Q&A for The Allegheny Chronicles series
Q:Where did you get the idea to write this series?
A: It spawned from writing my Portrait of an Unlikely Affair series -- Book 4 in particular, Embers to Ashes. In it, I had to develop something, anything, that Avonlea would be working on with Brian so I began pulling random words, plots, and characters out to the air for my Portrait characters to discuss and talk about. After I finished that book, I began to wonder what the television show I made up would look like and intended to only write a short story. Then the characters grew on me and it became TAC: Eden & the Alchemist. Of course, I didn't expect it to become a series. I just thought it'd be a stand alone novel.
Q: When did it become a series?
A: When my characters from the short story "One Hell of a Best Seller" wouldn't quit talking to me so I began writing about them. I was shocked to discover that Mason from that story was destined to become part of the The Allegheny Ghost Team. I honestly never saw that coming. I also didn't foresee the series following Mason. I figured it'd have followed my other other characters. And who knows, it might still.
Q: How can you be surprised over the direction of the series? They're your creations. You write them.
A: Anyone who says they know exactly where the story is going, how it is going, and what the characters are going to do and say is probably telling you that just because they want to seem in control... Because otherwise you just sound insane. I write with a 'what if' writing style, meaning I take a situation and then add things to it as if it were a food dish to serve -- For instance, what if these two people were in this situation and this happened but then this other thing happened causing this person to do this and what if this other thing happened....And then..... That's how my stories start and I just write without judgement. On any given novel, you will only see perhaps half of what I wrote for it. I have learned that if I try to *make* the story go the way *I* think it should go, my characters quit talking to me until I give up and say, 'Alright. You win.' And then do it their way. Words just flow when I just listen to what they're showing me.
Q: Do you base your characters on people you know or have known?
A: No. I've people watched before or gotten ideas from random bits of conversation that I've overheard just navigating through my days but I don't base my characters off people. I will sometimes add situations people tell me about that they've experienced. For instance, "One Hell of a Best Seller" was based off stories told to me by my long time single friend and her trials of dating. I've been securely in a relationship/married for over twenty years now, and would not want to be single and trying to date in today's world. But her misadventures in the dating world helps me write the "what if" scenarios -- Such as the short story "One Hell of a Best Seller." In it I have Gia Bennington, a murder-mystery author who decides to write a smut romance novel because that's what's popular and selling. So in order to do that, she has decided she has to date so she could write a convincing smut romance (but she hasn't been on a date in eight years since she had her heart smashed.) While Gia is a more on the timid and quiet side, and clueless, my friend is not. Plus, there is no Mason in my friend's life, which is too bad. But I do live precariously through her life. LOL.
Q: Who is your favorite author or what book has inspired you to write?
A: My favorite author is Louis L'Amour but I do enjoy M.C. Beaton, Agatha Christie's Poirot novels, and Dave Barry. It's a strange mix of westerns, adventure, murder, mystery, and comic relief. I started reading Louis L'Amour novels when I was a kid, but I also loved Alfred Hitchcock's The Three Investigators series. I was a horse fanatic so Louis L'Amour appealed to that side of me, but I loved mysteries and the paranormal so naturally I'd gravitate to the Three Investigators. I also went through a phase where I loved psychological thriller/murder type novels but when I started taking Criminal Justice classes in college, I realized the world has enough scary things and monsters in it - I didn't need to create any of my own. I also used to read Dave Barry's column in the newspaper every Sunday and would snicker and laugh each week. I still loved the one where he talks about the power company shutting off his electricity. That has stuck with me for over 30 years! (And I have conveniently found it for you so you all can enjoy it too. Find it on the Miami Herald here.)
Q: If you enjoyed reading westerns and mysteries, how did you gravitate to the genre you are writing?
A: It's rather ironic. The one genre I never wanted to write was romance. I wanted to avoid that genre at all costs. Yet, love is what makes the world go around so it somehow snuck into my writing. When I was growing up, romance novels all had shirtless long haired guys on it (Fabio) and women wearing skimpy outfits in some sort of embrace on a deserted island. Who were the big authors of the time? Danielle Steele, Nora Roberts...And I can't recall the others. But they are mild to today's romance authors. I chose to not have my books be spicy...at all.... because to me it doesn't add to the story, especially writing in third person. I guess if you wrote in first person and that was an experience you as the character went through, well, there you go, I suppose. But honestly, I don't need to see any of that, let alone read any of that, because of the way my mind works. I have read a few recent military romance novels that puts the characters in very intimate situations and I'm left to wonder how half of what was written is even possible with the laws of physics, let alone comfortable. So, while they aren't my kinds of books, other people like them, so they're written for them. As an author, whatever my characters do off the pages is best for me to NOT write about. It's kind of like some of those old black and white movies, where they just leave some things to the imagination.
Q: What do you hope readers take away from this series?
A: Mainly that they enjoyed the series as much as I enjoyed writing it. I would hope it was an enjoyable series for them, with likeable characters that they actually cared about, probably a few tears, some smiles and laughs, and then, when it's all done, I hope they think about the characters. Then of course, wonder about my other books and start to read them too.
As always, you can find all of my books at Amazon, for Kindle, Kindle Unlimited, paperback, and on Audible!!!
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