Wendy Talks about Come the Shadows

Welcome Wendy and Thank You for joining us today!!!

Tell us a little about Wendy Young

Do you work another job when you are not writing?

Yes – I am a work at home mom with a full-time job. I stay very busy from 5 am to 10 pm every night!

What is your favorite thing to do when you aren’t writing?

It depends on the time of year. Come December it will be baking! Right now it’s an obsession with watching Netflix episodes of the British detective drama Midsomer Murders.

What is your favorite color? Why?

Cobalt blue – it’s a beautiful, crisp color that always draws my eye. If you looked at my home, however, you would say that it’s red. It is very possible I have two favorite colors...

What is your favorite season? Why?

Fall, without any doubt. The leaves are beautiful and the air is cool, with an invigorating but not bone-chilling breeze.

If you could live anyplace on earth, where would it be? Why?

I’m not sure it would be anywhere but where I live now – East Tennessee. I love my mountains and I can’t imagine living without them. If I had to move it would be another mountainous place. I’m very fond of Wyoming and Colorado. I find the stark beauty of the Rocky Mountains unmatched.

If you could have any car, what would it be?

I’m really not that much of a car person. I just bought my first new car this summer – a Honda CRV – and I wouldn’t trade it. It looks nice, has good room, and gets me there. That is enough for me.

Tell us a little about your writing: 

How long have your been writing? Was it a dream, a goal or is it just a hobby?

I don’t remember not writing. I’ve been at it at least 20 years. In the 5^th grade I know I wrote a poem called Smile, or Smiles, and my parents had it put in a little book. I also remember writing a silly short story about my stepfather (at the time) quitting the police force because they wouldn’t let him have Christmas off of work. In middle school there were various songs I showed to no one. In High School there were poems and awards, and the rewriting of Sleeping Beauty hillbilly style. In college there were more short stories and quick notes about novels. I lost the bug for a few years after college and focused my creative tendencies on crafts like crochet and quilting but three years ago it returned with a vengeance and it’s never really left since. Only in the last 6 months or so did I decide to seriously pursue becoming a full-time novelist. It was always a part of me but now through it I have found a very fulfilling goal. 

How many hours a day do you devote to writing? Do you have a set routine or do you write when the mood strikes?

I definitely have a routine. Most days I write for 1-2 hours and I start around 8 pm. I find it hard to write at any other time of the day. I like to feel in control of my time when I write and during the daytime there are just too many interruptions – child- and work-related, especially.

Is there some place special you like to be when you write?

Three-quarters of the time I write lying on my bed. The rest of the time I write in the living room. I pick the place I can best get the peace I want.

Do you listen to music or do you need a quiet place to write?

Absolute quiet – has to be absolutely, deathly quiet. I shut doors and warn my husband off. I get so in the zone, writing by the seat of my pants, that it is very easy to derail my train of thought.

Tell us about your book

What is the name of it and is it part of a series or a stand-alone novel?

My novel is called Come the Shadows and it is the first in a series of books called the Campbell Creek Mysteries.

Where did the idea come from? 

Well, it has its basis in a spec script I wrote three years ago for the TV show Bones, but only about 5-10% of that story made it into the book. I started with the idea of finding completely skeletonized remains and just built from there. The way it plays out in the script is very different from how it plays out in the book, however, and I love all that extra breathing room the story can have in a novel. 

How long did it take to write?

It took ten weeks to write the first draft of the book and another two months to edit it through multiple additional drafts.

What is it about?

The story centers in Campbell Creek, North Carolina. Will Harmon is a veteran officer on the force and he and his wife Laura have raised their family in the town. It’s been a quiet place to live for a long time but things are changing. This discovery of a body – the first in suspicious death in 17 years – in an old factory  on the north side of town sets in motion a chain of events that shatters their comfortable little life.

Your other work:

Do you have any upcoming projects in the works or other books that have been published?

On November 29^th I will publish the sequel to Come the Shadows – Red Sky Warning. I also have a short story out now, “One Final Night,” and plan to soon start releasing additional short stories in mystery/suspense that center on the early years when Will Harmon had just joined the police force in Campbell Creek.

Where can readers connect with you?

There are lots of ways to connect with me online. The 3 best are:

Blog: http://wendylyoung.wordpress.com
FB: http://www.facebook.com/wendylyoungwriter
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/wendyyoung

Where can we buy your books?

Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Createspace, Kobo, Sony, I-books, Smashwords

Thank you Wendy for Joining us!!! What I really want to see... is that story your wrote earlier - The Sleeping Beauty Hillbilly Style!!!!