|
Lorena McCourtney interview with Susan Sleeman
|
|
July 21, 2013
A. I guess I’ve “always” been a writer, from when I first started trying to write horse stories back in the sixth grade. I made my first “professional” sale in high school, an article about my Dad’s desire to move to Alaska. (Which they did, as soon as they got me through college and married off!). I worked briefly for a magazine published by a meat-packing company, but quickly discovered I didn’t want to spend a lifetime writing about raising hogs. I wrote a lot of children’s short stories and confessions, and one teenage book before moving on to romance novels Q: Do you write in only one genre and if so which one and why? If not, which ones and why? A: Currently, I write only in the Christian mystery (romantic suspense and cozies). I wrote quite a few mass market romance novels, but I eventually realized (with a strong nudge from the Lord) that I wanted to write stories with a stronger Christian emphasis. I then wrote a number of Christian romances, threw in a mystery one time and realized I really liked writing the twists and turns of mystery. I also like writing a bit of lighthearted humor, which works well in cozies. Q: How does your faith play into your writing? A. I want everything I write to serve the Lord. I don’t think this means writing strictly for the Christian market, but that is what seems to work best for me. Q: How do you choose your settings for your books? A. It’s usually following the old “write what you know” theory, so I’ve done a lot of stories set in Oregon and the Northwest where I’ve lived most of my life. I like to have some personal experience with a setting, so in the past this has meant trips to Arizona, Colorado, and Hawaii. (You know the old story, we have to sacrifice for our writing! Someday I want to make another “sacrifice” and do some more research in Hawaii. Or maybe Costa Rica.) I have done a couple of books strictly from research on the internet and in books, and I’ve been surprised to have some readers tell me they recognize the places I’m talking about. Q: Do you base your characters on people you know or are they totally made up? A: I often give some specific characteristics from someone I know to a fictional character. (Often some little quirk.) But I’ve never tried to make a fictional character exactly match someone in real life. I also, like most writers, I think, throw in bits and pieces of myself. (But not the whole me, who would be much too dull and ordinary for a character in a book!)
A: “Dolled Up to Die” is Book #2 in my Cate Kinkaid Files series. (Book #1 was “Dying to Read,” which hit the New York Times E-Book Bestseller List). After being downsized and dumped from jobs for various reasons, unable to find a steady job in the current economic situation, and feeling rather adrift, Cate rather desperately took a job working as an assistant private investigator in her uncle’s Belmont Investigations. This is not supposed to put her into any area of crime, murder, danger, etc, but her first assignment got her up to her elbows in murder. Now, in “Dolled Up to Die,” she’s still an assistant PI but hopefully working toward a PI license of her own. She receives a frantic call about three murders. Except, when she arrives, gunshot victims Lucinda, Marianne, and Toby are not exactly what she expects. They’re way short of human DNA. But there’s another dead victim who has a full quota of human DNA – and a killer who eventually is eager to make Cate just as dead. Q: Where did you get your inspiration for DOLLED UP TO DIE? A: I was looking for the next mystery in which to involve Cate, and then my stepdaughter introduced me to her life-sized boy doll named Jimmy, and then to the woman who creates these incredibly life-like dolls. (They’re much more life-like looking than the one that made it onto the cover of “Dolled Up To Die”) Of course a mystery-writer’s mind immediately makes devious twists and turns, even with dolls! Q: What is the main thing you hope readers remember from this story? A: I hope it reminds readers God’s plans for their lives may be rather different than what they have planned for themselves. So if you’re disappointed with the way your life is going, God may well have some better plan in mind for you. Q: Tell us what you like about the main characters of this book. A: I like Cate Kinkaid because she has a wry sense of humor. She has a steadfast Christian faith and strong sense of responsibility and wants and tries to do the right thing. Although, in doing so, she may get herself into some complicated messes. Q: Would you share with us what you are working on now? A. I’m working on Book #3 of the Cate Kinkaid Files. It’s titled “Death Takes a Ride.” In this book, Cate has a mundune task to do, picking up a woman to take her to church one evening. But the evening turns out to be anything but mundane. I’ve had so many requests for another book in the Ivy Malone Mysteries series, and I’m planning to do that later. It keeps getting pushed off a little farther into the future by various other commitments and/or problems, but I am going to do it. I really am. Q: If money were no object what vacation would you like to take and why? A. Okay, if I could have any vacation I want, I’d be off for an around-the-world trip, with stops whenever I like and side-excursions in any direction. Beach-lolling on Tahiti and a cruise to the Antarctic. I’d see those strange heads on Easter Island. I’d walk where Jesus walked in the Holy Land. I’d see the Mayan pyramid/temples and climb Ayer’s Rock (now with a different name) in Australia. I’d– oh,oh, you said money was no object, but how about time? Because I think I’m into the rest of my lifetime trying to visit al the places I’d like to see! Q: What is the silliest thing you have ever done? A. As if I’d tell you! Q: What is the hardest thing you have ever done? A. I don’t think I can name just one “hardest thing.” Like most people my age, I’ve faced various problems and challenges over the years. Q: Where can readers find you on the internet? A. Website at http://www.lorenamccourtney.com Send a friend invitation to Lorena McCourtney on Facebook Visit and “like” my Lorena McCourtney Author page. Look under any cyberspace rocks and who knows where I might show up! Q: Anything else you’d like to tell or share with us? A. One of the very best parts of being an author is hearing from readers. So come find me on Facebook, or e-mail me at lorena2@earthlink.net I try to answer everything I receive.
|
Warning: getimagesize(https://www.thesuspensezone.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/susanamazon-200×300.png): failed to open stream: HTTP request failed! HTTP/1.1 406 Not Acceptable
in /home/susans16/thesuspensezone.com/xxss_class/Utils.class.php on line 849
Warning: Division by zero in /home/susans16/thesuspensezone.com/xxss_class/Utils.class.php on line 856
My early interest was in riding and raising horses, not writing. Somewhere in the back of my mind was the idea that if those goals didn’t work out, I could always be a writer. A later thought was, perhaps I’d be a writer and make a bundle of money so I could reach those horse goals.
Wrong on all counts! By the time I figured out that what I really wanted to be was a writer, I found it was considerably more difficult than I realized. And making a “bundle of money”? Forget it!
I wrote several hundred short stories for children and then adults before I ever got into writing book-length novels. I then wrote quite a few romance novels before finding my way into what I’m most happy doing now: writing mystery novels with a foundation of faith and a lighthearted dash of fun.
I live in Southern Oregon with husband Jim. I have a son, a granddaughter, and the latest addition is great-grandson Aiden. (Does anyone ever expect to get to great-grandma age? I didn’t!) My next goal is to get to actually meet Aiden, because they live far away from us.
We love your Ivy Malone Series. I buy the books and share them with ladies in my church. The problem is…. I can’t find the book, Run Ivy Run only as an e book , you know for Kindle or Nook. I have tried EBay even. Please, do you have any copies that can be purchased? I want to be able to keep sharing Ivy’s story.