Interview with romantic suspense author Rachel Woods

Romantic suspense author Rachel Woods is here today chatting with me about Flawless Danger.

During her virtual book tour, Rachel will be awarding an autographed print copy of Flawless Danger to a lucky randomly drawn winner. To be entered for a chance to win, use the form below. To increase your chances of winning, feel free to visit her other tour stops and enter there, too!

Bio:

As a pre-teen, a young Rachel quickly tired of the Sweet Valley High Series and moved on to work by Sidney Sheldon, Jackie Collins, and Dominick Dunne, which was just the spark necessary to fuel her love of writing. Her first stories were written on a Brother typewriter during long summer days in Texas, where she always had an extra typewriter ribbon and correction tape handy.

Rachel later studied journalism and graduated from the University of Houston where she published articles in the Daily Cougar. She is a freelance writer and blogger with a penchant for melodrama and a frequent traveler to beach locales. Many of her stories take place on the islands, which she has visited around the world.

Rachel writes complex, multicultural stories centered on strong women in jeopardy, fighting for love and their own lives. When not writing, this read-a-holic can be found listening to audiobooks, reading the Book of Jeremiah, or scouring soap opera blogs. Rachel resides in Houston with her three sock monkeys.

Welcome, Rachel. Please share a little bit about your current release.
Flawless Danger is the first full-length novel in the Spencer & Sione Series. Spencer Edwards is a woman, down on her luck and reluctantly entered into a life of crime as a thief. When she steals from the wrong man, she is thrust into more criminal deeds to avoid suffering the consequences of her original theft – certain jail time. She must deliver counterfeit passports to three women and steal a mysterious item from a handsome resort owner, named Sione. But of course, the forces of love take over and Spencer and Sione fall hard for each other. When the women who received the counterfeit passports are murdered one by one, Spencer knows she’s next and her only hope is Sione, the man she was sent to Belize to scam.

What inspired you to write this book?
The concept of a woman who drugs men to steal from them is based on real-life stories of women who have done just that. The idea was sparked by an article I read about a young, beautiful woman in Washington, D.C. who met a man in a bar and took him to her hotel for a nightcap, which she drugged. When the man woke up the next morning, his $50,000 Rolex watch was gone. I was intrigued by the life that woman may have led, what caused her to do those crimes and what would happen if she made a mistake when trying to commit the crime. This was the catalyst for the creation of Spencer Edwards and the telling of her story in Flawless Danger.

Excerpt from Flawless Danger:

Sighing, Spencer shook her head.

She wanted to explain why she’d decided to “date” Ben. She wanted to tell him she’d stolen from him because she was afraid of his feelings, and even more afraid of her own feelings, afraid she would lose herself if she fell in love with him.

But, would he understand?

Could she even explain it?

“So, Step Two is get close to the resort owner,” she said, rubbing her eyes, trying not to cry. “And then what? Get into his closet and steal from him?”

“I told you the favor won’t be anything criminal,” Ben said, an edge in his tone. “There’s no law against getting close to someone.”

“Just how close do you want me to get?”

“Close, but not too close,” Ben said. “When it’s all over, you have to be able to walk away, and not look back. You have to be able to turn your back on him, even if he’s bleeding on the floor, begging you for help.”

He seemed to be unable to resist trying to get under her skin, and this time, he’d gone too deep. 

Deeper than the knife she’d plunged into his gut.

What exciting story are you working on next?
Currently, now that Flawless Danger has been released, I’ll be promoting the book and continuing to work on two books, both of which will kick off two new series. One of the books, which is still untitled, features two characters from Flawless Danger: Sione’s cousin, David Jones and Spencer’s sister, Shady. As her name implies, Shady is not exactly the good girl she seems to be. The other novel is called, tentatively, Deception Island and I’m really excited about it because it has a more mysterious tone, and I really love mysteries. In Deception Island, a woman finds herself the target of a malicious plot as she engages in various naughty escapades.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?
When I was a little girl, I spent a lot of time with my paternal grandmother. Often, she would make me breakfast, and as I sat at the table, I would chatter on, telling her all these elaborate stories about our family members and neighbors, some true, and others embellished and/or exaggerated. And my grandmother would listen patiently and then she’d usually smile and tell me, “You tell so many stories, you could fill a book!” I was five years old at the time and I hadn’t written anything, but I really believe that’s when I became a writer.

Do you write full-time? If so, what's your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?
I can’t wait for the day when I can be a writer full time. But until then, I will continue to go to my day job as a legal assistant working on personal injury cases. It’s hard finding time to write, but on weeknights, I don’t really go out, so I’m able to get a lot of work done during those times.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
I write the best when I’m in an area with lots of natural light – whether that is outside or inside in a room with lots of windows.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I always wanted to be a spy because I am super stealth and super nosy!

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
I’m grateful for the opportunity to share more about my novel, Flawless Danger and myself. It’s an exciting page-turner with several thrilling plot twists. I hope readers will check out Flawless Danger and tell me what they think about the way I like to write romantic suspense. I call it “sexy, dangerous fiction”, and it’s all about when sexy girls find themselves in dangerous situations.

Social Links:

Website | Facebook | Goodreads

Buy Links:

Flawless Mistake: Amazon | Barnes and Noble

Flawless Danger: Amazon | Barnes and Noble

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