Author Archives: brayleep

Deviance: Coming Soon!

Several months ago I tossed out about 30,000 words I’d written and started over on the seventh book of the Sylvia Wilcox mystery series. While this was not ideal, as I finish up the book, I am so glad I took that plunge. The result is a much better book. The story wanted to take me somewhere I didn’t know it wanted to go.

Deviance take us to New Orleans where Sylvia finds herself in the middle of a shocking situation. The book takes place after the devastating news Sylvia received in Awakening. Now she’s redefining her life and struggling to figure out where she belongs. In the middle of her personal crisis, Sylvia must set her own troubles aside and solve a baffling murder. As Sylvia digs into the underbelly of the city, a mysterious man who knows things he shouldn’t stands in the way of the case. As the clock ticks and Madalyn’s life hangs in the balance, Sylvia must rub shoulders with sinister figures, putting her own life in danger.

The prologue of Deviance will be sent to the Readers’ Club this Saturday. If you are not part of the Readers’ Club, what are you waiting for?! It’s completely free and you will receive prequel stories, coupons for my Shopify store(coming soon), and you’ll get all the news about my books first. Click the link below to sign up!

Readers’ Club

I also have included a true crime story from Ypsilanti in the Readers’ Club newsletter. The investigation is very… interesting and the crime took place a few steps from where I lived for three years. Granted, the crime happened in 1931, that stretch of road is notorious because several other major crimes took place in the same vicinity.

Deviance has taken longer than I originally planned, but the extended deadline was necessary. The book will release on my Shopify store at a discount before it is available everywhere else. I plan to release it around the end of the September, which is fitting because it definitely has some spooky elements, and it will be just in time for Halloween. Stay tuned to the Readers’ Club newsletter for more samples from the story!

Displacement: A Sylvia Wilcox Mystery Book 2

While grieving her husband and deciding whether or not she want to continue her career as a police officer, Sylvia Wilcox immerses herself in the investigation of a string of mysterious murders, navigating the case with a moral compass and a drive to know the truth.

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Who She Was: A Sylvia Wilcox Mystery Book 1

Sylvia Wilcox takes on a cold case murder of a suburban housewife who is killed in the wrong part of town. The police suspect infidelity, but a review of the case files fails to produce any evidence of Liza Stark being unfaithful to her husband. As Sylvia follows leads, her efforts are stifled by roadblocks, secrets, and lies from Liza’s mysterious past.

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Writing Update

Dear Readers,

My muse fell off the wagon in December and didn’t come back until the Summer Solstice. Call me crazy or weird, but I swear my writing mojo falls off between the Winter and Summer Solstice. Is that strange or what? Anyway, I published The Road to Nowhere back in February and have been working on Awakening, but I did delay the publication date because I feel like the book needs more time. I can whip out a story every for months, but it won’t be the best it could be. So, like a fickle, unpredictable creative, I have postponed the book. I honestly couldn’t help it, but I apologize for the inconvenience.

Writing

Okay, things are actually picking up in this department. I am working on a few things right now, with Awakening in the forefront, Deviance in the background and Confessions, the seventh book in the series, percolating in my brain. The serial story is running rather late in going out this month because I wanted to put as much energy as possible into Awakening. I changed the publication date for Awakening to August 28th. The rest of the serial story is coming soon!

Emails

I’ve received a lot of emails over the past few months. Unfortunately, many of them went into my spam folder. If you sent me an email and I did not respond, I am VERY sorry! Why does this happen?! I don’t know, but I’ve got an idea. Instead of digging out a bunch of email from the spam box and answering them all, I’m going to start posting on YouTube and maybe (gasp!) I might do a few live sessions. My introvert soul doesn’t like that kind of talk, but I always love interacting with people once I convince myself to reach out and be vulnerable. So, stay tuned for that!

 

 

 

 

 

Writing Update: 2020 Is Almost Over!!

This is has been quite a year and as we near its end, I can’t help but look back at all that has occurred over the past eleven months. Part of me feels like this year has been one or two very long months because I’ve spent the bulk of my time at home. One of the best things to come out of 2020 is that I’ve gotten back to counting my blessings. I wake up in the morning and think about all the good things in my life. At the core, I have all I need and there is no lack.

December is upon us, and I’m wrapping up the very last book of 2020! I’m very excited to be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I spent the first seven months of the year distracted and a bit down about the way things seemed to be unfolding in the world, but in late July, I perked up and got moving. So glad I snapped out of the doldrums!

2021 And A Question…

2021 will bring the resolution of one ongoing mystery and more travels for Sylvia and Martin. I have four books in the Sylvia Wilcox series planned for 2021. You can expect a new mystery in February, May, August, and October. We will see Sylvia come to more realizations about herself and the world.

The third book of the Sylvia Wilcox series, Fracture, is NOT about a murder. This has led to some readers disliking the book because they want to read about a murder. Sylvia Wilcox is a private detective. While P.I.’s take on murder cases at times, they often work non-violent cases because private detectives are private citizens-not police officers. Sure, they will pick up cold case murders, but it is perfectly reasonable to think that a private detective will take on a missing person case.

So, here’s the question I’ve been pondering this week. Is murder a requirement of a mystery book for some readers? Is it okay to write about a missing person case, or financial crimes in a mystery? I think so, but I could be alone in that thought. I recently read an article, “Why The Serial Killer Novel Is The New Feminist Fiction,” and the author presented and interesting idea. She discusses how she enjoys watching the show Snapped, and asks what if a woman kills a man and she doesn’t feel bad about it? My response is that if any person kills another human and doesn’t feel bad about it, I’m not able to frame that as a victory just because the killer is a woman. I’m not on board with thinking that murder is a feminist act in and of itself. I tend to shy away from gruesome crime fiction because I don’t have the ability to completely disconnect from the extreme act of taking a life, even in a fictional context.

I’m not sure if most people think a murder must be included in a mystery, but Sylvia Wilcox will be investigating murders and other situations that may, or may not be crimes. Sylvia will have murders to solve, but there will be deeper, more complex mysteries to examine as well. The mysteries of the heart and human behavior are the things that keep us up at night. Surely, those things deserve investigating as well.

What do you think? Can a mystery series examine more than murder?

Road to Nowhere

Road to Nowhere will be off to the editor in early January. Newsletter subscribers will receive the prologue in January, and the ebook preorder is already available. If all goes well, there will be a preorder for paperback copies in mid-January. I plan to take a few days off after I finish my literary fiction novel, but I’ll be back at it soon after the New Year. Road to Nowhere will be released February 19, 2021 and a description of the book is included below. !

Road to Nowhere

A young man disappears during an impromptu cross-country road trip. Initially, it appears that Anson didn’t have a destination or a reason to drive from Michigan to California, but when Sylvia Wilcox starts to examine the mystery, she finds that Anson had a reason to be driving the backroads and interstates of America. 

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Photo by Laura Kapfer on Unsplash

Writing Update

I’m not sure why I scheduled so many projects for the end of the year…Oh yeah, that’s right. I didn’t. Instead, I decided to make this mad dash toward 2021 by publishing three books between now and December 31st. My fingers are moving as fast as they can across thee keyboard, and I’m sure that I will make my deadlines. The first one is tomorrow. I need to finish up Frozen Cowboy, the first book in my sweet romance series by midnight October 31st. After that, it’s on to writing at least 50,000 words of Road to Nowhere.

National Novel Writing Month begins Sunday. I am super excited to get going!

With the deadlines looming in the near distance, I’m going to make this short. Here is the cover for Frozen Cowboy. I’m running a pre-order sale so get your copy now!

 

 

 

I've been featured on eBookDaily
 

 

Writing Update

Autumn was here, but the past few days things have warmed up. We are working hard to wind down the garden before the secondary water is cut off for the winter. There are SO many green tomatoes! I froze a few, made a green tomato pie, and a number of other green things. It’s all great, but I’ll be happy when we get a handle on the green tomato bounty.

Taking on three projects at the end of the year wasn’t the best idea, but it is definitely keeping me on my toes. I’m editing my literary fiction novel, Lives Lived , writing a romance, Frozen Cowboy, and waiting on edits for the fourth book in the Sylvia Wilcox series. I’m having a good, but slightly hectic time.

​ A Sylvia Wilcox Christmas is with the editor. I had a great time writing this book and I think everyone will enjoy it. The wheels of this story started turning while my husband and I were renting a place in Ogden Canyon. We were in the midst of a rather tumultuous remodeling project that ended up included both of our bathrooms. I won’t bore you with the details. Although…I’d doubt you’d be bored with the story, it is far too long to get into over email. Anyhow, we spent a month in the canyon, not far from Powder Mountain Ski Resort. Since it was a change of scenery, I tried to think of it as a vacation. Unfortunately, my fantasy world was frequently interrupted by my job and pressing needs at the house. But, in the end, nothing terrible happened, and I reminded myself that I should be thankful for that fact. That was when the “what-ifs” started. What if something more dramatic happened while you were tucked away in this mountain paradise? That spawned a bunch of other “what-if” questions that ultimately turned into A Sylvia Wilcox Christmas.

A few things…Who She Was, the first book in the series is free. If you haven’t read it yet and you’d like to pick up A Sylvia Wilcox Christmas, you will enjoy it much more if you read the first book. The Sylvia Wilcox series is not episodic. That means, the books don’t standalone very well. So, read Who She Was. It’s rated 4.5 on Amazon, 4.4 on Apple, and 4.2 on Goodreads. Why not dive into a free mystery?

Before you take off to retrieve that free book, here’s the description for A Sylvia Wilcox Christmas:

Sylvia Wilcox closes her private detective agency for the holidays and heads to Utah for a long, relaxing vacation in the Ogden River Valley’s snow-covered mountains. After enjoying a few days on the slopes, her assistant calls and tells her about a mysterious note delivered to the office that accuses Sylvia of fraud. Disturbed and curious about this note, Sylvia finds it hard to concentrate on vacation and ends up chasing down leads that take her on a painful trip down memory lane. Will Sylvia’s determination to always seek the truth backfire? Or will she end up having a surprisingly pleasant holiday season?

What do you think of the description? I’d love to hear your opinion!

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A Sylvia Wilcox Christmas: A Mystery With A Twist!

Sylvia Wilcox takes a much-needed vacation for the holidays. While she’s relaxing and enjoy time away from the office, a mysterious note shows up accusing her of fraud. Disturbed by this accusation, Sylvia begins to investigate. Save 50% on this page-turner by preordering now! https://books2read.com/u/31qL0l

The Sylvia Wilcox Mystery Series, Loose Ends, and Crime Solve Rates

*(Posts on this website contain affiliate links. Affiliate links do not cost you anything to use, and I receive a small commission if you use them. This helps pay for the website and editing of the serial story. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.)

When crimes don’t get solved within a single book, readers often get mad. This is an interesting conundrum that I think comes from watching television. I don’t really watch television, but I am well acquainted with the police procedurals where a crime occurs and is solved within an hour. While this model works well for television, it is quite far from what actually happens in an investigation. While I don’t watch much television, I am a fan of true crime podcasts and vlogs. My favorites are the ones that don’t sensationalize crime, but work to try to help law enforcement and family members get answers. Sometimes cases are showcased that took place ten or twenty years ago. Occasionally, there is a case that happened fifty or more years ago, and descendants are still searching for answers.

The Sylvia Wilcox Mystery series is about a former cop turned private investigator. Private investigators have limited resources when it comes to solving crimes, and they must follow rules to avoid being in a position where they can be sued or fined. That means solving every single case is just unrealistic. This is also true of police forces. According to the FBI stats for homicide solve rates for 2017was 61.4%. This lines up with Statista.com’s figures for 2019, which show that the rate remained steady at 61.4%. So, if this is the case, close to 40% of homicides are not solved. The crazy thing about that is homicides are solved at a higher rate than other crimes. Likely because police departments want to tackle the worst crimes and get closure for families, but that also means that a lot of other crimes go unsolved. The chart from the FBI website is below:

Clearance

So, when we take this information into account, it seems that the television shows we watch are making a few adjustments for entertainment. There’s nothing wrong with that method. I love Criminal Minds just as much as the next person, but I also spend far too much time listening to true story to allow the “every case gets solved in an hour” ideology to inform my stories.

Sylvia Wilcox has a few unresolved issues in her past. To be honest, so do I, and I’m going to go out on a limb and say, so do most of us. This is life. Everything is not so cut and dry and easy. There are times when situations become complicated and we find ourselves unable to resolve a serious issue and we have to move on. Later on, we may come back to the situation and bring some closure to what haunts us. Other times, that is not possible. This is the paradigm from which I write and live my life. Realistically, there are some crimes and situations that will not be resolved.

Here are some great true crime podcasts and vlogs that I listen to on a regular basis:

LordanArts 

Extensive examination of missing person and cold case murders. He interviews law enforcement and family members to help piece together the mysteries surrounding the cases.

The Vanished

An in-depth look into missing person cases. Marissa does a fantastic job pulling together experts, family members, friends and law enforcement officers to provide and overview of the person who has vanished.

Retired FBI Case Files

Jerri Williams is a retired FBI agent who is trying to get the word out about what the FBI actually does. She interviews other retired agents and provides a wealth of knowledge about what this often misunderstood agency does on a day-to-day basis.

Why True Crime?

I started listening to more true crime shows once I discovered that there were over 40,000 unidentified deceased persons in the United States. The fact of the matter is that we can’t expect law enforcement to take care of everything that happens in society. We must help them as much as we can. That staggering number of unidentified persons left me feeling cold and helpless, but it turns out there are things an average, everyday citizen can do. Here are a few suggestions:

Share true crime links on your social media.

When Amber Alerts pop up, verify that they are still active and spread the word.

Pay attention to your surroundings-If something looks wrong alert authorities.

If you hear a strange story, and a body shows up later, tell the police the story. Maybe it’s true, maybe not, but without a proper investigation, we’ll never know.

I occasionally try to help identify Jane and John Does on the Namus website. This is not a task for the faint of heart, and I only do that once or twice a year-if I get a hunch. So, these are the reasons why I listen to true crime shows, and it’s also why I try to add a small element of reality to my crime fiction.