Blogoversary Author Interview & Girveaway: S. L. Pierce

Hi Everyone,
Today I am very happy to introduce everyone to another Indie Thriller Author whose, storyline kept me very entertained.

Please Welcome S. L. PIERCE to Blood Rose Books Today

Can you pin point an experience or book that helped you discover that you wanted to be a writer?

Crazy as it sounds, it was Stephanie Meyer.  When I heard about her I thought 'She's never written anything and look what she did.  I can do that.  I've been reading all my life.  I know what makes a book good.'  As it turns out, it is easy to write a book.  What's extremely hard is writing a good book.  It took me two years to write Secrets and I learned a lot in the process.

      You have an engineering background do you think it helps dictate the overall way you structure your books?

            It definitely has an influence on my book structure.  I am a just the facts kind of a writer, which in books means just the plot. That's one reason my first drafts are so bad.  But I work hard to include good character development and an interesting plot.  The result is a fast paced story without a lot of details about scenery and clothing.  I understand it's not for everyone but I think there are readers who appreciate this type of book.

Most of your books appear to fall within the thriller genre. With authors like James Patterson and Jeffrey Archer, do you think that it is a harder genre to break into?

            No, I don't think it's that much harder to break into.  I think all the genre's are hard for indie's.  But the good news is ebooks aren't something you just buy once every few years like pans or a couch.  If you are a reader, you buy them all the time, over your entire life.  So there is a market for all our books.  Plus, the big writers usually put out only one book a year.  Someone has to fill that void.

What do you think would be the hardest or most challenging genre to write a novel in and why? 
Fantasy, definitely.  I just don't have the imagination for it.  Maybe it's that engineering. background.

As an indie author, what has been the most challenging aspect in getting your book out there for people to read?

Time.  Finding the time is a real challenge.  I have four kids 7 and under and I am doing all the publicity myself.  Tweeting, facebook, blogging, keeping up a website, requesting reviews, and doing interviews, for all of my books.  Plus trying to write new stuff.  It is very hard, but worth it, especially when I get some good feedback.

Do you have a writing routine and/or area that helps you develop your stories and get inspiration for your next book?

I have a loft area that I write in and unlike a lot of writers I know, I need absolute silence to write.  I wish I could play music but it interferes with the characters dialogue in my head!  So that's how I develop and write the stories.  The inspiration, that is tougher.  Secrets began because I wanted a female lead who was strong throughout the story and who didn't get captured by the bad guy in the climactic ending.  The idea for The Devil's Game started when I saw a couple in a coffee shop and it looked like the man was really attracted to the woman but the woman just wanted to be friends.  So I started thinking, what if there were this couple, but instead of him stalking her, someone else was stalking them?  And Maren Kaye and I worked from there.

You have stated that you like to “Trim the Fat” in your books, in the form of the description that you give. What areas of description are you talking about and do you think that lack of description could hinder your stories at times?

            As I touched on earlier, I leave out a lot of descriptive stuff like the kind of car someone drives, the scenery, the clothes people are wearing.  The reason I do this is because those are the things I find myself skimming when I read.  I don't believe it hinders the story at all because I work hard to make sure the plot is strong and the characters are multidimensional.  I also think it gives the story a very fast pace.  There must be other readers out there who are like me and will appreciate the lack of descriptive details. The only problem comes in the length of the book.  They tend to be a little shorter than standard mystery/thrillers.

Within you novel Secrets, your protagonist is a former assassin, for you is this the “ideal” job for a character within the Thriller genre?

            For me, yes because the former part let's Gwen have all the skills and attitude I want without the actual spy vs spy kind of stuff I am not really into.  I think it lets her have a view of the world that bad people deserved to be punished, even deserve to die.  I feel cheated a lot of times when the main character has a chance to kill a really bad guy, but doesn't.  Maybe not a popular sentiment but it is just a book!

You newest novel The Devil’s Game just came out. Can you share a little bit about the book and the co author Maren Kaye?

            The Devil's Game is a psychological thriller about a stalker stalking a stalker.  But  who is the stalker and who is the stalkee?  We are incredibly excited and proud of this book and I think, once people try a little, they will see why.  Maren and I met in a mother's group when I lived in North Carolina and we bonded over politics and women's rights.  She is everything I am not in a writer!  I am more mechanical and she is the fun.  She compares us to a twinkie; I am the yellow spongy shell holding it all together and she is the creamy filling; the part everyone can't wait to get to.

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

That's a hard one.  If you had asked me a few weeks ago it was Dance of Dragons (5^th in the Game of Thrones) and the Silent Girl by Tess Gerritson.  But since I just read both I'm not sure what's next.  I'm definitely on pins and needles waiting for the new Jack Reacher book.  Oh, I know one – the I am number four-the lost files and then The Power of Six.  I know they are supposed to be teen books but they are fast and fun!

I would like to say Thank You to Sheryl for agreeing to participate in my Blogoversary. To get more information about S. L. Pierce books you can check out my review of Secrets and check out Sheryl's website Peirce Books. Sheryl has very nicely supplied one Ebook copy of Secrets and one Ebook copy of her new novel The Devil's Game.

***GIVEAWAY RULES***

1.  Please leave a comment and/or question as well as a way to contact you (you do not need to be a follower to participate, but it is always nice for you to join)
2. For an extra entry(+1) Post about my Blogoversay with it's Button on your website (please leave a link)

3. This Giveaway is Open Internationally

4. The Giveaway ENDS on October 7, 2011

5. The winners will be notified via email and will have 48 hrs to respond, otherwise a new winner will be chosen

6. EBooks are provided by S. L. Pierce