MuseTracks welcomes back the prolific, witty, and intelligent (I’d bet she’s blushes about now) Susanne Matthews. She has a new release, a romantic suspense, IN PLAIN SIGHT coming August 12, 2013 from Crimson Romance. To celebrate, she giving away an e-book copy to one lucky person who leaves a comment. Please welcome, Susanne.
How Can You Do That?
I’ve sold five books to date—five books that I’ve written in the past twelve month period, and I have four others on the go. People keep asking “how can you do that?” Frankly, if you’d told me at this time last year that I’d do what I’ve done, I’d have said never! Not in a million years! In the words of James Bond, “Never say never.”
Why should it seem so surprising to me that I’ve managed this incredible feat? The ideas have been in my head for years, and I’m finally getting them down on paper. The truth is I spend between ten and twelve hours a day, six days a week, at the computer working on my craft, and I enjoy every single minute of it. It’s my full-time job, and if the dust bunnies threaten to take over the house, then, maybe I’ll take a day off to clean. Writing consumes me, but I haven’t neglected any of my other responsibilities—dinner might be late, but you’ll still get to eat.
When I sit at the computer to start my day, I enter a new world, one where the entire minutia of everyday life no longer exists. It’s a world I’ve created filled with people who are old friends, and whose actions and reactions never cease to amaze me. These people have lives that are as complex as I wish them to be, but in my worlds, good always triumphs over evil, and when I insert that final period, all is well with my world.
So where do the ideas get their start? I’d like to say that all of my ideas are born in my imagination, but the truth is, most of them come out of the everyday world we live in. The news is my first source of inspiration. Since I seem to be settling into the romantic suspense sub-genre, the news is full of interesting crimes. Unsolved arson cases provided the initial idea for my first novel, Fire Angel, and blood feuds and the mob provided the nascent idea for In Plain Sight. An article of psychosomatic illnesses completed the initial theme for that book.
The hardest part of writing each story is making the plot and the characters unique. The reader needs to be transported into a believable story, one where the characters are instantly attracted to one another, but have to surmount personal and external obstacles to get to the happy ending. Research is exhaustive so that the reading experience isn’t contrived. If I want a building to burn in such a way that no one immediately suspects arson, then I have to find a way to make that happen. I had people ask me if Alexis and Jake, the characters in Fire Angel, would appear in another book. I toyed with the idea, and I’m pleased to say, they have a cameo appearance in In Plain Sight, that is crucial to the unraveling of the plot. Sometimes, you just need an expert to help you along the way.
About In Plain Sight
In life, you pay a price for everything you do. Widowed, her dream of starring on Broadway in ashes at her feet, Misty Starr yearns for a happy, healthy, normal life for herself and her four-year-old daughter, Debbie. Settled in Pine Falls, NY, a sleepy little town filled with friendly people, she believes she’s found it and feels safe enough to sing in an amateur theater revival of Jesus Christ Superstar. She’ll do anything to keep this life even if it is built on lies, because revealing her secret is impossible. When Nick Anthony joins the cast as music director, Misty is attracted to the man who stirs up feelings she thought long dead, but can love grow on a bed of deceit?
A former concert pianist and secret CIA courier, Nick lives in darkness ever since the accident that killed his wife. The doctors say there’s nothing wrong with his vision, so why can’t he see? Hiding from his former life, he reluctantly agrees to help with the musical and is drawn to the young singer with the voice of an angel. When a mysterious fire destroys her home, Nick vows to keep her and her daughter safe. After one suspicious event leads to another, Nick is determined to protect them from an unknown assassin, but in order to do that, he needs to know her secrets. With his money and connections, he’ll do whatever it takes to save the woman he loves, but does she love him enough to reveal the truth?
About the Author
Susanne Matthews grew up as an avid reader of all types of books, but always with a penchant for happily ever after romances. In her imagination, she travelled to foreign lands, past and present, and soared into the future. Today, she has made her dreams come true. A retired educator, she now gets to spend her time writing, so she can share her adventures with her readers. She loves the ins and outs of romance, and the complex journey it takes to get from the first word to the last period of a novel. As she writes, her characters take on a life of their own, and she shares their fears and agonies on the road to self-discovery and love.
Susanne lives in Cornwall, Ontario with her husband. She has three adult children and five grandchildren. When she isn’t writing, she enjoys reading, chatting on the Internet with her writer friends, and hearing from her readers. You can learn more about Susanne and buy the e-book at http://www.mhsusannematthews.ca
Don’t forget to leave a comment. You could win a digital copy of IN PLAIN SIGHT.
