Fooling Readers Gives Terri Reed a Boost

Award-winning and bestselling author Terri Reed recently stopped by my newsletter to share some about her writing life. Plus, she’s giving away one print copy of her most recent romantic suspense, Montana Christmas Target. See below for details.

Why did you start writing romantic suspense novels?
I enjoy the pace of a suspense novel and the challenge of building a mystery or solving a crime while also developing a romance.

How do you connect with your characters?
I love the process of building my characters. I use a variety of psychology methods, including the Enneagram, StrengthsFinder, and Myers-Briggs. I have character sheets that I’ve developed from various sources that help me keep track of all the information about each character. I love digging into the characters’ background and childhood to figure out how they were formed into the person they are at the opening of the story, as well as to figure out what they need to learn and grow toward so that by the end of the story, they are a better version of themselves.

What’s the weirdest way someone has died or been killed in your novels?
In one of my books, I had the villain put arsenic into cupcakes and deliver them to the heroine, but a secondary character ate the cupcakes and died. I’ve also had a villain put foxglove into salad dressing for the heroine to ingest, but a loyal K9 prevented the heroine from eating too much of it, and she lived.

How do you research ways to kill someone for your books?
I have done a lot of reading on the Internet and on various law-enforcement websites as well as news articles and attended multiple law-enforcement workshops geared towards writers where we were allowed to ask bizarre questions.

Where do you get the inspiration for your plots?
I watch a lot of police procedurals and will take snippets of different ideas that I glean from those shows. I also read lots of news articles depicting real-life crimes, and I take snippets of those to build my plots, and I play the “what-if” game.

What has been most rewarding about writing romantic suspense?
One of the pleasures of writing romantic suspense is when a reader lets me know that they had no idea who the villain was until the very end. It’s always fun to know I’ve surprised the reader. But it’s also rewarding to know that the reader has been paying attention and has figured out who the villain is before the big reveal because I do try to drop in clues and hints. It’s aggravating to me as a reader if the villain comes out of the blue.

What is one of your favorite ways to connect with readers?
I have a newsletter that I send out once, possibly twice, a month depending on what I have going on in my writing.  My newsletter is the best avenue for me to connect with my readers who really want to know about my writing and me. I love when my newsletter subscribers email me with their thoughts, encouragement, and questions.

About Terri
Terri Reed’s romance and romantic suspense novels have appeared on the New York Times Bestseller list, Publishers Weekly #1 Bestseller, Nielsen’s Bookscan’s top fifty, Amazon #1 Bestsellers, and featured in USA Today. Her books have been finalists in the Romance Writers of America RITA contest, the National Readers’ Choice Award, and the Inspirational Reader’s Choice Award, as well as a three-time finalist in the American Christian Fiction Writers Carol Awards. Her book A Family Under the Christmas Tree was turned into a Hallmark movie as Picture a Perfect Christmas.

Connect w/Terri
Website: www.terrireed.com
Newsletter: https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/o4x4h1

Sculptor Fiona Halverson is shocked to stumble upon her ex-fiancé’s murder—just before a masked attacker attempts to abduct her. She’s rescued by FBI Special Agent Bryce Springs, who is investigating a counterfeit ring that points directly to Fiona’s art gallery. Forced to flee from a dangerous crime boss during a brutal blizzard, Fiona and Bryce must uncover how her gallery became part of a criminal operation—and prove her innocence. Facing armed adversaries and the treacherous storm, they’ll risk everything to expose the truth. But with every step, the fight for justice becomes a battle for their very survival.