Interview with Rachelle Christensen, author of "Wrong Number"

I'm currently participating in the blog tour for Rachelle Christensen's romantic suspense novel, Wrong Number, and I'll be doing both a book review (March 17) and an author interview (today).

I have to mention that the thing I love most about blog tours are the author interviews. Oooo, yeah, that part where we talk to the author, learn about their hopes and dreams, and dig up all the dirt!

Wait ... what, Rachelle? No dirt?

Well, okay, that part where we learn all kinds of fun stuff.

Wrong Number is Rachelle's first published novel, and it's a romantic suspense story that will keep you on the edge of your seat. My favorite scene in the book takes place ... well, I won't give that away now, because you can read a smitch about that when I post my book review on March 17.

In the meantime, and without further ado, here's the "dirt" on Rachelle.



A few fun things about Rachelle:

1. She's loves children, cats, and a good backyard game of baseball.
2. As a kid, Rachelle once sprayed air freshener up her brother's nose and her mom had to call poison control.
3. She's a country girl at heart, having grown up in Idaho on a farm.
4. Lastly, (and this will come as no surprise) Rachelle has always dreamed of being a writer.


Interview with Rachelle:

What inspired you to write Wrong Number?
I wanted to enter a chapter into the first chapter contest at LDStorymakers in 2007. I came up with the first chapter of Wrong Number, it won second place, and then I went on to write the rest of the novel.

What books or authors have influenced your writing and what do you like to read?
I like to read a wide variety of books from children to YA to adult. I really like a good romance, but nothing too detailed. And yes, I love romantic suspense. It’s hard to pinpoint a certain author because I go through phases where I’ll gobble up everything I can by an author and then move on. I love Agatha Christie, Shannon Hale, Clair Poulson, Mitch Albom—and many more. A favorite book of mine is Nine Coaches Waiting by Mary Stewart. You can check out my Goodreads list of favorites and repeat-offenders to see more all time favorites.

Do you outline or write by the seat of your pants?
For Wrong Number, I did have a very rough outline that I worked from and I talked through a lot of ideas with my brother and his wife. They helped me to come up with a believable motive for murdering more than one person. I’m actually trying to do better with outlining and I think it has helped with my current writing projects. My outlines aren’t set in stone, more jumping off points for how I want the story to flow. I like to have a general idea of the beginning, middle, and end, but my characters usually end up writing scenes in interesting directions.

What’s coming up?
My nonfiction book, Lost Children: Coping with Miscarriage for Latter-day Saints will be released in May 2010. I’ve also got a few things I’m working on. I’ve finished an inspirational romance that I love, called Wind Song and I’m enjoying writing my WIP-working title Caller ID, so I guess we’ll see what comes up first on the docket.

Do you have any advice for other authors?
If you’re serious about writing, attend writers conferences and classes, join a great critique group, read novels in your genre of interest, and write, write, write! Also, learn how to take criticism and know when to apply it to your writing and when to chuck it out the window.

Where can we find your books?
Anywhere books are sold : Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Borders, etc.
If you're in a bookstore and don’t see it, ask for it and they can order it in.

If you’d like to get a sneak peek at Wrong Number, check out the book trailer—it’s awesome!

Check out my blog to see what I’m up to.

Thanks for stopping by, Rachelle!
Thank you so much for this interview! Happy reading and writing.

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