What’s the Call of the Wilde series about?

 

Short answer:

 

The books follow Grace Wilde, an animal behaviorist who uses her secret telepathic ability to solve crimes. Grace's ability to connect psychically with animals has a down side- she may be fluent in everything from aardvark to zebra but is clueless with people.

At its core, this series is about learning to accept who you are, and the risks that go hand in hand with that.

To realize her potential Grace must embrace the things she fears most. She has to let others close- allow herself to be vulnerable. As you’ll see in the books, Grace is not very good at being vulnerable. 

I throw a lot of challenges her way- and let her sort it out. Poor thing!

 

Longer answer:

 

The books follow Grace Wilde, an animal behaviorist who uses her secret telepathic ability to solve crimes. Grace's ability to connect psychically with animals has a down side- she may be fluent in everything from aardvark to zebra but is clueless with people.

To realize her potential Grace must embrace the things she fears most. She has to let others close- allow herself to be vulnerable. As you’ll see in the books, Grace is not very good at being vulnerable. I throw a lot of challenges her way. In book one, Woof at the Door, Grace’s life becomes complicated when the cops call her to a crime scene to deal with the murder victim’s terrified Doberman.

The pooch turns out to be the only witness to the crime—and only Grace can get the information out of him. The problem is, how can Grace explain to the police that it’s the dog who’s giving her the intel without spilling her big secret or sounding crazy? 

Left on her own, Grace will have to follow the Dobie’s lead to track down the killer. But she’ll have to be careful—or curiosity may end up killing the cat whisperer.

 

 

How long did it take you to complete the book?

 

Over two years for the original version, which was written in the third person perspective. And a year when I decided rewrite the book in first person.

 

 

Why the change?

 

Traditionally, most mysteries are set in first person. My agent had gotten some feedback from publishers that the book would be more successful if it was in first. As fate would have it, I'd just started a new story and though I'd always written in third person, this time it was coming to me in first. I wondered if I could write Woof at the Door in the same perspective. As soon as I started rewriting it, everything clicked. It was a much stronger story. 

 

 

What motivates you to write?

 

Aside from my looming deadline??

I've always had people running around in my head. I'm sure I'd be utterly bonkers if I didn't wrangle them into stories. But other than my mental health, I love entertaining people. It's such a great feeling to know you've made someone laugh.

 

What it's your writing routine?

 

It depends on what I'm doing. If I'm working on plot or brainstorming, I'm usually doing a lot of pacing in circles and talking to myself. (Much to my cat's amusement.)

But a typical writing day starts with a workout in the morning (to counteract all the sitting I'll be doing later). And then it's just write, write and write some more.

 

There are a lot of distractions these days- email, social media sites... how do you stay focused?

 

I live in fear of my editor. 

Just kidding! (my editor is the bomb.)

Actually, staying focused is a huge challenge for me- Squirrel!

What was I saying? Oh yes, focus... I usually turn off all other apps on my computer. So no dinging alerts distract me. And I have talk-to-text word recognition software and a microphone with a really long cord so I can move around and stretch while I work. But it’s still attached so I can’t wander too far.

 

 

Where do you get your ideas?

 

From the Idea Fairy, who bombards me incessantly with concepts.

No, really. I have a zillion story ideas bouncing around my brain. They are everywhere. The grocery store. On the news. You tube videos. Dreams. You name it!

 

What are some of your favorite books?

 

As a kid, I loved Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden and anything with animals. My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George, Black Beauty, and yes, London's Call of the Wild! I liked the mysteries partly because there was a puzzle to solve but I also admired the gutsy-girl heroine. That still appeals to me. Lisa Gardner's books are great. I'm also a fan of Stieg Larsson, Harlan Coben, Lee Child, Stephan King, Kresley Cole is a wonderful author, and I've been a fan of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series forever. Oh, and I'm a huge fan of the Harry Potter books!   

 

 

What would you say is the hardest part of writing a book?

 

The beginning, middle and end.

Okay- not really. Personally, my issue is I vacillate between thinking I'm a genius and feeling like the worst writer in history. (With the tendency to lean toward the latter.) So I'd say the hardest part is figuring out a way to write despite feeling that you're playing way over par. 

And then there's the last few chapters where I have to weave all the threads together to make a coherent conclusion. That’s always a challenge. Denouement- not just hard to spell!

 

Ever had writer’s block? If so, how did you beat it?

 

When you're on a deadline you can't afford to have writer's block. Not for long, anyway. Which doesn’t mean I haven’t suffered from it. My cure for writer's block is to write. Even when I've written myself into a corner. I'll skip ahead to another chapter and just start working blind. That usually shakes something loose. If that doesn't work, I go for a walk. Steven King talks about walking to get "the boys in the basement" (which is his term for his internal muse) to send something up. It's amazing how well this works for me. If I'm stuck in a scene or feel like the story has gone flat but I don't have a clue how to liven things up, I go for a walk and wait for the boys in the basement to shout something loud enough for me to hear.