, the third book in the Natchez Trace Park Rangers arrived. And it was a hot mess!



Three weeks later, I turned in the edits and have now started on the fourth book once more…but guess what again? As I write this, it’s the middle of May and there is no way I can meet my June 1 deadline. My agent contacted my editor and explained the situation and she graciously gave me until July 1. That means I need to write 2000 words five days a week to meet a deadline that gives me enough time to polish the manuscript. No goofing off when I’m supposed to be writing. And NO ONE can have an emergency—I don’t have time for it. (You’re supposed to grin here.)



One thing I know—God called me to do this writing gig, and he will enable me to meet my deadline.



I’ll keep you posted when I turn the manuscript it!

 

 

Patricia Bradley is a Carol finalist and winner of an Inspirational Readers’ Choice Award in Suspense, and three anthologies that included her stories debuted on the USA Today Best Seller List. She and her two cats call Northeast Mississippi home--the South is also where she sets most of her books. Her romantic suspense novels include the Logan Point series and the Memphis Cold Case Novels. Obsession, the second book in the Natchez Trace Park Rangers series, released February 2, 2021. She is now hard at work on the third book and fourth book, Crosshairs and Deception.

Links:

Website https://ptbradley.com/

Blog - https://ptbradley.com/blog/

Facebook – www.facebook.com/patriciabradleyauthor

Twitter – https://twitter.com/PTBradley1

Amazon – https://amzn.to/2S6DKGY

Bookbub- https://www.bookbub.com/profile/patricia-bradley

Goodreads- https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7789445.Patricia_Bradley

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/ptbradley1/

Pinterest - https://www.pinterest.com/ptbradley/

Mid-South Christian Writers Virtual Conference ~ Don't Miss

Patricia Bradley 

I’m excited to announce we’re having a virtual writer’s conference!


WHO? MidSouth Christian Writers Conference

Keynote? The AWESOME Rachel Hauck!

WHEN?  Saturday, March 20, 2021…unless you’d like to also attend the pre-conference workshops which will be March 19. For more details check out the website. But first a word about virtual conferences.


A virtual conference? I hear the groanings already, but have you ever been to a virtual writers conference? These days, it’s the only kind I’ve found, and I’ve learned when handed lemons, make lemonade! So…while I love in-person conferences, there are advantages to a virtual one.


You can attend a virtual conference at home in your pajamas if you want to. Doesn’t that sound heavenly to all you introverted writers out there? And for the extroverts like me, there will be chats where we can connect to all our friends!


At an in-person conference, there’s no way to take all the workshops offered, but when you attend a virtual conference, you get access to all the sessions for a limited time—like six months. For example…at the MidSouth Christian Writers Conference there are twelve sessions with a mixture of fiction and non-fiction topics ranging from how to indie publish and writing for children to writing dialogue (Rachel Hauck is teaching this one!) and many more. You can attend four live sessions and later watch the others at your leisure (in your pjs). Here’s a link to the schedule.


The total cost is so much less than an in-person conference. Twelve workshops for $45! (And no hotel costs!) And if you want to attend the Friday sessions (I’m teaching one on your characters journey) there are four 3-hour intensive sessions for an additional $35 each. Like the workshops of Saturday, you can attend one and have access to the others later. That’s a lot of craft to grab hold of.


At the MidSouth Christian Writers Conference, you’ll get lots of encouragement…and I almost forgot! You’ll get an opportunity to hear from editors and agents on what they’re looking for, and an opportunity to submit a one-sheet to the editor or agent of your choice. If you’re not sure what a One-Sheet is, check out Workshop Session 2 with Bethany Jett. You’ll learn how to create a One-Sheet that will grab that editor or agent’s attention.


So, what are you waiting for? Time is running out, and we have only so many attendees that we can take. Click here for more information on the conference.

                                                                     Patricia Bradley

It 's The Way I Write!

 Patricia Bradley

Oh, my. It is almost the end of February and time to take a look at the goals I’ve set for 2021 and see where I am in the scheme of things. *sigh*


Uh…let me see. My books run anywhere from 90,000 to a 100,000 words. My first goal for the fourth book in the Natchez Trace Park Rangers was to have 20,000 words of the first draft written by the end of February.

2020 and COVID

 Patricia Bradley

February 1, 2020, I turned in Obsession, a 97,000-word novel that will release on February 2, 2021. It was such a relief to get that done that I took a month off to relax. Looking back, it seemed like only a couple of days. I did work on the timeline for the next book and caught up on everything I was behind on. Working eight to ten hours a day on a manuscript doesn’t leave a lot of time for anything else.

Since October of 2009 I have kept a daily journal. On February 11, 2020, my entry was: Please stop the Corona Virus. It was the first time I realized this virus might be more than just the flu. Less than a month later, I attended my last Byhalia Christian Writer’s meeting until no telling when, but at least for 2020…only I didn’t know it would be the last. That same day I attended the wedding of a friend. It was the last time I attended a gathering like that, as well. That same week, our non-profit shut the office down and let everyone work from home. We had entered a new world. Sheltering-in became a buzz-word.

Fascinaton Turned Into A Series (Part 2)

Patricia Bradley      @PTBradley1

The stories. I always knew I’d write a series about National Park Rangers since I’d always wanted to be one. I just didn’t know I’d have to do so much research. I thought I’d just write my usual story and have a ranger solve the crime. Not. I quickly learned the Natchez Trace Parkway Rangers were a separate entity from the National Park Service. Sort of.

The National Park Service Rangers at places like Mount Locust, Melrose, and the William Johnson House, etc. have interpretive rangers who are responsible for providing an enlightening experience to visitors of the historical sites. Natchez Trace Parkway Rangers are law enforcement rangers with their main office in Tupelo, Mississippi. Which was good for me since I could easily drive down and talk to the Superintendent.

The  superintendent was so helpful. I learned that just like police officers, full-time law enforcement rangers have to undergo training at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, Georgia. She filled me in on their duties, and told me about the special agents who plan and conduct investigations as part of the Investigative Services Branch (ISB). BINGO! The perfect job for my hero who is out to stop the drugs traveling up the Trace.

Luke Fereday is an undercover agent working for ISB, and that causes a lot of problems with the heroine, Brooke because he keeps it a secret. She’s been an interpretive ranger for several years, but she wants to follow in her father’s footsteps as a law enforcement ranger. When the story opens, her dad is the district ranger for the Trace from Jackson, Mississippi, to Natchez. (That was something else I had to research—all the different levels of authority which is sometimes confusing since some carry the same designation.) She’d graduated at the top of the class at Glynco, and her dad was supposed to swear her in, but he died before that could happen. When the coroner ruled his death a suicide, Brook set out to prove it was murder. Of course, that put her in the murderer’s crosshairs, and in close contact with Luke.

Researching the Natchez area and the Natchez Trace Parkway was a wonderful experience. I’ve made three trips so far, and if this pandemic had not happened, I would have gone again this spring. If you ever get the opportunity to visit this small city set on the bluffs of the Mississippi River, try to go during either the Spring or Fall Pilgrimage. Natchez has more than 600 examples of Antebellum Architecture and many of them are on display during the pilgrimages. Several of them are on property owned by the Parkway. And don’t forget to go by the Natchez cemetery.

I’m sure it must sound strange to suggest a cemetery as a must-see, but if you go, you’ll see why. The Turning Angel is there and more than one novel has featured it. In fact, I’ll be featuring it in one of my books.

I guess you can tell that research is one reason I write—it gives me an opportunity to delve into things I don’t know. I’ve always heard writers should write what they know, but I think writers should write what they want to know.

Bio and Social Media links

USA Today Best-selling author, Patricia Bradley is a Carol finalist and winner of an Inspirational Readers’ Choice Award in Suspense. She and her two cats call North Mississippi home--the South is also where she sets most of her books. Her romantic suspense novels include the Logan Point series and the Memphis Cold Case Novels. Standoff, the first book in the Natchez Trace Park Ranger’s series released May 5, 2020, and she’s finished the second book, Obsession and is hard at work on the third, Crosshairs.

Writing workshops include American Christian Fiction Writers online courses, workshops at the Mid-South Christian Writer’s Conference, the KenTen Retreat where she was also the keynote, Memphis American Christian Fiction Writer group, and the Bartlett Christian Writers group. When she has time, she likes to throw mud on a wheel and see what happens.

Links:

Website https://ptbradley.com/

Blog - https://ptbradley.com/blog/

Facebook – www.facebook.com/patriciabradleyauthor

Twitter – https://twitter.com/PTBradley1

Amazon – https://amzn.to/2S6DKGY

Bookbub- https://www.bookbub.com/profile/patricia-bradley

Goodreads- https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7789445.Patricia_Bradley

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/ptbradley1/

Pinterest - https://www.pinterest.com/ptbradley/

Fascination Turns Into a Series (Part 1)

Patricia Bradley     

@PTBradley1

For as long as I can remember I’ve been fascinated with the Natchez Trace. From start to finish, it’s 444 miles, and if you’re traveling the Trace, (most people familiar with the Natchez Trace shorten the name), there are several places where you can get out of your car and walk on the original road. 

I always get goosebumps when I walk the trail and think about the men who had traveled it before me—Indians, traders, trappers, Kaintucks, Andrew Jackson’s troops when they marched to New Orleans. Meriwether Lewis died on the Trace in what has been a mystery from the day his body was found. Was it foul play? Or natural? Or even perhaps suicide? So, it’s no wonder I wanted to set a book on the Trace.

I just didn’t expect to set it in Natchez. I thought I’d set it near me since a segment of the Trace is only thirty miles from my house. I was familiar with the northern half of the Parkway. But my publisher fell in love with the idea of it being set at the southern terminus—Natchez, a place I’d never been. And I’m so glad. I discovered a town so unique and rich with history and beautiful antebellum homes and lovely people. And the restaurants—Fat Mama’s Tamales, Jughead’s, the Tea Room, King’s Tavern (where there’s a ghost!), and many more that will likely show up in my stories.


The stories. I always knew I’d write a series about National Park Rangers since I’d always wanted to be one. I just didn’t know I’d have to do so much research. I thought I’d just write my usual story and have a ranger solve the crime. Not. I quickly learned the Natchez Trace Parkway Rangers were a separate entity from the National Park Service. Sort of.


The National Park Service Rangers at places like Mount Locust, Melrose, and the William Johnson House, etc. have interpretive rangers who are responsible for providing an enlightening experience to visitors of the historical sites. Natchez Trace Parkway Rangers are law enforcement rangers with their main office in Tupelo, Mississippi. Which was good for me since I could easily drive down and talk to the Superintendent.

The superintendent was so helpful. I learned that just like police officers, full-time law enforcement rangers have to undergo training at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, Georgia. She filled me in on their duties, and told me about the special agents who plan and conduct investigations as part of the Investigative Services Branch (ISB). BINGO! The perfect job for my hero who is out to stop the drugs traveling up the Trace.

Bio and Social Media links

USA Today Best-selling author, Patricia Bradley is a Carol finalist and winner of an Inspirational Readers’ Choice Award in Suspense. She and her two cats call North Mississippi home--the South is also where she sets most of her books. Her romantic suspense novels include the Logan Point series and the Memphis Cold Case Novels. Standoff, the first book in the Natchez Trace Park Ranger’s series released May 5, 2020, and she’s finished the second book, Obsession and is hard at work on the third, Crosshairs.

Writing workshops include American Christian Fiction Writers online courses, workshops at the Mid-South Christian Writer’s Conference, the KenTen Retreat where she was also the keynote, Memphis American Christian Fiction Writer group, and the Bartlett Christian Writers group. When she has time, she likes to throw mud on a wheel and see what happens.

Links:

Website https://ptbradley.com/

Blog - https://ptbradley.com/blog/

Facebook – www.facebook.com/patriciabradleyauthor

Twitter – https://twitter.com/PTBradley1

Amazon – https://amzn.to/2S6DKGY

Bookbub- https://www.bookbub.com/profile/patricia-bradley

Goodreads- https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7789445.Patricia_Bradley

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/ptbradley1/

Pinterest - https://www.pinterest.com/ptbradley/

Southern Writers Magazine Supports an Authors Event

By Steve Bradshaw, Specialty Writer for Southern Writers Magazine and Author of The Bell Trilogy books 

You are invited to a Southern Writers Magazine event: 12 SOUTHERN AUTHORS AT COLLIERVILLE BURCH LIBRARY SEPTEMBER 14, 2:00-4:00 pm in Collierville, TN

The Collierville Burch Library is pleased to welcome twelve published southern authors to the SOUTHERN AUTHOR EVENT on Saturday, September 14, 2019 from 2:00 to 4:00 pm.

International Thriller author, Steve Bradshaw worked closely with the Collierville Library staff in assembling a gifted group of southern authors to present their latest book releases and to meet the public.

“We wanted to have authors representing each of the most popular genres at this event,” Steve said. “Our authors write historical crime fiction, cozy mysteries, Christian mysteries, Romance, Young Adult, Christian non-fiction, Memoir, Short Stories, and Children books.”

“Attractive promotional elements and fun for the attendees were the keys to organizing an author event supported by SOUTHERN WRITERS MAGAZINE,” said Editor and Chief Susan Reichert. There will be 50 new releases given away on September 14, each signed and personalized for the lucky winners. All you need to do is stop by the Collierville Library before September 14 and drop you name in the registration box. The drawing on September 14 will decide the winners. You must be present to win. The library marketing manager Linda Brown said, “I want everyone to have a good chance at winning a great novel at our library. Although their supplies will be limited, we are pleased the authors will bring more of their books for purchase.”

The SOUTHERN AUTHOR EVENT will debut two nine-year-old writers with their first books. Come by and meet these wonderful young writers and talk to an author in your favorite genre.

Participating Authors include: Nick Nixon, Deborah Sprinkle, Michael Hicks Thompson, Tracy Crump, Jean Brunson, Sharilyn Hunt, Sandra Wright, Rene Dick, Patricia Bradley, and Steve Bradshaw  

Jumping Into Writing, Part One

By Lynn U. Watson

After publishing three devotional collections, I’ve jumped with passion into writing my first novel. A true story from the life of my great grandmother stirred my imagination and my compassion. But my WIP is rough at best.

During the recent Mid-South Christian Writers Conference, I enrolled in the “First Chapter Critique Group” led by award-winning novelists, Johnnie Alexander and Patricia Bradley. Other members of the group also based their work on family stories, both contemporary and historic. Not allowing the specifics we know about our story to control the fictional account we create isn’t always easy. It requires us to write with the backdrop of the facts we know, while developing memorable characters, great scenes, and a riveting story that’s mostly all made up.

To gather more insight into this, I also attended Johnnie and Pat’s workshop: “Creating Characters with Personality and Pizzazz.” They loaded their mini-class with reminders of what it takes to bring our characters alive on the page. From both groups here are hints I brought home with me:

1. Ask your character what motivates him/her?
2. Ask your character what he/she fears?
3. What can’t your character do in the beginning? How will that change by the end?
4. Develop your character’s personality (Myers-Briggs helpful here)
5. Elicit emotions that deepen the connections of your characters with your readers.
6. Get to know your characters better by channeling them. Tap into your own emotions – (For the protagonist you might close your eyes and imagine; for the antagonist, think “evil.”)
7. Develop your character’s point of view.
8. Incorporate strong and realistic dialogue to move the story along. (That may include sentence fragments, slang, dialect.)
9. Always be a student of the craft of writing and learn it well. Read successful author’s books on the topic of writing. Here’s a list of Johnnie and Pat’s suggestions:

-The Emotion Thesaurus:A Writer’s Guide to Character Expression by Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi (There are six in this excellent series. I own four and am eager to add the others.)

-The Emotional Craft of Fiction: How to Write the Story Beneath the Surface by Donald Maass (I’ve just begun this one – two chapters in, and I know he has much to teach any author.)

-Getting into Character:Seven Secrets a Novelist Can Learn from Actors by Brandilyn Collins (Another great little volume already in my author’s library.)

-Self-Editing for Fiction Writers: How to Edit Yourself into Print by Renni Browne & Dave King

-Story Trumps Structure:How to Write Unforgettable Fiction by Breaking the Rules by Steven James (Now that sounds interesting. Know the rules but break them.)

-Writing Deep Viewpoint:Invite Your Readers into the Story by Kathy Tyers,

-Writing with Emotion,Tension & Conflict: Techniques for Crafting an Expressive and CompellingNovel by Cheryl St. John

Part Two of Lynn’s post will appear on Monday.

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Lynn U. Watson combines many years' experience in women's ministry, love of essential oils, and her passion for God's word to bring her readers freshly inspired encouragement for their walk with Jesus. Her devotional, The Essence of Courage, was recognized as a 'must read' by regional publishing industry leaders. Married since 1973, Lynn and Steve have filled their Bartlett, Tennessee home with handmade treasures and lots of love for family, especially their five beautiful (of course) grandchildren. Aromas of freshly baked bread often fill Lynn's kitchen. Jasmine, her tuxedo kitty, enjoys sleeping in Lynn's lap while she writes. Here is my website link: https://lynnuwatson.com/