Sandra Orchard Interview

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

A. I’ve been writing fiction since the fall of 2004. I had a variety of jobs as a kid, everything from tying grapes to bagging shavings and bird seed for a pet supply store. In my teens, I worked in the kitchen at a nursing home, and graduated to weekend baker. Through university, I marked papers, supply taught at a Montessori School, and taught high school math at summer school. I then devoted myself to raising and home educating our children, and do bookkeeping on the side.

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

A: I write inspirational romantic suspense/mysteries. I love the extra challenge of crafting a good mystery that keeps readers guessing who the villain really is. But having a satisfying romance is equally important to me.

Q: How does your faith play into your writing? 

A. My main characters are typically believers who at some point in the story find an aspect of their faith challenged. These challenges are often ones I’ve faced myself or walked loved ones through.

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

A. For the most part, I fictionalize settings that are familiar to me. For any given scene, I consider which setting would best maximize the suspense, the sense of danger when applicable, and which setting would best enhance the emotion of the point-of-view character in the scene.

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

A: My characters are an amalgamation of mannerisms and personalities I observe in others combined with many traits that are totally made up.

Q: Would you tell us about your current book release Deadly Devotion? 

A:  Deadly Devotion is the first book in my Port Aster Secrets series with Revell Publishing. It is a standalone mystery, however, the budding romance between the hero and heroine, and an underlying suspense will arc the three-book series.

Here’s the back cover blurb:

Kate knows the truth is out there—but if she’s right, that means a killer is out there too.

Research scientists Kate Adams and Daisy Leacock were on the brink of a breakthrough for treating depression with herbal medicine when Daisy was suddenly found dead. Kate knows that her mentor’s death wasn’t suicide or a careless accident—and she’s determined to do whatever it takes to unearth the truth about what happened to the woman who changed her life.

Former FBI agent Tom Parker is finding it hard to adjust to life back in his hometown of Port Aster. Though an old buddy gave him a job as a detective on the local police force, not everyone approves. Tom’s just trying to keep a low profile, so when Kate Adams demands he reopen the investigation into her friend’s death, he knows his job is at stake. But despite his attraction to her, Tom thinks Kate herself may have something to hide.

Q: Where did you get your inspiration for Deadly Devotion?

A: The initial inspiration came through my children’s work at a local greenhouse. I can’t share the details, however, because they would be a spoiler for what later became a subplot of the story.

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

A:  That there are two kinds of “marigolds”—ones whose tea you can drink, and ones you can’t! Or as Kate learns, that our faith needs to be in who God is, not in those we’ve looked up to in the faith.

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

A:  Kate is fiercely loyal. She believes the best about people, and stays true to her friends no matter how things appear. Tom, on the other hand, from harsh experience, believes people are rarely what they seem. However, I like that he admires Kate’s loyalty, even when he thinks it’s misplaced, and I like how devoted he is to his family—widowed father, sister and nephews.

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

A. I’m juggling a few things. Line edits for the next book in the Port Aster Secrets series, and polishing an upcoming Love Inspired Suspense, set on an Alaskan cruise, and beginning the final book in this series.

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

A. I’d like to tour Great Britain, because that’s where my parents are from.

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

A. I rode my daughter’s new horse bareback. Three bucks later I was airborne, but my hubby became my truest hero that day and caught me on the way down. J

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

A. I don’t have an answer for that, because I’m thinking…well if I’ve done it, was it really that hard? The most memorably painful was giving birth to my first child!

Q: Where can readers find you on the internet?

On my website, which includes a weekly blog: http://www.SandraOrchard.com

And on Facebook: http://www.Facebook.com/SandraOrchard

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

A.  I’d like to invite readers to check out fun bonus features, such as deleted scenes and scene pics, for each of my books at: http://sandraorchard.com/extras/bonus-book-features