Cynthia Hickey Interview

Q: How long have you been writing and what other careers or jobs have you had?  

A. I’ve been seriously writing for about ten years now. I also work as a Detention Monitor at the local elementary school which thankfully allows me writing time while at work.

Q: Do you write in only one genre and if so which one and why? If not, which ones and why?

A: No, I write in mystery, romantic suspense, and historical romance. Whatever story and genre is tugging at my heart.

Q: How does your faith play into your writing? 

A. God has given me a talent. A gift. Not to use this gift would be the same as giving it back. All my characters struggle with real human issues and I strive to show how they overcome these with God’s help.

Q: How do you choose your settings for your books?

A. Most of them take place in the Ozarks. I grew up in the foothills of those glorious mountains and love staging my stories there.

Q: Do you base your characters on people you know or are they totally made up?

A: A combination of both. All my main characters have a bit of me in them, and the secondary are a conglomeration of friends and relatives. My heroes are what I perceive to be the “perfect” man.

Q: Would you tell us about your current book release DEADLY NEIGHBORS? 

A: When Marsha Calloway’s daughter is accused of a crime she didn’t commit, Marsha is determined to find the real culprit. She enlists the help of her Cadillac driving mama, the man who ditched Marsha at her high-school graduation but kept her heart, and a bumbling police officer. Folks around River Valley are having things disappear while they are sleeping with their eyes open. Seems everyone has a dream and not enough funds. Someone is determined to kill for that dream. Will River Valley’s cast of colorful characters live to see another day? Can Marsha find out who the thief is before she becomes one of the sleep walkers?

Q: Where did you get your inspiration for DEADLY NEIGHBORS?

A: I had originally wrote this story for Barbour publishing cozy mystery line. Then the line closed and I held on to it until my agent started up a cozy mystery ebook line. The story is a perfect fit. I actually got the idea one day while eating a donut. You’ll see why when you read the first page of the book.

Q: What is the main thing you hope readers remember from this story?

A: To step back and rely on God. The main character is impulsive and this often gets her into trouble.

Q: Tell us what you like about the main characters of this book.

A: She has a heart as big as the Ozark mountains and her family is her world.

Q: Would you share with us what you are working on now?  

A. I am writing the 4^th and final cozy in my Summer Meadows series. Titled Maui Macadamia Madness it should be released by summer’s end.

Q: If money were no object what vacation would you like to take and why?  

A. I would love to go to Ireland and Scotland to visit where my ancestors originated from.

Q: What is the silliest thing you have ever done?  

A. Toilet papered my boss’s office.

Q: What is the hardest thing you have ever done? 

A. Telling one of my children that as an adult it was time for them to get themselves out of the mess they got into instead of having Mom and Dad do it.

Q: Where can readers find you on the internet? 

A. I’m everywhere! @cynthiahickey on twitter, on Facebook, and www.cynthiahickey.com

Q: Anything else you’d like to tell or share with us?  

A.  Keep writing and don’t allow yourself to be boxed into “traditional” outlets for your craft. There are many ways to get your story out there.