Tell us about your latest book. What inspired it? Is this a series and if so, how many books are you planning? If not, do you plan to have any spin-off’s from secondary characters in the future?
I’ve always been interested in the paranormal/supernatural, and I spent several years as a professional psychic and ghost buster. I heard a lot of stories about “weird” stuff, lived a lot of stories around “weird” stuff and decided some books about the kinds of things I had seen and learned (and imagined) would be fun. I began writing The Actor’s Guild Paranormal Mystery Series in 2000, just for my own enjoyment. The story centers around two forty-something female parapsychologists who are enticed into living in a “haunted house” for a year. If they can rid the house of the spirits that plaque it, the house will belong to them. No self-respecting parapsychologist could refuse this offer to possess a 200-year-old mansion, complete with all the treasures in it, so our women accept the challenge.
Yes, it is a series. Books one and two are out and I am working on book three. I envision writing more with the characters, but the first three books will (I hope!) Solve the mystery of McCann’s Manor. I also imagine spin-offs with some of the minor characters coming out of these first three books.
What element of writing in your genre is hardest for you? Easiest?
Let’s start with easiest. I love the subject matter! It’s something I know quite a bit about and so it is easy to write because I have either seen something that led me to write about it, or I have actually lived through something similar.
The hardest part is that I started out to write a “paranormal mystery” and wound up crossing over several genres in the process. I intended to write a simple story line. Each book has a present day murder as well as a ghost from the past who was murdered and wants the record to be set straight. My characters had all kinds of different ideas about where the story was going though, so I wound up with a paranormal mystery that has time travel, possession, fantasy, romance and what have you all rolled up together. For me, reining my characters in nad making them stay with only one genre has been impossible! I have enjoyed the ride immensely, but it has resulted in a much more complex story line than I had intended.
Do you have any pet peeves as a writer? As a reader?
I’d have to say I object to being put in a box (and my characters do too, obviously!), and told I have to stick to my genre or I won’t have an audience. I write the kind of stories I love to read, and I love surprises and intricate plot twists. That’s one of the reasons I love mysteries (mainstream and otherwise), because they veer from the “beaten” path. Paranormal mysteries should be even more full of surprises.
As a reader, I have always known what is going to happen in a book from about the second chapter. Even as a kid I would know the outcome almost from the very start, so for me to read a book cover to cover, the author had to keep me guessing about what all would happen from page one to the end, and how that final outcome could actually occur. My pet peeve is all these formula stories one reads today that follow along the prescribed plot lines, book after book. It takes an incredibly versatile and talented author to keep me interested throughout a book that follows the genre formulas.
If you could ask readers in your genre one question, what would it be and why?
Wow . . . um, let’s see . . . Why aren’t you all buying and reading MY books???
What do you think is most important in the relationship between the main characters?
I think believability and sincerity is paramount for characters in a book, just as it is between people in the real world. Even if a plot takes the reader to a far-fetched world that can’t possibly exist, that realistic quality of “character” will carry me through the book. If the characters care for each other, I will love them as well, despite other flaws the book may have. People in the real world are far too nonchalant about each other and life in general these days to suit me. I don’t play those games, and I expect my characters not to play them with each other, either . . . unless duplicity is an important part of the plot.
How long does it take for you to create, write and submit to your editor a finished book?
Much too long! I’d love to turn out a book every few months, but my plotting gets too involved. It took me about four years to write McCann’s Manor: Portal (book one). Of course, I was writing in my spare time, for my own pleasure, so that slowed it down. I went through times when I didn’t write on it for weeks at a time. My friends and family liked what I was doing with the book and encouraged me to write more, and as I neared the end of the first book I began to see possibilities for a second, which made me write faster in anticipation of the second. It took less than a year to hammer out all the details of book two—The Bakery Murders: Challenge. I’ve been working on book three, Whispers From the Past: Vendetta, over a year and it’s not half finished yet . . . so it’s pretty hard to nail down a time limit for me.
If one of your books was made into a movie, who do you think would capture your characters perfectly?
I wish I knew! I can tell you I envision John Carter, the main male protagonist and love interest in Liz Carr’s life, as a cross between Mel Gibson and Tom Selleck . . . after pondering on that possibility a few minutes, I sort of lose track of who might possibly fill the shoes of the other characters.
Anything in the pipeline for 2009? Can we get a sneak look into upcoming projects?
As I said, I am working on Whispers From the Past: Vendetta and hope to finish it before the end of the year. I’m also a beaded jewelry designer and I have been revamping my online business for the past several months and that has taken a lot more time than I wanted to spend on it, so I may miss my (self-imposed) writing deadline.
I am changing publishers at the end of June, so I’m not sure yet how that will affect my writing schedule. Additionally, I have several other stories that are screaming to get out . . . a mainstream romance, two young adult fantasies, another two fantasies for adults . . . the list is vast! Interested parties can check my website for the new buy links and more information as it becomes available: http://www.theactorsguildseries.com
For fun: If you could meet any character you want, who would it be & what would you do?
It’d have to be Benjamin McCann, the Scotsman from my books who build McCann’s Manor. Tall, rugged, handsome . . . that Scottish accent! (sigh) The man is hot!
EXCERPT, McCann’s Manor: Portal:
1 October, 1792
My Darling Constance,
My heart is full of joy at your news of the child to be born, yet I am deeply troubled at the same time. Your family does not know of our vows taken in secret before my last departure and I fear their reaction when they learn you are with child. I have some money put by and I will send it to you. You should come to me immediately and not wait for the house to be completed.
Your place is with me now. I am ready and willing to be a father to the child and a husband to you, my Dearest. We will have everything we need, I promise you. Please do not tarry, but come to me directly. I have completed enough of the house for you and the child—our precious baby—to have a warm and comfortable place to live. The rest of the house will be completed by next spring.
I am a lonely shell of a man here in this wilderness without you, my Love. If you are not with me soon, I think I will lose my mind. I need your tenderness to make me strong in the face of my wicked partner. Spencer will stop at no ill in order to make more and yet more money. He promised me a new life, but he continues to use my sordid past against me to keep me bound to his will. I am no longer that man and I wish not to be constantly reminded of the mistakes I have made. But do not worry, my Precious one, I have almost saved enough to buy out his interest in the business; then we will be free of him and his unreasonable demands. He does not own me, although he seems to think he does.
I will not continue to be bound to his demands forever. I am sending you our wedding papers so you can allay your parents’ doubts. Please come to me now. I need you.
Your loving husband,
Benjamin
Benjamin McCann rubbed the back of his great neck with his immense weathered hand, sighed, then scratched the cat behind its ears. “Something is wrong, my little furry friend. I cannot shake the feeling—I will never see my unborn child or my beautiful wife in this house. And if that be true, what is life at all to me?”
The cat yawned, purred louder, stretched. A weary McCann rose from his desk, paced the room. He took out a piece of paper from his pocket, unfolded and read it. “These words, Timothy, they have the sound of goodbye. What could have happened? She loves me, I know it. Then why would she be telling me goodbye? And if she be telling me goodbye, why did she tell me about the baby? What in God’s name am I supposed to do?”
http://www.theactorsguildseries.com/
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Wow Charlotte…how did I miss this series???!!! It sounds really good.
Is there a genre you haven’t done yet but plan to in the future?
Raine D.
Thanks Raine! I am writing a sci-fi/fantasy erotica book in installments under a pseudonym (M. Shalimar–) . . . The first two installments are out at Mystic Moon Press (http://www.mysticmoonpress.com/authorpages/mshalimar.html ) and are quite popular.
I also have a children’s story I have on the back burner . . . so actually I guess I have written something in most fiction genres, but not all have been published yet. What can I say? My mind wanders, and I usually trail around behind it if it goes someplace I think might be interesting!
Thanks for the opportunity to be featured on your site!
Charlotte