Q & A with Allison Brennan

Books on the House is thrilled to welcome New York Times Bestseller Allison Brennan as our featured author this week.  Allison is giving away 3 copies of Original Sin, and 3 copies of her novella What You Can’t See, the prequel to her Seven Deadly Sins series!   Read her Q&A to find out more about what makes Allison Brennan tick.  And remember to enter for a chance to win a copy of Original Sin or What You Can’t See.  Winners will be announced Sunday evening, February 28th!

BotH:

Allison, we are thrilled you are one of our inaugural authors on Books on the House.  I marvel at your mind and how you craft such complex stories.  Original Sin, our featured book this week, was just released.  Would you tell us a little about this series?  7 books, right?

Allison:

Seven books for seven sins!

I have always been fascinated by the Seven Deadly Sins and what they mean to both society and individuals. We’ve all battled one or more of these vices, and the ideas surrounding envy, lust, wrath, sloth, gluttony, greed and pride are universal. They’re flaws we see in ourselves and others and hope to overcome.

If your conscience was stripped away, and you acted on your worst vice, what might happen?

It was August of 2003 and I had not yet sold a manuscript. I was in the middle of writing my fifth romantic suspense novel (which was my first sale, THE PREY) when I had a flash of a scene that was decidedly not a traditional romantic suspense.

I pictured a terrified teenager running through the woods in the middle of the night by something she couldn’t identify. Dressed in a filmy white gown, now torn and filthy from her flight, she’d seen something so fearsome she couldn’t believe it was real. But it was real because her best friend was dead and something was chasing her. This was Lily, who became a character in Original Sin.

I have always been an avid reader of the supernatural. I distinguish “supernatural” from “paranormal” primarily by the focus of the story. To me, paranormal is more “out there”—while supernatural is more what we call today “urban fantasy.” To me, “supernatural” was Stephen King, Peter Straub, John Saul, and H.P. Lovecraft. Supernatural is the real world with something else. Something more. I need to be able to believe in what I’m writing. Since I believe in the existence of Hell, it was really easy for me to create a real-world scenario where demons are out to gather up human souls with the help of some bad people, and a group of noble, but very flawed, humans want to stop them.

The series focuses on four main protagonists—Moira O’Donnell, a former witch turned demon hunter whose mother is the primary villain; Rafe Cooper, former Seminarian who has secrets of his own; Anthony Zaccardi, a demonologist who despises Moira for her past and things she did, and is in love with Sheriff Skye McPherson, a no-nonsense cop who balances her responsibilities to the people of Santa Louisa County with her knew found knowledge of inhuman evil.

BotH:

You’ve been writing for a fairly short period of time, yet you have accomplished so much!  13 novels so far.  How do you balance the grueling writing schedule you must have with being a mom?

Allison:

I’m no different than any other working mom out there—I work and I have kids. We all find a way to make it work. I do love my job—there’s nothing I would rather be doing than writing, other than being with my kids. Writing is part of what makes me happy—it’s fulfilling and satisfying. So many working mothers feel guilty spending time for themselves because they work and they know their kids need them. It helps having my work be part of what makes me happy.

I balancing my day by making writing time sacred—I write when the kids are at school. Sure, I can take off now and then for an occasional field trip, but I don’t volunteer for every field trip and I don’t volunteer to do things that I know will eat up too much of my writing time. So I write from 10-3 (after dropping the kids off, going to the gym or shopping, then getting home) and then at 3 I pick up the kids. We have sports, shopping, doctors appointments, whatever. Then it’s home, dinner, homework, games, baths, sports events—whatever is on the agenda for that night. Then after the kids go to bed, more often than not, I’m back in my office working. I go to bed between 1 and 2 in the morning, and get up at 7. On the weekends it’s usually sports or family things, but I usually also write at night.

BotH:

Although your books are considered romantic suspense, you’ve really managed to cross gender lines and attract a male audience, too.  In fact, I’ve heard your books described as thrillers rather than romantic suspense.  What is it about your books that’s made them crossover in this way?

Allison:

I wish I knew! I love romantic suspense because I really think that my protagonists deserve a happily ever after, especially after all they’ve gone through. “Thrillers” are more about the pacing and the storyline—something big is at stake. True romantic suspense is as much about the relationship as it is about the suspense. I think I write romantic thrillers because the relationship is secondary and it doesn’t over shadow the suspense plot—the crime, the chase, the stakes—are usually more important to the hero and heroine than their relationship. That they can find love, happiness, and acceptance during the crisis just makes the tragedies easier to handle.

I also tend to focus on forensics and the investigative part of the story a bit more than the relationship. I don’t think that particularly draws in male readers, because I know female readers love forensics too!—but I think it helps the male readers think that they’re not reading “romance” because there’s so much police procedure or investigations going on as part of the story.

BotH:

Is it hard to transition from serial killers to cereal?!

Allison:

Um, no. Does that make me weird?

BotH:

Lol!  I think it makes you special!

Next up in Carnal Sin which releases in June.  When can we expect our next fix?

Allison:

CARNAL SIN will be released on June 22, and I’m working on the copyedits now! The third book of the Seven Deadly Sins series will be out sometime in 2011—the date is still being set. But later this fall, 2010, the first Lucy Kincaid book—tentatively titled NO WAY OUT–will be released. I just put it aside to work on copy edits. This will launch a series with Lucy Kincaid—from my No Evil trilogy—as the main character. I’m really excited to write a series character. Patrick, her brother, will also be a major character. I get more reader mail about Patrick than any other character!

In the first Lucy book, Lucy is lured into a vigilante group targeting sex offenders while she is waiting to hear if she’d been accepted into Quantico. She has two love interests—Sean Rogan, from my FBI trilogy; and Special Agent Noah Armstrong. The second book will be out in 2011.

BotH:

Thanks for being here, Allison!

Allison:

Thank you for having me, Misa! I’m very excited about your new website and as you know, I’m a huge fan of Lola!