The Romantic Side of Suspense

On this episode of “The Romantic Side of Suspense,” I’m talking with James R. Hannibal, who is no stranger to secrets and adventure. This former stealth pilot from Houston, Texas, has been locked up with surface-to-air missiles and chased down a winding German road by an armed terrorist. He is a three-time Silver Falchion Award winner for his children’s mysteries, a Thriller Award finalist for his Nick Baron covert ops series, and a Carol Award winner and Selah, Angel, and Silver-Falchion award finalist for The Gryphon Heist—the opener for the CIA series that now includes Chasing the White Lion. James is a rare multisense synesthete, meaning all his senses intersect. He sees and feels sounds and smells, and hears flashes of light. If he tells you the chocolate cake you offered smells blue and sticky, take it as a compliment.

“I’ve got so many demands currently that’s it’s hard to find time to write,” James says. “What I finally realized was that my wife is so much better at organization and schedules than I am that I needed to give her control over my schedule. Before I was trying to be the soldier and the general at the same time. I’ve had the most productive last couple of months in my entire writing career by just letting go of control and letting her take over.”

Listen to the podcast for more from our interview, plus an excerpt from James’s The Paris Betrayal.

Connect w/James
Website: https://jamesrhannibal.com/

On this episode of “The Romantic Side of Suspense,” my guest is Terri Reed, whose romance and romantic suspense novels have appeared on Publisher’s Weekly top 12, Nielsen’s Bookscan top 50, Amazon Bestseller and featured in USA Today. Her books have been finalists in Romance Writers of America RITA contest, National Readers’ Choice Award, Inspirational Reader’s Choice Award and finalists three times in American Christian Fiction Writers The Carol Award contest. Her novel A Family Under the Christmas Tree was adapted into a Hallmark movie retitled Picture a Perfect Christmas.

“I find inspiration everywhere I can,” Terri says. “When I’m watching TV, I think, ‘Oh, that’s kind of an interesting thing that they did, but what if I did this instead?’ I’m always looking at newsfeeds and headlines, then taking the idea of whatever that headline is and flipping it around into something feasible, that could happen in real life. But it is fiction and we get to have some license.”

Listen to the podcast for more from our interview, plus an excerpt from Terri’s Alaskan Rescue.

Connect w/Terri
Website: http://www.terrireed.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/terrireedauthorpage/
Goodreads: https://wwwgoodreads.com/author/show/178940.Terri_Reed
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/terri-reed
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/terrireedauthor/
Newsletter: https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/o4x4h1
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Terri-Reed/e/B001H9VYCQ%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share

On this episode of “The Romantic Side of Suspense,” my guest is multi-published author Lisa Carter, who likes to describe her romantic suspense novels as “Sweet Tea with a Slice of Murder.” The Stronghold won a 2017 Daphne du Maurier. Under a Turquoise Sky won the 2015 Carol Award. Beyond the Cherokee Trail was a Romantic Times Top Pick. She also writes contemporary romance with Love Inspired, the popular Matchmaker series, set in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains. Lisa enjoys traveling and researching her next fictional adventure. A native North Carolinian, she has strong opinions on barbecue and ACC basketball.

“When you write romantic suspense, there are three story threads that you’ve got to weave together,” Lisa says. “There’s the romantic tension between your characters in which they’ve got to overcome certain obstacles that threaten their relationship. Then you’ve also got the thread of suspense where the characters are trying to either find a killer or escape, a killer or someone will die. And because I write from a Christian worldview, there’s also the spiritual thread that is running through my novels, where the characters are coming to grips with God’s invitation for a relationship. I’m weaving together these three story tension threads between the spiritual and the romantic and the suspense and it’s kind of a little dance to get them all, to come out together in the end.”

Listen to the podcast for more from our interview, plus an excerpt from Lisa’s The Sound of Falling Leaves.

Connect w/Lisa
Website: http://www.lisacarterauthor.com/
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/lisa-carter
Newsletter: https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/g0y9n5
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Lisa-Carter/e/B00BF1FGPC?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_4&qid=1617370912&sr=8-4