A THANKSGIVING TALE OF TERROR by LISA MONDELLO

Johnny's movement was automatic. The man who'd sprayed the window with bullets from the front porch before bursting through the front door was now down on his belly, knocked out.

Cranton knew then that Johnny wasn't only a soldier in Afghanistan, he was Special Forces. Only specialized training could have a soldier moving with precision like that so quickly. He wondered if Pamela knew. The question of why Johnny was suddenly here at the cabin grew more urgent.

A stunned Pamela stood in the middle of the floor looking at her brother. Hard eyes lifted to Pamela, and Johnny said, "Don't ever do that again."

"Do what?"

"You should have stayed covered and let Johnny handle that. He may be your little brother, but he knows what he's doing," Cranton said.

"And how would you know?"

Johnny leveled him with a hard look, then pointed to the floor. “Never mind. We have to figure out what we’re going to do with him.”

“You’re bleeding,” she said, running to her brother’s side, putting her hands on his chin and pulling his face toward her for a better look. “It’s only a small scratch.”

“I’d climbed out of the bedroom window and moved in behind this clown just as he started shooting the window. Must have been caught with some flying glass.”

“I’m going to see if there is any antiseptic to clean that and then I want some answers. From both of you.”

Cranton caught the suspicious look on Pamela’s face, and even in the slightly rattled state she was in, she was a stunner. Her slightly upturned nose looked too cute when her lips where tight with anger. And she was miffed. He just wasn’t sure if it was because she was still in the dark about what was going on or because her brother got nicked from flying glass.

With Johnny’s face cleaned up, Pamela propped herself on the edge of the sofa and folded her arms across her chest.

“I’m not stupid. I know you’re being here for Thanksgiving is no accident, Johnny. You would have told me you were coming. So out with it.”

“Perhaps he has a reason he doesn’t want to share with you,” Cranton said, his heart rate kicking up a notch. This was either going to go bad…or it would be his salvation. The next few minutes would decide. He prayed they’d all be leaving this cabin alive.

"What does Turkey Drop mean to you?" Johnny said.

Cranton's eyes widened only slightly to let Johnny know he understood, but not enough to cause alarm that may be misunderstood. But Pamela caught that one tiny move.

"Turkey Drop. What are you talking about?” Looking from Cranton to her brother, Pamela said, "Is someone going to finally fill me in on what's going on?"

Johnny's hard glare locked onto Cranton. "You’re right, Pam. I'm not home for the holiday. I came here looking for...your boyfriend."

Having Your Book Come to Life on the BIG Screen...

Every writer dreams in movies. Well, I don't know about you but I do. All my story ideas come to me as if they've been filmed on location wherever they're set. I scout out locations to make sure my story is being set in the right place. As the puzzle writer, I write my scenes out of order as I see them play out in my head. I back up and reshoot scenes in my head as I'm writing to get things right.

As a novelist, I dream of one day having one of my books turned into a movie. But not all books are meant to be movies and not all books turn out the same when they're made into a movie. That's what I'd like to explore a little here.

With so much attention on the Twilight and Harry Potter craze, I hear people saying things like, "The book was so much better" or "I can't believe they changed my favorite character in the movie. He was so cool in the book." When I saw Lord of the Rings (A trilogy that I loved!) there'd been enough years (read many) since I'd read the story that a lot of the detail had become a blur to me. I wasn't upset by absences in the movie or changes that were made. But I sure heard some noise from others who were disappointed.

Think of a book that you've read that has been made into a movie. I'm thinking of The Horse Whisperer. Fantastic book and fantastic movie in my opinion. I won't give out any spoilers here, except to say that I thought the ending in the movie, which was different from the ending in the book, was much more satisfying.

That was a small change. What about a story with a big change. Meg Cabot spoke at the RWA Conference a few years back and talked about how when she wrote The Princess Diaries the dad has a large role in the story and the grandmother was very minor. Since the studio wanted Julie Andrews to play role of the grandmother, they needed to make her part bigger so they wanted to make the dad go away by having him die before the movie starts. Great fix. Get rid of dad. Swap lines. Julie's got a bigger part. I'll admit I didn't read the book. I only saw the movie. But my daughter read the book and although she enjoyed the movie, she thought it makes for a much different story with the dad being the one to guide Mia to throne.

Think of the books you've read that have been turned into movies. Which movies stayed true to the book and which ones differed greatly from the original story? Tell me about them and why you liked or disliked them.

Until next time, many blessings, Lisa Mondello

http://www.craftieladiesofromance.blogspot.com/

http://www.loveinspiredauthors.com/

I Didn't Know my own WhoDunIt!!!!

Yup, it's true. A few weeks ago I started a novel that had been simmering for quite a few months. Typically, I knew the beginning... and, since I write suspense, I knew the end (mystery solved, H and H connect, happily ever after, yada yada yada). The problem with this particular mystery is/was I didn't know who the murderer was. Nope, no a clue. It's a good thing Valley of the Sun President Valerie (who writes regencies for Kensington) invited a motivational speaker. Look at them so calmly preparing for a day of learning.

So, last Saturday, I signed up to attend the Goal, Motivation,

Conflict workshop with Deb Dixon that my local chapter was

putting on. That's her in the blue jacket and white shirt. I'm in black and white.

I had a great time (surrounded by friends) and the best part of all: I figured out who the murderer is! Not only that, but, see, I had my ending, and thanks to Deb, I also came up with a second black

moment. Yaba Dabba, doo! Thanks, Deb!!!!

Here you see paranomal author Connie Flynn, who co-founded

Bootcamp for Authors. She's sitting next to Libby Banks who is

aiming for a career with Harlequin American. BTW, they're

both my critique partners.

Not only that, but while I was sitting there listening to Deb, I
wrote the whole synopsis (And, yes, I belong to the

I-hate-writing-synopsi girls' club). Thanks, Deb!!!!

Unfortunately, now I have to convert it from the strange little

laptop I got for Christmas to the normal rightsize laptop I've had

for six years. Sitting at my table and frowning at my tiny-weenie

laptop (and also wearing a stunning black and white blouse) is

Harlequin American author Cathy McDavid. She's in

my critique group and my best friend!

What else did I learn? Well, I already knew I was a pantzer.

I don't see that changing any time soon. I also learned that

I'm never going to use a story board with sticky notes and that

most of the time, my books belong to both the hero and heroine.

Here in a green shirt is Chris Jones, another published author and pretty much founder of the Valley of the Sun Romance Writer's of America chapter. She's been the heart and soul behind the group for almost two decades.

Shades of green seem to be the color choice for many of our

authors, and yes, Harlequin American attendees dominate.

With the purse around her shoulder, this is Barbara White,

another Harlequin American author.

I love spending the day with writers!!!! And last, but not least. This is Sandra Lagesse, who is dating my father-in-law

(I fixed them up) and who writes Arizona history pieces for

newspapers. My son calls her Grandma.

If I could, I'd wiggle my nose so my fellow bloggers and all the

readers could come over for lunch. Here, take a Diet Dr Pepper

and let me tell you about my murderer.

BTW, don't forget to leave a comment! You'll be entered in a drawing to win this month's four suspense books.