More of DBP Author Spotlight on Susanne Marie Knight

Here's  Day Two of Desert Breeze Publishing's seven-day interview fest featuring moi and my murder mystery romance series with Minx Tobin.

Are you a full-out plotter? Are you a "let's see what happens" pantser? Or do you think you fall somewhere in between? Describe your process in coming up with and executing a story idea.

Here's my answer:

I’m definitely a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants type of writer, which means I don’t have the action or an outline plotted for my book. This is probably not the best way to write, but it works for me. I use the “what if” scenario to figure out where I'm going, then I choose my characters and let them decide what will happen next. I enjoy writing this way because I rarely know how my characters, with all their quirks and talents, are going to solve their problems! Sometimes I give them a helping hand--throwing a few external conflicts their way. Very often my characters surprise me at how they handle these situations! In the Minx Tobin mystery series, I’ve really enjoyed having the chance to explore the characters in depth. Getting to know them so deeply allows me to anticipate how they will react in whatever situation comes their way. For example, when I started the second book, The Ill-gotten Insurance, I had no idea Minx had a background in art. Nor did I know that there is actually a type of gun called the .22 short, Beretta Minx. That certainly came in handy!

For the Minx Tobin series, I like to plot a story on the basis of the title. I also enjoy the challenge of creating a meaningful title with the two words starting with the same letter. Strange but true!!


Beginning this series is The Bloodstained Bistro. Naturally, the bistro location figured prominently in the book. For The Ill-gotten Insurance, there is an artist who already “died” once before. Minx’s third case is The Duplicitous Divorce where some of the characters may or may not have been legally separated. In The Virtual Valentine, online dating takes a sinister direction. The fourth case is The Yuletide Yorkshire, in which Christmas and a darling Yorkshire play important roles in a murder. Book number six, The Embezzled Envelope, focuses on an old crime that comes back to haunt one of Minx’s friends.

Click on this link to see my author page at Desert Breeze Publishing.
http://www.desertbreezepublishing.com/brands/Susanne-Marie-Knight.html

For those who like to shop at Amazon, here's the for The Ill-gotten Insurance: http://www.amazon.com/Ill-gotten-Insurance-Minx-Tobin-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B004HO5JGU/

 Enjoy!