Interview With Author Patricia Bradley

I am so thrilled to welcome debut novelist and friend, Patricia Bradley. I had the great pleasure of getting to know Patricia when we were both finalists in the 2012 ACFW Genesis Contest (fortunately, not in the same category!), and I’m thrilled to see that very manuscript Shadows of the Past, making on store shelves this month.

Carla: Welcome, Patricia! Would youtell us a little about your book?

Patricia: Shadows of the Past is a romantic suspense and is the story of a daughter searching for answers of why her father abandoned his family. Unfortunately someone doesn’t want her to find those answers and will do anything to stop her. Including murder.

Carla: What inspired this particular novel?

Patricia: Taylor just popped into my head one morning during my quiet time. She told me someone was trying to kill her. So, of course I had to find out why.

Carla: What can we look forward to next from you?

Patricia: In October, A Promise to Protect comes out. It’s the second book in the Logan Point series and is the story of Ben Logan, one of the secondary characters in Shadows of the Past. Here’s the log line: A sheriff lets his guard down and puts the woman he loves in the crosshairs of a brutal killer

Carla: Shadows of the Past takes place in Mississippi, where you happen to make your home. What character in your most recent novel is most like you? Was that intentional, or did it just come about in the course of the writing?

Patricia: I had to ask my sister this one because I never know how people perceive me. Certainly different from the way I see myself. Lol. But my sister says that the detective, Livy Reynolds is most like me. And it’s certainly not intentional. Each character more or less tells me what they are like.

Carla: Why did you choose the particular theme in your most recent novel? What were you trying to say to your readers?

Patricia: The story I’m working on now is the third book in the series, and it’s a story of restoration. I want to show readers that God can restore any relationship if we put it in His hands and follow His blueprint.

Carla: Which do you think is more important: to entertain or teach/inform?

Patricia: Definitely to entertain. But along the way I hope readers learn something.

Carla: Are you a pantser, a plotter, or somewhere in between? One-and-done or successive drafts? Same the every time or different with each book?

Patricia: I am definitely a plotter in the early stages, but once I start writing, I give the characters free rein to change the story. I usually write the fast draft where sometimes I write blah, blah, blah when I’m having trouble with a scene. I don’t stop to research, just * it and keep writing. It usually takes me nine weeks to write a 95,000 word story. Then on the second draft I fix the blah, blah, blahs and look up whatever needs researching. One more draft to add layers, and then I send it in. Of course, then there are the rewrites from the editor.

Carla: Favorite activity for procrastinating when you should be writing?

Patricia: Email and FaceBook…and sometimes pottery.

Carla: Best invention of the 20^th-21^st century?

Patricia: A dishwasher. Fooled you, huh? I just redid my kitchen and bought myself a dishwasher.

Carla: Biggest personal splurge?

Patricia: The dishwasher.

Carla: Most hated chore?

Patricia: Don’t really have one since I bought the dishwasher.

Carla: If you could live anywhere in the world and cost/making a living were not an issue, where would it be?

Patricia: Hawaii 🙂

Carla: Dog, cat, or other pet?

Patricia: I have a rescue cat, Suzy, who wakes me up every morning at 5 a.m. by sitting on my chest and purring. Sometimes she puts her nose to my nose.

Aww, that’s sweet! This was great fun, Patricia! Thanks for joining me today! Readers, be sure to see the giveaway widget below for your chance to win a copy of Shadows of the Past as well as other great books and prizes!

About Patricia

Patricia Bradley lives in North Mississippi and is a former abstinence educator and co-author of RISE To Your Dreams, an abstinence curriculum. But her heart is tuned to suspense. Patricia’s mini-mysteries have been published in Woman’s World, and her debut novel, Shadows of the Past, is the first of three set in Mississippi andwill release February 4, 2014. She will present a workshop, Writing 50,000 words in 30 days, at the Midsouth Christian Writer’s Conference in Collierville, TN on March 8, 2014. When she’s not writing, she likes to throw mud on a wheel and see what happens.

Contact Patricia: Website | Twitter

About Shadows of the Past

Tags: Patricia Bradley, romance, Shadows of the Past