Murder At The Lake (An Amanda Christie Mystery) by Bren Gaudet -- A Book Review

The back cover of the book reads:
When seventeen-year-old Amanda Christie is invited to a cousins-only weekend retreat at her aunt's estate in Austin, Texas, she doesn't know what to expect. But she soon finds that the weekend will be anything but boring. One of the guests is responsible for the death of Amanda's uncle, and when a dangerous storm traps the teens inside the secluded mansion, Amanda becomes determined to uncover the killer. But when their cell phones go missing and guests begin to disappear, Amanda realizes that the killer isn't finished. With time running out and no way of knowing who to trust, she must either uncover the murderer... or risk being the next victim.

This book is scheduled to be published August 1, 2009 and is intended for Young Adults. As I read the first chapter, written by Bren Gaudet I felt like this book was going to be another predictable teen crime story. As the story unfolded, there were enough doubts thrown into the plot by the author to keep me guessing. This is an enjoyable read with one slight flaw. The main character is not fully developed. At one point I felt like the author made an assumption about the audience knowing the career aspirations of Amanda. By the time Gaudet mentioned Amanda wanted to be a crime scene photographer; it felt too late. This should not detract most of the intended audience.

This book is the first in a series for the character of Amanda Christie. According to the author's website (www.bengaudet.com) future stories will include Amanda's best friend and boyfriend as she travels to exotic locations to solve mysteries.

This promotional copy was received during BookExpo America 2009 as a free marketing tool by either the publisher or author and was given to many attendees. It was not given to me to review. I did not receive any compensation from the publisher or author for this review.

BEA 2009 - Feedback on Writer's Conference

BEA was great for me this year.

I was able to attend the Writer's Conference for the first time.

Karin Slaughter was very funny. The talk she gave was informative and inspirational. It was exciting to listen to someone who has experienced the success she has. Receiving an autographed copy of her book was a special moment for me. I thought I was past the crazy fan stage but was proved wrong.

As I went into other workshops, my level of enthusiasm was high. The character workshop really helped me. My husband felt it was important for me to learn about writing great characters. In his mind this is what makes books memorable. This workshop taught me a lot and reinforced my husband's thoughts.

The next workshop I attended was bad. For the sake of the speaker I will not mention it. It felt more like a constant push of the book and not a teaching seminar for the writers in attendance.
As other people decided to leave, my manners were pushed to the limit as I stayed instead of leaving.

The lunch was okay. I was able to sit next to one of the few people that I made a real connection with. We had fun reviewing the various workshops we attended. The speech was funny. Again, this was unexpected. I began to worry that in order to be successful in this world, I would have to be funny. No one that has ever met me has accused me of having this trait.

The final workshop was good. I learned a lot about pitching to the agents. Hopefully I would get at least one card. One person interested in my work. After listening to the other people going over their pitches, I realized how unprepared I was.

Time for the pitch slam. This was extremely hard. The agents were honest and nice. They gave me wonderful constructive feedback. As I adapted my pitch over the course of the afternoon, an agent finally showed interest. Success!

I learned a lot there. I realized that there are many others out there further along in their journey. This makes me nervous. What if the timing is not right? What if my pitches were premature? How to get past the anxiety and insecurity to the next step?

If you have feedback, input, insight, or comments on this, please attach to this post.