Deep Freeze (West Coast 1)

I’ve heard a rumor that your editor would like you to perhaps revisit the characters in Deep Freeze. It would be a few years later, and one of Jenna’s daughters, either Cassie or Allie, would be an actress dealing with her own obsessed fan. Any truth to the rumor?

My editor and I have dozens of ideas that we’ve discussed over the years, and this is a very viable one. With me, sometimes it takes years for a story to develop, as in the case of You Don’t Want to Know; other times, as in the case of Deep Freeze, it’s just a suggestion (in this case, my editor wanted a killer who killed only in the winter—that was his whole concept, and it blossomed into one of my favorite books fairly quickly). So, yes, there’s a possibility that we’ll see Cassie’s or Allie’s story (maybe both?) someday!

I also heard that your editor would like you to take that actress character and cross her over with the characters you created in your Rick Bentz/Reuben Montoya series. She would be involved in New Orleans making a movie based on Father John, the serial killer who appeared in Bentz and Montoya’s first case in Hot Blooded.

Well, my editor does have an imagination, and this is a great idea, I think. The Bentz/Montoya characters are popular, and my readers seem to want more of them, so it’s worth exploring. Again, I don’t have the entire story plotted in my head yet, but it’s definitely a possibility!

Now, as your readers know, Father John’s body was never found, so could he be the stalker? After all, he was stalking your heroine, Samantha Leeds, in Hot Blooded, so he does have a pattern!

We won’t know if he’s the stalker until I actually write the book, and even if I did know, I wouldn’t tell or it would ruin the story, but I will tell you this: Father John comes into play not only in Hot Blooded but in Devious as well. He’s one of the villains I have trou ble forgetting!

Speaking of actresses, who are some of your favorites?

Uh-oh. Here we go. I hate to admit it, but I can’t keep up with all the new faces. I do love Julianna Margulies and Archie Panjabi, of The Good Wife, and Meryl Streep is hard to beat. Jennifer Lawrence did a great job in The Hunger Games, and OMG—Claire Danes is fascinating in Homeland! Of course I’m in love with the entire casts of Downton Abbey and Game of Thrones, but when I was writing Deep Freeze, I have to admit, Demi Moore came to mind.

How do you come up with your ideas? What inspires you? Do you brainstorm with your editor? Other writers? How much input do you ask from your sister, Nancy Bush, who’s also a New York Times bestselling author?

All of the above! Each book is different. Of course Nancy and I brainstormed all the way to Seattle via car for our “Wicked” series. We were so caught up in the story line that we actually drove to the wrong spot! My editor, John Scognamiglio, is responsible for many of my story ideas; for example, he came up with the basic killer in Deep Freeze, and the plotline similarities to a famous true crime for Tell Me. Sometimes the idea comes to me from something I read, or heard or saw or dreamt. The idea for You Don’t Want to Know started out as an exercise at a writer’s workshop I attended five or seven years before I actually wrote the book. It varies, just as the stories do.

Have you ever started working on a novel and after you’ve gotten into it decided that the idea just wasn’t working and abandoned it?

Many times. I have a whole file of misspent ideas that I think didn’t germinate for a variety of reasons, one of which being it just wasn’t the time for the book. In the case of Devious, my editor came up with the basic idea years before, but it didn’t click with me and all of a sudden one day, I thought, Hey! I know how I can make that work, and I did. I always work off of a synopsis, though, so I don’t invest months and months into a dead project. If the story doesn’t work, I know it during the plotting stage, so I haven’t written pages that have to be trashed!

Which do you enjoy writing more: stand-alone novels or books that are linked?

Oooh. Tough question. I love going back to characters I enjoy. I can’t imagine not writing another Montoya/Bentz story set in New Orleans or not revisiting my favorite characters in Grizzly Falls, Montana, in the “To Die” series, but it’s difficult keeping all of them straight, and sometimes their story has been told, so the well is dry, at least for a while. I love the novelty of stand-alones, and the characters are new, so there’s more freedom with their backstories, but because I haven’t written about them before, it takes awhile to “get to know” the characters.

Is it easier to write a book that’s part of a series, or is it harder?

I think this harkens back to the previous question. Some - times it’s either way. It varies. I never know which book is going to be a dream to write and which will be a nightmare. Oftentimes, though, I believe it’s what’s going on in my personal life. If my own life is full of life-changing scenarios, it’s more difficult to concentrate on my characters where, when my life is even-keeled (boring?), it’s easier to get deep into the characters in my book.