Lisa: Nike, welcome to Living Our Faith Out Loud. Tell us what you love about the last two books
you wrote, and introduce us to the hardest character to portray.
Nike: The last novel I wrote was DARKEST HOUR and
the one before that was PERILOUS
SHADOWS. What I love about them is that I took
a risk with both of them. They are a departure from the first two novels in the
series which were classic historical whodunits with feisty heroines and
stalwart heroes. DARKEST HOUR's heroine is a much more demure lady, a widow and
mother of a small boy. Lucinda Byrne is the sole support of her son and her
aging grandparents. Unlike my previous heroines, she doesn't jump headlong into
situations, but rather faces them with grace and composure. She's highly
competent and relies on that to get through. In my previous novels the heroes
have been true-blue. However in DARKEST HOUR, medical examiner, Hank Jansen,
initially presents himself as a bit of a masher which is quite different from
the first two stories. While PERILOUS SHADOWS does indeed have a heroine who
charges directly into the fray, it's a psychological mystery rather than a
straight whodunit. Many of the characters, even secondary ones, carefully guard
their deep, dark secrets. Discovering who the killer is depends upon understanding
the psyches of the various characters as much as following the clues.
The
hardest character to portray was Kiera Devane, the heroine in PERILOUS SHADOWS,
who carries a great deal of inner pain. She won't let anyone in, and still I
have to show who she is. She's tough as nails on the outside and yet I have to
make her likeable.
Lisa: Nike, what two things have you learned about the
publishing world now after these novels that you would like to pass on to other
newbie writers?
Nike: Be true to yourself. Don't let anyone convince
you to change your voice. That said, the newbie writer still has to learn the
craft of writing fiction. I suggest taking a few of the many free writing
classes that are offered. American Christian Fiction Writers offers a wide
variety of courses. I just took one on Motivation, Conflict, and Goals that was
wonderful. I don’t think writers should stop learning from others and honing
their craft just because they've published. The other thing that's crucial is
to read the top authors in your genre. Writers at all stages in this game can
learn so much from reading the work of excellent fiction writers.
Lisa: Share something about writing the last novel
with us that readers won’t find any other place.
Nike: Who would've guessed it, but I love writing
grandparent characters. In DARKEST HOUR I wrote about the heroine's arthritic
grandmother and fell in love with the dear lady. I had to do a bit of research
on arthritis and was admitted to a closed Facebook group specifically for that
disease. That was so enlightening, but the group talked about new drugs which
were not available in the mid-1940s. So, I had to do some medical research from
that time period.
Lisa: I love those older folks, too. Thanks so much for sharing with us today, Nike. Best wishes with all of your work.
About Nike Chilemmi:
Like so many
writers, Nike Chillemi started writing at a very young age. She still has the
Crayola, fully illustrated book she penned (penciled might be more accurate) as
a little girl about her then off-the-chart love of horses. Today, you might
call her a crime fictionista. Her passion is crime fiction. She likes
her bad guys really bad and her good guys smarter and better.
She is the founding board member of the Grace Awards and is its
Chairman, a reader's choice awards for excellence in Christian fiction.
She writes book reviews for The Christian Pulse online magazine.
She was an Inspy Awards 2010 judge in the Suspense/Thriller/Mystery category
and a judge in the 2011 and 2012 Carol Awards in the suspense, mystery, and
romantic suspense categories. BURNING HEARTS, the first book in the crime wave
that is sweeping the south shore of Long Island in The Sanctuary Point
series, finaled in the Grace Awards 2011 in the Romance/Historical Romance
category. GOODBYE NOEL, the second book in the series released in December,
2011 won the Grace Award 2011 in the Mystery/Romantic Suspense/Thriller
category. PERILOUS SHADOWS, third in the series released July, 2012, and
DARKEST HOUR, the fourth in the series released in February, 2013. She is a member of American Christian Fiction
Writers (ACFW) and the Edgy Christian Fiction Lovers (Ning).
Visit Nike's website.
Visit Nike's Amazon Author page for links to buy the books.
About the new book: Darkest Hour
A petite widow, medical secretary and sole support of her young
son and grandparents, is framed for the murder of her boss. Wealthy village
residents conspire with the DA to indict her and stop further investigation.
The medical examiner thinks the shooter was a tall individual. When his report
is shoved aside, he starts his own side-investigation trying to clear her and
in the process he falls in love with her.
Lucinda Byrne lost her husband and parents at sea. When she
discovers the body of her boss, his A-List society fiancée, backed up by her
powerful family and a corrupt DA, accuses Lucinda of murder. She struggles on shielding her five-year-old
son, her feisty grandfather and arthritic grandmother from the ugliness of her
situation. She mistrusts the dapper ME, thinking he's a ladies' man, but soon
realizes he may be the only one in her corner.
Hank Jansen, the county ME who's had his share of pain and
loss, doesn't know if this little widow was in on the murder, but he knows by
the trajectory of the bullet she's too short to have pulled the trigger. His
professional opinion ignored, he begins his own investigation and at least one
cop accuses him of an ethics violation. He certainly can't deny he's fallen
head over heals for the accused, and also is crazy about her son. A huge problem
is there's a leak inside the investigation and the murderer is always one step
ahead of them.
