Terri Reed’s interview

» Posted on Jul 23, 2008 in Blog | Comments Off on Terri Reed’s interview

If you want to be entered in the drawing for Double Jeopardy, please leave a comment with your email address or email me at margaretdaley@gmail.com. The drawing ends Sunday evening.

1.What made you start writing?
I’ve always wanted to write, but when I was pregnant with me daughter I needed something to distract me from the nausea so I enrolled in a writing course at the local community college. And since I love to read romance, I thought I’d try to write one.

2.How long have you been writing?
I been writing for fifteen years, but only seriously pursuing for the last ten years.
When did you sell your first book?
I sold a novella in 2001 to Barbour publishing and my first novel in 2003 to Steeple Hill.

3. How do you handle rejections?
I try to view rejections as stepping stones. I analyze my mistakes and hopefully learn from them and then progress forward.

4.Why do you write?
I write because if I don’t, I think I’d go insane. Even as a child I had stories and characters bouncing around inside my head. I was teased a lot for ‘talking’ to myself, but really I was telling myself stories.

5.What would you be doing with your free time if you weren’t writing?
Writing for me is my business. If I weren’t writing, I’d be working some other job. And then writing would be in my free time. Now, thankfully, my free time is spent with my family, playing tennis, jazzercising, gardening or reading.

6.What are you working on right now?
I just finished writing an online read story for Steeple Hill titled KEY WITNESS, about a murder, a beautiful witness and the homicide detective assigned to the case. The story will run from August 18th to September 14th.

I’m also finishing up on a book titled HER LAST CHANCE, book 6 of the Without A Trace Continuity series from Steeple Hill Love Inspired Suspense. This series is set in a gothic like town in Louisiana and revolves around a missing woman as well as several murders. My book tells the missing woman’s story and wraps up the murders. I get to reveal who the villain is. Very fun.

7.Do you put yourself into your books/characters?
I think there’s always a little bit of me in my characters. Though my second book A Sheltering Love, a 2005 release by Steeple Hill Love Inspired Romance, has more of me in the heroine than most of the others.

8.Tell us about the book you have out right now.
My July release DOUBLE JEOPARDY is the second book in the McClain’s series and is set in Boston where the four McClain siblings grew up. The eldest brother Patrick, a stoic college professor, falls for a woman with as many secrets as bad guys trying to kill her. Anne Jones witnessed a brutal murder and agreed to testify. She is give a new name, a new history and is advised not to get attached. But she does—and with good reason. Somehow her identity has been compromised. Someone knows who—and where—she is. Patrick is witness to the scare tactics being used and vows to keep her safe. Yet, she will have to disappear all over again, lest she put both their lives in jeopardy…

9.Do you have any advice for other writers?
Never give up. Perseverance is key to success. Protect your writing and your voice. Always be teachable and never stop learning.

10.How important is faith in your books?
My characters act out of their faith. For me the inspirational element is part of the character development rather than a plot element, so without faith, my characters would be one dimensional.

11.What themes do you like to write about?
I find myself writing recurring issues of control—humans vs God, and forgiveness. I think because these are two areas that are universal and most people can relate to. And they are issues that I struggle with.

12.What is your favorite book you’ve written and why?
I had the most fun writing BELOVED ENEMY, book 3 of The Secrets of Stoneley continuity series for Steeple Hill Love Inspired Suspense, March 2007. This book was a play on Romeo and Juliet with a family secret, a murder and family feud. It was great fun sprinkling in some of the old bard’s quotes as my heroine and her five sisters were all fans of Shakespeare. Plus, I had a secondary romantic plot that was also fun to weave through the book.

13.What is your writing schedule like?
I write most days, except on the weekends, for at least six hours, sometimes more depending on where I am in the process of the book.

14.For Love Inspired you write for both the regular line and the suspense line. Which one do you like to do the most and why?
I would have to say the suspense because I like the action and detail of suspense. Plus, it is what I gravitate towards as a reader.