Interview with a Romantic Suspense Author Deborah M. Piccurelli

Deborah M. Piccurelli is the author of two romantic suspense novels and a romantic novella, all clean romances. After years of reading books and watching movies with an element of romance, Deborah’s desire to write romance novels came naturally. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers and the New Jersey Society of Christian Writers. Deborah lives in New Jersey with her husband and their two sons.

“This is one of the most unique and compelling storylines I've read in years. There was suspense, intrigue and a lot of mystery to the story. I also enjoyed the romance and the undercover aspects of the story.” –Michelle Sutton

Welcome back to my blog, Deborah. This new book is on the suspenseful side. Please tell us about Hush Little Baby.

Well, Linda, with the Planned Parenthood debacle in the news, it may seem like this book is new, but I wrote it long before. Here’s the back-cover blurb:

Investigative journalist, Amber Blake, is a little person bent on payback for the death of her average-sized twin sister. Enlisted by her former partner and estranged husband, Evan, she poses as a counselor in an abortion clinic to expose the doctor responsible for fetal harvesting. As a Christian, she struggles with concealing her beliefs to maintain her cover, while the doctor’s romantic overtures tumble her stomach. Amber agrees to date him for the sake of the story . . . but nothing prepares her for what’s behind a mysterious door in his office.

Where did you get your inspiration for this story?

In two different ways. For the characters, I had seen TV shows that seemed to exploit little people. That tugged on my heart, so I vowed that I would someday write a book where dwarves were shown to be much like anyone else, albeit a few small differences.

Around the same time, in 1999, Planned Parenthood was being investigated for baby body parts trafficking, much like they are right now. I saw a clip of a 20/20 segment on Good Morning America and it really angered me. I scribbled a short note about it on a piece of paper and filed it in my story idea folder. When the time came, many years later, for me to write about the dwarf characters, the baby body parts trafficking angle seemed to fit with them so well.

What kind of research did you do for this book?

I did a lot of online research, I watched TV shows on both subjects and read books. But, most importantly, I spoke to people who were living out the issues and challenges portrayed in the story.

For the fetal harvesting aspect, after reading an article about it, I contacted the author who referred me to Mark Crutcher of Life Dynamics. He is the man who headed up the investigation into Planned Parenthood back in the late nineties and took the results to Congress.

For the characters, I found a website for the organization, Little People of America, got the president’s name and phone number and called. I didn’t expect him to actually answer. I thought I’d get a secretary who would try to divert my call. But he answered the phone himself and his name was Matt Roloff. Many of you may not know him, but he was one of the stars of the popular TLC reality show, Little People, Big World, although that show had not been on the air at the time. He spoke with me briefly, then told me there would be answers to a lot of my questions in his book, so I ordered it. When it didn’t arrive after several weeks, I called his number again. This time, his wife, Amy, answered. After addressing the problem of the undelivered book, I asked her if I could interview her to get a woman’s perspective on dwarfism. She agreed, and we had a long chat. Shortly after, I was very surprised to see them appearing on talk shows promoting their upcoming TV show.

Just as an aside, I want to say that I received another pleasant surprise to learn from reading Mr. Roloff’s book that he and his family are Christians.

Please tell us about one of the main characters in this story and what you like about him or her.

I like Amber a lot, but Evan, her estranged husband, is the one I’m really drawn to. He is so heroic, he wears his love for Amber on his sleeve, and he has integrity. He’s also funny, and being a hot-head doesn’t make him any less loveable.

Where can my readers find you online?

My website: www.deborahmpiccurelli.com

Twitter: @DebPiccurelli

Facebook: www.facebook.com/deborah.piccurelli

Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/DebPiccurelli

Thank you for this interview, Deborah. I hope my readers will check out your book.