guest post: Author Linda Weaver Clarke

Linda Weaver Clarke is a Historical Romance author now turn to write Mystery/Suspense fiction. Her new series is called " The Adventure of John and Jane Evans". I'm so delighted to welcome her at Darlyn & Books!

Historical Romance VS Mystery/Suspense!

I have enjoyed writing historical romance but I've now turned to mystery. The whole process of writing a mystery is so different from telling a love story. With romance, you plan out the plot around the meeting of a couple. As you write, you develop some sort of charisma between the characters, making the reader feel excited that one day they're going to hit it off and fall in love. You, as the reader, know what the outcome will be. But with a mystery, the reader is in the dark. The author has to come up with a plot that no one knows about until towards the end of the story and hope they haven’t figured it out.

In a mystery, you may or may not allow your reader to know who the bad guys are, according to whether it’s just a mystery or mystery suspense. Do you know the difference between a mystery and a mystery suspense novel? In a mystery, when a knock is heard at the door, the reader doesn't know who's behind it. With mystery suspense, the reader knows who's behind the door and yells to the heroine, "Don't open the door!"

You may ask which is more interesting or fun to write? That depends on what mood I'm in, whether I'm feeling romantic or in the mood of an adventure. Lately it's been real fun to go on adventures, to see places like the Yucatan Peninsula in southern Mexico and see all the ancient ruins. Although, I do have a small romantic plot developing by the third book. She's the daughter of the main characters, John and Julia Evans. My new mystery series is called "The Adventures of John and Julia Evans."

Anasazi Intrigue is the first book in a mystery adventure series called “The Adventures of John and Julia Evans.” It’s about a devastating flood that takes out several homes in a small town, the importance of preserving ancient artifacts, and a few puzzling and mysterious events. Julia is a reporter, and when she finds out about a possible poison spill that kills some fish and neighbor's pets, she has a feeling that something isn’t quite right. Before she realizes what is happening, Julia finds out that this incident is much bigger and more dangerous than she thought. With dead fish, a devastating flood, and miscreants chasing John and Julia, they have their hands full.


Artifact theft is a very intriguing subject. That’s why I call it the Intrigue series. In my research, I found that archaeological thievery is becoming more and more of a problem every year. Did you know that looting is only second to selling illegal drugs? While researching the second book in this series, Mayan Intrigue, my eyes were opened to the problems they have in southern Mexico. When an ancient ruin is discovered, it doesn’t take long for thieves to take it apart. The reason why is because the Mayas used astrological alignments when planning their city. Looters have learned the layout of the Mayan cities so they know where to dig. With this knowledge, they can loot a sacred temple in a few days. I also found that artifact theft in Mexico has been taken over by drug dealers from Columbia. In other words, since organized crime has taken over, there is also an increase of violence.

Mayan Intrigue is about the discovery of a priceless artifact that puts Julia’s life in great danger. While on assignment for the newspaper, John and Julia try to enjoy a romantic vacation among the Mayan ruins, but when Julia accidentally comes upon a couple suspicious men exchanging an item, she quickly turns and leaves but it’s too late. Before John and Julia realize what's going on, they find themselves running for their lives through the jungles of the Yucatan. You can read excerpts of both books at my blog.

About the author

Linda Weaver Clarke travels throughout the United States, teaching a “Family Legacy Workshop” at libraries, encouraging others to write their family history and autobiography. Clarke is the author of the historical romance series, “A Family Saga in Bear Lake, Idaho” and a new mystery series, “The Adventures of John and Julia Evans.”

She also welcome readers to her blog and website at;

Linda Weaver Clarke Blog and her Official Website

Thank you so much Linda for being my guest on my blog! I will be interviewing her on August 30th, 2010 which is her book release celebration and there will be giveaways too. Don't forget guys!