My Blog Tour Post for "Agent In Old Lace"

I have mentioned before how much I love being asked to be part of a blog tour for a new book. This time author, Tristi Pinkston, asked me to join the blog tour for her new book, "Agent in Old Lace". Not only was it exciting because I would get to read a great book, but I would also get to associate with Tristi.



Let me tell you a little about "Agent in Old Lace":

Shannon Tanner s perfect life is turned on end when she discovers her boyfriend, Mark, is not what he seems. Fearing for her safety, she enlists the FBI, who puts its best man on the job Rick Holden, who dons a dress and goes undercover as Shannon s roommate. For a while it seems that life is safe again, until Mark kidnaps Shannon s best friend. Shannon realizes the only way to save her friend and herself is to send Rick, her only protection, away. Agent in Old Lace is a thrilling combination of action, suspense, and romance that will keep you turning the pages until the end.

I thought the blurb from the book described the plot line perfectly. I have to add it is true that you do keep turning the pages quickly and can't stop. This book is so well written. You get so involved, you forget you are reading a story. The characters are also very believable. So many times, authors make their characters so perfect that the normal reader can not relate to them. Not the case here and you even care very deeply about them. That is always the clincher for me when an author truly makes me care about their characters. This holds true whether I am reading a romance, mystery or fantasy book.

Now on to my interview with Tristi Pinkston.

1.Why do you write?

Writing fills a need for me that I can't seem to fill any other way. I
need time to just be myself and to recharge, and that's what writing does
for me. It reboots my brain and gives me strength for all my other
challenges. Plus, it keeps the voices in my head from getting too loud.



2.How long have you wanted to be a writer?

I don't remember a time in my whole life when I didn't want to be a writer.
I did go through that ballerina phase all little girls seem to go through,
but deep down, it was writing that really did it for me.



3.When do you find the time to write?


Time isn't found - it's carved out, usually with fingernails and teeth. I
write a little bit here and there throughout the day, but I do the bulk of
my writing between 9 and 12 at night, sometimes later, depending on how
long it takes to get the children to bed. I'm sleep-deprived almost all
the time, but you've gotta make room for the things that are important to
you, and for me, it's not a sacrifice when I'm doing something I love to
do.


4.Tell us how you came up with the idea to write "Agent in Old Lace"?

This book went through so many metamorphoses, it doesn't look anything like
how it started out. I got the idea from watching a news story about some
hikers who were lost on a mountain and how they used landmarks to find
their way back down. Then I got to thinking, what if you were on a
mountain in an unfamiliar place? How would you use landmarks if you didn't
know what the landmarks were? It just sort of went from there, but after
so much rewriting, those original elements got buried along the way. The
rest just sort of ... came.


5.How was your experience different writing a mystery?
Do you have plans to write more mysteries?
You did a wonderful job!

It was very different to write a mystery. There was so little research
involved compared to my historical novels. I did talk to a nurse for
medical information and so forth, but most of my time was spent writing and
revising, rather than researching. It allowed me to explore different
facets of myself and to concentrate a little more on the craft of writing.

I do plan to write more mysteries - in fact, I have a new mystery series
starting this fall, and I'm really excited about it. It's called "Secret
Sisters," and I think you're really going to love it.



6.I really liked your main character Shannon Tanner.
She was gutsy, but also had a vulnerable side.
I could relate to this character quite a bit.
Is she a lot like you?


Shannon is very different from me. She's a lot stronger, emotionally, than
I am. She's single, a returned missionary, knowledgeable about math and
money, a career woman, she's skinny. I've been married since I was
nineteen, I have four children, never served a mission (although I'm
currently filling a part-time service mission for the Church) I'm clueless
when it comes to math - and as far as the skinny goes, we'll just say, I'm
not. But there are a lot of traits Shannon has that I would like to
develop within myself. I think the main thing Shannon and I do have in
common are frequent headaches, but mine are diet-related. Shannon doesn't
know what causes hers.



7.There is a lot of humor in "Agent in Old Lace".
I know that you are a very humorous person.
Was this an easy aspect to write in the story?
You had many funny things happen to agent Rick Holden.


The humor is by far my favorite part of the story and the easiest to write.
Once I opened up those floodgates, it just came pouring out.



8.The thing I liked most about your new novel,
is that the storyline was very unpredictable.
You had your readers guessing throughout most of the
story.
How did you master this technique so well?


I've read a lot of mysteries. In fact, cozy mysteries are one of my
favorite things to read. They're always full of red herrings, the truth is
always hidden away behind logical explanations, and just when you think
you've solved the crime, something pops up to stop you. I just
incorporated those principles into writing the book. It was a lot of fun.

Some of my readers have said they figured it out toward the beginning, but
that's okay. This isn't a traditional mystery where the author has failed
if the reader guesses too soon - this is a character-based story where you
go along with the characters for the ride and watch them figure it out for
themselves.



9.Are you planning on writing a sequel to "Agent in Old Lace"?
I think most people would love to see more of Shannon and Rick.


I have a plot idea kicking around in my head, but I'm not sure if I am or
am not going to use it for Rick and Shannon. I had planned to make "Agent
in Old Lace" a stand-alone and to give this plot to different characters.
I think the jury is out on that one.



10.What is your advice for aspiring writers?

Sit down and write instead of just talking about doing it, banish those
little negative voices in the back of your head, learn from criticism but
don't internalize it, and don't give up.



11.Are you excited about being in charge of next year's
LDS Storymakers Conference?
Could you share with us anything different or
unique that you are planning for the conference?

I am very excited. When we first started the conference in 2004, I was in
charge then as well, and it's amazing to me to think of the growth we've
experienced since then. Every year is bigger, better, more exciting, more
informative, and I look forward to the conferences like nothing else all
year long. We have seen a lot of our participants go on to be published,
and it's so cool to cheer them on.

As far as different and unique, the very nature of our conference is
different from all others out there. We focus on interpersonal
relationships and a genuine desire to see our participants succeed. We
don't have an attitude of competition - we want everyone to achieve their
goals and we're willing to help them in any way we can.

This next year, we will be offering even more classes, some for the very
beginning beginners and some for the way more advanced. We've got some
really great guest speakers coming in (I'm not spilling any beans yet, just
in case we have to adjust things) but I can tell you that the conference
is on April 23rd and 24th at the Provo Marriott. Registration will be live
at http://www.ldstorymakers.com by December 1st, and you will want to
register a room at that time if you want one. We must get our reservations
in early because it's also BYU graduation. Instructions for all that will
be on the Storymaker site.


12.One last question...is there a dream book that
you hope to write some day or have you already written it?

I've already written the book I think I was made an author to write. It's
called "Season of Sacrifice" and it's the true story of my
great-great-grandfather who engineered the passage through the Hole in the
Rock in southern Utah. If I never wrote another thing, I feel I would have
fulfilled my role with that book.

However, I am still writing and still loving it. I have so many ideas for
books, there's no way I'll ever have time to write all of them. But I'm
good with that.



Thank you Tristi for letting me be part of your blog tour.
I really loved reading "Agent in Old Lace".
I think that you are a fantastic writer!!


Aw, thank you! I appreciate that a lot. Thank you for hosting me!

Tristi


That is about it! Please let me know if you have read "Agent in Old Lace" an what you thought about it!

I also want to remind everyone about the contest going on right now at my blog. You can win a copy of Annette Lyon's new book and the details are listed down below on the previous blog entry. The contest ends on Sunday, June 14th, 2009. Thank you to all who have already entered the drawing and signed up to follow my blog.