Monday, May 16, 2011

Interview with Author Anne Patrick

Anne Patrick is the author of more than a dozen novels of Romance, Mayhem & Faith, including the award-winning and best-selling Fire and Ash, Lethal Dreams and Sabotage. Anne looks at the dark side of life while her alter ego, by the name of Kinzie Monroe, writes Inspirational Romance. Anne’s books may be darker in subject matter, but they all carry messages of hope and faith. Born and raised in Oklahoma, she now makes her home in Kansas.

Anne Patrick’s heroines are usually strong willed, witty, and often very opinionated … combinations that usually land them in situations where death seems imminent.”

Hello, Anne. Your novel is considered Romance/Inspirational/Suspense. Wow! Now that’s quite a mixture! Just that alone intrigues me. Please tell us about your new book, Sabotage.

Would love to! District Judge Katie McKinley takes her career very seriously. No one knows that better than her old childhood friend and first love, Graham Bishop. Her ruling cost him his family’s ranch. So it’s no surprise, when an attempt is made on her life, the sheriff turns his suspicions to Graham. Katie feels horrible knowing what her ruling cost her old friend, and knows his outburst in her courtroom gave the sheriff every right to suspect him. The Graham Bishop she grew up with would never harm her, though...or would he?

Where did you get your inspiration for this novel? Do you get any ideas from real life experiences?

To be honest I'm not sure what inspired this story. I suppose the inspiration for my heroine came from my experiences while working as a transport specialist. I was part of a two-person team and our job was to transport prisoners to and from court and to correctional facilities. My time spent in the courtroom gave me a healthy respect for our judicial system.

A Reviewer wrote, “A beautiful love story and just the right amount of suspense.” Is it difficult to put suspense in a love story?

Since I'm a suspense junkie that aspect of the story always comes first for me. Then once the characters come to life the romance just sort of comes naturally.

I understand what you mean. This novel is considered Romance/Inspirational. What kind of inspiration do you give the reader…if you know what I mean?

Katie lost her husband in the war in Iraq. Despite her strong faith, she is struggling to find the courage to read the last letters David sent to her and move on with her life. Her journey is similar to the verse in the book of Jeremiah. "The heart is hopelessly dark and deceitful, a puzzle no one can figure out. But God searches the heart and examines the mind. He gets to the heart of the human… God picked up the pieces and put me back together again! He is my Praise!" 

That’s beautiful. Now it’s time to tell us something about the real you that we’ll never forget.

I've had the awesome privilege of going on several short-term mission trips out of the country. I've witnessed many miracles in the mission field that left me in awe of our creator. Once in Honduras, our great God sent my team an ice cream truck in the middle of nowhere so we could treat the children at our worksite. The one that stands out the most, though, was a worksite accident where He saved my life. We were working in Jamaica, constructing a new church when a seventy-five pound board came crashing down on me. It struck the left side of my head and sent me head first into a cement wall. Now normally we work in areas where we're miles away from a hospital but this time we were much closer and our driver, who just arrived as the accident happened, was a registered nurse. After two hours in the emergency room, I walked away with a few stitches, a mild concussion and the blackest eye you could imagine. Perhaps the real miracle was the bill we had to pay before treatment, which amounted to $22 US. That's right, only twenty-two bucks! Here in the U.S. it would have been at least a thousand dollars, which we didn't have on hand. 

I love hearing stories of faith and miracles. It shows how the Lord is watching over us. Thank you so much for this interview. I thoroughly enjoyed it. To learn more, visit Anne's website and her Blog: Stories of Romance, Mayhem, and Faith. She loves to hear from here readers!

29 comments:

Judy said...

That was a great interview. Your book, Sabotage, looks like a very good read. I will check out your blog and website.
Thanks!!


Judy
magnolias_1[at]msn[dot]com

Literary Chanteuse said...

This book sounds very interesting. A lot of elements involved in the story. Thanks for the giveaway!

Margaret
singitm@hotmail.com

Unknown said...

ANNE--what an interesting life you've led. No wonder you are such a good author...you have so much real life experience to draw on. I don't know that I can name another author who combines these three elements, but I'm not an expert in either the suspense or the inspirational genre.
Congratulations on your release and your very successful career. Celia

Caroline Clemmons said...

Your book sounds interesting. I love romantic suspense.

caroline@carolineclemmons.com

Miss Mae said...

Wow, Anne, what an accident! I can't imagine what you went through! So happy that you walked away with the worst being a black eye. :)

Love the cover of your book. Appropriately suspense-like. :)

*please do not enter my name in the free drawing* Thank you!

Anne Patrick said...

Thank you, Judy! I'm glad you dropped by. Good luck in the drawing.

Anne Patrick said...

Thanks for dropping by, Margaret. Good luck!

Katherine said...

I am intrigued! I love romantic suspense books! I also love it when authors put some of their first-hand knowledge into books. It makes them even better! Thanks!

katsaddress AT gmail DOT com

Anne Patrick said...

Celia, thank you so much for your wonderful comments. There are several others out there who write similar to me. Dee Henderson, Teri Blackstock, Irene Hannon to name a few. They're the ones who inspired me.

Best of luck to you too, my friend!

Anne Patrick said...

Hi Caroline! Well I hope you will try out some of my books :). Good luck in the drawing and thank you for coming by.

Anne Patrick said...

Hi Miss Mae! It was kinda scary. So thankful for the prayers back home because I know it could have been much worse. Thanks for dropping by, my friend.

Anne Patrick said...

Hi Kat. I agree about first hand knowledge. If it's not something I know I research it the best I can and try to find someone in the field who will share their expertise.

Good luck in the drawing and thanks for dropping by.

DanielleThorne said...

Great interview. I've actually read this novel and really enjoyed it. Anne has so much experience and works it into her fiction so easily--it's so real and down to earth.

Best of luck!

Anne Patrick said...

Thank you, Danielle, I'm glad you enjoyed it. That means alot coming from such a talented author like yourself.

Gail Pallotta said...

Hi Anne,
What an interesting interview. I just keep learning new things about you. Your experience transporting the prisoners must have been an interesting one. I can only imagine what you might have overheard.
I love your verse from Jeremiah.
This sounds like another wonderful book from Anne Patrick. Congratulations and best wishes for continued success.

Laurean Brooks said...

Whoa, Anne! A 75-lb board to the head. Arrggh! The Lord and His angels must have been with you. I'm glad you came out virtually unscathed.

I love Annes' writing style and plots. She sure knows how to weave a story. This sounds like another wonderful testament to her talent.

landtbeth@yahoo.com

Anne Patrick said...

Yes, Gail, it was a very interesting job. One I often miss. Thanks for coming by and for your well wishes!

Anne Patrick said...

What can I say, Laurie, I have a really hard head...just ask anyone who knows me well :). Honestly, I have no doubt the Lord and his angels were with me, and that the prayers back home did help us on that trip.

Thank you for dropping by and for your wonderful comments! Hugs! Anne

michelle130 said...

Love the interview. Book sounds great.

Anne Patrick said...

Thanks for dropping by, Michelle!

Robin said...

You've had some amazing experiences! Your book sounds really good! I like that you combine inspirational, romantic and suspense.

robindpdx (at) yahoo (dot) com

Julie S said...

This sounds like a really interesting read and an interesting author.

juliecookies(at)gmail.com

katekindle said...

Sounds like a great book, Anne. Put my name in the raffle!

Anne Patrick said...

Thank you, Robin, and thanks so much for dropping by. Good luck in the drawing!

Anne Patrick said...

Thank you, Julie, and good luck to you!

Anne Patrick said...

Thanks for dropping by Kate! Good luck in the drawing.

Jennifer R said...

Wow, Anne, it sounds like you've experienced both the best and the worst in people, which must give you a rich source of inspiration.
jryder416 at yahoo dot com

Anne Patrick said...

True, Jennifer. I've met a lot of interesting people through the years who were great inspiration, both good and bad.

Thanks so much for dropping by. Good luck in the drawing!

Linda Weaver Clarke said...

Congratulations, Jennifer Ryder, you're the winner of this awesome book. I know you'll enjoy it. Please visit my blog again for more giveaways every week.