Author Interview & Giveaway: Michael Buckley

I find that I am still a new reader to the YA genre (as an adult) so I am always on the search for books in this genre that have interesting concepts and premise that allows me to get sucked into the story. For me this past year Michael Buckley's novel Undertow, touched on a topic that I find so interesting, the vastness of the Ocean and how little we really know about it, as well as how little humans have evolved in their thought process even after all these years.

Please Welcome to Blood Rose Books Today

Michael Buckley

If there was one author you could co-write a novel with (they can be alive or dead) who would you choose and why? 

There's just no way I could pick one. That's like being a kid in a candy store and trying to find just the right gummi bear. There are people I would love to have written with but not all of them were novelists, like Arnold Nobel of Frog and Toad Are Friends fame or Maurice Sendak. I have always loved John Steinbeck and wonder what he could have done writing kidlit. Maybe Stephen King and I could write a spooky story for children.   

From television production to published author of several series now, did you find the transition to writing for TV to a full book and eventual series challenging? When did you realize that you had finally made it as an author? 

Writing for television is so much harder than writing a novel and it's a lot less rewarding. TV is temporary - people don't really cherish episodes of shows the way they do books, and making a tv show is very hard on the ego, too. Everything is done by committee and sometimes the committee is full of morons - ha!  Often times you're trying to make something with a person you don't respect and can't stand and that can be really hard on the soul. I'm not saying there aren't smart people who work in television, but their opinions hold the same weight as all the dummies. It can be maddening. As for making it as a writer I'm not sure I have done that yet.  I'll let you know. 

Your novels are written for either a middle grade audience or a young adult audience, what appeals to you in writing for these age groups? 

My imagination runs down the same roads as a kid's does and kidlit offers me the opportunity to explore nearly anything that interests me. I don't really have ideas for adult novels, anyway. 

Many adults have taken to reading novels that have been classified with the YA designation. Why do you think YA novels are now appealing to adults more? Do you think that this may change some of the overall content of the YA genre? 

I'm sure adults were reading kidlit before Harry Potter, but I think those books had a lot to do with opening the minds and eyes of a lot of adult readers. Since then the doors have been opened to reading whatever you want without shame. A lot of YA is read by adults and not teens so the content is changing and evolving. When I was growing up The Outsiders seemed like a very edgy story but now it's almost quaint. I suspect writers will keep pushing the boundaries of what a YA book can be, but I think it's important for the industry to remember that no matter how many grown ups are reading these books that they really are for kids. 

What do you think would be the hardest or most challenging genre to write a novel in and why? 

Every book ever written was the hardest book to write for the author so I don't want to say that one genre is more difficult than another. I know from experience that funny is insanely hard and not something everyone can do. Contemporary fiction would be a challenge to me because I don't know how anyone can write a story that doesn't have an explosion or a monster in it - lol! 

Undertow is told from the point of view of Lyric Walker, a teenage girl with a lot going on in her life from Alphas to boys to keeping secret, was it difficult for you to get into a teenage girl’s mindset?  Why did you decide to write from a girl perspective instead of a boy’s? 

A lot of my books feature female heroes so I wasn't too intimidated by writing Lyric. I was more terrified of her age and her emotional state. I've never been a teenage girl, and didn't know a lot of them when I was a teenage boy, so I interviewed a few female writers in hopes of getting some insight. They really helped me understand the complexities of being young and female.  

I think the mystery that is still the Ocean is such a fascinating thing, so it is probably no surprise that my favourite part of Undertow was your concept and creation of the Alpha Race and culture, what in to creating not only the “creature” that the Alphas are but also the culture that they have?  

I tried to look at the whole thing the way a marine biologist might. What kind of life does the average fish have? It's hunt or be hunted, survival of the fittest, and there's not a lot of sympathy for the smaller creatures. Everything is food, so if people lived beneath the waves why wouldn't they do the same? I got obsessed with websites featuring pictures and film of deep-sea animals. Then, I tried to melt it all into a society like the Spartans, and native peoples of the Americas; warriors and hunter/gatherers and nomadic tribes. I wanted them to feel regal even if they looked bizarre. They needed to not only look odd but have a way of life that was foreign to humanity as well. I needed them to strike terror in humanity, both from what can be seen but also from what we don't understand.  

If you could have some of the abilities or interesting adaptations of the Alphas which would you choose? 

I love the blades that come out of the arms of the Triton. I love the sound it makes but also how dangerous they can be. In the second book, Raging Sea, you learn some new things about those blades and how they are much more than weapons. 

Do you have any information on upcoming works or events that you are able to share? 

I'm plotting out the 3rd and final Undertow book right now but if you want something completely different I have a story in the recently released Guys Read: Terrifying Tales. It's the first scary story I have ever tried to write but don't be surprised if it keeps you up at night.  

What is one book (other than one of your own) that you think should be a must read for everyone? 

Oh, The Places You'll Go by Dr. Seuss - for a kids story it's pretty real and sensible. It tells you that life has it's ups and downs and you'll make mistakes but with every step you'll find yourself in places you never expected.

I want to say Thank You once again to Michael for taking the time to participate in my Blogoversary and I ma looking forward to reading the next book in his Alpha series. Michael has very nicely supplied a Giveaway (INT) to go along with his interview, so make sure you enter below :)

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Author Interview: Chris Knopf

I read my first Chris Knopf book a few years ago with his novel Dead Anyways, and I had no idea that it was a series till earlier this year when I discovered Cries of the Lost. Knopf's book really show you what someone can find about you on the internet and that in this day in age, Geeks Rule :)

Please Welcome to Blood Rose Books Today

 

Chris Knopf

If there was one author you could co-write a novel with (they can be alive or dead) who would you choose and why?
Gillian Flynn.  Gone Girl is a masterpiece, beyond anything I’ve read since Presumed Innocent, my enduring favorite mystery.  Favorite book, for that matter.  Both are proof that genre fiction can be great literature.  Though I’d be intimidated.  She’s really smart.

Your novels Dead Anyway and Cries of the Lost would fall into the mystery/thriller genres which can be a hard genre to get a following in as there are many well-known and well followed authors within it. How do you think that your novels differ from other authors within this genre?
This series is filled with technology and “what-if” premises.  They’re also heavily character-driven and both funny and tense.  I think too many thrillers are dumbed down and formulaic.  These aren’t.  They aren’t for readers who like a high body count and uber-machismo.  Arthur Cathcart is an intellectual, and he uses his brains to overcome the dark forces.

What do you think would be the hardest or most challenging genre to write a novel in and why?
All genres have their challenges.  I think the harder thing is to mix genres successfully, since publishing prefers to define you within a particular box. 

Arthur is not your typical hero in a thriller novel, why did you decide to have him be more brain than brawn? Do you think that this is his most defining aspects?
You already wrote it.  More brains than brawn.  I’m not interested in physical prowess.  It means nothing in the modern world.  Geeks rule.  See Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Sergey Brin..I could go on.

Especially in the second book of the series, Cries of the Lost, there is quite a bit of travel around the world, are you writing about places that you have visited? Where are you going to take Arthur next?
I only wrote about places I’ve been.  I’ve been lucky to have traveled enough to have a wide sweep.  Not sure where Arthur will go next, since after A Billion Ways To Die, I’m back with my original series hero Sam Acquillo.

Within your books you have Arthur complete all types of tasks and dig for information over the internet to find the information that he needs, just how scary is the internet and the information that you can find out about someone? What research did you do in order to make sure that the tech and internet part was accurate within your books?
The Internet is indeed the Wild West.  I can find anyone who isn’t trying to hide, and the government can usually find them.  People have no idea.  The harder part is hiding.  I researched everything very carefully, having the privilege of knowing people who know what’s possible and what isn’t.

I have not had a chance yet to read any of the books in your Sam Acquillo series, how would you describe the series and main character?
Sam is an ex-professional boxer and ex-corporate executive who managed to lose his wife, job, house and all that money, before retreating to a cottage on the Little Peconic Bay north of Southampton, NY in order to drink himself to death.  Sam gets pulled into solving a murder everyone thought was an accident, and in so doing, regained much of his former self.  Now he’s a cabinetmaker, with a girlfriend, dog, close allies, and a sailboat, though trouble still finds him.  He still drinks a bit too much, and has a hard time backing down from a fight, but he’s philosophical, and loves his new life and close ties despite his cranky nature.  The books are also an examination of the haves and have nots in the Hampton, told from the perspective of the have-nots, who are plentiful, albeit invisible.

Do you have any information on upcoming works or events that you are able to share?
I’m writing Sam 7, working title Back Lash.  Sam’s mechanic father was beaten to death in a bar thirty years before, and this is the book where Sam reluctantly returns to the scene of the crime to solve the mystery of whodunit.

What is one book (other than one of your own) that you think everyone should read?
If we stipulate the mystery/crime fiction genre, Presumed Innocent, Scott Turow.  Though I’d add Mystic River, Dennis Lehane, Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn, Maltese Falcon, Dashiel Hammett, Farewell My Lovely, Raymond Chandler…. because no one book does it all. 

If you mean all types of books, I’ll need more space.

Thank you Chris once again for being part of my blogoversary and taking the time to answer some interview questions. Chris' novels were a great find for me as they approach a thriller/mystery novel in a different way. Yes, the books still have some action scenes and guns blazing but his novels show that there is more to mystery/thriller novels than this and with right knowledge and mind you can find anything out.

Author Interview & Giveaway: Alex Marwood

As a reader (and reviewer) I am always on the search for an author that changes things up, goes away from the norm and introduces something new into a genre. In the past year, for me, that author is Alex Marwood and her novel The Killer Next Door. It was not your typical serial killer novel or police novel (actually very little police involvement), so how are the crimes solved you ask, well you better pick up the book to find out for yourself. Trust me it is worth the read :)

Please Welcome to Blood Rose Books Today:

Alex Marwood

You have a background in journalism; did some of the stories, people or events inspire your more recent novels?

Yes and no. I wasn’t that sort of journalist; I mostly worked for the Features and Arts desks rather than News, so my involvement in crime reporting was as an informed consumer, not a producer. But I think journalism taught me all sorts of things that have made me a better novelist. I don’t just take the first account I come across as being the whole story. Being around journalists far better than I taught me all sorts of important things: the importance of listening to other people, of paying attention to the ways in which they express themselves, of holding off from arguing with viewpoints until I’ve heard what the viewpoint actually is, rather what I assume it to be, of paying attention generally to the world around me, of connecting the dots. Both The Wicked Girls and The Killer Next Door did have their starting points with real-life events, but any normal person armed with a computer, a library card and a curious mind would have been able to find out all of the facts about both of them, honestly.

 

Alex Marwood is your pen name for your darker genre novels, why did you decide that you needed to write under a different name? Were you afraid that your books would not be taken as seriously under your real name?

The publishing industry is a labyrinth in which the unwary can be tripped up byall sorts of hazards and disasters and bad decisions that people on the outside don’t realise about. Retailers, meanwhile, have become very dependent on computerized systems for their ordering, and those don’t show up circumstances, only bald figures, and this has caused a lot of trouble for writers. Writers have always had career ups and downs, but now the downs can literally destroy your career. There are a number of horrific stories, for instance, of authors having their careers badly damaged by having a book come out during the collapse in sales that immediately followed 9/11. Books basically only get a six-week window in which to make their mark after publication before the retailers move on, and people simply stopped buying books for a few weeks, and they found retailers refusing to stock their ensuing titles on the basis of the bald figures, no context. Something similar happened to me, and after struggling on through two more books as people told me they couldn’t find them in the shops, I did what many other writers have done, and changed my name to get away from the curse of the computer records. I wouldn’t hesitate to do it again.

But no, I’m proud of the books I wrote before, and have no wish to distance myself from them. There’s a huge amount of terrific writing in the genres – (rather dark, in my case) romantic comedy, for my first three, then a supernatural thriller – in which I used to write. As to people taking me seriously or not – honestly all I want is for people to read my books and enjoy them, and I’m not bothered by the snobbery in the literary world. Well, not much. Their loss, honestly.

What do you think are the essentials to make a great crime thriller novel?

Oh, lord. One of the reasons I love being under the Crime umbrella is what a wonderfully broad genre it is. There’s something for pretty much everyone’s tastes under its umbrella, and Lee Child’s, or Helen Smith’s, answers to this would be just as valid as my own, though entirely different. For my own books: character, I think. I don’t think you have to identify with, or even like, the characters in a novel, but you have to be interested in them, and feel that the high stakes with which that they’re threatened matter in some way. And my characters’ decisions are generally driven by their personalities, once I’ve got to know them, just like in real life. Actually, Lee Child would probably agree with most of that, except with guns and stuff.

What do you think would be the hardest or most challenging genre to write a novel in and why?

Um… they’re all challenging, if you’re trying to do it well! But for me I guess it would be the Literary genre (because it is a genre), because I’d get so bored!

The Killer Next Door was a very refreshing read to me and was a different take on the serial killer sub-genre. Why did you decide to have a cast of misfits and their stories featured instead of the traditional police based novel?

I’ve always been more interested in how crime happens and the effect it has on not just the victims but on the perpetrators and the wider world, than I have in how the perpetrators get caught. All those bad decisions, the snowballing of misfortune, the tiny incremental steps that lead to terrible consequences, that put us all in a there-but-for-the-grace-of-God position, if we did but think about it. Detection and punishment, and society getting its sense of justice, are only a tiny bit of the whole picture.

The starting point for The Killer Next Door was a case that has always had huge resonance for Londoners: the case of Dennis Nilsen, who killed and dismembered a dozen young men in the 1980s while living in similar circumstances to the people in my novel. The thing that has always echoed for me and other Londoners is this: living in our crowded, always-on city, we all have to do a certain amount of blind-eye-turning in order to retain our own sanity and that of our neighbours. I’m sure if the last girl who lived upstairs from me knew how much we all know about her sex life she would have been beyond mortified. And so, though we all play lip-service to wondering how on earth Nilsen’s housemates managed not to notice what he was up to, the grim truth is that we all know only too well. And it’s stuff like that that really interests me.

You introduced mummification and body breakdown techniques in regard to your serial killer The Lover (who is nice and creepy by the way). What type of research did you do to make sure that it was accurate?

An interesting little side-fact: it’s one of the few subjects that are remarkably difficult to find much out about on the internet. Fortunately I’ve amassed a huge collection of non-fiction books about all sorts, and between my ancient civilization texts and my forensics and pathology books and my cultural studies of death rituals and the British Museum, I was pretty much covered. And no, I didn’t have a go at doing it myself, not having a fresh cadaver to hand. Though I did do a little experiment in the freezing of individual sausages, to address my copy editor’s doubts about something, and cooked them up afterwards and ate them for dinner.

The Killer Next Door is a very dark themed novel. What appeals to you about the dark and disturbing aspects of human nature? Are some of the tenants in the building based upon your own experience of living in an apartment building?

Not directly. Though everyone’s known someone like all of these people, haven’t they? Apart, perhaps from the serial killer. But you know, even serial killers mingle with the rest of the world when they’re not at their hobby. I did my time living the itinerant life of the struggling writer in my youth, but we mostly clubbed together and shared flats and houses rather than living in bedsits. But not everyone has the good fortune to have a wide friendship base when they come to a new city, or a new country, and No23 is often the sort of place those people end up. And honestly, that house is a big step up from quite a lot of the circumstances a lot of people end up living in. I had an Iranian boyfriend years ago – not like Hossein at all, though some of the detail of Iranianness I soaked up through him – whose first ‘home’ was the cupboard under the stairs in someone’s house. So really, these guys were a lot better off than some, even the ones who don’t officially qualify as homeless.

 

The Killer Next Door is going to be adapted for film. What scares you most about this process? Are you worried that your work will be changed too much for the big screen?

I suppose the whole business of being more visible scares me a bit. I’m a typical writer, best suited to staying in bed with my imaginary friends, so this whole ride as Alex Marwood has seen me constantly pushed outside my comfort zone. But I’ve gradually adjusted, and I’m sure I’ll carry on adjusting. And boy, it’s better than the life I was living before!

As to the adaptation, I don’t think one should be too precious about one’s work, once you choose to allow other people get involved. The book’s mine. It’s done, it’s published, it’s been shortlisted for the prizes, it’s in the British Library; nothing bar nuclear war can make it go away now, or change the way it is. And film is a completely different discipline. If anything, I’m quite excited to sit down and study how the screenwriter does their magic with a text I know so well, and have the opportunity to understand their logic, because the whole discipline’s a wonderful mystery to me, and one I’d love to learn how to do.

Do you have any information on upcoming works or events that you are able to share?

My new novel, The Darkest Secret, comes out in January in the UK, summer in the States. When three-year-old Coco goes missing during a birthday weekend, the adults in the party close ranks and lie through their teeth about what happened. Twelve years later, the little girl’s surviving sisters start to unravel the truth when the same group gathers for the funeral of their much-married father. I’m pretty pleased with it, I think.

 

What is one book on your shelf that you cannot wait to read (can either be a new or old favorite).

Oh! I think I’m being sent a copy of Alison Gaylin’s new one, What Remains Of Me, soon. She’s one of those writers who’s on my automatic pre-order list. We’re up against each other at the Anthony awards in October, for The Killer Next Door and Stay With Me, which is the very definition of being on a cleft stick, really.

I want to thank Alex once again for participating in my Blogoversary and her insight into the literary world and soon film world that she is experiencing. Her novel The Killer Next Door, was one of my favourite thriller reads of the past year as it explored a different side of serial killer books and I look forward to picking up her other works as well. Alex has very kindly supplied a Giveaway (US) to go along with her interview, so make sure you enter the rafflecopter giveaway below.

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Author Interview: Rebekah Turner

I have feature Rebekah Turner on my blog before, she actually kicked off my Blogoversary event last year, so if you are interested in learning even more about Rebekah check out her first interview. As you can probably guess I've been a fan of Rebekah's for awhile now and have found that her Applecross/Lora Blackgoat series have gotten better and better with each installment. If you like a little bit of fantasy and some steampunkness too I recommend picking up her novels Chaos Born, Chaos Bound, Chaos Broken.

Please Welcome to Blood Rose Books Today:

Rebekah Turner

You are now three books in to your Literary career how has your writing process changed from Chaos Born to Chaos Broken?
I'm more aware of my own writing techniques and the editing process. Otherwise, the frustration and elation of solving plot issues have stayed the same.

What have you learned about yourself from book one to book three?
That I can actually finish and polish up a book! There always is that doubt, that maybe this time you won't finish. The blank screen is an absolute horror. But so far, so good.

You have three books in your Applecross series, and it says everywhere that this is the last book in the series, I refuse to believe that. Please tell me there will be more Lora and more Applecross books.
I've got a novella plotted out that deal with Lora's past, including a bloodthirsty aunt who throws Lora's life into chaos.

As a reader I became very attached to your characters, I cannot think of how attached you would have become to all your characters. Is it hard to put them through all the pain and emotional turmoil they go through, especially Lora trying to figure out who she, who to trust as well as who is best for her?
It can be difficult, and I did find it hard to be so mean to Roman especially. Lora deals with pain by shutting down, because that's how she deals with traumatic experiences. I have always trusted in her abilities to persevere though. All the Chaos books are about survival against the odds, about getting knocked down and finding that inner strength to get back on your feet.

What do you think are the main components of writing a successful series?
Keeping your world building consistent and making sure the stakes are high enough to interest the readers. Always be true to your characters and don't make them bend to the plot. Give them desire, something to strive for, and something to fight against. Then you have plot! A daily writing routine helps as well. Have I mentioned the horror of a blank page?

What is next for you? Do you have another novel or series in development any new news you can share with us?
I wrote a book called Bite Deep, which is about biker werewolves. Hopefully that will be out next year, along with a Lora Blackgoat novella.

What is one book you have read in the past year that you think everyone should read?
Daughter of Smoke and Bone, written by Laini Taylor. This book blew me away! I would totally recommend it to anyone.

I want to thank Rebekah once again for being part of another Blogoversary and taking the time to answer a few questions. I really reccomend her Applecross series and I think readers will find it hard not to love Lady Lora Blackgoat as a character. I look forward to seeing where Rebekah comes up with next and of course the Applecross novella :)

Author Interview & Giveaway: Sean Black

I have had the pleasure to read two books from Sean Black so far, both from different series, Lock Down and POST. Both are great action adventure / thriller reads with something for everyone and are great starts to both series. For me POST was able to  really draw me in with Black use of the topic of PTSD and I am very excited for the release of the second book in the series, Blood Country.

Please Welcome to Blood Rose Books Today

SEAN BLACK

If there was one author you could co-write a novel with (they can be alive or dead) who would you choose and why? I'd have to say Rebecca Cantrell as I have a new series out on October 29th that I am in fact co-authoring with Rebecca. She also co-authors with James Rollins so that tells you how great she is to work with. The series we're writing together is about a former child star turned private detective, Sofia Solgado, who works for a detective agency in Malibu. The first book is called 

"A" is for Asshat and it's very much in the Janet Evanovich mold of character-driven mystery with some humor.

You were inspired to start writing you Ryan Lock series based up an intensive body guarding course, what were the key aspects you learned in your training that you knew had to be part of Lock’s skill set?
More than specific aspects I think what I gained from training as a close protection operative was the mindset, which for high-end work is very unique.

Your debut novel, Lock Down would fall into the thriller/action adventure genres which can be a hard genre to get a following, how do you think that your novels differ from other authors within this genre?
That's tough because there are so many great writers working in the thriller/action genres. Maybe where the Lock books are a little different from most is in the black humor between my two main characters. That really comes from the research because the people who do the job in real life tend to have a slightly warped sense of humor. They need it to be able to deal with some of the less savory aspects of human nature that they come into contact with.
What do you think would be the hardest or most challenging genre to write a novel in and why?
Thrillers are tough because everything has to make sense and serve a function. That said, I have tremendous admiration for romance writers. It's a much maligned genre but I think that they are some of the smartest, most savvy writers we have. They know how to keep readers happy and that's the name of the game.

You have recently started writing a second series, what is it about a writing a series appeals to you compared to stand alone novel?
Readers love series and I love keeping readers engaged. I will however be tackling some standalone works over the next few years.

Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) has been making headlines for a few years now as the psychological affects become more and more apparent with soldiers and front line workers. Did you write Post to bring more awareness to PTSD? What type of research did you complete in order to ensure that the symptoms that Tibor was going through were accurate?
PTSD and mental health in general is something that interests me. The research for Post involved a huge amount of reading and talking to people.

If you had a chance to have Lock and Tibor go against each other, who do you think prevail?
Probably Byron Tibor because his abilities go beyond human. He's also a much darker character with less boundaries than Ryan Lock so that's where my money would be.

Do you have any information on upcoming works or events that you are able to share?
Between October and February 2016 I have FIVE books out. The second Byron Tibor novel, Blood Country, can be pre-ordered now and will be out early in early October. At the end of October the first book with Rebecca Cantrell will be out, and it's called "A" is for Asshat. Then we'll have books B,C and D out in November, December and February. And if people want a free ebook they can sign up for my mailing list at seanblackauthor.com and I'll send them a free Lock novel.

 
What is one book (other than one of your own) that you think everyone should read?
Great question. So many to choose but the last book I really devoured was The Cartel by Don Winslow. Basically anything by Don Winslow is going to be fantastic.

Thanks for the opportunity to appear on your blog.

I want to say Thank You once again to Sean Black for being part of my Blogoversary and I am looking forward to check out the additional books in his Lock and Tibor series and well with five books coming out in five months that is a lot of reading to look forward to. Sean has very kindly offered a giveaway to go along with his interview of 5 ebook copies of Blood Country which is the second book in his Byron Tibor series, so make sure to enter the rafflecopter link below. Once again THANK YOU SEAN!

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Author Interview & Giveaway: Sara Blaedel

WELCOME, to another year of my Blogoversary event. I can't believe that it was almost 5 years ago that I decided to have a place to for my reviews. I know I may be a small Book Blog out there but I truly love writing new reviews and discovering new authors every year. I hope you enjoy the author interviews and giveaways and with that let the event begin :)

To kick off my Blogoversary event, I like to choose an author that I have not heard of before and really impressed me with their novel. This year that author is Sara Blaedel, who is probably more well known in Europe as she resides in Denmark, but Blaedel's writing style and plot of her novel The Forgotten Girls was engaging, interesting and dark with a side of grey (and this comes from a book that is the 7th in the series). I look forward to more of Blaedel's novels being translated into English. Please Welcome to Blood Rose Books Today:

Sara Blaedel

If there was one author you could co-write a novel with (they can be alive or dead) who would you choose and why?

Definitely Enid Blyton - it could have been be so much fun to write a children's detective story with her.

You began your writing career first by starting a publishing company (Sara B) and this eventually lead you to journalism where you covered a variety of topics, have you used some of the stories you covered in journalism as inspiration for your novels?

I have certainly been inspired by many of the amazing people I met during my time as a journalist. And I often get inspired by reading the paper, but I have never used stories where people were able to recognize themselves. It is a matter of trust, I think.
 

You have been known for your writing ability and your Louise Rick series in Denmark and Europe well before making the transition to English which means USA, Canada and the UK. Can you explain what your experience was like and the process you went through to transition your novels into English and this market? Did you find your experience with your company Sara B helped you?

Most things are done the differently in the US when it comes to publishing - so I have not been able to use my experiences from the time I was a publisher myself, and it is so many years ago as well - much has changed in the publishing industry. But of course I have some experience – 15 plus years in the business (both as a publisher and as a writer) teaches you a thing or two.

What do you think would be the hardest or most challenging genre to write a novel in and why?

A romantic love story with a happy ending J. I would constantly sit and want to put a murder in the story. And I'm not that romantic - I would find it hard to resist being ironic and joking.

What do you think are the essentials to make a great crime mystery novel? How do you think your Louise Rick series differs from the many other mystery novels out there?

I am quite sure that the writer must have something to say to write a captivating crime novel, something at heart, and the characters have to be credible. Not necessarily likeable, but the characters have to awaken some feelings of the reader, the reader has to feel that something is at stake. If the characters do not create any emotions everything is lost. It is very difficult for me to point out where my novels are different from others. Just as it would be impossible for me to analyze my own work. So I think we have to ask the readers.

 

There are some dark aspects within your novel The Forgotten Girls, what appeals to you about the dark and disturbing aspects of human nature?

I think that all people can be driven apart when darkness takes over. In my books I always try to show the perpetrator's human side. And perpetrators in my novels are not pure evil, there is always some sort of explanation that hopefully makes the reader consider - even to life's hard questions.

Do you have any information on upcoming works or events that you are able to share?

Mid October I will go to Canada in order to promote The Forgotten Girls, and next year ‘The Death Trail’ will be published by Grand Central Publishing in the US. While all this is happening I am preparing a new story and it is all very hush hush. :)

What is one book that you think everyone should read?

It is a question with no simple answer. But since the desire for reading in one's adult life often are linked to how we were presented to fiction and storytelling as children, then it must be children's books: I think that all adults (who are able) should read books together with their children. In addition to getting us to grow as human beings, it is in all ways also an investment in the future. The World needs reader.

I want to thank Sara once again fro being part of my Blogoversary, I really reccomend her novel The Forgotten Girls and I hope more English translations (Glad to hear about The Death Trail" for next year) are on their way. Sara has very kindly supplied a Giveaway (US) for a copy of The Forgotten Girls to go along with her interview, so make sure to fill out the rafflecopter form below to enter :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

And stay tuned for the month of September as there are more Interviews and Giveaways coming.