The Lindsay Show: Interview with Joss Landry!!

Hello lovelies, it's time for another interview with a fantabulous author! Everyone, please welcome Joss Landry to The Lindsay Show!!

Thank you so much for joining me, Joss! When did you know you wanted to be a writer?

I never chose to be a writer. Didn't even realize I could write when I did my brother's and sister's essay homework, and book reports. It came easy to me. Yet, my father was so erudite, and so the incredible wordsmith that no one thought of measuring up to his talents. He was a journalist, wrote the Prime Minister speeches, and would report on a story like no one could—though incapable of creating a story. One of my younger brothers wrote for TV. He was great with dialogue. As for me, it wasn't until all my children were grown that I became acquainted with silence again. The peace, the quiet gave way to all the stories that had grown in me, like vines, biding their time to overtake the mind, and my heart.

That's awesome :) I love that your brother wrote for TV! What has been the most difficult part about being a writer?

Finding the time to do so. If it were up to me, I would spend my days lost in creating stories. I love, love to write, and whenever I reach a pinnacle on one story (what some call writer's block) I take up the next one. I always have two or three novels going on at the same time.

As someone who works full time, I can completely relate. Do you use a pen name? If so, how did you come up with your pen name?

Yes, this is a pen name. Joss is short for Jocelyn - all my life, people have called me Joss, and Landry is my maternal grandfather's name. He was a story teller. He would captivate young ones and adults alike whenever he decided to tell stories. They were never the same, always different. When I was ten, I told him once that he should write them down. He shrugged and said, "Maybe." It wasn't until years later, once he had passed away that I found out he had never learned to read and write.

Love it! Who are your favorite authors?

John Grisham, Pat Conroy, P.D. James, Mary Taylor Bradford, James Redfield, Sandra Gulland, there are so many. The list goes on.

Those are all fantastic authors! What authors inspire you?

I like an author that immediately situates me into the story. Doesn't have to be action right away, just have an eye for showing me the world inside his mind. I have been asked to review a book right now, The Clock of Life by Nancy Klann Moren. I was grabbed from the first two pages. So we'll see. I also have Breaking the Nexus on my list of books to review. I read the first couple of pages and I immediately liked Sha. So I'll let you know. By the way, like writing, I always read more than one book at a time.

I couldn't agree more about loving authors that immediately draw you into the story.What type of books do you like to read?

NO HORROR, NO TORTURE or upsetting cruelty. I like a suspense, a mystery and, of course, there needs to be a thread of romance in there somewhere to sweeten the pot. I also like a story that's well written with lots of foreshadowing and that ties up all the loose ends when it's time to wrap up.

I can definitely understand not liking those kinds of books. They are not easy to read. What do you like to do in your free time?

Write... Aside from writing, I love sports. To me they've always been symbolic of games and playing outside, and I don't think I ever outgrew playing outside. I still like to bike, roller blade, swim, and I love playing tennis, one of my favorites. I like to dance, all sorts of dances, and I like a good party.

You sound so active! I envy that haha. Where is your favorite place to vacation?

Well, there was a consensus when I was growing up that I would either be a tennis pro... play in all the world's Grand Slams, or a beach bum and spend my whole life in salt water. So my favorite places to vacation would be a beach, preferably Maui as I haven't been there yet, and Paris that I have visited many times, my most favorite city in the world, in June when I can go to Roland Garros tennis arena.

I ADORE the beach too :) If you were stuck on a desert island and could have only three things, what would they be?

Trick question? Food, water, and a cell phone. That's like the person wishing for three more wishes on the Genie bottle. If the cell phone had no connection, I might trade it in for Tom Hanks. He'd know exactly what to do to survive.

LOL love that answer! Are you a plotter or a pantser with your writing?

If by a plotter you mean do I sit down and plan my story, then I'm not. If by a pantser you mean that I write my story according to the Characters, then yes. A story usually grows inside me and begins to roll like a movie, complete with characters and dialogue. When this happens, I have no choice but to sit down and write it. I will plot the area, with maps and pictures of houses and the street they're on. I will plot the characters after I've gotten to know them with pages and pages of information from their horoscope to their likes and dislikes, their favorite songs and the rest of it. It's very elaborate. This is the only way I can stay on point with the characters and their dialogue.

That sounds like a great process. Why did you choose to write a romantic mystery?

I guess it's what I enjoy reading. I like romance, without it the world is a dull place, and I like suspense and mystery as they bring plots and sub plots and this makes the story interesting.

I must admit that it's one of my favorite genres. Always have to have a book with plenty of action :) What has been the most fun about working on your books?

Living within a story in which characters I love come alive. It's like baking or sewing only so much more as it involves people and lives and gives you conflicts you need to resolve. A cat may have nine lives, but a writer has so many more.

That's a beautiful way to describe it. Do you have any favorite characters? If so, why?

I guess I like Pierce Bonner. He is tolerant, and possesses a little of that white-knight-in-shining-armor quality most women are always looking for. He has a kind heart, even when he realizes that being around Kat is not going to be easy... for all sorts of guy reasons. I like his tenacity and the fact that he is honest and not prone to games.

He sounds so intriguing. How did you come up with the premise for Mirror Deep?

I was writing another novel and watching a Grand Slam tennis match at the same time. Short circuit perhaps in my brain, there was Mirror Deep complete with riders, protagonists and main plot. So I took off with it.

Awesome :) Tell us about the setting in Mirror Deep. How did you come up with it and is any of it based on personal experiences?

Well, I guess any story we write lets the reader know who we are, and what we have experienced. Our voice always come through a little. Mirror Deep takes place in Chicago mostly, and on Bonner-Willow Ranch an hour south of Chicago. Characters also travel to Paris, France and to La Rochelle, on the east coast of the Atlantic Ocean.

Horses, because my family and I raised horses for a while.

Can I just say this setting sounds fantastic? Tell us more about your main characters please.

Kat Bonner is on her way to becoming a horse whisperer, like her mom. She is tall, athletic, sports short blond hair meshed with amber, and can usually exact good behavior from any wild steed, except from her second cousin Pierce. She trains horses, gives lessons to advanced group of riders, and collects the trophys.

Pierce is Bonner-Willow's CEO. And although he has an MBA from Princeton, he considers himself more of a cowboy, loving to be around horses. Black hair and blue eyes with an easy smile, makes him popular with the ladies. His favorite singer is Gordon Lightfoot and Pierce likes to play guitar.

Absolutely love that she's a horse trainer! Is there anything else you’d like to mention about your book?

Well, there is a supernatural element that threads through Mirror Deep. It's spooky but hidden in normalcy, so that the reader may not spot it right away.

Love when there are subtle elements like that! Is this part of a series?

No this is not part of a series, although some have asked me to make a sequel.

What's next for you?

Well, I have a novel that's just been edited and is ready to go to press: AVA MOSS. A cute romantic suspense, shorter than MIRROR DEEP, and of a different style. I am also completing another romantic mystery called LONG GOODBYES. This is in the editing stage and should be completed by summer, 2013. After this there will be, I CAN SEE YOU, an urban fantasy, and MANHATTAN MELODY, a romantic suspense, and HARBOR LIGHTS another romantic suspense, again with a different twist. Augustino Milan in Harbor Lights has been one of the hottest characters I have written, or so I'm told.

Anything else you want your readers to know?

MIRROR DEEP has recently received a rave Kirkus review. And it is now available on Kobo, Nook and other forms of e-book. Also, because Amazon has suggested that I incorporate Kirkus review on the front cover, I am going to take this opportunity to redo the cover. So if any of you are out there, I am open for suggestion.

Thank you so much for joining me, Joss!!

Mirror Deep...Buy it Now!

Danger and romance roll like thunder through horse whisperer Kat Bonner’s world, when a known felon comes to the ranch to drop a bomb about her past. Kat turns to Pierce for help; the same Pierce who bucks her every chance he gets, and whose feverish investigation lands them in trouble with the law and directly in the path of a serial killer.

Mystery deepens, fraught with wrong turns, bumbling detectives, old murders, and Kat’s doppelganger no one sees but her, just as she never sees the change in Pierce’s feelings toward her, brewing, mounting, until she can no longer deny them.