1. What inspired you to select the genre, Mystery/Suspense/Romance?

I’ve always loved to read a good mystery or love story. As a reader, I would try to figure out the ending of the stories. As a writer, it becomes a whole different ball game. The focus changes and becomes, “What key points will grab and hold my reader’s interest?” The story develops and builds into a major plot with many sub-plots once an idea for a book takes hold. Then I find myself in true writer mode and put my family on hold for a little bit until I write things down. The characters weave in and out of the drama. Then there is evil which enters the game. The humor is a sidestep to bring the reader back to normalcy.

 

  1. Where do you find your ideas?

That is a hard thing to answer for each book is very different. There is a definite something called, Imagination Overload happening on the idea route. It could be a song, a memory, or a picture that triggers the book concept.

 

  1. How do you work the plot?

Most of the time, I wake up in the morning, grab my Gatorade and coffee, and roll with whatever chapters popped into my brain at four o’clock in the morning. I sometimes create a flowchart to keep track of the characters and the plot. When I’m writing, I don’t worry about the English language too much until later. I do rewrite when the flow doesn’t work, or I’ve hit a hard stop with a scene.

 

  1. Describe your best main character’s personalities.

Intelligence has always been a turn on for me. I really like strong people who are devoted to things important. The characters have imperfect personality traits. They work hard and are not afraid but do take steps to protect themselves. Fun is always on the horizon. Spectacular events happen in my books and the characters are more.  They add elements of surprise, excitement, and passion to my stories. My characters do live.

 

  1. How difficult is it to write a series compared to a standalone book?

If someone told me that writing a series was hard, I wouldn’t have been so brave. However, as a newbie author, I was filled with confidence. The Wright Series contains six books. Each book is separate, but still very joined by the main characters, Jess and Derek. New characters appear and a new story begins in each successive book. The hard part was weaving some of the older characters back into the books and remembering everyone’s quirks in personality. By the time you are done, the cast of names is very long. The last book in the series becomes even more difficult because the writer must choose the final story and which of the older characters will rejoin the group. In other words, the writer tries to come back full circle to make the series more interesting. Readers like the familiar characters reappearing who help try and win the day. The interplay of characters intensifies in the final scenes.

 

Writing a standalone book is much easier. This book requires less work, fewer characters, and only one major plot or focus. Even the subplots take less time to develop. In other words, my writing speed is faster. Hence, the craft of publishing my books becomes easier.