Guest Mystery Writer, Patricia A. Rasey

Please join me in welcoming guest Patricia A. Rasey. Ms. Rasey has nine novels published, along with novellas and an award-winning short story.

What is the first mystery you remember reading? Wow, I don’t even remember. It could be a Mary Higgins Clark book, though I can’t recall which one. I’ve been reading books for years…all the way back to childhood. One of the first adult books I can remember reading is The Betsy by Harold Robbins. I was hooked from that point on. I couldn’t find enough time in the day to read all the books I wanted to read. I still feel that way. I have more books than I’ll ever find the time to read.

What is the most recent mystery you’ve read? I just finished the four book Twilight series…what a task. Before that, I think I read a lot of romance. But I think the last one I read was Ancient Laws by Jim Michael Hansen. I don’t think it’s out yet, I gave an author quote…but great book! I’ve read and enjoyed several of his books. He might be considered more thriller, though.

When you’re writing, do you keep a list of “clues” and “red herrings” at hand? I try to. I’m not the best of organizers. I keep a list in a WORD document of things I may need to address later in the book. It’s a way for me to go back and take a quick look when I’m further down the road to see what I may have done and things I need to tie up. Sort of a reminder if you will.

Are you a plotter or a seat-of-the-pants writer? I am definitely a seat-of-the-pants writer. I can’t say I don’t plot at all…I do, it’s just that I have a tendency to dive in and then once I get so far in, I start plotting things out more. I don’t think I could tie up all loose ends if I didn’t plot at all. But I am not a heavy plotter.

If you could spend an afternoon over a pot of coffee with any writer (living or dead), who would it be? John Douglas, although technically he doesn’t really write his materials, he co-writes. But I think it would be awesome to pick his brain. Or maybe Edgar Allen Poe…love him!

What would be the first thing you’d want to ask? What it was like to interview all the serial killers he did. I would have loved to have been there when he did. Their dark minds and what drives them is fascinating to me.

Do headlines trigger story ideas for you? Definitely. I think all things in life can be triggers. You never know when something might happen and make you think that would be a great addition to my story. Or to even revolve your whole novel around a concept. I read headlines on “toothing” once and added that to my last novel. Although, the phenomenon ended very quickly. And recently, a friend was telling us about the violent dreams he had when he was on the patch to quit smoking. He made a statement and I just sat there and went wow…that’s the opening line to my next book. And it is…to my work in progress, Charred Remains.

How do you stay organized when in the midst of writing, editing, reading galleys, etc? I can’t say I am organized at all right now. I work fulltime outside the home—so juggling my writing, work, and home life can be a challenge. When writing my novel—I can never turn off the self-editor in my head, so most times, by time I type “The End,” the book is nearly finished. A final read-through, a few changes, and it’s done.

What program(s) do you use to organize, write, promote? I use WORD for everything. I’m not great with creating graphics and the whatnot, so most everything I do is in WORD. I do my outlines there, my synopsis, my rough draft, etcetera. Then when I keep track of what marketing I do—I also put it in a WORD document to save. Not real imaginative, but it works for me. Recently, I got a new computer with a new version of WORD. I’m struggling…I don’t like change. Maybe not so much change, but the time it takes to learn something new. As I said—my time is so limited these days.

When is your next release and please give us title and a little tease. I don’t have a release date for my next book…I sort have been sitting on it. It’s been finished and fine-tuned, but a good friend of mine is taking a look at it before I start the submission process and hopefully get a publisher for it. It’s called Love You To Pieces and I’m hoping it’s my best work to date. I certainly put a lot of time in it. The two characters, Detective Jaycen McCain and Sara St. James have a lot of hurdles to cross before they can ever think about getting together…if that ever happens. Jaycen is chasing his late wife’s murderer while her cousin, Sara, is trying to heal those old wounds for him. There’s a bit of darkness in this one. It’s more of a thriller, than a mystery as I tell you who the killer is by chapter seven and hope I still pull off the intrigue. It was my goal to be able to do that and still keep the reader wanting to change the page. The next book, Charred Remains, that I am now writing collides Love You To Pieces sequel with the sequel to Façade. I think it will be great to revisit the characters from that book…and start a whole new tale for those two.

Thanks for asking me to guest on your blog…I enjoyed the visit.
You can visit Patricia anytime at her website www.patriciarasey.com