Friday, August 28, 2015

Friday - Alice Orr is Talking About Heroes, Heroines and Villains #MFRWauthor #romanticsuspense

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.

Alice Orr – www.aliceorrbooks.com.

    


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