Happy New Year everyone. I'm back after the holiday mania which included, among other things, a visit to a farm where I tried my hand at Cow Whispering--but I'll have to explain at a later date. And speaking of which,  one of my New Year's resolutions for 2008 (and note that I've never kept a resolution) is to be more faithful to my blogging, so  (unless life interferes) look for more entries coming soon...  

In the meantime...We have a special guest dropping by today...Colleen Thompson, author of The Salt Maiden.  To learn more about Colleen and her new novel which just hit bookstores in December, keep scrolling on down!

Some novels begin with a character, others start with a what-if question or a situation, but my sixth romantic thriller, The Salt Maiden (Leisure, Dec. 2007) was inspired by a place I visited a few years back, a sunburned, sand-scoured desert community in the dead center of the least populated county in the U.S. With water too briny for human consumption and land too to support any but the hardiest of desert plants, it’s an eerily daunting landscape, one that made me wonder, What on earth would bring a person out here?

Apparently my subconscious took it as a challenge, and came up with a Houston veterinarian, Dana Vanover, in search of her troubled missing sister, the birth mother of a child in desperate need of a bone-marrow transplant. In spite of her ambivalence about her sister, Dana braves heat, rattlesnakes, and hostile locals — as well as her attraction to the handsome sheriff who wants her gone.

"Poetic use of language, intricate plotting and a wealth of fascinating details make Thompson's latest novel a masterful work of suspense. Readers will come for the action and stay for the three-dimensional characters and well-crafted narrative. This is a fabulous read!"
Romantic Times BOOKreviews Top Pick,
2007 Reviewers Choice Nominee, Best Romantic Suspense

An excellent thriller with a touch of romance. I could not bring myself to set the book down. I simply HAD to know what would happen next. From the beginning it is non-stop action, drama, and mystery. Fans of Tess Gerritsen, Tami Hoag, and Sandra Brown will adore this tale. Phenomenal!
Detra Fitch, Huntress Book Reviews

THE SALT MAIDEN is a great book filled with action of all kinds - from steamy love scenes to terror ridden suspense.  Just when you think you have it all figured out - wham, something unexpected happens. The plot of the story is interesting and the characters in the book are very lifelike.  The book touches on the complexities of mother-daughter and sibling relationships.  If you want to spend some wonderful time being entertained, you need to invest the time and money in reading this book.
Dana Henderson, Romance Junkies

Wait until you read the ending of this marvelous suspense thriller. You'll never guess and it will keep you on the edge of your seat. I have never missed a Colleen Thompson thriller and never will. THE SALT MAIDEN is yet another treasure you cannot miss. It's wrought with intensity, mystery, intrigue, passion and a roller coaster ride until the last page is turned. Take the ride; you'll be glad you did.
Suzanne Tucker, Fresh Fiction

Colleen Thompson is an author waiting to “happen”. Oh, she has been out there, is well respected as a growing talent. She has a solid backlist of amazing tales; only, she just has that presence of an author ready to have that break out novel. The Salt Maiden is that book. Her skill and flow of the prose marks her as a master wordsmith. She weaves an intricate plot into this eerie, sinister tale that kept me spellbound. This simply is Colleen Thompson at her very best.
Deborah MacGillivray, The Best Reviews

THE SALT MAIDEN by Colleen Thompson is riveting suspense with an emotionally satisfying romance. The finely detailed characterization combines with an eerie exquisitely written landscape to make this novel a reading and re-reading pleasure...Colleen Thompson creates a romance that is reflective in tone through her portrait of the wasteland, adding a fresh intriguing vision to the genre.
Merrimon Book Reviews

CT:  When I'm not writing, there's a good chance I'm reading - or talking writing. I'm obsessed. I'll admit it.

RR:  When did you know you wanted to be writer? And did anyone in particular encourage you along the way?
CT:  From the time I was very small, I was making up stories, and early in my youth, I got into the habit of writing daily. I knew from a very young age I wanted to be a writer, but I wasn't sure "real" people could do such a thing. I received some encouragement from teachers in school, but it wasn't until I came out of the closet as a writer years later and scratched up the nerve to network with other writers that I found the friends I needed to help bring me along.
 
RR:  Are you currently working on a new novel/project? And if so, can you tell us what it's about?
CT:  I'm currently working on TRIPLE EXPOSURE (Leisure Romantic Suspense, August 2008), a romantic thriller about a photographer who, after her acquittal in the murder of an unbalanced young stalker, is forced to return to her West Texas desert home. Soon, however, a photo she shoots of a reclusive desert craftsman lands both of them in danger.

RR:  What's your favorite part of writing?  Starting something new? Revising what you've already got drafted? Developing characters? The plot?  Something else all together?
CT:  I love the initial brainstorming and writing of the proposal, when everything is still fresh and exciting and flexible. This part is the "play part," where I can "what if" to my heart's content.

RR:  Do you remember where you were and what you were doing when you got the call--I'm talking, the call--when you learned that you had sold your novel?
CT:  THE SALT MAIDEN was my thirteen book sale, and it was a bit humdrum. I was home alone and writing in my office. The first sale, made in the hotel room of a writers' conference, where I was chatting with my critique partners, was by far the most exciting. But every sale still feels like a victory to me.

RR:  Central Casting: If they were to make a movie out of your book, who would you cast to play your main characters? 
CT:  Josh Brolin as Sheriff Jay Eversole, a man who's struggling to hide the PTSD from his recent service in Iraq and either Charlize Theron or Hillary Swank as Dana Eversole, the Houston veterinarian pushed to the ends of endurance in her struggle to save a dying child and her missing sister.

RR: What's the one book that you wish you'd read because everyone tells you should. This is  the one book that you keep attempting to read, the one everyone praises, but alas the one you just can't get through.
CT:  Great question. I'm embarrassed to say it's The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. I intend to take another crack at it again soon since so many people I respect tell me it's brilliant.

 Thanks to Colleen for popping in and please check out her website at colleenthompson.com.  See you back here soon!