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Jacqueline is the author of a romantic mystery series featuring psychic librarian Kim Reynolds, a paranormal historical romance (Tea Leaves and Tarot Cards) as well as a number of short stories.
How did you decide to
become a writer? Is it what you expected?
I began writing as
a small child. I always seemed to be making up stories. When I was able, I
started writing them down. My mother bought me my first typewriter when I was
eleven and taught me how to touch type.
Writing
wasn’t what I expected. It’s a lot of hard work and not much glory. The
writing itself is the easy, joyful, creative part. It’s the constant rewriting
that’s hard. It requires lots of self-discipline.
What did you read as a
child?
I read the
usual children’s books early on. But when I turned ten I decided to read the
classics, the great literature of the world.
I read books like The Three Musketeers for example. Later on, I enjoyed
Jane Austen, Charles Dickens.
Which comes first,
plot or characters?
For novels, it’s the characters. They live in my head for a long
time before I write a word.
Plotter or pantser?
I guess a
little of each, although I do try to outline a novel before I write it.
I like to know
where it’s going so that there’s cohesion in the plot.
Who would you like to
play your main characters in a movie?
A hard
question to answer! I love George Clooney but think he’s now a bit too old for
the lead male character Police Lieutenant Mike Gardner in the Kim Reynolds
mystery series. As for Kim, there are a lot of actresses that could play her
part well.
Which of your
characters would you least like to meet in a dark alley?
Probably
Detective Bert St. Croix, Mike’s badass homicide partner—she doesn’t suffer
fools. So if you’re a bad guy, watch out!
What’s coming out
next?
The next new
Five Star/Gale mystery novel comes out in hardcover August 2013. It’s
completely different from any of my other novels. It’s written with my older
son Andrew. Entitled The Third Eye, the novel is set in the Pine Barrens of New
Jersey, an area I love and think is quite unique.
Anything else you want to say?
In the Kim Reynolds
series, there are connected murders that need to be solved. The main characters
become personally involved as in THE TRUTH SLEUTH when Kim initially finds the
body of a murdered boy and later discovers another on the high school grounds.
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Each
novel in the series is an independent mystery. However, each develops Kim as a
person and her life continues to change much as that of a real person.
I am pleased that THEINFERNO COLLECTION and THE DROWNING POOL are now available at low cost in all
e-book formats. You can check them out at:
Harlequin
Worldwide Mystery reprinted THE TRUTH SLEUTH, the third novel in the Kim
Reynolds mystery series, in January 2013 so the novel is now available
inexpensively as a paperback.
Could you give us a short
excerpt from one of your books?
This is from
the beginning of THE TRUTH SLEUTH:
Kim was developing an uncomfortable feeling
of wrongness; a kind of prickling sensation slithered down her spine. She
recognized the feeling for what it was but shook her head, trying to dispel the
spasm of dread that suddenly gripped her. God, not this again! Would she ever
be free of it?
Then Kim gasped, seized by a stab of pain. In
her mind, she heard a silent scream, an astonished cry for help. She felt
another’s panic and terror. She began to shiver and tremble.
“What’s the matter?” Bert asked, her dark
brows rising then knitting together in concern.
“Someone’s
been hurt.” Those were the only words she managed to choke out.
“Who? Where?” April asked, glancing around in
confusion.
“Maybe we better have a look,” Bert said. Her
height of six feet gave her an advantage over both Kim, who was five foot six
inches, and April, who was barely five foot two inches tall.
The crowd was starting to thin out, many
bikers revving up their engines in anticipation of leaving now that today’s
entertainment was over. Kim led,
Bert and April following behind her. Although she was not really certain where
she was going, Kim plowed blindly through the garbage-strewn grounds. And then
she saw him: a very young man sitting in an aluminum beach chair, head slumped
forward as if he were in a deep sleep.
“He’s dead,” Kim heard herself say with
certainty. Her voice sounded hollow, expressionless and faraway, as if it
belonged to someone else.
“Oh, God, are you sure?” April asked, tossing
her gold-tinted curls as if to deny Kim’s statement.
“Kim’s got this gift of knowing stuff like
that,” Bert said.
More like a curse, in Kim’s opinion.
Bert knelt down, at first not touching the
body. “I don’t think he’s breathing.” Bert’s voice had taken on a note of
professional authority. She looked and sounded like the seasoned policewoman
she was. Bert felt for a pulse, then shook her head. “Don’t touch anything. I’m
calling this in.” There was a grim expression on Bert’s café au lait features. She pulled a small cell phone out from the
pocket of her black leather jacket.
Before Bert could make the call, Kim turned
and faced her.
“There’s something
I think you should know.”
“I’m listening.” Bert stood very still like a
figure in a portrait.
Kim let out a ragged breath. “I think that
boy was murdered.”
You can check
it out here: http://www.harlequin.com/storeitem.html?iid=27323
