Tierney James talks about her career and writing.

Tierney James is a talented author and speaker. I had the opportunity to interview her. If you have not had the chance to read Unlikely Hero, take the time to do so today.

You write some fast moving spy thrillers, what led you in that direction?

I was the kid who liked dinosaur movies, westerns, Tarzan and Mighty Mouse. Maybe my shyness made me want to act brave and fearless, I never talked to a shrink.  Later it was action movies like Indiana Jones, The Wind and the Lion and so on. I liked dangerous and exciting. Then one day I read The Judas Strain by James Rollins. I fell in love with thrillers. He taught me so much about writing and soon I had read all his books. Writing thrillers makes me tingle with excitement. Conspiracy, cliff hangers, mysterious strangers, all get my heart pumping and my adrenaline flowing. Most people when they first meet me think I'm a sweet, tea drinking Baptist with not one spark of courage. When I write-well, watch out!

Is Tessa based on a real person? Of course we don't expect you to reveal secrets but hints are always nice.

Tessa came to be because of some unusual incidents that happened to me when I lived in Northern California. People were always mistaking me for someone named "Melanie". I would be stopped on the street, pulled aside at the DMV for questioning and once someone called me at home. I started to wonder who this Melanie could be; was she in trouble, honest, dangerous, a criminal or someone in the witness protection program. After all the DMV didn't believe I'd just moved there from Missouri. Someone with my information lived in Santa Barbara. My family didn't believe me at first until months later a strange man approached me, whirled me around and started talking. He also called me "Melanie".  Needless to say, I started getting a little more respect after that encounter.  In my first novel, An Unlikely Hero, the house and town where the action takes place is real. I lived there. 

How did you research your novels?

My research, for the most part, takes place on the internet. It is so much easier than going to library these days. I get a story idea from a picture, a song or place I visit then the research starts. A year ahttp://amzn.to/1gh7WIhgo I read an article about the Wahkan Valley in Northern Afghanistan. I've been collecting information about the area to weave into my third novel, Rooftop Angels.

Do you have a set writing schedule?

No. I do try and write or edit each day. I do writing things like research, read or study writing books. But I believe you must do this each day. It's like practicing the piano. Skip a couple of days, weeks or months and the music suffers. Write. Write. Write.

How important is social media in your marketing and writing process?

It is becoming more of what I do because it is demanded from publishers. I don't like promoting myself because it isn't something that comes easy for me. I'm learning by compiling a notebook of ideas, formats and websites that give me more confidence in this area. I also have taken a few webinars to educate myself. Social media is a real inspiration killer. It just takes a great deal of time in which I'd rather be writing. I'm trying to discover ways to circumvent that so I can get on with the business of writing. I would much rather be a guest speaker than recruit on social media. But I do it anyway. You just have to jump in and make yourself known.

I have found that most writers are avid readers, who are your favorite authors?

James Rollins, Steve Berry, Brad Thor, David Baldacci, Daniel Silva, Clive Cussler, Nora Roberts, Elizabeth Lowell, Sandra Brown and Terry Brooks.

Take a little time here and tell us about yourself. Getting to know the author is fasinating.

Besides being an educator of World Geography, I've been a Solar System Ambassador for NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab, worked and lived on an Indian Reservation and traveled in Africa, Asia and Europe. All these places and activities are fodder for storytelling. My family is the most important thing to me on this earth. Some of the hobbies I enjoy are gardening, writing, traveling, reading and I love music. I'm a life long learner so I'm always on the lookout for new information.

Novels: An Unlikely Hero (#1) Winds of Deception (#2 editing) Rooftop Angels (#3 editing) The Rescued Heart (under     contract with Black Opal Books)  

Children's Books: There's a Superhero in the Library & Zombie Meatloaf.

Thanks for inviting me to your blog. I hope your readers will check out my work. 

 

Law and Order.

 I would not want to be a law officer. The thought of walking up to a car, not knowing who or what is in it, is above my bravery level. Even worst would be to get a call and go to a house where a domestic quarrel is in progress. Nine times out of ten, the battered woman sides with the husband or boyfriend, after the anger subsides, and the officer becomes odd man out.
That being said, there is a lot to be learned from the Sheriff.

Let me say, it is my belief, that most people who commit a violent crime would do just about anything to take back that 15 minutes where they lost their temper or made a very bad decision.
I am not talking about serial killers or whackos. I am talking about the average joe who is 40 or 50 years old,and goes to work everyday. His life goes south after a divorce or another of life's missteps he can't handle. He begins to drink or starts doing drugs and his since of right and wrong jumps out the window.

Then there is the other type of criminal who believes the world owes him something. He breaks into cars to steal computers and stuff he is too lazy to earn because he wants drugs or whatever and he doesn't care how hard you worked for anything. How dare you drive a new car, live in a nice house with the lawn mowed and eat three meals a day while he was beaten and battered by a drunk uncaring father and a mother too scared to make a move. I am NOT defending this scenario.  I firmly believe some people are what they are because of the way they were raised and others are the way they are in spite of the way they were raised.

But, I am not telling you what I learned. So here is some of it.
Always treat the criminal with respect. It goes much easier when you want to talk to them to find out what actually happened. They will open up more to the guy who lets them smoke a cigarette and have a coke than the guy who pushes them around and treats them like scum.

The faster you can get a suspect isolated and get him to talk, the more likely you are to get the true story. The longer they sit alone or with someone else involved in the crime, the more time they have to think about what they can say to justify what they did and make it seem not as bad as it is.

One man I met should have been protected by the Castle Law. The law says if you are in your home and someone comes in to harm you, you can shoot them and not be charged with a crime.
In this case, the intruders came in, harassed the home owner.  He had a gun on is coffee table.
Dumb, it think. Anyway, the situation was defused and the guys left but the homeowner was so angry he followed them out and got into a scuffle with one of the men. Subsequently, someone was shot and now the man is charged with murder.

Another man shot a guy in the eye because he "didn't respect" a pick-up truck he borrowed several years before and since then the man let it fester and fester until when the guy came to his house he shot and killed him.

Anyway, we didn't have much to do the night I rode with the Sheriff. We helped a motorist who was stranded on the highway and patrolled. I heard lots of war stories and how people make a bad situation worse by lying and saying things that just could not have happened.
I plan on incorporating these stories into my next novel.

Any law officer who reads this will probably think I am being simplistic or off the mark, but comments are always welcome and discussions are good for the soul.