Interview: 'Romance with a Twist of Mystery' Author Terry Odell

Terry Odell was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, a rare native for several years. Odell graduated from UCLA, and worked in the L.A. County secondary school system, teaching junior high school science, until she relocated to Florida.

Odell can’t remember learning to read, only that she continuously did. Odell’s parents entertain folks with the recollection they had to move from their first home because she finished the library.

Odell stumbled upon fan fiction, which was worthy training once she ascertained she could withstand the tedious typing process.

Odell found a writing group at iVillage, but learned the short story layout difficult to tackle. Odell was able to pen a beginning, a middle, and more middle, so she moved to novels where she could cultivate more complex characters and finally get to ‘the end.’Paradoxically, her first publications were short stories from The Wild Rose Press.

Please share how you came up with the concept for Nowhere to Hide?

Nowhere to Hide actually started out as my second novel. I'd finished writing my first book, Finding Sarah, and wanted to make sure I could write another one. The original title was Starting Over because that's what I was doing—starting over. One of the secondary characters, Colleen McDonald, wanted her own book. The book has been through three iterations. It was published as Starting Over by Cerridwen Press. When rights reverted to me, I reworked it and sold it to The Wild Rose Press as Nowhere to Hide. When I got the rights back again, I revisited the story, tied it back to my Pine Hills Police series, and released it as an indie book.

When you're deeply connected and immersed in a book, Terry, have you ever had a dream that you felt was not your dream? Do your characters dream within you?

Interesting question, but no. Of course most of my dreams seem strange, but I've never had one I could attribute to someone else or a character. However, when I'm immersed in a book, the characters are with me all day long.

Have you had a dream that was one of your characters?

Again, no. At least no dreams that I remember in the morning. What happens when I'm asleep is another story.

What do you love most about writing suspense?

I love the mystery part—actually, I like mystery more than suspense, because I don't like to know what's going on outside of the POV of my main characters. I like entwining a relationship with the mystery aspects of the story. I don't plot, so it's always a discovery process. I prefer to call my books "Mysteries With Relationships."

Article Author: Diane Morasco

Diane Morasco created The Book Resort in 2009. In 2011 she founded Morasco Media and in 2012 Morasco Enterprises. Ms. Morasco is the Founder and CEO of Morasco Media(MM) and Morasco Enterprises(ME).

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