New interview with novelist Alistair Cross

Writer extraordinaire Alistair Cross is back! Today we’re chatting about his new urban fantasy horror, The Silver Dagger (Book Two in The Vampires of Crimson Cove Series).

Bio:

Alistair Cross' debut novel, The Crimson Corset, a vampiric tale of terror and seduction, was an immediate bestseller earning praise from veteran vampire-lit author, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, and New York Times bestseller, Jay Bonansinga, author of The Walking Dead series. In 2012, Alistair joined forces with international bestseller, Tamara Thorne, and as Thorne & Cross, they write – among other things – the successful Gothic series, The Ravencrest Saga. Their debut collaboration, The Cliffhouse Haunting, was a bestseller. They are currently at work on their next solo novels and a new collaborative project.

In 2014, Alistair and Tamara began the radio show, Thorne & Cross: Haunted Nights LIVE!, which has featured such guests as Anne Rice of The Vampire Chronicles, Charlaine Harris of the Southern Vampire Mysteries and basis of the HBO series True Blood, Jeff Lindsay, author of the Dexter novels, Jay Bonansinga of The Walking Dead series, Laurell K. Hamilton of the Anita Blake novels, Peter Atkins, screenwriter of HELLRAISER 2, 3, and 4, worldwide bestseller V.C. Andrews, and New York Times best sellers Preston & Child, Christopher Rice, and Christopher Moore.

Welcome back to Reviews and Interviews, Alistair. Please tell us about your newest release.

The Silver Dagger, is Book 2 in The Vampires of Crimson Cove series and picks up where the first book, The Crimson Corset, leaves off.

Life in Crimson Cove has been good to the Colter Brothers since Gretchen VanTreese was staked and her horde of vampires scattered. But when she rises from the grave, the brothers are torn apart, their lives - and the peace between them - shattered. Meanwhile, a serial killer is stalking the little mountain town, leaving a trail of blood that leads to a truth Sheriff Ethan Hunter doesn’t want to face. The streets are no longer safe, nor are the forested paths, for a new and unknowable evil has come to Crimson Cove and everyone - vampire and human alike - must come together in order to survive.

What inspired you to write this book?

When I finished The Crimson Corset, I knew I’d return to Crimson Cove one day, but I had a few other stories that were demanding to be written first - I believe very firmly in writing the story that’s calling to you. I finished two other books (The Angel Alejandro and Sleep Savannah Sleep) and then began The Silver Dagger. So, it wasn’t so much about inspiration as much as it was simply time to go back and see what happened next. 

Excerpt from The Silver Dagger:

Crimson Cove’s sheriff, Ethan Hunter, is relaxing waiting for his fiancée, who happens to be a mortician, to get home, when his nosy neighbor, Gladiola Gelding hammers on the door with needs of her own.

He opened the door. Mrs. Gelding didn’t wait to be invited in. She barged into Ethan’s living room, a tray of cookies in hand, her one-sided conversation trailing her like a loyal hound. “Can you believe this heat? And the humidity!” Mrs. Gelding dropped the tray on the coffee table then inflicted her bulk upon Ethan’s favorite chair. “I almost had a heat stroke in the kitchen baking those cookies for you!” Her beady eyes followed him. 

“Uh, thanks.” For a moment, he stood there - sitting seemed an act of surrender - but finally, defeated, Ethan eased himself onto the sofa. Mrs. Gelding was a steamroller, flattening folks into whatever shape most suited her, and after the day he’d had, Ethan didn’t have the energy to fight it. He asked, “How are you, Mrs. Gelding?” 

She wasted no time getting to the point. “Well, I can tell you I’d be a lot better if it weren’t for all these bear attacks!”

A greasy sliding feeling roiled through Ethan’s gut. 

“It’s all anyone is talking about at the Senior Hall, you know.” Mrs. Gelding’s piggy eyes sparkled with excitement. “I’ve never even heard of a bear attacking innocent people for no good reason. Never! I do hope you’ve figured something out.”

“We’re working on it.”

She sighed. “I suppose it’s not my place to tell you how to do your job, but you might consider letting the public know what you’re doing about this. We don’t feel safe!”

Ethan frowned. “I can’t talk about it at this point, but rest assured, we’re doing everything we can-”

“Well, I just don’t know if that’s going to be enough. The public deserves to know more.”

And what she meant, Ethan knew, was that she deserved to know more. There was nothing Gladiola Gelding loved so much as being the star of the Crimson Cove Senior Citizen Center on Bingo night, the woman to whom all gossipers flocked. 

Just then, Sheila’s headlights cut through the living room window. Mrs. Gelding prattled on, taking no notice even when Ethan’s fiancee entered the living room. 

As Mrs. Gelding blathered, Ethan and Sheila exchanged glances. His said, Help! And after a whimsical smile, Sheila’s said, I’ve got this. 

“Hello, Mrs. Gelding!” Sheila spoke a little too loudly, cutting the woman off as she perched on the sofa arm beside Ethan. 

“Oh, hello, dear.” It was but a small speed bump in Mrs. Gelding’s sermon and as she opened her mouth to continue, Sheila sighed loudly and looked at Ethan. 

“Boy, am I glad to be home.” She shook her head. “We had another groaner in the morgue tonight.”

Ethan suppressed a snort.

Mrs. Gelding blinked. “A … groaner?”

Sheila nodded. “Yep. A lot of people don’t know this, Mrs. Gelding, but sometimes, dead people make noises. It’s just air escaping the lungs, of course, but when you’re in that dark room alone with the corpses, it’s pretty alarming.” Her gaze settled on the tray of cookies. She took one, bit into it, and groaned, long and low. “Mmmm. These are excellent, Mrs. Gelding. Nothing gets the stench of formaldehyde out of my nose like your cookies. Thank you.” She pushed the tray toward the other woman. “You shouldn’t have made so many, though. Please, have one.” 

All color had retreated from Mrs. Gelding’s chubby cheeks. Scandalized, she shook her head. “No, thank you, dear. I have plenty at home.”

Ethan was barely able to suppress laughter when Sheila barreled on.

“And twitching, too. Usually in the smaller muscles.” She popped the rest of the cookie in her mouth. “I’ll never forget the first time I saw a twitcher.” Sheila grinned at Mrs. Gelding. “I thought for sure there’d been some mistake and the guy was still alive.” 

“Yes, well … ” said Mrs. Gelding. “It’s a dreadful business, I’m sure.”

“You get used to it,” said Sheila. Her gaze cut to Mrs. Gelding, going grave. “Well, some of it, anyway. Not only do they groan and twitch, but, sometimes-”

“Well.” Mrs. Gelding cleared her throat and hefted herself from the chair. “I suppose I’d better be off.”

Ethan got to his feet and walked her out. “Goodbye, Mrs. Gelding.” After closing the door, he broke into laughter. “We need to do that more often.”

“Works every time.” Sheila held an uneaten part of cookie to his lips and he bit into it.

“She does make damned good cookies, though.”

What’s the next writing project?

There are always several things going on at once. As far as my solo work, I jumped right into the next Crimson Cove book after finishing The Silver Dagger and am madly, deeply in love with it thus far.

Then there are the Thorne & Cross novels, which I write with my friend, collaborator, and Haunted Nights LIVE! co-host, Tamara Thorne. Our serialized gothic/horror, THE RAVENCREST SAGA, is ongoing and we’re closing in on the third full-length novel in that series – which we’re calling Exorcism. The other collaborative effort we’re working on is a psycho-thriller called Spite House, which takes place in the fictional town of Snapdragon, where our #1 bestseller, MOTHER, was set.

All three projects are running very smoothly – which of course, makes me very suspicious! But so far, so good!

What is your biggest challenge when writing a new book? (or the biggest challenge with this book)

The greatest challenge with this book was keeping my facts straight regarding what happened in the book before it. Also, it’s a balancing act. You have to give enough information for new readers, but not too much for those who read the first book. That’s always a challenge.

If your novels require research – please talk about the process. Do you do the research first and then write, while you’re writing, after the novel is complete and you need to fill in the gaps?

Research starts before the book is written and continues throughout on an as-needed basis - which is ongoing. I try to do physical research as often as possible because reading something or watching a video online rarely gives you all the little details you need to make the writing come to life.

For The Silver Dagger, I took a trip to Santa Cruz, California, where a part of the story is set. We traveled through the mountains where Crimson Cove is (if it were a real place, that is) and went to the ocean to absorb the sights, sounds, and feel of the locations.

What’s your writing space like? Do you have a particular spot to write where the muse is more active? Please tell us about it.

I write wherever I can, which is usually at my computer in the corner of my writing room. As for my muse, I’m sad to say that he is a fall-down, black-out, pee-your-pants drunk who can only very rarely be depended upon. 

I just write. If my muse shows up for work that day, great. If not, oh, well. I still write. It’s my job.

What authors do you enjoy reading within or outside of your genre?

I’ll read everything from horror to historical romance to the back of an aspirin bottle to profane poetry scribbled on the walls of a public bathroom stall with a magic marker - and I love it all. I’m a word person. Words turn me on. They just do - and if something is well-written, I’ll read it. Usually twice. 

Anything additional you want to share with the readers today?

Yes – thank you for reading. Keep up the great job!

Website

Thank you for coming back to Reviews and Interviews!

Interview with mystery author Alistair Cross

Hello Readers, my special guest today is author Alistair Cross. We’re chatting about his paranormal murder mystery, Sleep, Savannah, Sleep.

Bio:

Alistair Cross' debut novel, The Crimson Corset, a vampiric tale of terror and seduction, was an immediate bestseller earning praise from veteran vampire-lit author, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, and New York Times bestseller, Jay Bonansinga, author of The Walking Dead series. In 2012, Alistair joined forces with international bestseller, Tamara Thorne, and as Thorne & Cross, they write - among other things - the successful Gothic series, The Ravencrest Saga. Their debut collaboration, The Cliffhouse Haunting, was a bestseller. They are currently at work on their next solo novels and a new collaborative project.

In 2014, Alistair and Tamara began the radio show, Thorne & Cross: Haunted Nights LIVE!, which has featured such guests as Charlaine Harris of the Southern Vampire Mysteries and basis of the HBO series True Blood, Jeff Lindsay, author of the Dexter novels, Jay Bonansinga of The Walking Dead series, Laurell K. Hamilton of the Anita Blake novels, Peter Atkins, screenwriter of HELLRAISER 2, 3, and 4, worldwide bestseller V.C. Andrews, and New York Times best sellers Preston & Child, Christopher Rice, and Christopher Moore.

Welcome, Alistair. Please tell us about your current release.

My latest novel is a paranormal murder mystery called Sleep, Savannah, Sleep. It takes place in the spooky little fictional town of Shadow Springs, California, where my protagonist, recently widowed Jason Crandall, has recently moved with hopes of starting a new life for himself and his two children. No sooner does he begin meeting the townspeople than Savannah Sturgess, a beautiful young socialite, goes missing. Jason becomes entangled in the unsolved crime when he’s plagued by mysterious, terrifying visions and dreams that lead him (and the police) to Savannah’s murdered corpse. And when Jason falls under suspicion, he realizes the only way to clear his name is to uncover the identity of Savannah’s killer himself. But what he doesn’t know is that the truth is more terrifying than he - or anyone in Shadow Springs - could have ever imagined.

   

What inspired you to write this book?

I’d just finished my novel, The Angel Alejandro, and late one night, as I lay awake pondering the possibilities for the next story, I asked myself this question: What’s the absolute worst thing I could possibly do to my new protagonist … and from that seed, Sleep, Savannah, Sleep was born…

Excerpt from Sleep, Savannah, Sleep:

No longer tired, Jason slipped outside onto the veranda and sat on the porch swing. He sighed, taking in the stars, which were startlingly bright in comparison to L.A., and inhaled the night’s scents - honeysuckle, roses, and night-blooming jasmine. Those smells put him at ease and for the first time since Julia’s death, he felt like maybe he and the kids would be okay, after all. Maybe.

A light caught his attention at the house next door - not at Dottie’s, but at Tabitha Cooper’s. It seemed strange that a blind woman would keep a light on, but then again, perhaps she did it to keep prowlers away. Or maybe Coop’s visiting.

Jason stood and walked toward the rose-choked split-rail fence and stared. So far, he’d seen no sign of Coop’s ailing grandmother and he was curious about her. In the window, through gauzy white curtains, he could see her hazy form, rocking back in forth in the chair that Dottie said she never left. As he stared, the rocking slowed, then stopped. She turned her head to face him.

Jason’s mouth went instantly dry. He froze, unnerved, thinking he should duck and run, but he couldn’t make his feet move. Her hand, bent and clawed with age, reached out and pulled the curtain aside.

Jason’s breath snagged when he saw her clearly. She seemed to be without sex - no breasts, no swell of the hips - just a skeleton covered by thinly-stretched ashen skin, matted white hair standing on end, a gaunt wasted face, and sunken fog-white eyes that - though obviously blind - stared right at him. They were the eyes of a dead person.

She brought both hands to the glass, where her fingers ticked like spider’s legs, and her mouth - a toothless, lipless maw - opened and closed, opened and closed. She wasn’t speaking, he realized, just gumming the air mindlessly. There was something sinister about it - something lunatic.

Trying to convince himself she couldn’t see him, Jason backed away, nearly tripping on a tangle of vines as he hurried back inside, locking the door behind him.

From the safety of the house, he felt like a fool. First, he’d let Travis Delgado push him around and now he was running from a harmless, blind old woman. He smiled at the thought, but the smile felt cold. There really was something spooky about Tabitha Cooper; it was as if she’d been looking right at him. Or rather, right through him. He shivered, recalling Dottie’s words for the second time that day: ‘The children in town call her a witch, and I don’t blame them one bit.’

Jason didn’t blame them, either.

What exciting story are you working on next?

My collaborator, Tamara Thorne, and I are working on a vampire novel called Darling Girls, which is a sequel to her novel Candle Bay, as well as a continuation of my novel, The Crimson Corset. Darling Girls takes our vampires up to the mysterious little town of Eternity, California, where a massive vampire celebration called Biting Man is taking place. In Darling Girls, we learn about the ties between Tamara’s vampiric family and mine. And when a self-deluded young vampire hunter shows up, the, uh, ahem, stakes are raised.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

When my assigned Halloween story so offended my third-grade teacher that she refused to continue reading it aloud. I knew then and there it was my mission in life to either scare people or piss them off. And with horror-writing, I get to do both!

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 write full-time, eight to ten hours a day, five - and often - six days a week. As writers, we are no longer just storytellers. We’re also marketers, publicists, and business managers … so yeah, it’s a full-time gig and then some.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

I do a considerable portion of my writing with my cat, Pawpurrazzi, perched on my shoulder like a great black bird of prey … but one that purrs. And has whiskers.   

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Until writing came along - and sometimes even now - I’m torn between wanting to be a fireman and a mermaid.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?

Reading is sexy. Rock on.

Thanks for being here today!

New interview with Tamara Thorne & Alistair Cross

Hello readers!

I'm happy to welcome back co-authors Tamara Thorne & Alistiar Cross. We're chatting about their new psychological suspense thriller, Mother.

You can read their first interview with me here.

Bios: 

Tamara Thorne's first novel was published in 1991, and since then she has written many more, including international bestsellers Haunted, Bad Things, Moonfall, Eternity and The Sorority. A lifelong lover of ghost stories, she is currently working on several collaborations with Alistair Cross as well as an upcoming solo novel. Learn more about her at: http://tamarathorne.com

Alistair Cross grew up on horror novels and scary movies, and by the age of eight, began writing his own stories. First published by Damnation Books in 2012, he has since co-authored The Cliffhouse Haunting and The Ghosts of Ravencrest with Tamara Thorne and is working on several other projects. His debut solo novel, The Crimson Corset, an Amazon bestseller, is available now. Find out more about him at: http://alistaircross.com

In collaboration, Thorne and Cross are currently writing several novels, including the next volume in the continuing series, The Ravencrest Saga. Their first novel, The Cliffhouse Haunting, was an immediate bestseller. Together, they also host the horror-themed radio show Thorne & Cross: Haunted Nights LIVE! which has featured such guests as Laurell K. Hamilton, Christopher Moore, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, Charlaine Harris, and Christopher Rice. Thorne and Cross are hard at work on several upcoming collaborations, including a sequel to Tamara’s Candle Bay, which will feature plenty of vampy action as the Darlings and Julian Valentyn are joined on a road trip to Eternity with Michael and Winter from Alistair’s The Crimson Corset. It’s going to be a harrowing ride!

Welcome back to Reviews and Interviews.

Thanks. We love coming here!

Please tell us about your newest release.

Mother is a psychological thriller in the vein of Psycho and Misery, with a pinch of Peyton Place and a dash of Gaslight. It concerns a young, expectant couple, Claire and Jason Holbrook, who’ve fallen on hard times, forcing them to move in with Claire’s estranged mother. Claire vowed to have no contact with the overbearing woman ever again, but Mother is thrilled at the prospect of a grandchild. At Mother’s, Claire and Jason begin experiencing things that make them determined to leave immediately … but when a cruel twist of fate makes leaving impossible, Claire becomes obsessed with her mother’s motives. Fantasy and fact blur together as her compulsion consumes her, and Jason wonders who the villain really is. When a cache of macabre family secrets is uncovered, Claire and Jason find the answers they’re looking for - answers that will change them forever … assuming anyone can get out of Mother’s house alive.

What inspired you to write this book?

T&A: The same things that have inspired our other books: What we see around us every day. When we come across circumstances that intrigue us, we begin asking “what if?” From there, we just keep exploring all the possibilities. Every situation has the potential to go horribly awry, and we like to take it as far as it can go. 

What’s the next writing project?

T & A: We’re currently working on the second installment - which will be titled Dead of the Night - in the serialized The Witches of Ravencrest. It’s being polished right now and will be out within a few weeks.

From there, we’re jumping into a sequel to Tamara’s novel Candle Bay which will feature several of the vampires from Alistair’s novel, The Crimson Corset. They’ll be going up to Eternity for a vampire family reunion. We can’t wait to see how the Candle Bay vamps and the Crimson Corset vamps get along. We have some sinister things planned for them …  

After the Candle Bay sequel, we have a little something up our collective sleeve that harkens back to Mother. It won’t be a sequel, but it will incorporate some of the Mother sensibilities … and it may take place in Snapdragon, CA, where Mother is set. After that, we have lots more, including one more psychological thriller, which will be the third in our Trilogy of Terror that began with Mother. Simultaneously, we will get to a project that’s been been percolating for a very long time - something very big that will likely take a good portion of a year to complete. Beyond saying it will be a novel of apocalyptic proportions, we can’t really divulge more information. Between these, we’ll also be working on various solo novels. First up are seriously supernatural tales from us both. 

What is your biggest challenge when writing a new book? (or the biggest challenge with this book) 

T & A: Every book presents different challenges. In Mother, we had to perform a precise dance with our myriad of characters. Everything is so interconnected that our choreography had to be perfect in order for our clues and revelations to keep in proper step with the dance. In Ravencrest it’s a matter of timing and keeping the history straight, which requires a lot of notes. In The Cliffhouse Haunting, we had to keep our folklore straight and in sync with the fictional aspects we added to it. 

  

If your novels require research – please talk about the process. Do you do the research first and then write, while you’re writing, after the novel is complete and you need to fill in the gaps?

T & A: Aside from general online browsing and some very good books, we rely on experts in the appropriate fields. We are lucky to have a psychologist, a mortician, a historian, an EMT, cops, and several doctors who answer questions for us. Alistair even has an adult film actor on hand for an upcoming solo novel he’s beginning later this year. When it comes to research, we believe in going straight to the source as often as possible.  

What’s your writing space like? Do you have a particular spot to write where the muse is more active? Please tell us about it.

Tamara: I write in my darkened living room on a big glass coffee table that is strewn with bottled water and cats. I don’t like being shut away so I only use my office to store books. 

Alistair: I have a desk set up in a corner with plenty of fake plants, books, and coffee nearby. And dramamine. The computer screen makes me sea-sick after about four hours, so I am often very drowsy from dramamine. 

What authors do you enjoy reading within or outside of your genre?

Tamara: Nelson DeMille is my favorite out-of-genre writer. I love Stephen King and Jay Bonansinga and lots more. Because of our radio show, I have to read very quickly to keep up with our guests. Right now I’m enjoying Paul Tremblay’s A Head Full of Ghosts.

Alistair: I pretty much read anything. From horror to romance, if it’s a good book with a compelling story and strong characters, I’ll read it and like it. I am currently going through an Agatha Christie phase. Again.  

  

Anything additional you want to share with the readers today?

T & A: Thank you for reading. We are lucky to have wonderful readers and we don’t take it for granted. 

  

Thank you for coming back to Reviews and Interviews!

Interview with co-authors Tamara Thorne and Alistair Cross

Today is a special double feature. I’m interviewing co-authors Tamara Thorne and Alistair Cross about their novel The Cliffhouse Haunting.

Bios:

Tamara Thorne's first novel was published in 1991, and since then she has written many more, including international bestsellers Haunted, Bad Things, Moonfall, and The Sorority. Her novel, Thunder Road, hit bookstores in September, 2014. Learn more about her here.

Alistair Cross grew up on horror novels and scary movies, and by the age of eight, began writing his own stories. In 2012, he was published by Damnation Books under the pseudonym Jared S. Anderson. Find out more about him here.

In collaboration, Thorne and Cross are currently writing The Ghosts of Ravencrest, a sexy serial novel full of dark shadows, ghosts, witches, and mysteries. The Ghosts of Ravencrest: Darker Shadows contains the first three installments. The fourth installment is The Ghosts of Ravencrest: Christmas Spirits and the fifth is Night Moves. The next installment will appear in April. Their first horror novel, The Cliffhouse Haunting will appear in March, and another, Grandma’s Rack, will come later this year, along with Alistair’s debut solo novel.

Welcome, Tamara and Alistair. Please tell us about your current release.

The Cliffhouse Haunting is the story of the little town of Cliffside in the San Bernardino Mountains of southern California. Built overlooking Blue Lady Lake in 1887, Cliffhouse was built by the Bellamy family and has been newly renovated by owners Teddy and Adam Baxter-Bellamy and their daughter, Sara. In the 1880s, Cliffhouse served as a restaurant, hotel, cathouse, theater and tavern, and during Prohibition became a hangout for rum runners. Later, its hot springs attracted the wealthy; even presidents have stayed there.

Today, the lodge is famous for its luxurious accommodations, spa, fine dining... and its ghosts.

Although the cathouse and rumrunners have been replaced by a miniature golf course and a carousel, Cliffhouse retains its long dark history; darkest during the Roaring Twenties, when a serial killer named the Bodice Ripper terrorized the town and a phantom, the Blue Lady, was said to walk when murder was imminent.

Now, darkness has returned. There's a serial killer on the loose, and the Blue Lady is again walking the shores of the lake below Cliffhouse.

Police Chief Jackson Ballou has bodies piling up that can't even be considered murder victims, yet he knows they are. The Bellamys are losing maids and guests who hear their names whispered in their ears and see wet phantom footprints padding across the rooms, but nothing is as terrifying as the shrieking laughter that echoes through the halls in the dead of night.

The town of Cliffside, and Cliffhouse itself, is dependent on tourism; every weekend there's something going on, be it a Civil War reenactment, a wine tasting, or Oktoberfest. It's a perfect hunting ground for a serial killer... and the Blue Lady.

Between the murders, the ghosts, Blue Lady sightings, a histrionic writer and a town doctor slowly losing his mind, Chief Ballou's hands are so full that he can hardly pursue his romance with diner owner Polly Owen. And Sara Bellamy may lose her love before they even have their first kiss.

What inspired you to write this book?

We both love ghost stories in all their variations and as we were telling each other some of our favorites, a plot began to form, though we weren’t actively working on it at the time beyond taking notes. Not too much later, we met up to spend a few nights in a haunted cabin in California’s gold country. During those nights some unnerving things happened that got us talking about the book again and we quickly became serious about writing it.

Excerpt from The Cliffhouse Haunting:

“He heard the Lady's laughter, delightful and deadly...

"He turned to enter the staff lounge and wake up the napping night clerk when he caught a whiff of something dark and dank, of deep water hiding moldering roots and limbs of pine trees felled a century or more ago. The scent of rotting wood from boats and rafts sunken when Cliffhouse was new. The metallic bite of lost anchors and the dry smell of bones of men long dead. Gooseflesh prickled up his back. How many are lost out there?"

What exciting story are you working on next?

We have several works in progress. Our gothic The Ghosts of Ravencrest is an ongoing serial novel and it’s filled with ghosts and mysteries. It’s available on Amazon. Another collaborative horror novel, Grandma’s Rack, will hit the press later this spring and Alistair’s debut solo novel will be out this summer.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

Always. We both began writing as children.

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?

We write full time. We work together six days a week, eight to ten hours a day unless we’re up against a deadline, then we hit 12-14 hours and work half-days on Sunday, too. We work in our “virtual office” where we talk via Skype while writing in the Cloud. Most often we create together, literally writing in the same file as we brainstorm and figure things out. 

Sometimes we work on separate scenes and sometimes on separate projects, but we’re still in our “office” where we can run things by each other, edit for each other, and take breaks for a few minutes of laughter now and then. It’s more fun and efficient together, plus it keeps us focused.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

Every day, at least twice, we turn on our Skype cameras so our cats can see each other. They love it and have become good friends. They’re hoping to accompany us on our next get together.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Both of us wanted to be writers, though as kids, we flirted with various occupations; fireman, musician, oceanographer, astronomer, and spy.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?

We like pie.

Social Media

ALISTAIR CROSS

Website | Twitter | Blog | Facebook | Facebook Author Page | Goodreads | Amazon Author Page | Pinterest 

TAMARA THORNE

Website | Facebook | Facebook Author Page | Twitter | Pinterest | Blog | Goodreads | Amazon Author Page 

Thorne & Cross Mutual Accounts

Blog | Thorne and Cross: Haunted Nights LIVE! 

Thank you both for being here today! Happy co-writing!