with Sandra Brannan
We are delighted to welcome mystery author Sandra Brannan to Omnimystery News today, courtesy of JKSCommunications, which is coordinating her current book tour. We encourage you to visit all of the participating host sites; you can find her schedule here.
Sandra's fifth mystery to feature FBI agent Liv Bergen is Solomon's Whisper (September 2014 ebook formats). We recently had the opportunity to talk to her about the new book and the series to date.
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Omnimystery News: We read and enjoyed a couple of the earlier books in this series and know that Liv can't seem to make up her mind about the two men in her life. What's the current situation in Solomon's Whisper?
Photo provided courtesy of
Sandra Brannan
Sandra Brannan: Fans will be so excited with Solomon's Whisper. On book tour since 2010 for the first four books in the series, I was constantly hounded about Liv Bergen's romantic ping pong between FBI Special Agents Jack Linwood and Streeter Pierce. Whether you're Team Jack or Team Streeter, you'll probably understand quite clearly in this book why I kept Liv Bergen confused about her feelings toward the mysterious Linwood and the distant Pierce. I wanted to leave the reader with the question, "Wait, what just happened?"
OMN: Tell us a little more about your overall writing process.
SB: For the first ten novels I wrote before getting published, I wrote organically, as the story came to mind. I enjoy when characters pop into the story that I didn't expect to meet, my main characters saying things I didn't know they'd say. That freedom to let characters be who they want to be is freedom.
Yet as I published books, I realized I had more responsibility than letting the characters do all the talking, so now I do a blend outlining, completing the story in my head, then sitting at the computer and writing the story with structure yet allowing the scenes to develop organically. If the organic process changes directions for a book, then I give myself permission to stray from the outline. What I like about the process I'm continually trying to develop is that it forces me to be dedicated to the craft while keeping true to my unique way of storytelling.
An example of how this process works for me, is that when book clubs beta read Solomon's Whisper, I allowed them to convince me how the book should end. After listening to all the members of two book clubs in Ithaca, New York and Rapid City, South Dakota, I wrote the ending that I think even they will be surprised with, yet pleased.
OMN: If you could travel anywhere in the world to research the setting for a book, where would it be?
SB: I'm the other way around. I would prefer never to travel again, love my home state of South Dakota, but because of my job, I tend to travel quite a bit. So I use every travel event as a place and a way to learn. For example, I just got back from Vietnam, which stimulated some creative ways to conclude a new trilogy thriller series I'm writing at the moment. I can't wait to use what I learned and experienced to make the concluding book rich with taste and smell and terror. For Liv Bergen fans, little Max being kidnapped from DIA in Noah's Rainy Day was born of my sheer terror of having to put my young son on a plane in Denver with an escort I didn't know to visit his dad two states away. I enjoy making every day nightmares like this come alive in my stories. I do believe the worst form of torture that human beings can experience can sometime come from their own imagination.
OMN: What are some of your outside interests? And do any of these find their way into your books?
SB: Based on the popularity of my FaceBook FanPage, I'd have to say my fans wished my hobbies would make their way into my books, but unfortunately they do not. I love to spend time in the Black Hills, the woods, where I grew up. So I hunt all sorts of critters with my camera and video. Check out YouTube for "Sandra Brannan's BackYard" segments to see what kind of critters I stalk. Or come "like" or "follow" me on Facebook at #SandraBrannanAuthor or on Twitter at @SandraBrannan to see the wildlife pictures I post and the silly contests I hold with fans to guess what it is I'm tracking in the woods. One time, I found an albino wild Merriam turkey and made fans guess what it was, choosing winners to win prizes. I have a lot of fun with that.
And considering I was lucky enough to meet my soul mate, a regular Jim Fowler to my Marlin Perkins (oh too many of you are too young to understand this reference), we have a great time spending our free moments in the woods.
OMN: You mentioned taking the advice of book clubs, which beta read Solomon's Whisper. What other kind of feedback do you receive from readers?
SB: Fans make touch my heart like so few things in life can. I don't know how many times fans have made we smile and laugh, or weep and pray. Those of you who have sent me notes about how I made you lose a night of sleep, thank you! It's my goal to make you change your life plans to finish reading one of my books. That means I wrote it right, which makes me smile. And those of you who have written me the most heartfelt, tender messages, who pull me aside during my travels, and who flew across the country to meet me and share how stories like Widow's Might and Noah's Rainy Day affected you, thank you! I cry and pray for you angels raising warriors like Noah, for you adult kids who worry every day about widow's like Helma. I am so blessed that you are touched by what I write and honored that you take such great measure to find me and tell me.
I have a picture that I keep in my home office showing a stack of rejection letters when I was seeking an agent or publishing deal that when stacked up is as high on the table as my elbow to extended thumb. Now most people would have gotten the hint long before I did that maybe writing wasn't my strong suit, but I eventually got a deal after writing ten novels and being rejected that many times. Not me.
The reason that photo is important to me is that I saved every fan email and letter sent to me after my debut in 2010 and when my fan mail grew higher than my rejection pile, I took a picture and put those rejections away. Maybe that sounds a bit hokey, but I am telling you as sure as I'm giving Omnimystery News this interview that I believe fans are the reason I am still writing, and will continue to write. The power of positive feedback — in reviews, emails, letters, posts — from fans is priceless. My most sincere gratitude to all of you who continue to post reviews and send me notes encouraging me to write.
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Sandra Brannan has created a heart-pounding, award winning mystery series around the intelligent, ballsy Liv Bergen, a woman who embodies the spirit of South Dakota. Much like her fictional character, Brannan has spent her career in the mining business and lives in the Black Hills.
For more information about the author, please visit her website at SandraBrannan.com or find her on Facebook and Twitter.
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Solomon's Whisper
Sandra Brannan
A Liv Bergen Mystery
Trying to convince Liv Bergen from resigning from the FBI to return to mining after nearly losing her nephew, Streeter Pierce asks Liv for one condition: to wait six months before making her resignation official or public.
Five months into the condition, Streeter becomes desperate to keep Liv, so he bends the rules and assigns her a seven year old cold case – Brianna Keller, a young girl taken from her bedroom during a slumber party and found dead along the road in the dessert near Vegas. Streeter believes if Liv sees how she can help her family, help avenge a child’s death, she may not feel as if she’s endangering them. So what better way than to assign her Brianna’s case? After all, Brianna is Liv’s niece, her sister Barbara’s youngest child.
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