Today I’m posting my interview with Rachelle Christensen about her new book, and being a writer.

So, Rachelle, When did you first know you wanted to be an author? When I was in grade school. :0) I have always loved writing and have always dreamed of publishing a book. Dreams do come true! I agree, but they never come easy. What inspired you to write Wrong Number? I wanted to enter a chapter into the first chapter contest at LDStorymakers in 2007. I came up with the first chapter of Wrong Number, it won second place, and then I went on to write the rest of the novel. It’s funny how many authors I’ve talked to who’ve had books start out that way. What books or authors have influenced your writing and what do you like to read? I like to read a wide variety of books from children to YA to adult. I really like a good romance, but nothing too detailed. And yes, I love romantic suspense. It’s hard to pinpoint a certain author because I go through phases where I’ll gobble up everything I can by an author and then move on. I love Agatha Christie, Shannon Hale, Clair Poulson, Mitch Albom—and many more. A favorite book of mine is Nine Coaches Waiting by Mary Stewart. You can check out my goodreads http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1663930 list of favorites and repeat-offenders to see more all time favorites. Do you outline or write by the seat of your pants? For Wrong Number, I did have a very rough outline that I worked from and I talked through a lot of ideas with my brother and his wife. They helped me to come up with a believable motive for murdering more than one person. I’m actually trying to do better with outlining and I think it has helped with my current writing projects. My outlines aren’t set in stone, more jumping off points for how I want the story to flow. I like to have a general idea of the beginning, middle, and end, but my characters usually end up writing scenes in interesting directions. When you start a new story, which comes first, the character or the plot? Hmm, I think it’s usually the plot. I come up with a few ideas for something that I think would be cool for a story and mull it over in my mind and then decide what type of character to attach to the plot line. How do you come up with ideas for your novels? Lots of ways. News stories sometimes tickle my brain and I think…Hmm, that would make an interesting story if… I’ve also been inspired by dreams. Some of my working scenes are from actual dreams I’ve had where I feel like I’m the onlooker taking notes as to what these people in my dream are doing and why. The novel that I just finished writing began from a single sentence that popped into my mind just before I fell asleep. So the ideas seem to come from all over at any time of day or night, so I try to make sure I jot them down before I forget them! That’s great! So now this is done, what’s coming up? I’ve got a few things I’m working on. I’ve finished an inspirational romance that I love, called Wind Song and I’m enjoying writing my WIP-working title Caller ID, so I guess we’ll see what comes up first on the docket. Sounds fun! Do you have any advice for other authors? If you’re serious about writing, attend writers conferences and classes, join a great critique group, read novels in your genre of interest, and write, write, write! Also, learn how to take criticism and know when to apply it to your writing and when to chuck it out the window. Where can we find your books? Anywhere books are sold. If you don’t see it, ask for it and they can order it in. Available wherever books are sold, including Barnes & Noble, Borders, and Amazon
Thanks for stopping by my blog today! Good luck with your book, and I look forward to seeing your next book!

If you’d like to get a sneak peek at Wrong Number, check out the book trailer—it’s awesome! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jg5X0T59a9E Stop by my blog, www.rachellewrites.blogspot.com to see what I’m up to. Thank you so much for this interview! Happy reading and writing.

Again, you can read a sneak peek of chapter one here at Rachelle Writes and you can watch the book trailer here