BOOK CLUB FRIDAY--GUEST AUTHOR NIKE N. CHILLEMI

Author Nike N. Chillemi writes detective stories with a clandestine twist, murder mysteries, and young adult romantic suspense. Today she sits down for an interview. Learn more about Nike and her books at her website. 

When did you realize you wanted to write novels?

About six years ago, after a run of reading one Michael Connelly, Robert Crais, and Lee Child novel after another, I thought, writing this stuff could be fun. Of the three authors, my voice most resembles that of Robert Crais, only because my contemporary stories have a lot of wry humor, not to mention, quirky characters.

How long did it take you to realize your dream of publication?

One and a half years.

Are you traditionally published, indie published, or a hybrid author?

My first four historical murder mystery novels (of the post WWII era) were published by Desert Breeze both in ebook and paperback. They're now out of print and the rights have reverted back to me. I plan to republish. After writing those, I went indie publishing under my own publishing company, Crime Fictionista Press.

Where do you write?

At home, in my guest room/office.

Is silence golden, or do you need music to write by? What kind?

Silence is golden.

How much of your plots and characters are drawn from real life? From your life in particular?

Not much is drawn from my own life. I'm constantly making up scenarios…some pretty good, some awful. I write ideas down on any scrap of paper available and later I enter them into a computer file. I do interject into a story a bit from my life, or something I have observed where it will work.

Real settings or fictional towns?

Always a fictional town. Years ago, I read a murder mystery set in NYC in which the heroine hopped onto a city bus on Fifth Avenue and went uptown. Well, Fifth Avenue is one-way, downtown. So, it's impossible the bus could've gone uptown. That ruined the story for me and I've never forgotten it.

What’s the quirkiest quirk one of your characters has?

Ronnie, the heroine in my Veronica "Ronnie" Ingels/Dawson Hughes trilogy has a hair temper and a quirky sense of humor.

If you could have written any book (one that someone else has already written,) which one would it be? Why?

The Last Detective by Robert Crais. It has the best Vietnam War flash-back  I've ever read. I could not have written it.

What’s your biggest pet peeve?

Whiny, helpless heroines, unless they're really funny.

You’re stranded on a deserted island. What are your three must-haves? 
My Bible, Pierce Brosnan, and a fully equipped RV camper.

What’s the best book you’ve ever read?

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

Ocean or mountains?

Mostly ocean, but mountains are good, too.

City girl/guy or country girl/guy?

Either. I live in the best of both, Jacksonville. It has downtown and within its borders, pure country where the oak trees are heavy with Spanish moss.

What’s on the horizon for you?

I want to finish the YA romantic suspense I'm working on, That Special One. Then there's another detective trilogy with a clandestine spin in the works.

Harmful Intent

Betrayal runs in private investigator Veronica "Ronnie" Ingels' family. So, why is she surprised when her husband of one year cheats on her? The real shock is his murder, with the local lawman pegging her as the prime suspect.

Ronnie Ingels is a Brooklyn bred private investigator who travels to west Texas, where her cheating husband is murdered. As she hunts the killer to clear her name, she becomes the hunted.

Deputy Sergeant Dawson Hughes, a former Army Ranger, is a man folks want on their side. Only he's not so sure at first, he's on the meddling New York PI's side. As the evidence points away from her, he realizes the more she butts in, the more danger she attracts to herself.

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