Tell me about your most recent story you’re writing and the title. Three Piece Suit is my WIP. It’s the 3rd book in a series of Romance/Mysteries set in the Florida Keys.
What genre do you write in and why? Romance and Romance/Mysteries. I love seeing how couples get together, how they fall in love. I got an idea for the mystery part after my mother bet, I could write a story about our favorite place to stay – the Florida Keys. Now I can’t get enough of that genre.
Tell me how critique partnering works for you. I work with a few friends that help me with my stories. If I’m not going in the right direction with a story, they always seem to push me in the right place.
Why did you decide to become a writer? Covid. I was so bored sitting at home. I was working from home, and I had a lot of downtime. I wrote one story after a dream I had – Meet Virginia. Now it seems like every night I have another dream about one of my stories.
What is one of your favorite books to read and why? I love Janet Evanovich and the Stephanie Plum novels. They are always funny, romantic (sometimes), and all about family.
Give me an estimate of how many books you own. At least 100 paperbacks and 1000 Kindles!
How should one organize their bookshelf? I like color coordinating.
What actor/actress should play your main characters and why? In One Way Out, I would love it if the real-life husband and wife Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard would play Allie and Mike. I always pictured her in the role – Veronica Mars and her crime-solving.
What music do you listen to that inspires certain scenes? Goo Good Dolls. Iris is one of my favorite songs.
How many books have you read this year? Which was your favorite? 150 plus. Devney Perry’s Runaway Road. I have read it at least a dozen times.
What is something you’d refuse to take out of your bookst if a publisher/editor recommended to delete? A character’s name.
What makes the best sorts of beta readers and why? Honesty. Just let me know if my story makes sense. Look I’m new to all of this. I can’t get better unless you tell me what I can do to fix something!
Tell me about a book you’d like to advertise here and why? I wrote Niagara Falling last year and I wasn’t sure I wanted to release it. It was a little too personal for me. The main character is an actress, I’m an actress. She met and fell in love with an older man, ditto for me. My main male character was still hung up on his late wife, my husband was married when I met him. But then I thought that it would be a nice love story, about love and loss and how we grow from it. I wanted to tell a happily ever after story like I had in real life. I’ve been married for 20 years, even with our age difference, we made it work.
Cassie Swindon 