Right Behind you by Lisa Gardner **Blog Tour Author Interview**

    I'd like to welcome Lisa Gardner to Books, Life and Everything to celebrate her novel, Right Behind You. In this book she revisits the characters, Rainie and Quincy, ex- FBI profilers.  

Welcome to Books, Life and Everything .

1. Would you like to start by telling us when you first started to write?

I argue writing isn’t something you do, but someone you are.  I started my first book at 6, a terrible rip off of The Wizard of Oz complete with flying monkeys.  Then at seventeen, I decided to write a novel.  Basically, I was still young enough not to know any better.  I completed a rough draft—a reformed prostitute who now helps homeless kids witnesses a murder, the handsome police detective must keep her safe.  It was horrible, and yet…  I kept rewriting it, and a mere three years later, I sold it as my first novel!

2. What made you choose to write in the suspense genre?

I love puzzles.  Complex situations that could go either way.  I’m also fascinated by the criminal mind.  What kind of person does such a thing?  And how do you stop them?  Best part of my job is interviewing real law enforcement experts to learn how they would handle my fictional crime.  For Right Behind You, I learned all about fugitive tracking of spree shooters.  It’s incredibly dangerous work, especially given the killer has no intention of being taken alive.

3. I read that you decided to write Right Behind You after a poll on your Facebook page where you asked your readers who they would like to feature in your next book. How easy was it to pick up again with these two? Was it harder than starting completely from scratch?

I’m embarrassed by how hard it was!  I hadn’t written those books in years.  I actually had to go back and re-read my own novels to learn my characters again.  The good news is, given the time lapse, Right Behind You, functions more as a stand-alone.  The whole novel, especially given the urgent situation, basically occurs in 36 hours.  You dive in, learn about a crisis and the group of investigators called together to work it, and then you’re off and running.  The past doesn’t matter, just the next moment of time, before this shooter kills again.

4. Do you ever base any of your characters on people you know - including yourself?

I’m way too boring.  I do run a contest on my website, however, called the Kill a Friend, Maim a Mate Sweepstakes.  Yes, you can nominate the person of your choice to die in my novel.  Right Behind You features two of them, not to mention a very special real-life rescue dog, Molly, who gets to track the fugitive.  So I guess some real people and a dog.  Visit www.LisaGardner.com to check it out.

5. Of all the books you have written, do you have a favourite and can you tell us why?

Right Behind You grew on me.  I started it to explore spree shootings—one of the more famous real life cases being from England.  But in the way writing happens, the two kids, thirteen year old Sharlah and her estranged seventeen year old brother, Telly, grew on me.  They come from violence, addiction, everything awful.  And yet, they just want a family.  They want to grow up and be happy, like the people they see all around them.  By the end, I was writing the book for them.  To help them figure out how to move forward, find their own futures. 

6. Some of your books have been made into films. How much were you involved in that process and was it hard handing over your book to other people to interpret? 

I was involved in TNT’s making of Hide.  My husband and I visited the set and spend a few days during filming.  It was so wild to see my character, Boston Detective D.D. Warren come to life.  I absolutely loved how Carla Gugino captured her attitude!  And it was genuinely scary to see the underground pit, complete with six corpses, built as a set piece.  The set designer was very proud of the baby dolls he’d nailed to the support posts.  Inspired by my vision, he claimed.  I’m not sure I’ve ever been so frightened before!

7. And finally, have you any plans for any further books which you are able to share?

I’m writing the next book now, with a “torn from the headlines” case.  A family has been murdered, their sixteen year old daughter gone missing.  In real life, this situation is 50/50—half the time the teenager was in on it, half the time the family was murdered in the course of her kidnapping.  Do you know the answer?  Because I don’t.  That’s what the writing is all about!

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The Blurb

Thirteen-year-old Sharlah Nash knows that the first time her brother killed eight years ago, he did it to save their lives.

Now retired FBI profiler Pierce Quincy and his wife Rainie Conner have offered Sharlah a new life of safety. She desperately wants to believe this is her shot at happily ever after. 

Then two people are murdered in their local convenience store and Sharlah’s brother is identified as the killer.

 
Telly Ray Nash is on the hunt for Sharlah and as the death count rises it becomes clear that nothing and no one, including Pierce and Rainie, will stop him getting to her.

Now, Sharlah has one chance to take control.

She can run for her life… or turn and face the danger right behind her.

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My Thoughts

    Part of the pleasure in having a blog for me, is being able to ask authors questions about their love of writing. I think it is a real privilege.  You can tell when you read Right Behind You that the author is a very experienced and proficient writer. The quality of her writing just shines through.

     I loved the variety in perspectives that this book gives. Periodically, you are given the first hand thoughts of the brother, Telly Ray Nash. You also hear the thoughts of Sharlah and her foster parents, Rainie and Quincy. Of course, my favourite character has to Sharlah's dog, Luka, who is unerringly faithful and brave to the end.

    I really enjoyed reading this book . I think that it had a lot to say about what it means to be part of a family. The action parts were interesting but what was even more interesting were the dynamics between the family members.

In short: an all- action story which never overshadows the family dynamics which are bubbling below the surface.

                                                                   About the Author

 LISA GARDNER is a New York Times bestselling author. Her FBI Profiler novels include Say Goodbye, Gone, and The Killing Hour.  Her Detective D.D. Warren series includes The Neighbour, which won the International Thriller Writer's Award in 2010, Catch Me and Find Her. Lisa lives with her family in New England. 

Connect with Lisa on her  Website 
and on Twitter



Thanks to Millie Seaward and Headline Publishing Group for a copy of the book and a place on the Blog Tour. 

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