Author Interview with Patti O'Shea

Patti O’Shea Interview

Patti, welcome to Leah’s Literary Lair! We are so happy you could take time to visit with us.

Thanks for inviting me!

Please tell us a bit about yourself. Your family, background, etc.

I live in Minneapolis, MN, attended the University of Minnesota's School of Journalism where I earned a degree in advertising copywriting, and went to work for Northwest Airlines–in accounting. I moved around the company until I ended up where I'm at now–757 Engineering. I've always enjoyed traveling and working for an airline gave me an opportunity to visit more places. I've also always had an interest in airplanes and I've learned a lot about them during my time in Technical Operations. Plus, I've been able to get some up close looks that I wouldn't have anywhere else.

For our readers unfamiliar with your work, please tell us what kind of books you write.

My stories are paranormal romance with a lot of action and adventure in the mix and I have a couple of action/adventure futuristic books, too.

Your most recent release, In Twilight’s Shadow, was the second book in your Light Warrior series. Please tell us about this series and the books in it. Will there be more books in this series and if so, what is the next book in the series? Do you have a title and release date yet?

The Light Warriors books are about a society of magic users who protect humans from demons and other dark-force creatures. Each territory has a troubleshooter assigned to it and they handle the problems that arise within their area as well as other assignments that their council might give them.

IN THE MIDNIGHT HOUR is the first book. The heroine is Ryne Frasier and the hero is Deke Summers. The little blurb I use for the book is: When a troubleshooter for a society of magic users rescues a private investigator from a dark spell, she finds more than an ally as she faces down her former mentor.

IN TWILIGHT'S SHADOW is about Ryne's sister Maia Frasier and Creed Blackwood. Maia gave up her magical powers years earlier because she'd fallen to the dark forces, but she's still struggling to cope with the loss. Creed is dealing with his own issues when it comes to dark magic and they're both going to have to defeat their demons–literally as well as figuratively.

The next story is EDGE OF DAWN and it will be released July 2009. During In Twilight's Shadow we find out that Creed has a little sister that he's never met. This is her story. The blurb for this book is: Glass artist Shona Blackwood is ignorant of her Gineal heritage and unaware that people who can do magic actually exist, but when she's targeted for death, troubleshooter Logan Andrews is assigned to protect her. A straightforward job quickly goes askew and what Logan doesn't know might cost both him and Shona their lives.

I'm writing the fourth book in the series now. The working title is IN THE DARKEST NIGHT, but there's been a few other books with similar titles, so it might not be called that when it's actually released. This story is about Logan's brother, Kel. Logan worries about him throughout EDGE OF DAWN and now we'll find out what happened to change him. His heroine has had a rough time with life, too, and they're both wounded individuals who are trying to heal.

How long have your been writing and what was your first published book?

I became serious about writing about eighteen months before I sold my first book in January 2002. I'd been writing before that, of course–since 8th grade–and I had finished three other books, but it was mostly dabbling when I felt like it rather than dedicated, regular writing. Now I write every day.

My first sale was RAVYN'S FLIGHT, released in November 2002 and reprinted in 2006. It's a futuristic romance set in 2040 with a hero in army special operations and a heroine who's part of a colonization assessment team. They're light years from home when all their teammates end up murdered and Ravyn and Damon are on the run from an unknown killer. They have to stay alive long enough for help to arrive from Earth, but it isn't going to be easy.

How many books do you have out now? Do you have a favorite character or book that you have written?

As we start 2009, I have six books and one novella out. My seventh book will be released in July 2009 and the eighth is scheduled for March 2010.

The question about favorite character is tough and I don't think I can pick. I spend so much time with them that each one becomes a really close friend, and while I'm always glad to have finished their story–I want to know what happens!–I miss them when they leave. I tell people it's as if someone you've lived with has decided to pull up stakes and move across the country. Yes, you can visit, but it's just not the same.

Although I can't pick a favorite character, I do have a favorite book–IN THE MIDNIGHT HOUR. This used to be impossible to choose, too, but something about this story just wedged its way into my heart. I guess it helps that it's one I really wanted to tell and the fact that I wrote two other books before being able to start this one kept the anticipation high. I also loved Deke's sarcastic, smart aleck comments. And there's Ryne. She's so tough–she feels she has to be–but emotionally her demons are winning the war. Deke anchors her, helps her find the footing she needs to defeat them and move forward.


How did you get started in your writing career? Are you a full time writer or do you hold another job as well?

I have a full-time job at Northwest Airlines in 757 Engineering. I really would love to write full time, but it's not feasible right now. It does get exhausting, though!

My start to getting published was pretty interesting. I mentioned earlier that I'd dabbled and I had submitted two of the three books I'd finished and gotten good rejection letters, but it wasn't until around 2000 that I really committed myself to writing. After finishing the rough draft of RAVYN'S FLIGHT and revising the first three chapters, I sent it out to contests put on by various local chapters of Romance Writers of America and continued revising the rest of the book.

One of the first contests I entered in the summer of 2001 was called the Southern Heat. Among the prizes for winning was being able to send the full manuscript to the final judge who was an editor at Dorchester Publishing.

I had just finished revising the entire manuscript so that it was ready to submit, when I received a letter saying I'd won the Southern Heat and that I should contact the editor of my category to arrange to send my manuscript. This was December 2001. I contacted her, mailed it off on New Year's Eve, and ten days later, went on vacation. I did have internet access while I was away, but I couldn't read my email. (Things have come a long way!) I came home and I had so many messages that it took hours to download all the email. One of the notes was from the editor who had RAVYN'S FLIGHT asking me to call her.

My first thought was that something had happened to the manuscript. Maybe a page had gotten lost or the post office had dropped it in a mud puddle and it wasn't legible. The possibilities were endless and the offices were closed by the time I saw that note. I called the next day, and sold my first book in January 2002.

I understand that you have done a lot of traveling. Do you use these travels as research for your books?

I think everything we see and do shapes us to a degree and that includes the places we've been. I know my visits to different cities and countries have influenced settings in my stories. For instance, when I wrote THE POWER OF TWO and my hero and heroine needed to go to the Raft Cities, I based the poverty my characters saw on my visit to Samarai Island in Papua New Guinea. I've also used a nighttime trip I made to the Hollywood Walk of Fame in THROUGH A CRIMSON VEIL and Los Angeles in general for IN THE MIDNIGHT HOUR.

Is research something you enjoy? Approximately how much do you do for each book and what is your favorite form of research? Travel, internet, printed materials?

Yes and no. I'm insatiably curious about a lot of different things and I always seem to be learning something new. For example, right now I'm listening to a podcast on earthquakes and seismology from the University of California-Berkeley. I have no plans to write a story with earthquakes, but I thought it might be interesting (and it is). Of course, I also had an interest in nanotechnology years before I was published and I didn't think I'd ever need the information for anything, but I ended up using quantum brain nanotechnology as a major plot point in THE POWER OF TWO (2004), so who knows? Maybe one day I will be writing a story that involves seismology.

The less fun part of research comes in when I need specific detail for a book and it's the kind of information that isn't easy or quick to find. I think small facts are important, but some of what I'm looking for can be obscure stuff that gets buried in a much larger sections of data. Or if I don't know the exact terminology to search for, I can end up with far too many hits to wade through, none of which contain the information I actually need.

I like to use the internet because of how quick it is to do a search, but I try to find corroboration since the information can be suspect online. I do have a lot of books filling my shelves, but then I have to figure out exactly which book it is and find it amid all the other volumes, which isn't always quick or easy.

What do you have in the works now? Can you give us a sneak peek? Sure hope so.

Next up is EDGE OF DAWN in July 2009, I'm working on the fourth book in the Light Warriors series for a March 2010 release, and I was asked to submit a story for THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF VAMPIRE ROMANCE 2. I'm not sure what the release date is for that.

The Work In Progress (WIP) isn't ready to be shared yet, but I'm happy to give a sneak peek at EDGE OF DAWN. I don't even have an excerpt up on my website yet. This is part of a scene that takes place a few days after Logan and Shona meet. It's the second time they've talked to each other.

Logan spotted Shona up ahead and his thoughts derailed.
Friday night her hair had been straight, tamed; today it tumbled in waves to just above the small of her back. Her sky-blue T-shirt was tight and short, baring her midriff and accentuating her full breasts. Her jeans were pale yellow and fit her every bit as closely as the pair she'd worn last Friday. For someone tall and lanky, Shona was nicely curved and Logan felt an unwelcome surge of warmth return. He swallowed hard.
She hadn't seen him yet, not with all the people between them, and he took the opportunity to stop and stare. He was too far away to really see her face, but he remembered--the high cheekbones; the elfin chin; the rich, chocolate-brown eyes now hidden behind dark lenses; and her full lips. Just the memory of her sexy mouth was enough to intensify the heat inside him.
Someone jostled Logan as they walked by and it brought him back to his senses. He closed the remaining distance.
As he neared the coffee shop, Shona caught sight of him and pushed her sunglasses to the top of her head. Her lips curved and that small, tentative smile was enough to knock him off balance. With a deep breath, Logan reminded himself that he was a Gineal troubleshooter; he was trained to control his emotions, not let emotion control him, but damn, she hit him hard.
"Hi," she said.
"Hey, Shona." He kept his tone easy because she looked anxious. "I hope I didn't keep you waiting."
"I was early."
Her hands tightened around the white, plastic bag she held hard enough to make it rustle. "Is that my jacket?"
"What? Oh! Yes, here." Shona thrust the bag at him and Logan had to make a lunge for it to keep it from hitting the ground. "Sorry," she said, her face flushed.
"Don't worry about it. Want to grab a cup of coffee?" Logan gestured toward the building behind her.
"I was going to invite you to show my appreciation for your help." Her eyes widened. "Not that a cup of coffee comes close to repaying my debt, but I don't know if anything could."
"You don't owe me anything." She tried to interrupt him, but he held up a hand. "I know you're grateful I came along when I did, but that doesn't incur a debt on your part. I look at it as doing what's right, kind of like racking up good karma points with the universe." He smiled at her. "And I have three sisters; I'd like to think someone would help them if they found themselves in a similar situation."
Which was unlikely. If someone was stupid enough to grab one of them, any of his sisters would blast him with a spell before anyone needed to come to their aid.
"Paying it forward," Shona murmured.
"Something like that." Logan took her elbow, steered her toward the entrance to the coffee house, and held the door for her. The place was crowded and there was only a single open table. "Why don't you grab that," he pointed to the one available spot, "and I'll get the coffee? What do you want?"
"No. You take the table and I'll get the coffee. My treat, remember?"
He wanted to argue, but there was something in her demeanor that suggested she wasn't going to allow him to buy. Logan silently capitulated. "A large coffee. No cream, no sugar, none of that other frou-frou stuff. Just black, okay?"


Tell us a bit about your writing style. What kind of writer are you? A plot and outline person or are you more of a pantser style of writer? Have your characters ever developed a life of their own and taken off in a direction that you didn’t expect? If so, what did that do to your story?

I'm more toward the seat-of-the-pants side of the spectrum, but I've shifted over time. I used to be nearly a pure fly-into-the-mist writer, but now I usually have a synopsis before I start writing, and to my surprise, I've liked having that loose framework. I can't see me moving too much farther toward plotting, though, since just the thought of index cards makes me break out in a cold sweat.

My characters arrive as fully-formed people, so they tell me their story and I write it down. If I try to force them to do it my way, progress grinds to a halt and I can't write any further until I figure out what had one or both balking. It happened in ETERNAL NIGHTS when I had Wyatt kissing Kendall. I couldn't figure out why I was stuck after that point, but it turns out it was too early; he wouldn't risk scaring her. I still had the kiss after I fixed that spot, but because Wyatt was only semi-conscious when it happened, it fit better and it also caused more complications through the story.

What's really hard is when the characters keep secrets and then spring things on me just before it's time to reveal it in the book. The most flagrant example of this was in my first book, RAVYN'S FLIGHT. I went through almost half the book before Damon mentioned the big event from his past. I'd suspected there was something that had him so determined to protect Ravyn, but it could have been his personality. Once he finally revealed the truth, more things about him made sense.

Oh, and it happened with IN THE MIDNIGHT HOUR and Ryne's past. I knew there was a reason why she was so dead-set against getting involved with a human, but I didn't know what–exactly–that was until right before it was revealed. I tried to talk her out of it because I really didn't want to go there or write it, but she insisted. And it was a pretty big part of what drove her, so I guess she was right.

If the characters give me enough notice before they head off, it's not really that big a deal because I can just adjust as I go along. When they spring a surprise on me right before I'm ready to write the scene where they reveal their secret to their hero/heroine, then it's a little bigger deal and usually involves going back and adding some foreshadowing earlier in the story. With Ryne, I didn't have to do that because I knew there was something and was already foreshadowing, but with Damon, it did involve sprinkling clues in throughout the first half of the book as I revised.

Are you a big reader? Do you have a favorite book or author? Do you read the same genre that you write or do you find this a distraction to your writing?

I used to read a book a day before I sold my first book. I literally have boxes and boxes in my basement filled with thousands of books and bookshelves all over the place. Now so much of what used to be reading time is writing time and I don't read nearly as much as I used to.

Oh, wow, I have a lot of favorite books and authors. It's impossible to narrow it down to one. I do tend to like darker books with lots of action and suspense. My favorite "romance" movies are The Terminator and Speed if that gives any indication of what kind of story I enjoy reading most. And I do read in the genres I write. Since I rarely pick up a book while I'm writing, I don't find it distracting.

I've also begun to read more non-fiction. My latest was Survival Of the Sickest by Dr. Sharon Moalem. The book was about why certain genetic diseases are still in our gene pool. I found it utterly fascinating and couldn't put it down.

Has anything been different than you expected since beginning your writing career? The fans, the book signings, promo? What do you enjoy the most?

The biggest surprise was how much time and energy is taken up with things that have nothing to do with the story I'm writing. I'd heard other published authors talk about it, but I couldn't believe it could be that bad. I was wrong. It is utterly amazing how many things eat up writing time. While I'm trying to write one story, I might be doing promotion on an earlier book, reading through copy edits on the manuscript I turned in months earlier, and discussing a future project all at the same time. Then I'll go to my day job and someone will ask me about the book and I have to ask which one they mean.

Favorite thing, hands down, is hearing from readers who enjoyed my stories. I keep each and every email and I plan to scrapbook them all. Before I sold, I never emailed a writer when I loved one of her stories, but now that I know how much it means, I do contact authors whose work I loved.

Give us an example of a normal day in your life. Do you try to keep to a specific writing schedule with a certain word count or number of pages a day?

Now y'all get to find out how boring my normal days are! The alarm goes off at 4am and I hit the snooze as many times as I can before I absolutely have to get up to get ready for my day job. Eight plus hours at work where I tease engineers and do projects, and then home. Chores, errands, email, and if I'm lucky, I can sit down to write by 6pm. If I'm not lucky it'll be 7 or later. I usually write until my brain shuts down and then go to bed to start it all over again the next day.

I do try to do a set number of pages a day and spend the weekends trying to make up for the number of pages that I'm short. I also use my vacation time from my day job to make my deadlines.

What do you do for fun? Do you have any hobbies or collections you would like to share with our readers?

I scrapbook, although I haven't had much time to do it lately. It's a way to be creative without using the same part of my brain that writes. I also started gardening after I moved into my house. Kind of, at least. I like looking at the flowers, but I mulch so I don't have to weed too often. The coolest thing was that one year while I was standing outside watering my lilies, a hummingbird hovered within a foot and a half of me and I thought, wow! I'd like to start doing container gardening for fresh vegetables. Maybe in 2009.

If anyone is interested in seeing some of my 2008 flowers, I've got a slideshow up here: http://pattioshea.blogspot.com/2008/08/flowers-flowers-flowers.html

If you could give one piece of advice to a beginning author, what would it be?

I've received two really great pieces of advice, so I'll share both. The first was: Writers write.

At the time I heard it, I wasn't putting in the work to be a writer, I was waiting for some magical day when I had more time, when the muse struck, when I had the perfect idea, etc. It didn't sink in right away, but later I realized that if I really wanted to be a writer, I couldn't wait until I found the time–I had to make the time. I really wanted to be a writer, I'd wanted it since I was fourteen, so instead of watching television or whatever, I'd write.

The second piece of advice that really helped me was: The writing process will change and don't try to force yourself to write a book the way you wrote the previous one. Use whatever process that book needs.

Every single book I've written has had a different method of coming to life. I did intensive character sketches when I wrote RAVYN'S FLIGHT, but on other books I've only filled out some of the questions, and in some cases, only the physical descriptions of the hero and heroine. It depends on what I need to do to tell the story. When I wrote THROUGH A CRIMSON VEIL, I had to do it at night. I joked to people that because my hero and heroine were nocturnal, they wouldn't come out to work until later in the evening. I thought it was weird, but hey, whatever it takes. Thanks to the advice, though, I've been able to let myself go with the flow and not get hung up on the fact that isn't the way I wrote my last book.

Patti, thanks so much for stopping by to chat. I know we are all looking forward to your next book! Please come back again soon!

I hope you will join Patti at her fabulous website http://www.pattioshea.com to learn more about her current and upcoming books! You won't want to miss them!