Connie: It’s a pleasure to welcome you back to Once Upon a Romance, Kylie. I’ve been looking forward to visiting with you again. Before we get comfortable and chat, please tell those who are not familiar with you a bit about yourself.

Kylie: I’ve been writing since 1990. Seems like forever ago! When I began, my kids were 4, 4, 7, 11 and 12, so I learned to write in the midst of chaos . Two years later, Silhouette (then Intimate Moments) bought my second manuscript. A few months later, they bought my first manuscript, as well, but that one went through several major surgeries along the way!

I took my time with the first few books, staying away from writing on proposal partly through ignorance and partly because I was afraid deadlines would interfere with spending time with my kids. After the fifth book, the then senior editor of the line demanded that I start writing proposals . I also teach full time so I’ve learned to manage my time.

Connie: You’ve definitely been successful with the romantic suspense for Silhouette. Now you’re three books into a suspense series (Mindhunters-the third of which was released in November ‘09) for Berkley. Would you set the series up for us and tell us what the catalyst for the series was?

Kylie: I love straight suspense and romantic suspense, both in books and movies. I was really interested in writing a more complex suspense plot, still with a satisfying romance, but one that I had the length and freedom to tell the story the way I wanted to.

I’m on a lot of email loops with ex-law enforcement and one thing I heard over and over was that there were no perfect crimes; merely a shortage of time and resources. So I began to wonder what would happen if there were a private agency with plenty of both to assist with high profile crimes. I know a forensic scientist who has a consulting firm who is hired to do just that so I spun the ‘what if’ wheel, and The Mindhunters were born.

Raiker Forensics, aka The Mindhunters, is a private consulting firm that hires out to local law enforcement on particularly puzzling crimes. Led by the legendary ex-FBI profiler Adam Raiker, the firm is staffed with some of the best criminologists in the country, many of them with specific forensic specialties. Each book in the series features a consultant from the firm assisting local law enforcement on brutal crimes in their area.

Connie: That’s a very intriguing "what if", Kylie. That particular "what if" must have been spinning wildly since at times you worked on three books in this series at once. Even though you’re able to compartmentalize things how complicated did it get, if at all, to keep characters, forensics and crimes, and tone of the stories separate without accidentally crossing something over?

Kylie: The tone of the stories are the same, a bit dark, so that wasn’t a problem. I keep my electronic research notes for each book handy, so that didn’t bother me. My biggest source of confusion was forgetting secondary characters’ names from book to book, and having to scroll back in the stories to get them straight again. A more organized person would keep a list….! It would actually be helpful if some of the forensic facts had been the same, to eliminate some of my research. But I’d deliberately made the set up of the books quite different, so that didn’t happen either.

Connie: Different is good. Different keeps the readers coming back as long as your "style" remains the same.

Kylie, one interview quotes you as saying your writing is "gritty, emotional, suspenseful". Some might not be able to leave the grittiness or intense emotions at the keyboard; how does that translate to you, when done writing for the day/evening how are you able to detach yourself from the intense scenes and emotional conflict of the victims as well as the crime-solvers?

Kylie: I usually don’t have a problem detaching myself from the writing. There’s always so much to do, I’m traveling at high speed to get it all done before bedtime. But I will say that the characters tend to stay with me, even when I’ve moved on to another task. I’m always sort of working through future scenes in the back of my mind, even when focused elsewhere.

The exception is when I’m nearing deadline. It’s not unusual in the last week or so of the book to write 100+ pages. I’ll sometimes write thirty or forty a day then. It gets to be a cycle of get up, exercise, write, sleep, get up, repeat. Then I find myself firmly immersed in the plot and don’t even make an attempt to detach. It actually helps the writing if I stay entrenched.

Connie: At least you seem to have found a balance.

You’re a self-proclaimed research junkie. You said earlier that it would have been helpful for some of the forensic facts to have been the same, but that aside, has the research with the Mindhunters series been more widespread than usual, any "on location" research? What type of unique facts and info do you look for and think are crucial when creating stories in the world of forensics/profilers and serial killer/rapists?

Kylie: I’ve always done a lot of research for my books but these are the most intensively researched novels I’ve written. Turns out I don’t know much about lifting latent fingerprints from bones, DNA testing and defleshing skeletal remains! There are tons of books, and of course information is available on the Internet. But the single most important element necessary for accuracy in the stories is the use of experts in the field. No research book can answer every question I have specific to the plot. I rely on contacts I make to give me the details that will lend credibility to my stories. For Waking Nightmare, I owe much to a sergeant on Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department, for answering procedural and descriptive questions. The lab manager at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Coastal Crime Lab was extremely generous about answering my toxicology questions.

When I was researching Waking the Dead, I spent a few days hiking through Oregon’s Willamette Forest and crawling through caves in search of the perfect one to hide seven bodies in . I’d gone through about four before my mind made the association—caves=bats. I hate bats!! But I met a man who’d been a long resident of the town I was placing the book in and he told me about the perfect spot he’d found years ago. I used his details in the book.

Connie: The research process for you continues through the writing of the book; have you ever, with any book (Terms of Attraction, Waking Evil, etc.), had to go back and rewrite/edit a scene because you came across a more vital piece of research?

Kylie: In Waking Nightmare I ran across a new piece of forensic equipment used at crime scenes that I went back and placed in a scene. Sometimes I discover something cool when I’m working on the next book that I set aside and insert in the story when it comes back at line edits stage.

Connie: Very recently I heard a customer in the bookstore say that the deciding factor of buying a book is the first page. If she isn’t grabbed when reading the first page then it’s a no-buy. Do you take any particular steps when writing the first sentence, the first paragraph, the first page to lure in a reader like her?

Kylie: One of the first craft rules writers learn is to start the story with a hook. Our intent is to lure them in, and then make it difficult to set the book down. I happen to love prologues, and I think they can be so effective at setting the tone and the suspense up front. Of course, then we need another hook at the beginning of the first chapter!

Connie: You’ve started your research, you’ve got the hook, what about wit and humor, Kylie? Do you mind your characters displaying a bit here and there, should the scene allow for it, to give some relief to the intenseness of the stories (speaking of the Mindhunter series here), or would you rather keep the tone somber in keeping with the subject matter? Does this differ from your mindset when writing romantic suspense for the Silhouette line?

Kylie: My philosophy on life is to not take myself too seriously . A sense of humor is vital to me. A few of my books for Silhouette were a little lighter in tone than the others, primarily because of the characters in those stories. Personally, I’d find unrelenting darkness in a story too depressing. There have to be lighter moments, and one way to provide them is with a witty character given to making quick and clever quips. I’ll frequently have banter in my books that does two things—gives depth to the characters and lightens the moments.

Connie: You’ve asked the readers to tell you if they like romance with suspense, how dark is too dark, how much should the protagonists suffer on the way to HEA…Let me ask that question of you as a reader and an author.

Kylie: As a reader, I can go pretty dark. I don’t like to read extended scenes of graphic brutality aimed at a character in the story. But it’s important to me that there be hope throughout the story. Whatever the hero/heroine suffer on the way to their HEA, I have to believe they are emotionally healthy enough to have a future together. If we traumatize them too much, the credibility of their HEA is damaged.

But I also don’t want to make things too easy for the characters. The plots are larger than life, and the characters have to be deserving of them. My protagonists are usually dragging around some baggage, and as they grapple with the exterior conflict, they have to untangle their personal issues, as well. I think that’s realistic and we all tend to value things more when we have to work for them. I want to see my characters work for their future together, too.

Connie: Throughout all of your experiences during your writing career, what have you learned about yourself and your writing?

Kylie: LOL. They haven’t all been good lessons . I’ve learned that I’m the queen of procrastination, and no matter how many times I get myself in a deadline bind, I’ll do it again the next time. I’m my own worst critic; I’m rarely satisfied with my work and would edit infinitely if allowed. I have an endless fascination with macabre bits of trivia I pick up in my research that tends to stop dinner conversation dead . And I’m particularly gifted at time management, goal setting and juggling as many balls as I need to in order to get everything done at once.

Connie: Thanks so much for the behind the scenes peek at your writing. I could go on and on learning more about your thought process, but it’s time to move on and ask some (hopefully) fun get-to-know-you questions…

Almost two years ago we adopted a dog. Or I should say she adopted (picked) us. Could you tell me how Lexie became a part of your family?

Kylie: When the kids were small we had a Llasa Apso named Cujo who lived to be seventeen. When she was getting up in years the twins and I would look at different dog breeds on the computer and plan what kind of dog we’d get next. My hubby would repeat over and over that we weren’t getting one but we ignored him . I told the kids I’d always wanted an English Sheepdog but that they were too big. They found the Polish Lowland Sheepdog breed on the Internet and we researched it. The nearest breeder was two states away, so after being promised a black and white puppy from their litter, my son and I drove up to get her. I learned something else about myself in that instance: I can be incredibly frivolous with money when it’s something I really really want!

Connie: But they can be sooo worth it, though, don’t you think?

Kylie, is there a particular author or two from decades or centuries past you’d like to meet? What would you say or ask him/her?

Kylie: Twain is a favorite of mine and I’d love to be able to talk to him and get to know him as a person. Although there was a great deal of humor in his books, he wanted to write a tragedy at some point. I tend to think he had a dark side and I’d love to know what made him tick.

Connie: Hmm, another "what if"…?

As an author of suspense I would imagine you’re not exactly the damsel in distress type. But say you’re a damsel that could use some help out of your distress. Aside from your husband who would you want to help you out of a sticky situation? (real or fiction--Captain Jack (Johnny Depp), Batman, Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), etc./other)

Kylie: I would certainly become a damsel in distress if I could be assure that Johnny Depp would be coming to my aide . He’s a fascinating character study, too.

Connie: He sure seems to be quite the enigma.

I understand you love the beach. All expenses paid…which beach would you like to go on your dream vacation?

Kylie: I’ve been pestering my husband to go to Aruba. Someday…

Connie: As pre-teens and teens most of us had girlhood crushes on stars. Who did you have a crush on?

Kylie: David Cassidy was awfully pretty to look at.

Connie: Yes, and he had quite the smile.

What is your best, your favorite memory as a child?

Kylie: Reading. We didn’t have shelves of books in our rooms like my kids did. We had a bookmobile that would come to the neighborhood schools in the summer and let kids check out books. And we had the most picturesque public library I’ve ever seen. I’d have my mom drop me off when they opened and pick me up when they closed. After choosing my books I’d sit in a window seat overlooking a rocky glen and just read all day.

When I told one of my sons that, he told me I was a loser .

Connie: I think this is a perfect place to tell you thank you, Kylie, and invite you back whenever you wish.

Kylie: Thank you so much for having me, Connie!

Connie: My pleasure! Before I say goodbye is there anything you want the reader to know, something I might have forgot to ask you?

Kylie: Recently we went back to contract for three more Mindhunters books and I’m working on book 4 now. They’ll be released in 2010 and 2011.

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