Nike Chillemi Interview

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

A: It seems I’ve been writing all my life. As I teen my poor parents and brother had to endure listening to my poetry with angst. I’ve been writing Christian Fiction, seriously and for publication, for more than five years. My first series (WWII historical murder mysteries, now out of print) debuted in 2013. I say five years because it took me two years to get a first book written. As far as a ‘regular job’, I worked in the bridal industry for a gown manufacturer and had the opportunity to travel to bridal shows in Dallas, Atlanta, Chicago, Las Vegas, and also NYC. Several of my mysteries have had a bridal twist to them. My new release BLOOD SPEAKS, certainly does.

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

 A: So far, I’ve written mysteries, mainly detective stories. This has been my favorite genre to read as well. I love the idea of an individual (in my stories a detective) striving to do the right thing in a bad situation.

Q: How does your faith play into your writing?

 A: I did not grow up in a Christian home, so many of the characters in my detective stories are not Christians, although some of them are on the road to becoming Christian. I hope to portray that amazing journey authentically.

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

A: The entire series started out as a short story writing prompt/challenge. The instructions were to put the main character in a tense situation and also in an uncomfortable and/or challenging environment. So, I placed Brooklyn (NYC) female PI Veronica “Ronnie” Ingels in west Texas where she finds out her husband of one year has been cheating on her. Of course he’s murdered and she’s the prime suspect. The story kept growing past novella and into full novel word count and HARMFUL INTENT (book one) was born.

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

A: My characters are totally made up. Though I might give one of them a characteristic of somebody I know.

Q: Would you tell us about your current book release BLOOD SPEAKS?

A: BLOOD SPEAKS is the final novel in the Veronica “Ronnie” Ingels/Dawson Hughes trilogy. Although the novel does stand alone, for those who have read the first two it brings well-loved characters from the first two novels back. The best way to tell about this story is to simply give the blurb.

Veronica “Ronnie” Ingels, Brooklyn gal PI, waited a long time for the solitaire on her finger. When her sometimes boss, a shadowy figure and director of a secret government organization, offers a one-week bridal shopping vacay in Maryland she jumps at it.

Joined by bridesmaids, Sandra Daube and Bertha Dagney, Ronnie sets off for the village of Heritage Cove on Arrowhead Lake, Maryland. Their joyous stay at the rustic yet luxury Heritage Cove Inn is shattered by a murder with tendrils and a clandestine motive stretching back to the assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy.

It doesn’t take long for Ronnie and her gal-pals to become targets of the killer. It goes without saying, Taylor County Deputy Sheriff, Lieutenant Dawson Hughes leaves Texas to protect his bride-to-be. He’s joined by Sandra’s employer, conservative political activist Ben Cohen. Neither hell-nor-high-water can keep Gabby Hayes look-alike Hoot Dagney from the side of Bertha, his new bride.

Q: Where did you get your inspiration for this story?

 A: I had to get Ronnie and Dawson married. They’d been on a long romantic journey in the first two books and I would’ve been disappointed if they didn’t find their way to the altar. So, in this one I had to mix wedding preparations and murder.

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

 A: Ronnie’s growth as a Christian would be a very important take away. All my detective stories have a “justice” take away. Most of my detectives have a strong need to have justice done and that’s very true of Ronnie.

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

 A: Ronnie is feisty and I like that. She’s also got a lot of rough edges that begin to get smoothed out as she grows in the Lord.

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

 A: My next project will be a New Adult story. It will reprise some adult characters from my contemporary detective series who will be secondary characters in this NA novel. The title of this novel will be THAT SPECIAL ONE.

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

 A: One of the silliest things I ever did is a Christmas funny story. My aunt and I were making pierogi for Christmas Eve dinner. They are Ukrainian stuffed pasta which is smothered in butter sauce. We wanted to avoid making the dough, so we brought frozen pizza dough. Well we rolled it out and the pizza dough shrank back. We rolled it out several more times and it kept shrinking back again. We wound up laughing hysterically.

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

 A: Get though my parents funerals.

Q: Where can readers find you on the internet?

 A: My blog is my launching pad for my novels and also for any blog article that bubbles up inside of me and must see the light.

Nike N. Chillemi ~ Crime Fictionista  https://nikechillemi.wordpress.com/

Nike N. Chillemi Amazon Author Page  https://www.amazon.com/Nike-N.-Chillemi/e/B0050ZD44O/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1