Interview Carolyn Hinchy-Wertman

by

Mary Jean Kelso

1. Carol, I see you have at least one other novel in publication prior to your May release, with Wings-ePress, Deadly Attraction. It also is an ebook. Has it been released in hard copy and will Deadly Attraction be both ebook and hard copy?

Actually Deadly Attraction is my fourth novel. Escape To Love, Unforgettable Love, and Kidnapped Love are all published through New Concepts Publishing, in e-book format. I am really excited about Wings ePress because it gives me the opportunity to have my work in paper, and on the net. I think this will really give me a chance to shine. I live for the day I can do book signings. My local library, and a couple of book stores in town have both agreed to let me have time to promo the new book when it is out.

2. Is this your first book with Wings?

Yes, this is my first book with Wings. I really did a lot of searching for the right place before signing with Wings. I felt they had my best interest in mind and that this would be a great partnership.

3. Do you have other books in publication? If so, please tell us about them.

Escape To Love is set in 1500s England.

“Trust no one, for there are many willing to take over where she left off…” Escaping the asylum she has been prisoner in for nearly two years, Celine Hollingworth must now face the demons that left her sanity faltering, and torment her sleep in haunting dreams.

“Her blood will stain your hands like a festering wound upon your soul…” Nursing back to the health the woman he tramples on the way to visit his betrothed, Michael Aberdeen finds himself a pawn in the nightmares that haunt her, and with each passing day more consumed by the fires she ignites within him. Together, they delve deep into a world of greed, murder, revenge, and deceit, to find release for a tortured soul, and a love fated to be from the beginning of time…

Unforgettable Love is also set in 1500s England.

“He will bring death to your door. Take the man with no name back to the woods where you found him.” The ominous warning rings in Rachel Summerfield’s ears as she tumbles from the dilapidated hovel of the old woman she seeks for poultices to heal the man’s wounds. Even, when she discovers he has no memory, no name, she finds herself drawn to the mysterious man, left for dead at the edge of the woods.

For Christopher Albright, the young woman who drags him from the shallow grave is an angel, a savior when death is left hungering for him. Yet, he quickly realizes, she is also very human, when James Maxwell, captain of the queen’s guard, threatens her life and home for his sake. Yet, he can recall no reason for his flight, in fact, can recall no hint to his past at all.

Haunted by fragmented dreams and images of murder and betrayal, together they journey from the slums of London to the grandeur of Elizabeth’s palace in an attempt to put together his lost past, and discover a love that is unforgettable…

Kidnapped Love is set in 1830 Pennsylvania.

On a quest to revenge his twin brother's death, Nicholas St. Clair stumbles upon the plot to murder a woman. Determined to save the woman from her fate, he discovers that Catalina McKay is a fiery handful and not easily convinced that the man she's just married means to become a widower on their wedding night.

4. Do you write contemporary romance or mystery?

All four of the ones now published are historical romantic suspense. But I am currently working on a contemporary set in rural Mississippi, entitled The Rattlesnake Master. It is a romantic suspense about a small town sheriff who suddenly finds herself in a game with a serial killer linked to her past.

5. Do you write in other genres?

I have attempted to, but usually go back to romance. It is what I love, what can I say.

6. What genre do you find most comfortable to write in? 

I love the idea of escaping to another time and place, of taking my readers into events and issues that are far from the rat race of today. With the exception of The Rattlesnake Master… and any that might follow on its heels, my hero and heroine rely on each other rather than cell phones, cars, and modern day things.

7. How long have you been writing? Do you work full time or hold a “day job” and write part time?

As far as the writing goes… I don’t have a memory of not writing. My sisters used to make fun of me because I was always talking to myself, making up stories, working them out alone in my room, or when ever the characters took over and refused to be silenced. 

I still work a day job, for alas, I have yet to get that break to stardom… maybe this will be it. (Give me a moment, I am staring off into space imaging…)

8. What is your writing schedule? Do you have set hours and a set place to write?

Okay, before I answer this question, please no one e-mail me with negative comments. I know most writers say it is important to write every day… that is just not me. Sometimes I can’t stand the thought of writing, and don’t touch the computer for several days, or even a month. No, really. But that doesn’t mean I don’t have ideas vying for attention in my head. At any given time there are at least four stories fighting to be heard in my mind. Once they win, look out. I am in a trance, and will not be disturbed! My children can ask me a question half a dozen times before they get me away from an important scene.

9. Who is your favorite modern day author?

Hard question to answer. As I type, there are dozens of books on the shelf in front of me, some I have read, some I have yet to get to. They range from Johanna Lindsey to Dean Koontz. I love to read, and enjoy all types of fiction. But when I am writing it is difficult to find time to read. That comes when I find myself stuck and trying to work out something in my own writing. Then I take a breath, settle down and read, which usually inspires me, and means it might take several weeks to finish a novel I am reading because I return to my work in the middle.

10. What are your writing goals?

Of course like any other writer I would love to be on the best seller list some day. If it doesn’t happen no biggie. I love to write, plain and simple. Even if I did it just for my own enjoyment it would be worth it to me.

11. If Deadly Attraction were picked up by the film industry, who would you see playing your main characters?

Hummm? Scratching my head… Anne Hathaway as Mirinda Caldwell, and perhaps a younger version of Ben Bratt… man I think he is dreamy! Had to look to make sure hubby wasn’t around. HeeHee.

12. What inspired you to write not just Deadly Attractions but your other works as well? Do characters get hold of you and insist on being heard until you simply have to write their story? 

Deadly Attraction stemmed from a dream I had. Actually I split the dream up, and made two stories out of it… Escape To Love and Deadly Attraction. I have a terrible time doing that. I get an idea, for a story, but the more I delve into it, the more I change it and work it out until before I know it, there are two or three separate tales, so I make them all into stories. Once they are in my head, I do not find peace until they are ‘on paper’. That can be really annoying, as the characters become stubborn and selfish if other things are taking up my time.

13. Where do you find ideas for your story line?

That is one of those questions I don’t think any writer can answer. Dreams are a good place, but to be honest, sometimes a scene just begins to take shape in my head, and before I know it I am consumed with it and have to work out a reason for it. I did that the other day, Was typing on the new one, and had this idea for a story that was so far out in left field, it left me scratching my head… I do that a lot… anyway, had to stop working on The Rat, and type out this scene I know will be used in a future story.

14. Do you like to use exotic locations?

I like the idea of my characters having some dilemma to overcome, not necessarily the place itself… in all my novels, there is an element of danger; a secret that drives my characters, and an unforeseen twist that hopefully leaves my readers with their jaws on the floor when they finally get to the end. That is probably the hardest part of my writing. I have to figure out the ‘surprise’ ending before I can even start the story. That is what makes the book worth reading, that ‘holy Toledo, I wasn’t expecting that’ response I get from readers. I love that.

15. Does the setting drive your characters?

Sometimes. In Deadly Attraction the story is set in post-civil war Washington, and the war-ravaged south. The setting was very important to the development of the characters, not to mention a few minor characters I just fell in love with. Yet, in both Escape To Love and Unforgettable Love, I just picked a date in history, researched a few facts about that time, and wove them into the story. But the story would have worked in any time.

16. Do you outline or pit your characters against one another and see what happens?

Of course. I don’t like the stories where there is no conflict between them. I want to see them grow to love one another, not just see each other across a room, and say ‘I am going to marry that guy’.

18. With the status of “published author” how long have you enjoyed this position?

Escape To Love was published about three years ago, Unforgettable Love followed about three months later, and Kidnapped Love about three months after that. They were all written and just waiting to be ‘discovered’. Deadly Attraction took about seven months to write, the longest one thus far. I took about nine months off because we relocated twice in two years, and my writing really suffered for it.

19. What are you working on now?

The Rattlesnake Master, two, as yet untitled historical romances, a possible sequel to The Rattlesnake Master… at any given time there are at least four stories in my head.

20. Can we look forward to a sequel to Deadly Attraction?

I never really thought about a sequel. With the historical ones I write, there is a finality to them that doesn’t leave an opening for more. You know, that happily ever after thing. Don’t ask me why, but from the first words I wrote about The Rattlesnake Master, I knew there would be a continuation… as I said, I have the ending figured out long before the first word is typed.

Thank you for taking the time to talk to us about your latest release with Wings ePress. We wish you success with your already published books and best wishes for many more.

 It was a pleasure. I look forward to becoming a part of the Wings group, and getting to know both the writers and readers.