Alice Orr
Has a Two-Day Affair on Janet Lane Walters’ Blog
Day One
Question. Do
you write a single genre or do your fingers flow over the keys creating tales
in many forms?
Answer. I write in a
single genre now. That genre is Romantic Suspense. I’ve tried other kinds of
stories in the past and some nonfiction too, but I always return to Romantic
Suspense. So I’ve decided to give in to what I obviously love and hang out
there. I can’t say that I’ll never try anything else because I know better than
ever to say never. But for now, and the foreseeable future, romantic suspense
is where the writer in me wants to live. After all, sex and death have always
been my two favorite story elements.
Question.
Heroes, heroines, villains. Which are your favorite to write?
Answer. This is a
tough question for me. I change point of view between the hero and heroine in
alternating chapters. First a chapter is in the heroine’s consciousness. Then
the next is in the hero’s. That means I’m intimately involved with both of
them. I’m speaking through each in turn, and they are speaking through me. If I
had a favorite between them I couldn’t really write a balanced story or an
authentic one either. So I guess I have to say that both my heroes and heroines
are my favorite characters to write. I’m currently writing A Villain for Vanessa – Riverton
Road Romantic Suspense Series Book 3. The chapter I’m writing right now
is in Bobby’s point of view so at the moment he’s my favorite. But don’t worry,
Vanessa, your turn to be my favorite comes up next.
Question. Heroes.
How do you find them?
Answer. My Riverton
Road Romantic Suspense Series has a family at its center, the Kalli family, and
they have four sons. So, when I decided to write this series, the heroes came
with the territory. A Wrong Way Home – Book 1 is about Matt who’s the oldest son. A
Year of Summer Shadows – Book 2 is about Mark, the second son. A
Villain for Vanessa – Book 3 breaks that pattern a little by featuring
Bobby who was pretty much taken in by the Kalli’s when he was in middle school.
I’m thinking about having the next book be the story of a female relative of
the Kalli clan so the hero won’t be a Kalli at all. This is what I love about
writing series. The scope of writing many books instead of just one adds to the
possibilities. That’s why this series could go on for a very long time. I’m
happy about that because I’ve fallen in love with the Kalli’s myself. I can’t
wait to see where the series leads me, in terms of heroes and everything else.
Question. Heroines. How do you find them?
Answer. Hailey
Lambert, the heroine of my most recently published book A Year of Summer Shadows,
was inspired by Sandra Bullock. I simply love Sandra Bullock, the way she looks
and talks and presents herself, and especially the characters she plays in her
movies. She even made a wrong-man choice in her personal life then picked
herself up, dusted herself off and started all over again. I admire the spirit
it took to do that. Hailey is like Sandra in many ways, so naturally I can’t
help but love Hailey too
Question. Villains
or villainesses. How do you make them human?
Answer. I write
Romantic Suspense so the villain or villainess is always the murderer. I start
the story knowing who that person is but I have to fess up to something. In
each of the first two books of the Riverton Road Series, when I got to the end,
the murderer turned out to be someone else entirely. In both stories, that
person was a better choice because he or she made it a better story. I think I
know the identity of the murderer in Book 3 but I fully expect I’ll turn out to
be wrong. As for making my villains human, I follow the principle that every
villain thinks of himself as the hero of his own story. In other words, he
feels totally justified in what he’s done. His motives are twisted, but he
doesn’t see it that way. He believes he’s doing what he has to do, and that
humanizes him.
Question. What
is your latest release? Who is the hero, heroine and villain?
Answer. My latest
release is A Year of Summer Shadows – Riverton Road Romantic Suspense Series Book
2. My hero is Mark Kalli. My heroine is Hailey Lambert. But it’s a
murder mystery so I of course can’t reveal the name of the villain. You’ll have
to read the story to discover that. You can buy the book at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ZBOTH5O.
Question. What
are you working on now?
Answer. I’m
currently working on A Villain for Vanessa – Riverton Road
Romantic Suspense Series Book 3. It’s a story that’s all about tangled
roots, as the cover art illustrates. Especially tangled family roots. And, as
always, it begins with a murder. A Villain for Vanessa will be
published this fall.
Question. How
can people find you?
Answer. People can
find me at my website www.aliceorrbooks.com. That is the gateway to
everything about me as writer, and a lot about me as a person as well. I blog
there too at www.aliceorrbooks.com/blog. I hope
everybody will stop by, check out my books and leave a comment on my blog.
Hearing from readers is my very favorite thing.
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