Romance/suspense author Rene Natan
As promised, here is a look at suspense/romance novelist Rene Natan and her writing, including my review of The Woman in Black
How do you come up with your novel ideas, particularly with The Woman in Black?
From events in my life, the life of a person close to me or from the news. When my house got destroyed, I felt a deep sense of disruption, almost of abandon. I tried to portray this feeling in my first novel, Mountains of Dawn. What triggered me to write The Woman in Black was the difficulty a police officer encounters when she had to impersonate a call girl
What is your process for writing a novel? Do you do an outline first? Rewriting and editing as well?
Normally I write an outline to start with. However this first outline changes as I go along, mostly around the first half of the novel. After that, the personas almost write their own story.
Why do you write suspense romance novels?
Love is the main force in life, being parental love, conjugal love, or forbidden love. I wouldn’t dare to write anything without SOME kind of love. Suspense is needed to keep the reader turning one page after the other. Will the two lovers get together? Would the abducted child be rescued? Would the police capture the sadistic killer? The writer is the deus ex machina; he can forge the characters to his liking and take the reader along, in a journey of emotional “high,” fun and anticipation.
Rene Natan Bio:
Rene Natan was first attracted by the myriad possibilities offered by computers and pursued a career in information technology. The desire of being a storyteller, however, never left her since plots kept taking shape in her mind. After following a number of online courses on fiction writing, she started to jot down her stories. The Blackpox Threat won the first prize in the 2012 Five Star Dragonfly Award and was one on the four finalists in the 2011 Indie Excellence Award competition.
Book Review:
Cover of The Woman in Black by Rene Natan
The Woman in Black by Rene Nathan is a romantic suspense novel set in the fictitious town of Varlee, Ontario the end of 2000 and beginning of 2001.
Chief Detective Conrad Tormez has a lot on his mind. His mentally challenged teenage daughter has been missing for two years and he needs to nail the criminal gang causing havoc in Varlee. The latter requires going to the head of the gang. To find the gang’s leader, he takes advantage of something this criminal doesn’t know – his girlfriend Clara Moffat has just died in a vehicle accident. So he hires a former police officer and friend, Savina Thompson, to impersonate Clara and set up the next wealthy victim. Using a newly-designed voice emulation system and another friend, wealthy businessman Denis Tailllard, to play this victim, Tormez hopes to rid Varlee of the thieving gang. Despite Tormez’s various plans for possible scenarios, he cannot foresee everything.
For nothing is simple and anything that can go haywire does.
As the story unfolds, the characters, plot and subplot become connected. Natan uses a multi-layered approach that peels like the proverbial onion to constantly reveal something else unexpected. Just when you wonder why a piece of plot or another character appears, it soon becomes relevant and adds to the suspense. The events leading up to and including the climax will keep the reader on the edge. Warning: be careful if reading The Woman in Black on public transit or while walking down the street – you might miss your stop or bump into someone or something.
The complicated plot and many characters, at times can get a little overwhelming. But Natan‘s listing of characters and short chapters help keep the reader oriented.
If you like intrigue, The Woman in Black is for you. However, it might be wise to block some time to read it. As this reviewer discovered, reading it in chunks may not work as you will want to continue reading to see what happens next.
Reviewed by Sharon A. Crawford author of the Beyond mystery books – Beyond the Tripping Point (Blue Denim Press, 2012) and Beyond Blood (Blue Denim Press, 2014). See www.samcraw.com for info about Sharon’s books and social media links.
Partial list of Rene Natan’s published novels:
The Woman in Black, ebook, 2014, $2.95 US, http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00QQZ08QE
The Loves and Tribulations of Detective Stephen Carlton, ebook, 2014, $2.99 US, https://smashwords.com/books/view/471255
Fleeting Visions, ebook, 2013, $3.75 US, http://www.amazon.com/Fleeting-Visions-Rene-Natan-ebook/dp/B00HNG53LU
The Bricklayer, ebook, 2012, $2.64 US, www.amazon.com/dp/B007PKCHBI
The Blackpox Threat, 2010, $4.27US, www.Oldlinepublishing.com, http://www.amazon.com
http://www.facebook.com/rene.natan.7
https://mobile.twitter.com/redmanor
http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/4891285-rene-natan
E-books can be purchased on Amazon.com (Kindle). The Bricklayer and The Blackpox Threat are also available as print on Amazon.com
Cheers and Happy New Year
Sharon A. Crawford
P.S. Rene Natan turns the tables on me when she interviews me at http://www.scribd.com/doc/251460632/Interview-with-Sharon-Crawford
Sharon A. Crawford author 