Vertigo Contest

Alfred Hitchcock Presents The Waxwork

A writer must spend a night in a wax museum’s murderer’s gallery to make good a gambling debt knowingly paid with a bad check to a testy Englishman. The museum’s owner is so obsessed with the accuracy of his replicas, he’s as scary as they are. Especially to a US magazine writer who’s already facing deportation or a stretch in a London gaol.

Alfred Hitchcock Presents also known as The Alfred Hitchcock Hour aired on television (1955-1965) on NBC and CBS and was viewed in black and white. As a young and impressionable child, the 30 minute broadcast chilled me to the bone.

They say pictures paint a thousand words because of the unforgettable impression they sketch. The beginning of each episode painted a very vivid picture in my mind. It began with the camera fading in on a simple line drawing caricature of Hitchcock’s rotund profile. As the program’s theme music

Charles Gounod’s Funeral March of a Marionette played, Hitchcock appeared in silhouette from the right edge of the screen, and then walked to center screen to eclipse the caricature.

Hitchcock nearly always began the show with a chilling “Good Evening.” Can you hear it? Can you see it? Does it take you right back? Do you have goose bumps? Even though I was quite young when The Waxwork aired, the figures terrorizing the man locked in the museum left an indelible impression on my memory.

Other than imagery, auditory hallucinations sketch pictures in our heads. Music sets the scene. Think about a scary movie. Right before a murder or something dangerous, the chilling music clues us in and has our hearts racing. When I wrote Her Biggest Fan, a romantic suspense set in stormy New England, I chose Moonlight Sonata to haunt the reader. As you read, you’ll swear you can hear the eerie spiking of piano keys because I have planted them in your head.

Visualizing the wax figures in Hitchcock’s thriller, I created wax gargoyles with wings as props in the ballroom.

Here’s a little teaser. Do you sense the danger? Feel the music crawl beneath your skin?

Tess stood at the entrance, polarized. Goose bumps prickled her flesh. When the icy instrumental of Moonlight Sonata started all over again, she took a step back and gasped. Peering into the massive hall, she stared in disbelief.

On either side of the mahogany bar, standing candelabras gleamed, long white tapers flickering in the dark. Open terrace doors banged in the wind, bringing in the pouring rain. The air carried the mingled scent of jasmine and stale tobacco. Pleated silk drapes billowed out like wings.

Rain puddled the cherry wood floor that once sparkled beneath the mirrored ceiling and crystal chandelier. The ghostly sound of piano keys escalated as Moonlight Sonata played on the old Victrola. And in the center of the room, looking for all the world like guests of honor at a grand masquerade, two wax gargoyles danced cheek to cheek, costumed in feather masks as bizarre as the setting.

HER BIGGEST FAN

Download on your Kindle at Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/

Available in paperback

ISBN: 1-60154-813-3

Buy direct from the publisher

www.thewildrosepress.com

A few months ago, I held an Alfred Hitchcock contest, asking the following questions

What's your favorite Alfred Hitchcock movie of all times?

Which actress in today's Hollywood do you picture playing the role of the perfect femme fatale?

Who do you see playing the role of Tess?

Witchy Woman won and here’s what she had to say.

"It's so hard to pick a favorite, as I'm a huge Hitchcock fan, but I'll have to go with Psycho; besides all the wonderful reasons that people list (and they're all true!), it was the first Hitchcock movie that I ever saw.....and you always have a special place in your heart for your first....:)

Angelina Jolie would do a great job, I think....she's more than proved that she isn't

just another pretty face...."

I see Tess as having a Claire Danes kind of face, if that makes sense....

Congratulations, WW!

SUMMER CONTEST

Considered the Master of Suspense, Alfred Hitchcock made 53 films in his 54 year career. For a chance to win a Vertigo Collector’s Edition DVD, try your luck on the trivia quiz. In honor of The Master’s birthday, winner will be announced on August 13^th. Good luck!

1. Name all three films that Grace Kelly starred in

2. What was the name of Hitchcock’s first American made film?

3. In which of Hitchcock’s famed cameo appearance does he wear a cowboy hat?

4. What year was The Birds produced?

5. Which model made her debut in The Birds?

6. Who starred in Dial M for Murder, both the male and female leading roles?

7. Name Hitchcock’s first color film

8. Who played in Torn Curtain?

9. Who played Marion Crane in the 1960 original Psycho?

10. How many films did Jimmy Stewart star in?

11. What color did Kim Novak object to wear in Vertigo?

12. What was the name of the restaurant that Scotti first sees Madeline in Vertigo?

Please send answers to

sharonad@comcast.net

and put Hitch trivia in subject line

Reviews for Her Biggest Fan

Here’s what reviewers are saying about Her Biggest Fan…

An edge of your seat chilling suspense, I couldn‘t wait to see what would happen next. Her Biggest Fan really was a book I couldn‘t put down. This book was an addicting, pulse-pounding read with an explosive climax. The drama was intense and I loved every minute of it.

Read full review

http://yougottareadreviews.blogspot.com/2010/10/review-her-biggest-fan-by-sharon.html

Rating: You Gotta Read!

Reviewed by Val

This was a great mixture of psychological thriller, Classic Gothic and old Hollywood glamor.

I loved the setting of this story and could practically smell the salt water in the air and hear the soothing sounds of the ocean--mix that in with a desolate manor house—it begs for a thrilling tale to be told. Fans of this well-written genre will definitely enjoy this story.

The Romance Studio

Rating: 4 hearts

Read full review

Her Biggest Fan

ISBN: 1-60154-813-3

AVAILABLE NOW

The Wild Rose Press

Buy link

http://www.TheWildRosePress.com/Her-Biggest-Fan-P-4234.HTML

www.theromancestudio.com

LASR book of the week

I am pleased and honored to announce Mask of the Betrayer has won book of the week at LASR! Thank you to all who have voted, to Whimsical Publications, and to Snapdragon who graced my first suspense book with a 5 book rating. I am deeply touched and honored. Here is the review:

Mask of the Betrayer

by Sharon Ann Donovan

Publisher: Whimsical Publications

Genre: Suspense

Length: Full (236 pages)

Heat: Sensual

Rating: 5 Books

Reviewed by Snapdragon



When the whispers in the night, the whispers of her lover, are the whispers of a
killer, will Margot escape before she becomes the next victim?


Deep in the foothills of Red Rock Canyon, a serial killer stalks. He leaves his signature—a
skull mask on the corpse. But when the homicide cop realizes the crimes are the reenactment
of a case never solved ten years ago--all fingers point to Michael DeVeccio. And
when Margot realizes she is married to the killer, her life becomes a living nightmare.

I have to confess: in the course of reviewing several of her works, I’ve become a

Sharon Ann Donovan fan. In ‘Mask of the Betrayer’ she’s brought us another heart-stopping
blend of suspense, anxiety, love and hope. The magic in her stories is that the affairs
of the heart never take a backseat to the thrills: Even while you are reading, white-knuckled,

hoping just for survival – feeling the approaching presence of the evil hunter, perhaps

imagining him outside your own window – you are still madly hoping the two will somehow

recognize their feelings for one another. We so want them to be happy!

Descriptions are powerful – and the frightening ones, no less so.

Intriguingly, or perhaps just creepy, is the close-up understanding we gradually

gain into the serial killer himself, ‘The Hunter.’ His dark mind is something of

a psychological study, and the scenes that allow us to gain understanding just add

to our fear level!


For all of the character depth, plot twists and intriguing lifestyles, this story

remains fast-paced throughout. You will simply not want to stop turning the pages:

There’s more to it than just suspense, just mystery, or just romance; but all those

layers of meaning and suggestions are so cleverly imparted that the story never slows
You can read the full review here:
http://longandshortreviews.blogspot.com/2010/07/mask-of-betrayer-by-sharon-ann-donovan.html

The Examiner review of Mask of the Bettrayer

I was awe-struck by the awesome review of Mask of the Betrayer in The Examiner. Labeled as a Dark Mystery with Brutal Content, Ms. Ginger Simpson gives it high kudos. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Ginger. Here it is!

Review - Mask of the Betrayer - Dark Mystery, Brutal Content 
June 15, 11:37 AM

eBooks Examiner  
Ginger Simpson


Mask of the Betrayer - Sharon Ann Donovan

Beneath all the bright lights, glitter, and glamour of Las Vegas beats the heart
of a sociopath. In most novels you have to wait until the end for the “whodunit,” but in Mask of  the Betrayer, you know who,from the beginning, but must keep reading to learn why he’s killing off all his family members, and how someone is going to finally stop him.

Michael Deveccio is a billionaire who wants for nothing. He has it all, or so it seems. Raised by Uncle Carlos who fell victim to the very method of killing he taught his nephew, Michael is the sole heir to the Deveccio Dynasty.All he needs is the perfect wife to bear a son to carry on the kingdom.

Poor Margot Montgomery has no idea the type of man she’s fallen for and marries.Their castle-like home is filled with all the demented memorabilia that proves Uncle Carlos’ warped mind, but Michael seems to cherish everything about his uncle. His devotion to family only deepens her respect for her new hubby.

Michael worhips the ground Margot walks on, at least in the beginning, and having a family tops his list of immediate desires. Margot is pressed to have a son. A daughter wouldn't be good enough to head the family business; he must have a male heir.

She has a career of her own and isn't in a hurry to become a mother, but Michael's insistence that she'll never want for anything carries some merit.Margot has moments when she doubts her husband’s motives and suspects him of foul play, but his charm assuages her fear.

Too bad, there’s a death star in his pocket with her name on it, along with the signature mask he leaves on all his victims.

Mask of the Betrayer is filled with so many twists, turns and surprises, you’ll be hooked from the first chapter.

An amazing cast of characters lend to the tension and suspense, and even if you read with an editorial eye, you probably won’t mind that the POV shifts from one paragraph to another in places.

Supposedly, only NY-rated writers could pull this off, but Ms. Donovan proves that
rumor to be a fallacy.

If forced to nitpick, one might find Michael’s “tapping of his cigarette three times”to become rather redundant along with a few places where you’ll find repeated information, but the pace of the story moves so quickly, you‘ll just absorb it again and keep reading.

Trust that you won’t be disappointed with Ms. Donovan’s captive and descriptive
style.Be warned, this story is not for the squeamish.If you don’t like violence and mayhem, this isn’t for you, but if it fits the bill for you....dig in.

You can find this book for sale at Whimsical Publications

You can find out more about this awesome author on her website

www.sharonadonovan.com


Mask of the Betrayer

Sharon Donovan