FOXES Blog Tour Alert!

BLOG TOUR TIME! (You're going to be see those three words a lot over the next few weeks. Sorry in advance!)

Anyway, I am thrilled to be one of today's stop in the F.O.X.E.S. tour (tour info above, in case you're curious)! But what, pray tell, is F.O.X.E.S? Well, this is the thirds instalment in the popular S.T.A.G.S series by M.A. Bennett and this series is getting darker and more twisted by the instalment.

Greer is trying to recover from her terrifying experience from the events of the STAGS play. Was she really put on trail by the sinister Dark Order of the Grand Stag? Or was it all her veractive imagination? The puzzling M imprint on her thumb - M for Murderder - isn't evidence either way...

But things are happening that Greer is more worried over. Ty is staying at Longcross Manor and Greer, New and Shafeen become increasingly worried for her safety. So when the three get a cryptic text from Ty, telling them to visit Cumberland Place, they decide against their better judgement to go. There, they meet the grieving parents of Henry de Warlencourt. Rollo is arrogant, entitled and not grieving whereas Caro, while charming, is clearly pushed to her limit by Henry's death, insisting that Henry isn't dead.

But that;'s not possible. Right? And what is Rollo plotting for his deadly Boxing Day Hunt? Is history going to repeat itself or is something more horrible on the cards?

I am thrilled that M.A. Bennett has found time to write a guest post for the tour, talking about keeping the tension up in thrillers (I love a good thriller book/TV show/movie and I've always wonder how they keep the tension up...)

Now, before I hand it over to MA, I want to thank her for writing this post (I know how busy you are!) & I want to thank Faye for asking if I wanted to be involved in the tour! Now, if after reading this post, you're curious over F.O.X.E.S or the series in general, you can pop over to Hot Key Books for more info. Or, you can say hi to MA on her Twitter (@MABennettAuthor) or on Instagram (@MABennettAuthor)

Now, ONTO THE TENSION!!!

How you manage to keep the tension/pacing in your books?

This is a difficult one. In the first book, STAGS, I had the three-part structure of Huntin’ Shootin’ and Fishin’ to help me. In each section the tension mounts, reaches a climax and then eases off. In DOGS, the book was in five acts like a play and it was more difficult to pace, as there was a lot of ‘setting-up’ of The Isle of Dogs, the play within the book. In FOXES, the whole thing is structured like a poem, and gradually ramps up to the fox-hunting finale. With every book it’s different, but there’s always a trade-off between setting up the plot and any new characters, with the need to get some tension and excitement mounting! 

The good thing about writing a series is that you have already established your major characters and returning locations (like STAGS school and Longcross Hall) so you can use a certain amount of shorthand in the sequels. Your reader will already be familiar with the settings and cast, so you can get into the action more quickly. I’ve noticed that the books are getting fatter (what I call Harry Potter syndrome)so are possibly getting a bit more in-depth; but TIGERS, which I’m writing at the moment, seems to be a little more slimline!