The Romantic Side of Suspense

On this episode of “The Romantic Side of Suspense,” I’m talking with Jodie Bailey and Laurie Wood. Among other things, we discussed how each develops their characters.

“You want the name to match the personality a little bit,” Laurie said. The first name she selected for a character was “too soft. I wanted it to be a little bit more … punchy than that. So I renamed her with a stronger name.”

“I’m a character first writer,” Jodie said. “Sometimes, the characters will start talking before I know what the story’s going to be, so I have to figure out where to put them in the story.”

Jodie writes stories about freedom and the heroes who fight for it. Her novels have won the RT Reviewers Choice Award and the Selah award. She’s convinced the beach, good coffee, and great books can cure all ills. Jodie lives in North Carolina with her husband, daughter, and two dogs.

Connect w/Jodie
Website: www.jodiebailey.com.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/writerjodiebailey
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authorjodiebailey/

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/jodie-bailey

Laurie is a military wife who’s lived across Canada and visited six of its 10 provinces. She and her husband have raised two wonderful children with Down Syndrome to adulthood, and their son and daughter are a wonderful blessing to their lives. Over the years, Laurie’s books have finaled in prestigious contests such as the Daphne du Maurier (twice), the TARA, the Jasmine and the Genesis. Her family lives in central Canada with a menagerie of rescue dogs and cats. If the house were bigger, no doubt they’d have more.

Connect w/Laurie
Website: https://www.lauriewoodauthor.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lauriewoodreadersgroup
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/LaurieJeanWood

Listen to the podcast for more from our interview, plus teasers for Witness in Peril and Northern Deception.

On this episode of “The Romantic Side of Suspense,” I’m talking with Lisa Harris and Jessica R Patch. Among other things, we discussed how they each pick the story’s setting.

“I see the setting almost like another character,” Lisa said. “The setting depends on what your book is about. I know a lot of readers love small towns. In a big city, it’s harder to write suspense because [the character can just] go to the police station. So to make it more remote, it’s almost a given for romantic suspense.”

“I did a lot of research of Texas and the setting and sometimes, that helps me decide what could happen in this part of Texas,” Jessica said. “And it kind of snowballs from there.”

Lisa is a USA Today bestselling author, a Christy Award finalist for Blood Ransom, Vendetta and Port of Origin, Christy Award winner for Dangerous Passage, and the winner of the Best Inspirational Suspense Novel for 2011 (Blood Covenant) and 2015 (Vendetta) from Romantic Times. She has forty plus novels and novellas in print. She and her husband work as missionaries in southern Africa. Lisa loves hanging out with her family, cooking different ethnic dishes, photography, and heading into the African bush on safari.

Connect w/Lisa
Website: www.lisaharriswrites.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/AuthorLisaHarris
Twitter: twitter.com/heartofafrica
Instagram: heart_of_africa_photography
BookBub: www.bookbub.com/authors/lisa-harris
Amazon: www.amazon.com/author/lisaharris

Publishers Weekly bestselling author Jessica is known for her dry wit and signature twists whether she’s penned a romantic suspense, a cold case thriller, or a small-town romance. When she’s not getting into fictional mischief with her characters, you can find her cozy on the couch in her mid-south home reading books by some of her favorite authors, watching movies with her family, and collecting recipes to amazing dishes she’ll probably never cook.

Connect w/Jessica
Website: www.jessicarpatch.com.

Listen to the podcast for more from our interview, plus teasers for The Catch and Texas Cold Case Threat.

On this episode of “The Romantic Side of Suspense,” I’m talking with Danielle Grandinetti, a book blogger at DaniellesWritingSpot.com. Her short stories have appeared in several publications and her writing has won the University of Northwestern Distinguished Faith in Writing Award. Originally from the Chicagoland area, she now lives along Lake Michigan’s Wisconsin shoreline with her husband and their two young sons. Danielle especially loves quiet mornings served with the perfect cup of tea.

“The story was originally contemporary romantic suspense but it was missing something,” Danielle says. A few years ago, “Wisconsin started having a milk shortage with farmers having to dump their milk [because there wasn’t a market for it]. … I learned that’s not the first time that’s happened. There was actually a huge milk strike in 1933. … So I took my contemporary romantic suspense and set it [back then] and it just brought it to life.”

Listen to the podcast for more from our interview, plus an excerpt from A Strike to the Heart.

Connect w/ Danielle
Website/Blog: daniellegrandinetti.com
Newsletter: bit.ly/FiresideNews
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Danielle-Grandinetti/e/B01BEU1602/
BookBub: bookbub.com/authors/danielle-grandinetti
Goodreads: goodreads.com/danielleswritingspot
Instagram: instagram.com/danielleswritingspot
Facebook: facebook.com/danielleswritingspot
Twitter: twitter.com/dgrandinetti
Pinterest: pinterest.com/danielleswritingspot

On this episode of “The Romantic Side of Suspense,” my guests are Sharon K. Connell and Tanya Stowe. Among other topics, we discussed how these two romantic suspense authors come up with their storylines.

“Most of my plots come to me, but I’m sure it’s based on the news and life experience,” Sharon said. “Also from things I hear from other people, reading other books, and it comes of just evolves.”

“I’m a full-time RVer,” Tanya said. “We travel the country and see a lot of places. … I get to park in the place, and get to know it, and get to feel things. … There will be something unique about the area that will trigger an idea.”

Sharon has lived in many places across the United States. She retired from the clerical/medical field in 2012, and now writes full time. Sharon lives with her husband in Houston, Texas, from where she writes Christian romance suspense, containing a bit of mystery and as much humor as she can get into a story. She has three grown children, and eight grandchildren, all living elsewhere in the country. Sharon attended college in Illinois, graduated from the Pensacola Bible Institute in Florida, and holds a certificate in fiction writing from the International Writing Program through the University of Iowa. Besides visiting all but six states in the United States, her travels have taken her to Canada and Mexico. The experiences she’s had while visiting and living in these areas has been invaluable in her writing.

Sharon is a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers, Scribes Critique Group, Houston Writers Guild, and CyFair Writers. She is the founder of the global Facebook Christian Writers & Readers group forum. Her monthly newsletter, Novel Thoughts, goes out every month to its subscribers in all parts of the world, featuring helpful information for writers and readers.

Connect w/Sharon
Website: www.authorsharonkconnell.com
Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/author/sharonkconnell

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChristianRomanceSuspense/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SharonKConnell

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/SharonKConnell

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharonkconnell

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/rosecastle1/

AllAuthor: https://allauthor.com/author/sharonkconnell/

Tanya is a Christian fiction author with an unexpected edge. She is a Publisher’s Weekly bestselling author who fills her books with the unusual…mysteries and exotic travel, even a murder or two. No matter where Tanya takes you…on a train down a mountain or a suspenseful journey packed with danger…be prepared for the extraordinary.

Connect w/Tanya
Website: https://www.tanyastowe.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TanyaStoweReadersPage
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TanyaStowe1
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tanya.stowe/
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Tanya-Stowe/e/B003UDYONS
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/tanya-stowe
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4595413.Tanya_Stowe

Listen to the podcast for more from our interview, plus teasers for Ko’olau’s Secret and Vanished in the Mountains.