Now that I have confessed my penchant towards secret agents, the floodgates
have literally opened up. It seems my desk is overflowing these days with
possible interview candidates whose specialty involves some sort of
international espionage. Truth be told, no one is more thrilled about my recent
admission than my husband. Usually when my shipment of upcoming releases
arrives, he kindly opens the box and leaves them on the counter. Now, I have to
go hunt down the books!
This month’s Jen’s
Jewels epitomizes the best of both worlds…romance and suspense. Who better
to celebrate Valentine’s Day with my readers than New York Times
Bestselling Author Suzanne
Brockmann? Her latest release, DARK OF NIGHT, is the
fourteenth installment in her award-winning series Troubleshooters, Inc.
From secret agents to steamy, hot love scenes, this book has it all.
As part of this interview, Ballantine Books has generously donated five
copies for you, my lucky readers, to win. So, don’t forget to check out the
trivia question at the end of the column. And as always, thanks so much for
making Jen’s Jewels a
part of your reading adventure.
Jen: Being named a New York Times Bestselling Author validates
the superb caliber of writing that is found within the framework of an author’s
novel. Remarkably, the story behind the actual climb can be just as
fascinating. Please tell us a little bit about your journey and what particular
aspect contributed most to your success.
Suzanne: Well, thank you. I appreciate the thought,
although I must acknowledge that quite a few forces well out of a writer's
control (including luck!) play a very important part in achieving success. Yes,
it's true, in my opinion, that reader-generated buzz ("What a great book!")
promotes books better than any publisher-paid ad campaign ever could, and if
the books are easily found, well, then things can happen. But in a genre where
an author's shelf life is a heartbeat and books go out of print in the blink of
an eye, too often the buzz comes too late, readers end up scrambling to find
out-of-print books via e-bay and used book stores.
So the key to my success, I believe, was to always, always deliver my personal
best in each book. Quality and quantity was my war cry in the early part of my
career. My goal was to be ready, should both luck and lightning strike.
Jen: For any author, finding her niche is the crucial part in
establishing a name (or brand) within the industry. For my readers who are
unfamiliar with your work, your two award-winning series,
Troubleshooter and Tall, Dark & Dangerous, center on U.S.
Navy Seal teams. What made you choose to focus on operatives as your primary
characters? Do you come from a military background?
Suzanne: My dad served in the Army, but that was long before I was born.
Still, I was always fascinated by the picture of him, in uniform, that was in
my grandparents' house. I was also, from around age eleven, a total WWII
history buff. I read everything I could get my hands on about that war -- from
The Great Escape to dry strategic analyses of battles. It really
resonated with me, and beneath it was a strongly held respect for our country's
servicemen and servicewomen.
So when I was at that just-starting-out phase of my romance writing career,
back in the mid-1990s, I found out about SEALs. The more I read, the more I was
convinced that these guys would make terrific heroes -- and that I would not
only enjoy the research needed to make them come to life, but that I could do
them justice. Everything clicked beautifully.
Jen: Please give us some insight as to the creative process that is
unleashed in the metamorphosis of your books. Do you write one series and then
flip-flop to the other? From conception to completion, approximately how long
does it take to write a novel? Which series is more of a challenge to write and
why?
Suzanne: It's been a long time since I've written a book in the Tall,
Dark & Dangerous series, but back in the day, when I was writing both,
I would go from one to the other. Now my focus is almost completely on my
Troubleshooter, Inc. series. And, it can take anywhere from four to six
months to write a book. Some come easy; some are like hitting myself in the
head with a hammer. I've written nearly fifty books since June 1992, and I try
very hard to make each book fresh and different and new. That's pretty
challenging.
My methods change over time -- I'm currently writing two books a year, which,
when I write that, provides a pinch of stress. Check back with me in April,
though, when my next book is due on my editor's desk! Only one thing is
certain -- it's never the same.
Jen: Approximately how much research goes into the writing of each book?
What stands out in your mind as the most unusual piece of information you have
uncovered along the way? Did you incorporate it into a storyline? Why or why
not?
Suzanne: Oh, man, this is a hard question to answer. See, I'm always
researching. Every web-surf, every overheard conversation in a restaurant,
every book I read, and every news program I watch on TV...
It's a constant, ongoing process for me.
The piece of research that stands out most for me was something I found
relatively early in my career. This was in the mid-1990s.
Okay, so I knew I was going to be writing about Navy SEALs, and I wanted to
focus on counterterrorism as the external conflict of my books, so I was
surfing the web, finding out all I could about terrorist groups. And I came
upon an Israeli university website, which claimed to have information on every
terrorist group in the world. And I flipped through it briefly and -- because I
liked hard copies of things -- I decided to print it out. Two, three pages,
right? I mean, how long could it be?
An hour later, it's still freaking printing. It was pretty chilling. And it was
in that very overview that I got my first lengthy introduction to Osama bin
Laden and al Qaeda.
I kept that printout for years, and pulled it out when I was plotting The
Defiant Hero, the second book in my Troubleshooters, Inc. series. (This
had to be, oh, late 1999, early 2000.) I needed a terrorist group for this book
and...
I re-read the chapter on al Qaeda, and was once again convinced to not use them
in my book. Instead I created a fictional terrorist group in a fictional
country, and thus Kazbekistan came to be.
Jen: Your latest release, DARK OF NIGHT, is the fourteenth novel in the
Troubleshooter, Inc. series. First of all, for someone who is new to
this series, is the back story available? Is it necessary in order to follow
the storyline?
Suzanne: No, this book absolutely can be read as a stand-alone. But with
that being said, it's got to be better to start at the beginning, don't you
think? As far as DARK OF
NIGHT goes, readers who want to get the full story don't have to start
all the way back at THE
UNSUNG HERO. They can start with FLASHPOINT. That's the
book where the main characters in DARK OF NIGHT are introduced.
Jen: In this installment, Troubleshooters, Inc. is up against
their most formidable opponent…The Agency. Of the central female
characters highlighted in this book, which one, Tess, Sophia, or Tracy, is the
most indispensable to the organization and why?
Suzanne: This is a book about teamwork -- about my belief (and that of
the Navy SEALs) that a team working together is far stronger than any
individual in that team.
You ever watch any of those terrific Discovery programs on BUD/S -- where the
SEAL candidates learn to identify their team's strengths and weaknesses? The
guy who is the strongest swimmer may not excel in the ten mile run, and vice
versa. But if the strong swimmer helps the weak swimmers and the strong runner
helps the weak runners... The team then excels in both areas.
Tess, Sophia and Tracy all have their individual strengths and weaknesses. And
the beauty of working in a team...? Is realizing that sometimes your perceived
weakness can be your true strength.
Jen: The amount of testosterone thrown around by the gregarious male
operatives greatly affects the women with whom they fraternize. What makes
James Nash so irresistible?
Suzanne: I don't think he's irresistible to quite everyone. But yeah --
he's a man with a dark past and some pretty heavy-duty secrets, so that makes
him a favorite of some readers.
Jen: Is Sophia settling for second best? What makes Dave the right man
for her at this time in her life?
Suzanne: Ah, but if I told your readers that, they wouldn't have to read
the book. This is one of the big internal conflicts of DARK OF NIGHT. I
really can't say too much about the book without revealing spoilers. (Talk to
me again several months after the book's release date!)
Jen: What is your favorite scene in this book and why?
Suzanne: Anything with Sam and Jules. I love their friendship, because
their relationship started out so rockily. Jules is a POV character in DARK OF NIGHT, and Sam
plays a major secondary role. So their scenes were fun to write. (And yes,
readers will get to meet Sam and Alyssa's new baby, too.)
Jen: I would think writing many books in the same series would be a
balancing act of sorts in order not to repeat tried and true dialog or themes.
How do you manage to avoid these pitfalls while keeping the storyline so fresh?
Are there a set number of books planned for each series?
Suzanne: I'm a fan of the open-ended series, so no, there's no set
number of books. However I do tend to plot out on-going story arcs in finite
sets.
Take DARK OF
NIGHT, for example. This book brings to an end what I think of as
the "Flashpoint story arc." I introduced a number of new characters in
FLASHPOINT --
Tess, Sophia, Jimmy Nash, Decker, Dave. Tess and Nash were the "hero and
heroine" of that book, according to traditional romance rules. But I knew when
I finished writing that book that they and the other characters would be back
in upcoming books. And indeed they were. They played a part (in varying degrees
of importance) in nearly all of the books since FLASHPOINT. (They
weren't in FORCE OF
NATURE or ALL
THROUGH THE NIGHT, but they were mentioned in both books.)
But now, in DARK OF
NIGHT, all five of those characters are front and center. A lot of
questions are going to be answered.
Jen: What has surprised you most about the publishing business? If you
could turn back the clock and do one thing over in respect to your career, what
would it be and why?
Suzanne: Wow, if I could turn back the clock, I wouldn't waste that
power on changing a career that's been pretty dang good! LOL!
To be honest, there's always something in life that you can do differently.
Steve Axelrod -- my agent. I probably would've signed with Steve much, much
earlier. He's The Man. I love him.
But who's to say that changing the path I took would've made things easier or
better? I'm a control freak, and yeah, I probably made some bad choices along
the way, but they were my choices. I wrote the books I wanted to write (that I
burned to write!) and I still do.
Jen: Now that you have earned your stripes, if you will, and established
your place in the business, what has been the most humbling part of your
journey thus far?
Suzanne: It's always humbling to walk into a bookstore and see just how
many books are available for sale, every single day. Every one of those books
was written with love (and sometimes blood) by its author. It's humbling to
realize that, unlike many of my peers, I earn a good living from the sale of my
books.
And it's humbling, too, to meet my readers. I have the utmost respect for the
people who spend their hard-earned money buying my books, and I love meeting
them face to face. My goal is to give them my personal best with each book that
I write. (With the understanding, of course, that there's no way I can please
all of the people all of the time.)
Jen: Please tell us about your website. Do you participate in author
phone chats? And if so, how would my readers go about scheduling one? Do you
have e-mail notification of upcoming releases? Do you participate in a blog?
Suzanne: Readers can visit my website at www.SuzanneBrockmann.com. From
the start of my career, I built and maintained my own website, and I still do.
This means that although it may be lacking in whistles and bells, the content
there is always written by me.
Aside from my Facebook
page, the closest thing I've got to a blog is my e-newsletter -- again,
maintained and written by me. I send out news about once a month via a
yahoogroups list.
The link to my website e-newsletter signup page is http://www.suzannebrockmann.com/mailing_list.htm. And of
course, readers are welcome to friend me on Facebook!
To be honest, I'm trying to cut back on promotional efforts, in order to do
that two books a year thing. So I'm not currently doing many appearances at RWA chapter conferences,
or signings, or even phone chats. I do, however, have my own internet message
board, and I schedule all day visits with Q&A sessions every three
months or so.
I'll be doing an appearance at the Selby Library in Sarasota on February 11th (in just a week
or so), and I'm planning to attend the RWA conference in Washington, DC this
July. But that's about it for me in 2009.
Jen: Are you currently at work on your next novel? If so, what can you
tell us about it?
Suzanne: The book after DARK OF NIGHT is called HOT PURSUIT. It
features two of my most popular characters, Alyssa Locke and Sam Starrett.
Alyssa's been hunting a serial killer known as "the dentist" for years. In
HOT PURSUIT, he
turns the tables and begins stalking her. It's scheduled for release in July
2009.
Jen: Thank you so much for stopping by to chat with my readers. It has
been an absolute pleasure being able to talk with you. Best of luck in 2009!
Suzanne: Thanks so much! Happy (almost) Valentine's Day!
I hope you have enjoyed my interview with Suzanne. If you need a Valentine’s
Day gift for your significant other, why not stop by your favorite bookstore
and pick up a copy of DARK OF NIGHT today? Better yet, how about winning one
instead? Be one of the five winners.
Name the
title of the sequel to DARK OF NIGHT.
Later this month, I will be bringing to you my interview with advice columnist
Amy Dickinson (Ask
Amy). You won’t want to miss it.
Until next time…Jen
13 comments posted.
Hot Pursuit is the sequel and yes I'd like to be entered in today's contest. February 1 was my birthday and a new Suz book would make an ace gift;)I'm a long time fan and have most of her back list.
(Nancy Bristow 10:42pm February 25, 2009)
I really like reading your books suzanne,going to get dark of night soon. carole
(Carole Fiore-abshire 7:39pm February 26, 2009)