AOTW- Roxanne St. Claire

Roxanne St. Claire

About the Author:

Roxanne St. Claire is a bestselling author of nearly thirty novels of romance and suspense.  A four-time nominee and one time winner of the prestigious RITA Award for outstanding romantic fiction, her books have also won the National Reader’s Choice Award for best romantic suspense for two consecutive years, as well as the Daphne du Maurier Award, the HOLT Medallion, the Maggie, Booksellers Best, Book Buyers Best, five Awards of Excellence, the Aspen Gold and many others

Prior to launching a full time career as a novelist in 2003, Roxanne spent most of her professional life as a marketing executive and public relations consultant.  She is a graduate of UCLA, an active member of several national writing organizations, and a lecturer on a wide range of writing-related topics.  She lives in Satellite Beach, Florida with her husband and their two teenagers, and if you know her, you call her Rocki.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Interview with Roxanne St. Claire

HP: On your page you say that you wrote one manuscript and turned it in and your agent told you to write another one fast. That second book you said was published as Tropical Getaway. Was Tropical Getaway a version of the first manuscript or is it another book entirely?

Roxanne St. Claire: Tropical Getaway was an entirely new and different book.  My first manuscript never sold, since it really was a “learner” book, something a lot of writers have to produce before they can write a publishable book.  Lots of people have asked if I will self-publish my first book, but I’ve decided it’s really better where it is: in a drawer! 

HP: You have had two books published this year, both of them last month, April. Do you have any more books planned for this year?

Roxanne St. Claire: I won’t have any more books out until 2012, when I will have three released.  I don’t have firm titles or dates, but there will be two books in a new contemporary series and one young adult in 2012.  As soon as the books are titled and scheduling is firm, I’ll put them up on my web site.

HP: The Guardian Angelinos series is your newest series and a spin off of your Bullet Catcher series. Can you tell us a little about the series? Does this series have many similarities with the Bullet Catcher's?

Roxanne St. Claire: The Guardian Angelinos are a security and investigation firm made up of an extended, blended Italian family based in Boston. They are passionate, close, intelligent, relentless, and joined in the effort to build their firm into one of the best in the business. Unlike the very well-funded and super-staffed Bullet Catchers, the Angelinos work a little under the radar of the law, and they run on a smaller budget, way more dependent on street smarts than top-level technology. Where the Bullet Catchers attract the most elite clientele, based on the owner’s extensive contacts within the top levels of government and law enforcement, the Guardian Angelinos are a smaller, less sophisticated operation, but the results are the same: passion and danger are always on the scene, the super hot alpha hero gets the feisty heroine, and the bad guys go down in the end.

HP: Is there a basis in each book that is consent for all three books in The Guardian Angelinos books? Do you plan to write more than the three?

Roxanne St. Claire: The first book in the series, EDGE OF SIGHT, featured Zach Angelino, who had to protect his former lover after she witnessed a crime. In SHIVER OF FEAR, Zach’s cousin, Marc Rossi, accepts an assignment to travel to Northern Ireland to find a person of interest for the FBI. In FACE OF DANGER, Vivi Angelino takes on the job as a body double when an Oscar winning actress is targeted by a serial killer, but the FBI isn’t exactly enthused about the idea.

Like all of my romantic suspense novels, there is a highly charged and emotional relationship at the heart of a thrill, edge-of-your-seat suspense. I hope that is consistent in every book.

I would love to write more of the Guardian Angelinos, but right now there are no books under contract. My publisher has asked me to write a quartet of contemporary romances, and I’ve accepted that challenge, and am having a blast! I also have my first young adult novel coming out next year in hardcover, and I’m hoping to continue in that subgenre as well. 

But I have to write more Angelino books! I simply don’t know when or for whom...stay tuned!

HP: Your new book FACE OF DANGER The Guardian Angelinos Book #3 is coming out in May. This book is about, Private investigator Vivi Angelino and the FBI's Assistant Special Agent in Charge Colton Lang. Can you tell us what inspired their story or the characters themselves?

Roxanne St. Claire: I have to be honest and say that FACE is by far and away my favorite in the series, and possibly of all my romantic suspense novels.  There was just some magic at the keyboard with that book, probably because Vivi and Lang are two of the most vivid and delightful characters who ever appeared in my imagination. 

The story itself was inspired by an article I read in the local paper about a woman who made a living working as a celebrity look-a-like; naturally my suspense writer’s brain started spinning!  What if she were mistaken for the real actress…by someone who wanted to kill the star, not the look-a-like? I held on to that story thread for years, until Vivi came along and I knew she’d be the perfect character for the role.
Vivi showed up fully formed when I wrote the first book in the series – a spunky skater girl with spiky hair, a nose ring, and an attitude.  But when I wrote FACE OF DANGER, I had to dig deeper and I was shocked to learn her backstory and delighted to discover her huge heart and capacity for love.  She’s a smart mouth, though, and a rule breaker, and that is always a fun character to write.

HP: Your novel Killer Curves introduces us to Beau Lansing and Celeste Bennett. Can you tell us a little about them and this book?

Roxanne St. Claire: I wrote that book a long time ago and it’s out of print now, sadly, but it remains one of my very, very favorite books. I decided in 2000 that I wanted to write a sports hero (I had not yet sold a book and was still writing for fun and dreams) and my husband kept telling me I should check out NASCAR because it was really growing in popularity. I hesitated, because I didn’t know anything about the sport, but when I started researching and watching races, I was hooked. I think my genuine love for the sport is on the page with that book, and I hope readers can still find it. I adore that book and really wish it weren’t out of print – still available as an ebook, though!

HP: French Twist your second novel has a French setting. What inspired this story? Have you ever been to France?

Roxanne St. Claire: I am a bona fide Francophile and love all things French.  Years ago, I visited Versailles and was absolutely taken with the setting, certain I’d lived there in another life! When my editor suggested a French setting, the story of a former thief and a museum curator on the run from the law and the bad guys was born.  The first few chapters are set in Versailles, then the story moves to wine country – a great journey and a fun love story to write.

HP: Out of all your books, do you have a favorite one you enjoyed writing the most?

Roxanne St. Claire: That seems to be the theme of this interview! FACE OF DANGER is my current favorite. I also love my one and only chick lit, a book written entirely in emails and texts, called HIT REPLY. Also, sadly out of print (well, available for a really high price on Amazon) but can be purchased as an ebook. I still get mail on that book, and I know it somehow hit a chord with a lot of readers who wonder what would happen if that certain “ex” suddenly showed up in your email box?

HP: Do you listen to music when you write?

Roxanne St. Claire: Never. I need dead silence when I write because I go so deep into a scene that I see and hear the entire thing unfold as I write it.  Music, conversation, even the hum of my computer when it’s running a scan is distracting to me.

HP: Which comes first for you, the plot or the characters?

Roxanne St. Claire: Most of the time, not always, the plot comes to me before the characters do. I have had a few books where that wasn’t the case, but generally, I think of a story premise, and then craft the characters who can tell that story with the most amount of emotion.

HP: Do you have anything you would like to say to your readers?

Roxanne St. Claire: Just thank you for trying my books and, if you like them, spreading the word! I love to hear from readers and I appreciate every single one of you!!

Also, if you have any questions, feel free to ask – I’ll pop in today and answer anything! I love to interact with readers. And I love to give away books! Leave a comment or questions and we’ll pick one winner at random to receive an autographed copy of EDGE OF SIGHT, the first book in the Guardian Angelinos series. (If the winner already has that book, she can pick anything from my backlist!)

Thank you, Holly, for this wonderful opportunity and honor! 

HP: It was a pleasure to have you here Rocki!!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

Books by Roxanne St. Claire

Bullet Catcher Series
#1: Kill Me Twice
#2: Thrill Me To Death
#3: Take Me Tonight
#4: You Can Count on Me
#5: First You Run
#6: Then You Hide
#7: Now You Die
#8: Reason to Believe
#9: Hunt Her Down
#10: Make Her Pay
Available at Amazon.com 

The Guardian Angelinos Series
#0.5: Taken to the Edge-- Free read here.
#1: Edge of Sight
#2: Shiver of Fear
#3: Face of Danger
Available at Amazon.com

Single Titles
Romantic Suspense Novels, Chick Lit & NASCAR Books
Killer Curves
French Twist
Tropical Getaway
Hit Reply
'Tis the Silly Season
Thunderstruck

Silhouette Desire Category Romances
The Highest Bidder: Dynasties: The Ashton's
The Intern Affair: Dynasties: The Elliotts
The CEO's Scandalous Affair
His Style of Seduction
The Sins Of His Past
Like a Hurricane
The Fire Still Burns
When the Earth Moves
Single-Titles are available at Amazon.com 

Coming Soon
Don't You Wish-- Expected publication: 2012 by Delacourte

Awards & Recognitions 
*A Rita (and five total nominations)
*Multiple National Reader's Choice Awards
*Multiple Awards of Excellence
*A Daphne du Maurier for Best Romantic Suspense
*A Holt Medallion, the Book Buyers Best
*The Booksellers Best
*The Maggie
*The Gayle Wilson
*The Golden Quill
**Edge of Sight has been nominated for the prestigious RITA Award in the Romantic Suspense category! The awards ceremony will be held in New York City on July 1, 2011!!

Find Rocki at:
Facebook
Twitter
Her blog-- Murder She Writes
Her website