Hush, I thought. Just hush. Everyone hush.
I sank to my knees on the courtroom’s tile floor. I put my head in my hands. And that’s when I realized the sound was coming from me.
After I quit mewling like a crazy cat woman in front of the whole courtroom and started acting somewhat attorney-like again, I asked the judge for a mistrial.
He actually considered it for about five seconds. Or at least he stayed completely silent for that long. He could have been devising elaborate torture rituals or plotting my death. When he said no, I knew he meant “Hell No Katie Connell And Don’t Ever Darken The Doors Of My Courtroom Again.” I’m empathic like that.
It didn’t improve things for me when Mack and I were walking away from the bench and the prosecutor said, “Bet you wish your client had accepted that plea bargain now.”
Mack almost became the second person I assaulted that day.
What are five important things that you take into consideration while writing your story?
1. Escalating tension in a just-within-the-bounds-of-plausibility plotline.
2. A likeable, relatable, deliciously-flawed protagonist and a bad guy whose actions have credible motivation, even if he is a scumbag.
3. Rich, specific description that prompts the reader to paint the rest of the picture.
4. A balance between the comedic and the tragic.
5. Straight-to-screen dialogue, with just enough flavoring of regional/cultural differences.
Why should readers pick up your book?
Saving Grace will sweep you away to the islands to fall in love with a rainforest jumbie house and a main character that will have you cringing for her at the same time as you laugh with her, cry with her, and cheer her on. It’s a fantastic mystery wrapped up in an exotic vacation.
What was the turning point when you realized you wanted to write and share your voice with the world?
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