Saturday, August 16, 2014

Warm Hearts Relaunch 5 - Sarah Madison

Sarah is with us today to talk about her forthcoming release Walk a Mile, sequel to Unspeakable Words, and what it's like writing a sequel.  And, yes, writers love their characters as much as readers!


“What took you so long?”



That’s often one of the questions I hear when I announce that the sequel to my FBI guys story, Unspeakable Words, will be released this October. Well, I can see why. Unspeakable Words was released at the end of 2010. Walk a Mile, the second in The Sixth Sense series, will be released almost four years later. So what did take me so long?

I can tell you, I never intended to let so much time pass. I had plans for at least three full stories when this quirky tale of two ‘opposites attract’ FBI agents was contracted by Dreamspinner Press, but the fact that it was accepted at all caught me completely off-guard. I’d submitted it on a whim, and was stunned when not only did Dreamspinner accept it, but it remained on the website’s best seller list for over a month (I know because I checked it daily).

To say I was delighted was an understatement. Unspeakable Words was my first major release, and I had no idea what to expect. I’d fallen hard for my ‘Odd Couple’, and was thrilled that readers loved the pairing as well. I was already working on a new story in a different setting, however, and planning sequels for that story, too. I told myself I would finish the one I was working on and go back to pick up the remainder of the previous series. But one thing led to another, and before I knew it, several years had passed. I’d lost confidence in my planned sequence of stories by this point. I didn’t believe I could pull it off.

I began to think about them more and more, though. Jerry Parker, neat, precise, a little OCD. By-the-book because he can quote the book chapter and verse. Valued for his skills but resented for them, too.  And John Flynn, who will try to charm his way out of most situations and shoot his way out of the rest. A loner and a maverick, aware of how handsome he is and not above using it to get what he wants. One man openly gay; the other not. I had great fun throwing a spanner at their lives in Unspeakable Words, forcing the two men to rely on each other in ways neither of them could have predicted. Gradually I found myself thinking about what kind of relationship would be born out of such beginnings, and whether or not it could survive. In Walk a Mile, Flynn and Parker are looking for a way to reverse the unusual powers Flynn developed when he made accidental contact with a strange artifact in a museum.  Pursuit of a second artifact will land them in hot water up to their necks while putting their relationship to the ultimate test as well. Is it bad that I am rubbing my hands together with an evil grin just contemplating this?


I promise that even though I leave things on a bit of a cliffhanger at the end of Walk a Mile, you won’t have to wait another four years for the next in the series—I’m working on that one right now!



Sarah Madison Author Bio and Contact Information

Bio: Sarah Madison is a veterinarian with a big dog, an even bigger horse, too many cats, and a very patient boyfriend. She is a terrible cook, and concedes that her life would be easier if Purina made People Chow. She writes because it is cheaper than therapy.

Contacts:

On Facebook (Profile page): https://www.facebook.com/akasarahmadison

1 comment:

  1. Thanks for hosting me here today, Jessica! I love talking about 'my boys' and will use any excuse I can get! :-)

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