411 on Books, Authors & Publishing

They think she’s a monster, but she’s their only hope…

GUEST POST

What is it that draws you to mystery, horror and paranormal thrillers?

I love the supernatural and you can feel it even in my mysteries and thrillers. I like the creepy and my books are often gritty and scary. That’s why they named me the Queen of Scream I guess.

How difficult is it to maintain the suspense and intrigue in your books while still building up to a satisfying ending?

That’s actually my favorite part. The plot. In my books you’ll meet several people whose stories don’t seem to have anything to do with each other, but at the end you’ll realize it is all connected somehow and I make sure you’ll be surprised when you realize how. That is a lot of fun.

You have a knack for creating characters who readers care about. What is your secret for creating compelling characters?

Oh wow. Thank you. I am happy to hear that. I think that I care a lot about them myself. And I try to make them have more than one side to them. Especially the bad guys. There is always a very good reason for them to be the way they are and I take my time to explain what happened to them. Their motives are important. And even my heroes mess up now and then. Just like the rest of us. I am also not afraid to make them be emotional. I spend more time writing about their emotions than describing what they look like or what the place they’re at looks like.

Tell us a bit about your writing habits. Do you plan out the plots of your books before you start writing?

It is very different, actually. Sometimes I dream something, other times it’s just something that comes to me and I think, Hmm that’s interesting or scary, maybe my readers will find it interesting or scary too. I always try to go places where I frighten myself, where there is pain or fear. Like recently I read a post on Facebook about a woman warning other mothers that she and her daughter were being approached by this man in Target and then afterwards in the parking lot outside and she had heard about this trafficking ring that targeted mothers and their children. Reading that post scared me like crazy so I knew I had to write about it. It turned out it was a hoax, but the idea was planted and soon it became a book.

What do you do when you are busy writing a book and the next idea is nagging at the back of your mind? Are you one of those authors who writes multiple books at a time?

I don’t write multiple books at a time, but I do get ideas all the time even while writing. I have a document, actually several where I write these things down, so when I get to the time when I need to write it, all the ideas are there. Right now I have the next four books planned out. I used to worry that the ideas would stop coming, but I don’t anymore. It’s like the more I write, the more ideas I get.

Besides being a best-selling author, what other secret skills do you have?

I surf. That’s my biggest passion besides writing and reading. I get the best ideas while being in the ocean.