Frank McRaeFrank McRae, Author

Vendetta Update

Updates haven’t been as frequent as I would normally like them to be but here is a long overdue one.

It’s been a very busy 2018 so far finally settling in at our new home in Florida. We’ve done a ton of remodeling to make it our own which has taken me away from progress on my third book. (That and a bunch of fun in the sun activities inherent with the Florida lifestyle) We’ve had lots of friends visit, made a lot of new friends and attended nearly all of the band concerts at Epcot this year so now

it’s high time I got back to pulling ‘Vendetta’ out of the keyboard once again. After several exciting chapters lately, I have found my grove once again! I’m very glad I had such good notes on what I previously captured for content. Please keep your kind comments coming as there have been many new readers that I haven’t heard from and I love adding new comments on the books to the website ‘Reviews’ tab.

With now 14 chapters and counting, I’m well on my way to writing ‘Vendetta’ and I am planning more plot twists than the 1st two books combined.

Relocating the Author Cave

As you may know if you follow my FB page, I recently moved the “Author Cave” to Florida. I was honored by a very kind blog entry by our new friend Barbara Doeringer and include it here.

MORE HIGH VISTA TALENT

May 30th, 2017 8:04 AM

MORE HIGH VISTA TALENT

Barbara’s Blog:

Most of the High Vista residents are well aware of some amazing talent in our community after enjoying some of it at the Talent Show in February. But there is a wider variety of talent here than realized and one most recently discovered was when we sold a home to a wonderful couple from Illinois this month.

Frank McRae has already published two incredible murder mysteries and is currently working on his third, which will make a “trilogy” of books connected to each other. His careers began in engineering, business ownership and construction expertise, but he marveled for years at the talents of many of his favorite writers, and then found himself inspired to transform his imagination into words.

His first novel, “Premonitions” is about a group of top local plastic surgeons in the Chicago suburbs, whose lives are suddenly ripped apart by a series of unexplainable murders. The wives belonging to this group of surgeons are being systematically found in their locked homes murdered, with alarms set and no apparent clues for motives. Believe me when I say this novel has mind boggling plot twists that will wow every reader! I simply could not put it down and the ending will shock you.

Next, is the second novel, “Vengeance” which I am told is even better than the first! I will be starting that book this week. So as not to ruin or give any hints about the first book, I will only say that this one entails the same Inspector who now tries to find a different serial killer who has taken on the persona of a black widow spider, leaving no witnesses behind. “She” seeks justice and plans revenge for those she has admired by developing three versions of a deadly drug.

Frank McRae has certainly engaged close attention to details and has a knack for developing unexpected plot twists to keep readers glued to every page. I am personally thrilled to have met this author (and his lovely wife) and honored to have two autographed copies of these books.

You will find both books on Amazon, if not in the local book stores, and they are both rated high. Personally, I give the first one FIVE STARS! And all I can say is, “Frank, hurry up and get that third one written! You certainly have talent!!”

Written by Barbara Doeringer

Recent Trip To Winnetka- Vendetta Research

As part of the research for the trilogy chapter of my Black Breath series, I once again visited my favorite (formerly) crime-free upscale suburb of Winnetka. I will be posting lots of pictures in the near future of locations from all three books. (SPOILER ALERT! FUTURE SCENE FROM VENDETTA!) One focus of this trip was to find potential murder scenes. (Yeah, I know. There’s another glimpse into that scary dark corner of Frank’s brain that everyone seems to be so concerned about!) Anyway, the pictures below are from one of them. It’s a neat little spooky setting which struck me as a perfectly secluded spot for Ed Cassidy to find a body or maybe two! It’s an underground pedestrian walk way which goes under a bike path and train tracks. There was a service tech working there that day installing security cameras in the tunnel and you should have seen the look on his face when I approached him and said, “This is a great place for a murder. Don’t you think?” I then quickly explained my author’s research motives. You may notice that he’s not in the last picture with the ladder. After my initial comments to him, he suddenly became very camera shy! Go figure! (Gotta love the fun you can have on those research trips!!)

2016 New Year Updates

Happy New Year!

It’s been a very exciting beginning for 2016 so far!

I have recently added 4 more book signing events at various Half Price Books stores in the Chicago suburban area and there will be more to come. I’d love to see you at one or more of them!

Vengeance sales have been brisk and many of you have passed along much appreciated verbal praise for my latest book, but I would like to encourage readers to send me your comments on the plot (hopefully by email @ fpmcrae@att.net). I am compiling a ‘Reader’s Comments’ sheet for Vengeance that I plan to have on hand at book signings and welcome your reviews.

Book 3 in the emerging ‘Black Breath’ trilogy is progressing nicely and I’m very excited at what is currently planned to wind up between the covers! This is the semi-frustrating phase of writing a novel. It’s when there is so much plot material bouncing around in my head that it can get a bit overwhelming, but it’s certainly better than writer’s block I guess. It’s also when the organizing, sequencing and rewriting of the manuscript (as new concepts keep popping up) forms the fun challenge of the writing process.

Follow up to ‘How will this one end?’

As a follow up to my last entry, the ending for my 3rd book (possibly to be named ‘Vendetta’) has been developing in (what many have called) my scary brain. I haven’t been updating much lately as I have been VERY deep in thought about the plot of Vendetta. I’m as determined as ever to provide my readers with more twists and turns than were contained in my first two books combined! That aspect continues to be the most complimented areas of both books. Apparently you guys like being hit from the blind side by a good plot twist. (Kinda my favorite part of a book when I’m reading other authors as well.) Once again so many ideas have jumped up and requested a spot in Vendetta. I want as many of them as possible to wind up between the covers and I’ve been heavy into the ‘jigsaw puzzle’ aspect of sorting out them all out. It’s at times frustrating, but definitely a rush when it all comes together. I’ve also had several requests from friends to have their names included in the new book. If you happen to fall into that category, drop me a line. Don’t forget to list your preference for villain or good guy/gal. As usual, happy to oblige! Back to the keyboard for now, more later.

How will this one end?

View from the Author Cave:
Next most asked question…”Did you know how your books were going to end before you started writing them?”
So far 3 no’s! With ‘Premonitions’, I had maybe 10% of what wound up between the covers in my head as I started writing. I didn’t know where the plot would ultimately wind up and the content seemed to write itself in my head as I progressed through the story. With ‘Vengeance’, once I decided on a sequel to ‘Premonitions’, I started out with about 80% of wound up between the covers in my head. I had an idea as to how it would end but was undecided until once again the story ultimately developed during the writing process and it became clear as to how the book needed to end. This was in no small part due to my decision to write a third book to complete the trilogy as I was having so much fun revisiting the characters. Third book… another no! I have maybe 50% of what will wind up between the covers now and concepts keep coming to me as the plot continues to develop in my head. This is, for me, one of the most exciting things about writing a book and is akin to the reader turning a page on the finished book. Next question…”How do you come up with the stuff in your books?” (which is sometimes followed by, “It scares me to think of what is in your head!”)

Vengeance Book Signing Event on 8-13-15 in Schaumburg

I’ll be signing copies of Premonitions and my latest book, Vengeance: When All That’s Left is Revenge, on Thursday 8-13-15 during the Putting Green Event at 1700 E. Golf Road in Schaumburg from 2pm until 5pm. The building management, Transwestern, will be promoting job training and job placement through E-Waste recycling at this event which I will be participating in. Stop by for a chat, I’d like to meet you!

Book Signing Event 7-9-15 in Schaumburg

I’ll be signing copies of Premonitions and my latest book, Vengeance, this Thursday 7-9-15 in the lobby of the Two Century building located at 1700 E. Golf Road in Schaumburg from 12 noon until 2pm. The building management, Transwestern, is holding a tenant appreciation event which I will be participating in. Stop by for a chat, I’d like to meet you!

Vengeance is now available!

I am very excited with the finished manuscript for Vengeance!

It has been another labor of love. I had so much fun spending time with many of the characters developed in Premonitions and just as much fun creating new ones as well. Fans of Premonitions will be thrilled at the engaging plot that is woven throughout Vengeance. It is now available from my website and Amazon.com in paperback and Ebook formats. It is the second installment in the developing ‘Black Breath’ series. (Rumors from the ‘Author Cave’ are hinting at a trilogy!)

Spoiler alert #1 …(You’ll need to block out a good chunk of time before starting to read Vengeance. The unexpected plot twists will keep you turning the pages!)

So take out the trash, bring in the mail, turn off the TV, let the dog out and settle back in your favorite reading chair with plenty of your favorite drink and snacks (Spoiler alert #2 ….hopefully it’s Corn Nuts!) because once you start reading Vengeance, you won’t want to put this one down!

Let your reading be motivated by ‘Vengeance’!

The Vengeance manuscript is complete!

I am finally able to answer the question most asked of me this year!

Question: “When is your next book coming out?”

Answer: “Paperback copies will be available by the first week in June and E-book versions will be ready for download from my website by the last week in May!”

I’ve been so involved with getting Vengeance finished that I haven’t been to the blog site much lately. Vengeance has been especially challenging due to complexities involved in keeping the plot straight, but I’m happy to say that my decision not to rush it to print was the right one. I simply couldn’t be more pleased with how Vengeance turned out! If you were a fan of Premonitions, it is my humble opinion that you will soon be a fan of Vengeance as well.

I had so much fun closing the door to the Author Cave and shutting out the rest of the world so I could spend time with several of my old friends from Premonitions. Inspector Ed Cassidy, M.E. Connie Bristol, FBI Tech Roger Pensky and my hillbilly buddy, Inspector Bill Weller all return and become entangled in a sticky web of revenge. It will take all their skills (and once again, several unexplainable ‘clues’ ) to solve this new mystery. They are kept busy, baffled and frustrated with who, what, why and how this new challenge has chosen the previously crime-free community of Winnetka to rear its ugly head.

After finishing Premonitions, I immediately knew I wanted to write a second book so I started exploring various possibilities for a new plot. None grabbed my interest and I kept being drawn back to the characters developed in Premonitions until I found the perfect angle for a sequel.

It was an incredible experience, writing once again, and now that Vengeance is complete, guess what? I find myself saddened that the writing experience is over, excited at the result and positive that I will be writing a third book. This one will also be a sequel as well (foreshadowing of which is embedded in the last chapters of Vengeance) and will complete a (yet to be named) trilogy.

As I sit at the threshold of yet another book, I’m not viewing the prospect of writing it as being quite as daunting a task as I did at the start of outlining and writing Vengeance. I’m more than excited at the undertaking and my head is filling up with ideas for it so fast that I can’t get them captured quickly enough. Throughout the writing previously of Premonitions and recently of Vengeance, I have had my now familiar ‘anti- writer’s block’ gene running rampant. This can get almost as frustrating as the ‘writer’s block’ gene at times. It is once again kicking into high gear as I attempt to capture new ideas for the third book before they are lost in that deep, dark chasm known as ‘The Great Plot Abyss!’

Please check out my website frequently for updates that I promise to keep posting, now that Vengeance is on the bus to the printer and will soon be available in paperback.

Frank McRae

Author of Premonitions

Author Archives: Frank McRae