Today we have Ryshia Kennie visiting with us. I’ve asked her a whole bunch of probing questions, which she has graciously answered. So, let me introduce you to her book, and then introduce her with the interview.

Please add to the conversation and make her visit here fun but asking Ryshia any questions you have or answering any questions she asks during the course of her visit. Someone who comments at THIS stop will win an ebook copy of From the Dust, a historical romance set in Depression Era Saskatchewan. Another winner will be chosen from all the comments on all the stops and this winner will receive  an autographed copy of From the Dust, a book unique bookmark, and a Region 1 DVD of East of Borneo, a 1931 B&W movie. You need to leave a comment to win so let the chatting begin!

 

Fatal Intent 
By Ryshia Kennie

An expedition into the Borneo rain forest is a once-in-a-lifetime chance for entomologist Garrett Cole. It’s this trip that could finally make her a star in her field. But when her team’s guide is found dead and headless on the banks of the river, Garrett’s dream trek suddenly becomes a nightmare. Lost in the heart of the jungle, she must fight to maintain her composure while leading a panicked team of scientists to safety.

When sexy and rugged Aidan arrives in the jungle looking as if he belongs, Garrett has no choice but to accept his help. But Aidan is more than she bargained for—a man of few words and fewer answers, as comfortable in the jungle as the mysterious native tribesmen. And as the days pass and passion flares between them, Garrett wonders if Aiden’s good intentions are just another of the jungle’s illusions.

In a land rife with predators and a killer still on the loose, can she trust the one man who claims to be their rescuer?

Laurie’s Interview With Ryshia Kennie

Let’s Start With Some Serious Questions First:

 

Q: Please tell us a bit about yourself – when did you first know you wanted to write – what was your journey to publication like – do you have a spouse or significant other – kids? Pets? Where in the world do you live? Where did you grow up? What real life events and experiences fuel your writing?

I live and grew up in Regina, Saskatchewan which is a sparsely populated province in the middle of the country. I live here with my husband and one mischievous golden-aged Irish Terrier who proved only last night when he stole my sock and hid with it – that age is really just a number.  Despite living in Regina all my life I have done my share of traveling.  The winters are long and cold here, and I have itchy feet and love to travel.  It’s those journeys that inspire many settings for my romantic suspense stories.

I always wanted to be a writer.  The only thing I didn’t know was how or when I was going to get published and if I could make a career of it.  So I went for plan B.  A brief interest in medicine led to nursing training where I discovered that other than textbook medicine, the only thing I was truly interested in was surgery – watching that is.  In fact the few surgeries I attended, my interest was so apparent that at one point I had a surgeon have a stool brought in so I could peer over his shoulder while he performed abdominal surgery. It was fascinating but medicine wasn’t for me.  I suspect even then that I was just collecting research for future stories.  After that my education veered to administration and a government career that allowed me to write in the evenings and build my writing toolbox.

My journey to publication didn’t follow the normal advise.  I didn’t stuff my first book in a drawer after one too many rejections.  Instead, many of those rejections provided valuable advise that I used to revise.  When the book was requested by a Harlequin line that had just opened I was over the moon until it was later rejected.  When the yes finally came it came in a double whammy in one day, as a yes from one publisher and a maybe if you revise from another.

Now it’s three published books later and a fourth poised for publication this summer.

 

Q: To tell or not to tell – do you tell people what you write? Do your close friends and family members read your books? What have some of their reactions been?

I don’t hide what I write.  What would be the point unless I was writing it just for myself?  I don’t think my close friends or family were ever surprised by the fact that I became a published author for I’d always been a writer heading for that outcome.  They all  knew and believed, more than me, that it was going to happen one day.  Every time I publish a book they are all very supportive, spreading the word and buying the book.  Although, when I published my first book my mom told me that it was a lovely story but could I eliminate the sex next time.  As a note to that – From the Dust was a sweet historic with really only one sex scene in the entire story.

Q: What really makes you tick as a writer? What drives you? What inspires you?

I’m inspired by so many things – a newscast of some craziness that has occurred in the world will trigger that what if?  A look or a touch between two strangers on the bus will have me considering other relationships and new stories.  A tragedy whether near or far reminds me of how similar we are despite how different we think we are – and I want to write that, to tell that in a different way, in another story.  Sometimes it’s just as simple as the feel and smell of a warm summer day bringing back a memory.  And often the inspiration of the story only becomes one line in the book and the story evolves into something completely different, in fact that’s often the case.

Q: Please tell us a bit about Fatal Intent.

Fatal Intent is a murder-mystery tangled in a romance.  When Garrett Cole sets off in a career setting moment to lead a team of entomologists into the Borneo jungle, she doesn’t expect to be abandoned and lost mere days later.  But that’s what happens when her guide is discovered headless and she must get her team to safety without even a compass to guide her.

It is then that Aidan makes an appearance.  Adopted into the jungle at an early age, he is a man with a foot in two worlds.  Garrett is forced to trust Aidan for he is the only person who might be able to get them out of the jungle alive.

Aidan is immediately drawn to the feisty, small blonde woman who is obviously in charge of the rag-tag group of men.  He’s also suspicious, the guide’s death screams foul play and he can’t rule out Garrett or her team as primary suspects.  But his method of investigation draws them further into the jungle and as hours lead to days, passion and betrayal become uneasy bed partners.

In a game of wills with two opposing agendas, Garrett and Aidan might find love but can either of them be trusted?

 

Q: Please tell us a bit about the idea behind Fatal Intent. What inspired the story? What part of the story did you get first? How did it build on itself till you had the complete story? What was it about this story versus other ideas that compelled you to write it?

The idea for Fatal Intent came out of a trip to Borneo where I visited an Iban longhouse.  I remember walking up those worn, steep wooden steps from the river and seeing the verandah stretched out with mats and rice drying, the weather beaten old women looking at us almost with distrust or possibly disdain, and the human skull hanging from the rafter.  Now the skull might have been there for the benefit of tourists but I like the explanation our guide offered, that it was the last head hunted over a hundred years ago.  That skull and the longhouse were the seed of the story.

It always seems to be like that for me, one small idea – in this case the skull which led to the possibility of murder which led to the question – what would it be like to be out there, in the jungle and not know how to get out?  And from there Garrett was born, a feisty woman whose personality is in inverse proportion to her small size.  And of course, Aidan – well he just had to be the opposite – a big, gentle kind of guy who just happens to have a fantastic body in minimal attire.

 

Q: Which comes first for you? Characters? Plot? Setting? Conflict?

Setting seems to come first for me almost every time.  I won’t say every time because the next idea could well surprise me.  It’s hard to direct the inspiration for a story – it just happens.

Q: Was there one particular scene that was your favorite in Fatal Intent? Please tell us about that scene. What happens in the scene? Why is it an important scene in the book?

I have many favourite scenes but I suppose the one that really stands out is the one in the beginning chapters where Garrett comes face to face with the human skull in the longhouse.  What the skull means to the tribe and what it means to Garrett are completely different.  Garrett sees the skull as a threat as a sign of something darker and more troubling and I used this reaction to foreshadow the danger to come.  But to the tribe, that skull has no darkness associated to it – in fact it’s presence is exactly the opposite. It is a point where beliefs and cultures converge, and hint at the character conflicts yet to come in the story.

 

Q: What are your boundaries as an author? Are there certain things you won’t write about? Are there certain situations that you will never put your characters in? Are there certain sexual practices that your characters will never indulge in? Why have you adopted these particular boundaries?

How do you answer that question?  While there’s things I don’t agree with as an individual – the characters in a book are, in a way, individuals too.  I don’t put a moral cap on my characters but that said, obviously my subconscious does influence who and what they are to a certain degree.  Where one of my stories may go in the future – well, that will be a surprise I suppose to all of us.

 

Q: Are there any subgenres you absolutely cannot envision writing? Why?

There are subgenres I don’t read and don’t have a lot of interest in.  Does that mean I’ll never read them, that I’ll never write them?  No, I won’t say never because that means I won’t change and not to change is to stagnate.  Change is what makes life exciting so – the doors open on what could happen in the future.

 

Q: Most writers know a lot of things about their characters that never make it into the book. What can you tell us about your characters that didn’t make it into the book?

I think everything you might want to know about Aidan and Garrett made it into the book, not the play by play of their lives but the core of their personality.  As far as what their favourite colour might be or what television program they might watch?  Well, Aidan doesn’t own a television and Garrett’s favourite colour is black because that to her is the colour of nighttime and as a child hearing the crickets at night began her lifelong passion and her eventual career choice.

 

Q: What internal conflicts or character weaknesses did your characters have to overcome in order to reach their happily ever after ending?

Garrett had to overcome her lack of confidence that is masked by her need to control everything around her.  She’s scared to let go, to trust Aidan.  She fears trusting will be taken as a sign of weakness. And she clings to her tough outer shell that hides her doubts that just maybe, she can’t do this.  She has to learn to let go and let Aidan see her strength as well as her insecurity.

Aidan wants to keep everyone safe – he’s a protector, in a way as much as a controller as Garrett.  He has to learn that he can’t protect everyone he loves and nor, as in Garrett’s case, do they necessarily need protection.  Bad things happen and he can’t always prevent them nor can he hide from them.

 

Q: What do you envy about the characters in your book(s)?

In Fatal Intent I envy the fact that they’re in Borneo right now – and I’m suffering through the coldest spring I’ve ever experienced.  There’s still snow on the ground and as I write this, it’s the beginning of May!

 

Q: Angst or humor? Which is your favorite in the books you write? The books you read?

I love humour but it’s tough to write.  I tend to write angst more but I like that too.  As far as what I like – a combination of angst and humour.

 

Q: What aspect of writing do you find the most difficult?

The most difficult part of writing is putting your work out there and remaining quiet while the industry weighs in with their opinions.  Do they love the book?  Will they publish it?  Will they give it a glowing review or…?  Waiting, keeping silent and …imagining what if, is a lot tougher than the what if that starts the story.

 

Q: What kind of writing do you find the most fun?

I love the moment when the inspiration for the story hits and I’m rough drafting ideas.  That’s when everything is exciting and new and, as yet, unknown.

 

Q: What do you know now after writing and publishing a book that you wish you’d known at the outset?

I wish I’d known that writing  the best book I could and getting it published didn’t mean my job was done.  I wish I’d known that not only did I have to find readers but that I’d had a better idea of how,  and that I’d begun all of that at the book’s inception and not at its publication.

It would also have been great that first time out of the gates to know everything I know now about  what makes a strong story but that’s impossible because much of that was learned from experience.

 

Q: What advice, resources, or useful information can you offer aspiring authors who might be reading this interview?

Stop writing in the margins and make a writing schedule, one you follow every day.  And keep learning, read books on writing or take classes.  And then, just write.

 

Q: Which drives your novels more – the plot or the characters?

My novels are more plot driven than character although I keep trying to sway that pendulum.

 

Q: What are your favorite television shows and do any of them impact what you write?

I can’t think of any – I’m not much of a television watcher.

 

Q: What makes  Aidea the ideal hero?

Aidan is the ideal hero because he’s so grounded.  He lives a completely unconventional life and he’s totally at ease with that.  He’s more comfortable in his own skin than any man I’ve met okay, or created.

 

Please Answer These Questions As A Reader:

As a reader I am always curious about the reading habits of the authors I enjoy, so I have a few questions about your reading habits.

Q: As an author, where do you learn about books you might want to read? Do you research the books in depth before you buy them, read an excerpt or do you buy without a great deal of research? 

I buy without a great deal of research.  I love the sample option for e-books and use that often to make a choice.  If it’s an author I love I’ll just buy their latest.  Sometimes I check out a new author’s website to see what else they’ve written – occasionally I’ll read a review or two, and I always read the blurb.

 

Q: When you are learning about a book what five words are most likely to get you to buy the book?

There’s no five words that will get me to buy a book even one by an author I love.  I still have to read the blurb and at a minimum, the opening page.

 

Q: When you are learning about a book what five words will make you decide against the book?

Interestingly enough, here I could be swayed.  Five words that basically said the story was like one I didn’t like or an author I wouldn’t read would have me not buying the book.

 

Q: As a reader are you finding the advent of self-publishing to be a positive or a negative within the industry? Are you finding more good books or are you having to search harder for good books? Please explain your answer. 

I’m having to search harder for good books but there are also more good books out there.  Was that contradictory enough?  There’s pluses and negatives to the ability to so easily publish books in that books are being published that should never see print and on the flip side, books that traditional publishers won’t take a chance on, good stories with unknown authors or odd themes or combinations of many things are getting out there and being offered to readers.  The unfortunate thing in it all is that the marketplace has become very noisy and I fear I’m missing out on a lot of good books.  But that said I’ve also read some books that I would never have the opportunity to read just five years ago – and that can’t be anything but good.  Like all change it will take a while to iron out and evolve.

 

Q: Has the way that you shop for books changed since the rise in the popularity of ebooks? Has how you shop for books been influenced by the rise in self-publishing?

I find myself buying more and more books online as ebooks .  I tend to sample books more than I did before the rise of self-publishing.

 

Q: What are your favorite sub-genres to read? To write?

I’m an eclectic reader.  There isn’t much I won’t read from horror to romance to non-fiction.  As a writer I have focused on romantic suspense and women’s fiction.

 

Q: What are your least favorite sub-genres to read? To write?

I’m not that interested in erotica or in werewolves or vampires.  Of course I thought I wasn’t too interested in westerns and then I picked one up…  So things change.

 

Now for some just for fun:

Q: On Pinterest are you a A.) Hoarder in disguise (you collect images of everything you like) B.) Minimalist (you only collect images that fit in with some project – my next book – a home remodeling project – etc) C.) you’re not on Pinterest.

I lasted on Pinterest for about a week.  I posted travel pictures and book pictures and more travel pictures.  I decided that it was rather like making a postcard collection as a kid.  I suspect I completely missed the point.

 

Q: What’s your favorite holiday and why?

My favourite holiday is Halloween.  I love that belief is completely suspended and all the creepy crawlers can come out of the closet and spook the little kids and big kids.  Although I find, when I dressed up in my “scare you to death” duds and handed out candy, that the toughest audience were some of the younger kids.  I had one little guy go into a five minute argument of why I wasn’t real.

 

Q: Did you read 50 Shades of Grey? Love it? Hate it? Somewhere in between?

I started to read it – never finished it.  I suppose that says it all.

 

Q: What was the last book you read that you really loved – enough that you’d recommend it to someone else?

Trouble Valley – Lee Hoffman, the first western I’ve read in a long time and I finished that old paperback and recommended it right away.  It was such a great diversion from real life.  I’d forgotten the joy of being transported into another world where holsters and spurs and cowboy hats aren’t for show.

Q: What’s your favorite place to read? Do you have a favorite food or beverage you like to eat or drink while reading?

My favourite place to read is on a plane.  Because that means I’m on my way to another world, potentially another story and – a vacation!

Q: If you could go backwards or forwards in time and have dinner with anyone in history who would it be and why?

I’d go backwards and have dinner with my maternal grandfather.  I waffle between paternal and maternal.  But maternal this time because he lived through things that I can only imagine and had memories of incidents in history that I can only read about.

Q: Are you an introvert or an extrovert?

I love people and socializing but I suppose at heart, I’m an introvert.

 

Q: Describe your ideal romantic getaway?

The ideal romantic getaway would be where neither one of us had to do anything in the way of getting ready or getting there – not even pack.  And when we got there again we could lounge on the beach in a perfect climate in a place where the outside world would be quiet with all its silly worries and demands and …

Oh wait  – I think I hear reality calling…

 

Q: You have three magic wishes – what would they be?

Whew – that’s tough.  How to cover everything.  Okay, here goes:

Enough money to do everything I want and never have to think about money again

Good health for everyone I know and care about – now or in the future

A bonus wish to carry around for some time in the future

 

Q: If you were to be stranded on a desert island with one of your characters which character and why?

I’d definitely want to be stranded with Aidan.  For one, he’s hot.  But practically – he knows how to survive in the wilderness.

 

Q: Please share with us your five favorite hang outs on the web – these do not have to be book related. Please share sites other than your own website, blog, Twitter, Facebook, etc.

I’m kind of a blog junkie so I love to hang out on my google homepage where I’ve collected a good number of blog feeds that I’ll read and sometimes comment on.  It’s an eclectic group of blogs from current events to perpetually traveling the globe to creating serenity in your life or…

Goodreads is another place I like to spend time at.  It’s a great place to discover the next good read.

I spend time on Yahoo every morning checking the news although their feed is spotty and I keep telling myself to head to a news feed that’s slightly more serious.

Other than that, there really isn’t any other one place I hang out.  I tend to flit from place to place researching one idea or another whether it’s story related or just an idea I came up with or a current interest .

 

Q: When you’re not writing what other hobbies or interests do you engage in?

I love to read.  I walk every day, roller blade or bike ride occasionally and golf when and where the weather is nice.  I love to travel – am a certified scuba diver but a so-so swimmer, and am a recovering garage sale addict.  I am proud to say that I now add more to garage sales than I take away.  That’s my short list.

 

Q: Is there anything you’ve read about in a romance novel that you’re dying to try?

I’m going to have to leave you guessing on that one.