We are delighted to welcome author Gippy Adams Henry to Omnimystery News today.
Gippy recently published her novel of suspense Web of Destruction (February 2016 trade paperback and ebook formats) and she offered to tell us more about how the book came to be written.
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Photo provided courtesy of
Gippy Adams Henry
First I would like to talk about my branding, which some do not feel authors should do. Yet it does allow a writer to look at the big picture of what they are presenting to their readers. My branding is Crimes of Power and Victimization. I have always been an advocate for victims and those in life who are vulnerable. My writing involves mystery and suspense, as well as crime and a broken path in life we can fall into where others have the power over us. It's also sometimes from poor choices, not being responsible or aware, secrets and/or lies others in our lives have chosen. It trickles down through families and changes life's path for generations. Yet it is fiction with a lot of foreshadowing and twists and turns. I've been told by readers that my writing is thought-provoking, which is wonderful as it may help readers to not become victims.
My process of writing is a relatively simple one, but time-consuming. Many begin by writing whatever comes to them, but I like to work from visuals. I always seem to have plots in my mind and settle on the most interesting on which I can build. It will be weeks, sometimes months ruminating in my brain until I have all of the major points of the story, including the beginning and end, which can and will change along the way. Then I work on creating characters in my head. One of my daughters gave me a suggestion of taking our family member's handwritten messages and answering them once daily when my head is clear. She was joking, of course, mentioning how my mind is always on my story when I writing a book.
Finally, the time comes to create my "big" canvas board covered in a black paint that allows chalk. After selecting names for each character, I form circles on the board with the protagonist in the middle, then branch all of the other characters off from him or her — kind of like purging my mind. Around each character's circle, I list age, description, careers and their connection to others in the story with lines and arrows. After that I list locations, crimes and where they will happen, some psychological and other details of each character. Last I look for those characters who, at this point, reside in my head, by going through my photos I've taken over the years and magazines, and tack them into each character's spot. Next I study the board for about two weeks off and on before I begin to type. It is always in my view when I am at home. I rarely have writer's block because of the visuals I have created that, when viewed on a daily basis, become very familiar, thereby providing more depth of characters who become like family. I used to just sit and write as soon as I had a plot, but find this method works for me. Although, as a visual artist and fiction writer, I see things others don't see in the world, so my jokester son states.
My plots usually come from either the news as I'm an avid reader of mostly all news available online, or something I've heard through conversations or on social media. It sparks a plot, and I create my own story from that incident or news item. Mostly these are incidences or crimes that are upsetting to me and I feel could have been avoided. Therefore, my work is mostly fiction, except for location descriptions, some shops or stores, and especially crime and/or medical information that must be accurate. Those are edited by professionals in the field. My blogs touch on these issues I turn into fiction — some with excerpts from my book, revealing characters.
For my mystery-suspense-thriller, I chose three locations: Bar Harbor, Maine because I have been there on vacation and what a perfect setting for my main characters; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania because I am quite familiar with all of the areas in which the characters live and work; and Cape May, New Jersey, which is my favorite place to vacation with the beauty of the Victorian era through the homes, shopping areas, entertaining and restaurants. The beach and ocean are always a plus and something I like to include in my stories if it fits.
My book, Web of Destruction, did not have a title until close to the end of the story. I chose this out of a number of titles because I visualized my characters stuck in a web. If you read my book, you will understand that thinking. The cover was created by someone in my family who is a graphic artist, videographer, and a beginning filmmaker. We had a great time filming some studying actor friends of the cover artist and an actress friend of mine to play the parts of the characters just to get a better feel for the story. A bit scary for some scenes, but others were enjoyable. In fact, one of those scenes is in my book trailer, created by Joe Savin on youtube.
Due to the fact that I was back in college for a BS in Criminal Justice when I wrote this book, I had little time to try and figure out the self-publishing process alone, so I worked with a business who guided me along. Of course, there is always a lot of back and forth with a professional editor and looking over changes or corrections made to the book and cover. It was a great process and I would certainly do it again and probably will with the sequel I am presently working on. It will have a different title, but many readers have requested a sequel due to the fact that I left a lot of cliffhangers on purpose. I did have another plot even characters in my head and wanted so badly to proceed with a totally new book based on a news flash that drove me to pursue it, but that book will have to come after this sequel. A trip to North Dakota will be necessary for research on that book, but that won't be until after the sequel.
I thank all of my wonderful readers for their exciting comments and reviews after reading the book and for their time, which I know is valuable. I have begun to get my books into libraries, where I have spent more hours than I can count over the years. I will be meeting with the book club of our local library this month to discuss Web of Destruction and the sequel to come. Speaking face-to-face with one's readers is a special part of being an author.
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Gippy Adams Henry is a poet, professional fine artist, and writer of many short stories. Her hometown is Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, across the bridge from where she has lived in South Jersey for the last twelve years. Most of her fun-loving family and numerous pets live there in a small township where they enjoy all of the younger ones growing and learning, and they are all readers.
For more information about the author, please visit her website at website and her author page on Goodreads, or find her on Facebook and Twitter.
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Web of Destruction by Gippy Adams Henry
A Novel of Suspense
Publisher: Gippy Adams Henry
In a Philadelphia parking garage, thirty-nine-year-old artist Dana Donato is attacked and abducted. Badly beaten by her muscular assailant and locked in a basement prison, Dana escapes and is taken to the hospital. The medical exam reveals surprising news — Dana is three months pregnant. Fearing for the safety of herself and her loved ones, Dana decides not to tell her fiancé, Nick, about the attack or her pregnancy. Because, while the attack seemed random, Dana's assailant has only begun to torment her.
He soon reveals he knows Dana's secrets — secrets she's kept locked away. Somehow, he even knows details about the house she grew up in. When Dana and Nick's townhouse is ransacked, her paintings are stolen, and a friend is murdered, Dana suspects her attacker has become more brazen … and more deadly. As Dana tries to stay one step ahead of the violent psychopath haunting her every move, the secrets she has been keeping soon multiply beneath the lies she tells to protect her friends and family.
When Dana finally realizes the only way to stop her stalker from harming her son is to reveal the shocking truths she's been hiding, the past will collide with the present in ways no one could have foreseen.
— Web of Destruction by Gippy Adams Henry
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