All things Romantic Suspense - Rachel Brimble

Hey everyone! Today Rachel Brimble stops by to talk about Reluctant Witness!

1. Howdy! Please introduce yourself, tell us an interesting fact about you, and if you were an animal, what would it be?

Hi, my name is Rachel Brimble and I am a romance writer who writes across the genre from contemporary romance to historical to comedy. Interesting fact – I was rescued by helicopter from the French floods last year. If I was an animal, I would be a squirrel. Always rushing around and always busy, busy, busy!

2. Tell us a bit about your book--something you wouldn't find in the blurb.

The heroine’s conflict keeping her from being the hero was inspired by a real life killing of a student by an overzealous cop.

3. What was your inspiration for this story?

LOL! See question 2 – although the story itself was inspired by another news story where an elderly man was killed in a close-knit community. It made me think what a ripple effect his death would have on people and I wanted to explore that.

4. Do you consider yourself a plotter or a pantser?

I used to be a plotter but for the last two books, I am becoming more of a combination. I write a synopsis and character sheets and then basically write a ‘dirty’ draft without stopping. The hard work comes in the revision…

5. When diving into a new work, how much research do you do and how do you go about doing it?

I tend to research, as and when I need to – when I write my contemporaries, my research is very much based in my own experiences. For my historicals, things get a little more complicated and required a lot of hours reading!

6. If you could be one character from your book, who would it be and why?

Julia (the heroine) – she is feisty and independent yet kind and loving. Most of all, she gets to kiss Daniel, who is absolutely delicious!

7. And if you had to be stuck in an elevator for 42 hours with one of your characters…?

Daniel – see question 6 ; )

8. What was the hardest part of writing this book?

The plotting – as it is with each book I write. I do not find plotting easy and often go back and rewrite a lot of the books in the second and third drafts. With romantic suspense, the plotting is even more intense and can become very complex. I use a lot of charts and post-it notes!

9. Why romantic suspense? Do you write any other subgenres of romance?

Romantic suspense is my favourite genre to read so became the first books I wrote – however, since then I have moved on to write contemporary, Victorian historical and comedy. I love them all but do intend to write another romantic suspense after the straight contemporary I am writing right now.

10. What books have most influenced your writing or your outlook on life in general?

All of Jodi Picoult’s books influenced my writing and outlook on life – I think she is a master at making the reader think about moral dilemmas. Even though I don’t write those types of books, I do like making my readers think about what they would do in the heroine’s or hero’s situation.

11. Quick! The Departed, Shutter Island, or Inception?

Eek, The Departed!

12. Anything I didn't ask you about that you want to shout out to the world?

Please come visit me at my website, blog and Twitter sites – I have author guests on my blog every Tuesday and Thursday with lots of opportunity to win free books. Come by and say hi!

Reluctant Witness - Blurb

Professional singer Julia Kershaw is leaving town and moving on with her life. She desperately needs an escape from her mother’s grief over the loss of Julia’s brother – shot and killed by an overzealous cop – and an ex-boyfriend who refuses to accept it’s over.

But when she becomes the sole witness to the murder of a man she has known all her life, how can she leave without helping to find his killer? But how can she work with a cop after everything the police have put her family through?

When Detective Inspector Daniel Conway is removed from the city chaos he thrives on, and sent to a sleepy seaside town, the last thing he expects is a murder case. With an impeccable record that he intends to keep that way, for both personal and professional reasons, he refuses to allow his very beautiful, sexy – and secretive to walk away from the case. Or him.

Buy Link:

http://thewildrosepress.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=89_78&products_id=1011