Writing Crime Fiction: An Interview and A Giveaway with Vanessa Skye
It is my pleasure!
In one sentence, what The Enemy Inside is about?
One sentence! I can’t say anything in one sentence, hence why The Enemy Inside’s first draft was 120,000 words! Ok, how about:
‘Chicago detective Alicia Raymond is assigned to investigate the murder of a middle-aged trucker with a horrible secret, but as she explores the darkness in his killer, she must be careful not to expose her own.’
What kind of reader would be interested in your book?
Anyone who likes fast-paced crime fiction, lots of blood and forensics, a bit of suspense, complicated characters, and some romance on the side.
source: Null Value from Flickr
What inspired you to start writing crime fiction?
I have always loved reading crime fiction, but I never knew I had a series in me until I was working in the PR job from hell. Every night I dreamed I was writing the first chapter of a book, and I had this dream so often that I could almost recite this first chapter. It was driving me mad! So I sat down to write this first chapter to get it out of my head, and the rest of the book just came out! I quit the horrible job and starting writing full time.
I was really interested in Alicia Berg's character. Can you tell me why did you decide for her to go down BDSM road while fighting her demons?
A couple of reasons, first of all I believe that sex addiction is a growing problem for young, professional women and I wanted to get it out there. Second, Berg is a very complex character who, because of all the abuse in her past, essentially hates herself. She hasn’t worked out all her issues and she’s very depressed but doesn’t realize it. The sex and BDSM is an addiction and a way to self medicate, as well as a way to punish herself. The abuse in her past might have stopped, but she’s still doing it to herself and repeating the pattern.
It was a big decision to take her down the BDSM route. I started writing this seven years ago and I was concerned that the BDSM would put people off the character and the book. But then Fifty Shades of Grey was released, so problem solved!
At last, what's next for you as a writer?
The sequel to The Enemy Inside, Broken, is being released in February 2014, and I’m finishing off some final editing now. I’m planning and writing the third book in this series, which is as yet unnamed. I also have a draft of the first book in a new series sitting on my desk that I really need to get to!
Thank you very much for stopping by and answering my questions and best of luck in your writing career, Vanessa!
Thank you very much, I hope you enjoy the books!
Vanessa Skye has always had a love of words and spent her school years writing poetry, speeches, and fictional essays.
After completing a Bachelor of Arts in Print Journalism and studying Psychology at Charles Sturt University, Vanessa got a job at Rural Press—Australia's largest publisher of regional and agricultural news and information—where she worked as a journalist in the Central West of NSW for four years.
Thousands of stories later, Vanessa decided to move back to Sydney and try her hand at public relations while studying a Master of Arts in Communication.
Skip forward a few years and Vanessa once again found herself joyfully studying various psychology subjects while managing a Sydney public relations firm. Enthralled with examining the motivations behind people’s actions, Vanessa realized what she really wanted to do in life was combine her love of words with her fascination for human behavior.
So Vanessa quit public relations to begin the significantly more impoverished life of a professional writer.
Inspired by a recurring dream, Vanessa wrote her crime fiction debut, The Enemy Inside, which challenges the concept of justice, asks if the need for vengeance sometimes justifies murder, and explores whether you can ever heal from childhood abuse. The second book in this series, Broken, will be released in 2014. In her spare time, Vanessa wrote a short story, The Piece, which was published in February 2012 by Dark Prints Press as a part of the One That Got Away dark fiction anthology.
Vanessa now works as a freelance writer, lives in Sydney’s northern beaches, and tries to immerse herself in salt water at least once a day.
Thousands of stories later, Vanessa decided to move back to Sydney and try her hand at public relations while studying a Master of Arts in Communication.
Skip forward a few years and Vanessa once again found herself joyfully studying various psychology subjects while managing a Sydney public relations firm. Enthralled with examining the motivations behind people’s actions, Vanessa realized what she really wanted to do in life was combine her love of words with her fascination for human behavior.
So Vanessa quit public relations to begin the significantly more impoverished life of a professional writer.
Inspired by a recurring dream, Vanessa wrote her crime fiction debut, The Enemy Inside, which challenges the concept of justice, asks if the need for vengeance sometimes justifies murder, and explores whether you can ever heal from childhood abuse. The second book in this series, Broken, will be released in 2014. In her spare time, Vanessa wrote a short story, The Piece, which was published in February 2012 by Dark Prints Press as a part of the One That Got Away dark fiction anthology.
Vanessa now works as a freelance writer, lives in Sydney’s northern beaches, and tries to immerse herself in salt water at least once a day.
Find Vanessa:
Summary
While exploring darkness in others, be careful not to expose your own.
That's what Chicago detective Alicia Raymond discovers when she's assigned to investigate the gruesome torture and murder of a middle-aged trucker with a horrible secret.
Before she can get a lead on one crime, however, the bodies start piling up and Alicia, better known as Berg, finds herself the unexpected target of the very same legal system she has dedicated her life to.
While simultaneously under attack from a formidable past, an enemy that seems to know too much, and a conniving killer, Berg is forced to confront her own darkness: her obsessive need to track down killers at the expense of everything else in her life; her increasing craving for violence just to feel normal; and her potentially devastating feelings for her partner, the charming and handsome Detective Inspector Jay O’Loughlin.
The more Berg works her original case, the more she learns about the sheer viciousness of the trucker’s past, and the more she questions if his murderer should even be punished by a justice system that only seems determined to free the guilty. When she also finds herself sympathizing with a sadistic butcher exacting revenge for a decades-old crime, she realizes the most dangerous secret of all might just be her own state of mind.
While Berg struggles with her morality, a killer is determined to recruit her and use her for a devastating end game.
As Berg’s carefully constructed life falls apart and she struggles to maintain a grip on reality, she faces a choice: surrender to the evil inside or finally acknowledge the brutal past she would rather bury.
The Enemy Inside is the first in the Edge of Darkness series, which challenges the concept of justice, asks if vengeance sometimes justifies murder, and explores whether you can ever heal from a broken past.
That's what Chicago detective Alicia Raymond discovers when she's assigned to investigate the gruesome torture and murder of a middle-aged trucker with a horrible secret.
Before she can get a lead on one crime, however, the bodies start piling up and Alicia, better known as Berg, finds herself the unexpected target of the very same legal system she has dedicated her life to.
While simultaneously under attack from a formidable past, an enemy that seems to know too much, and a conniving killer, Berg is forced to confront her own darkness: her obsessive need to track down killers at the expense of everything else in her life; her increasing craving for violence just to feel normal; and her potentially devastating feelings for her partner, the charming and handsome Detective Inspector Jay O’Loughlin.
The more Berg works her original case, the more she learns about the sheer viciousness of the trucker’s past, and the more she questions if his murderer should even be punished by a justice system that only seems determined to free the guilty. When she also finds herself sympathizing with a sadistic butcher exacting revenge for a decades-old crime, she realizes the most dangerous secret of all might just be her own state of mind.
While Berg struggles with her morality, a killer is determined to recruit her and use her for a devastating end game.
As Berg’s carefully constructed life falls apart and she struggles to maintain a grip on reality, she faces a choice: surrender to the evil inside or finally acknowledge the brutal past she would rather bury.
The Enemy Inside is the first in the Edge of Darkness series, which challenges the concept of justice, asks if vengeance sometimes justifies murder, and explores whether you can ever heal from a broken past.
GIVEAWAY
is open worldwde and ends on August 20th 2013.
Good luck!
Maybe a but too dark for me
ReplyDeleteDark, crime scenes, mystery ..love it! Wonderful interview and that cover is creep-tastic!
ReplyDelete