Welcome, Sandra. Tell us how much of yourself you write into your characters.
I don’t think that I do, although it will be interesting to hear what my family think when they read the novel.
What is the quirkiest thing you have ever done?
You know what they say…I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you. Let me just say, I was young and in love and had probably just seen a BBC version of some Jane Austin character swooning over the love of her life. And for the record, he’s now my hubby.
Now we’ll imagine all kinds of things. When did you first discover that you were a writer?
I loved to write from the moment I put crayon to paper. (Okay, chalk board…How was I supposed to know it wouldn’t rub off?! I was only three!) In grade one, two of my stories were included in the school yearbook. One was a couple of paragraphs long whereas, the other first grade excerpts were a couple of sentences. That’s when I really knew.
Tell us the range of the kinds of books you enjoy reading.
For the better part of my adult life, I read non-fiction books of the how to be a better wife, mother, or home-educator variety. Now I prefer fast-paced novels that are engaging and don’t leave graphic images in my mind. I lean toward romantic suspense, contemporary and historical romances. I also enjoy the occasional light-hearted novel or mystery. Although I must confess that I do miss the days of reading novels such as The Trumpeter Swan and The Indian in the Cupboard to my young children.
How do you keep your sanity in our run, run, run world?
I live in the country so I enjoy long walks with my dog and neighbor, or visit with my new grandbaby and just enjoy her—something that was hard to do the first time around, what with the sleep-deprivation and all.
Yes, grandchildren are a special blessing from God. I’ve enjoyed every one of mine. How do you choose your characters’ names?
I try to have each character’s name start with a different letter of the alphabet to avoid confusion. I use the telephone book for last names, and a baby book for ideas for first names. I try to choose heroic-sounding names for the hero and heroine, and villainous or character-suited names for the others.
What is the accomplishment that you are most proud of?
Raising and educating three wonderful, hard-working children who love the Lord (and their mom ).
If you were an animal, which one would you be, and why?
A beaver. I’m highly task oriented. I’m contest to build my home—literal construction, not cleaning! I prefer to have “working” visits with friends, whether helping to hang wallpaper or rearrange furniture or brainstorm a new novel, rather than just sitting around and chatting.
What is your favorite food?
Pizza—all the important food groups J
What is the problem with writing that was your greatest roadblock, and how did you overcome it?
My biggest challenge has been grounding my scenes. As a reader, I didn’t have patience for paragraphs of description of characters and setting. But I swung too far the other way and wrote far too little. I had to learn to portray the setting from the point of view of the character the scene is written in and infuse the description with the emotions that character feels at that moment.
Tell us about the featured book.
Deep Cover is the first book in my Undercover Cop Series with Love Inspired Suspense. Undercover Cops: Fighting for justice puts their lives—and hearts—on the line.
Is it possible to be a man of honor and live a life of lies?
Rick Gray hopes so, because as an undercover cop, he’s had to make too many sacrifices, including a future with Ginny Bryson, the woman he loves.
Ginny Bryson never really knew Rick--he never gave her the chance. Not then, and not now, when he's back with a new alias to gather evidence against Ginny's uncle. The man's crimes led to Rick's partner's death, and Rick wants justice to be served. But his investigation is stirring up trouble, and Ginny is in the middle of it. But how can Rick protect her without blowing his cover, jeopardizing his assignment...and risking both their lives?
Sounds like a book I'd love to read. Please give us the first page of the book.
STOP NOW, OR ELSE.
Rick Gray strode toward the spray-painted warning inside the half-framed building. The sawdust-strewn floor groaned under his weight, then suddenly gave way, dropping him ten feet onto his back in basement mud. His hard hat cracked against a rock and the air rushed from his lungs. Pain streaked through his body. He tried to suck in a breath, but his chest seized.
He willed his muscles to relax and tried again. This time a gasp squeaked through.
He squinted past the flashes of color dancing in front of his eyes and focused on the floor joists that dangled over his head. He might be an undercover cop just posing as the foreman on this group-home project, but he didn’t have to be the real thing to spot the clean saw-lines bisecting three of the struts.
Fury blazed through his veins. If the basement slab had been poured yesterday as planned, he’d be a dead man.
Holding his breath against the throbbing pain, Rick crawled up the ladder to the main floor. Last night’s rain had turned the Southern Ontario sandy loam into a soupy mess, and the late winter chill layering the air around Miller’s Bay bit through his damp jeans. Bit like the suspicion nipping at his thoughts that this wasn’t the handiwork of another disgruntled neighbor.
The warning to stop construction on the controversial home for the mentally challenged might be from an angry Not-In-My-Back-Yarder, but if his “boss” had figured out why Rick really took this job, staging an accident that looked like the work of local protestors was an inspired way to take him out.
Two shiny leather shoes, enveloped in thin rubber sole guards, met his nose at the top of the ladder. Rick shot out his hand and dug his fingers into the floorboards, bracing himself for the push that would send the ladder, and him, toppling back to the ground.
I know I have to read it now. How can readers find you on the Internet?
Facebook: www.Facebook.com/SandraOrchard
Website: www.SandraOrchard.comThank you, Sandra, for visiting with us today.
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