Love Bytes is happy to welcome back to the blog author Amy Lane. Amy decided to do something different for her blog tour this time around and is focussing on fellow author friends.

We had the honor or Amy talking to Miss Charlie Cochet.

Welcome Amy 🙂

The Charming Miss Charlie

By Amy Lane

Okay folks—so, I’m here today to promote Red Fish, Dead Fish, my latest story in the Fish Out of Water series.  Now, usually in a blog tour, we talk about ourselves and our newest book until we can’t hardly stand it—but this time out I decided to do something different. I’m going to talk about other people’s books—because I know some amazing romantic suspense authors, and I wanted to celebrate them instead. So Red Fish, Dead Fish is out on Amazon, it’s the second in the series, and I think you’ll like it very much a lot! That being said, let’s talk about Charlie Cochet!

 

In person Charlie Cochet wafts style and adorable charm—she’s always dressed like a dream with her signature flower at her ear, and quirk at her lips only hints at the irrepressible humor that lurks within. I can’t attend an event without hoping I get a chance to talk to Charlie, even if it’s in a crowded hallway, with a thousand other people, because she makes my day brighter without fail.

Her signature series is the Thirds shapeshifter series, but people forget (because the Thirds characters are so damned memorable) that Charlie has a lot of talents and interests. She also writes charming historical romance and intricately wrought fantasy. Given that I’ve never heard a boring word from this delightful woman, I cannot imagine her other work would be anything less than enthralling. Let’s give it up for Miss Charlie Cochet!

Which romantic suspense or mystery author would you recommend and why?

I don’t think I could pick just one. For mystery in the gay romance genre, I would definitely recommend Rhys Ford and Josh Lanyon. They right fantastic mysteries. I adore C.S. Poe’s Snow & Winter series, and for suspense, Mary Calmes’s Matter of Time, and Marshalls series. I’ve reread them so many times. I was recently introduced to Tal Bauer’s Executive Office series, and oh my goodness. Such incredible edge-of-your-seat suspense. There are certain authors that when I think of the suspense and mystery genre, these are some of my favorites that come to mind.

 

What do you think is the most delicious part of a suspense novel or a mystery?

The inability to put the book down. For suspense, it’s having to keep reading because you need to know how it all works out, or knowing what’s coming and screaming at the character because they have no idea what’s about to happen to them. That edge of your seat, nail biting moment. With a mystery, it’s seeing it all come together. You’ve been given all these pieces, and you know they mean something, but you can’t just put it all together and then bam! It all fits, and you gasp, and think “Holy cow!” Those are the most delicious parts for me, the intensity, all-consuming thrill of finding out what’s going to happen next, and then seeing it happen.

Tell me about body counts–seriously. How many corpses make a good suspense novel, and why?

That depends on the type of story. In my THIRDS series, the body count isn’t actually that high. Thought he baddies and their minions tend to bite the dust most of the time, but mostly everything and anything gets thrown at my guys. Bullets, explosions, torture, you name it. I think the body count has to make sense, and has to serve a purpose or it stops being impactful. There needs to be consequences of those actions. I think in mysteries you get more of a body count because a lot of mysteries center around murder, especially if have a serial killer on the loose.

 

Dish about TV shows–which ones do you love and which ones do you hate from a suspense POV? Which TV show/movie do you most want your books to resemble?

Oh! I could go on and on about TV shows. I love shows that leave you gasping at the end of an episode wishing you had the next episode already. At the moment, some of my favorites are: Lucifer, Supernatural, Daredevil, The Blacklist, Hawaii Five-0, Lethal Weapon, White Collar, Psych, Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, and Sense 8 (which was cancelled, but I won’t start on that. Such a great show). I don’t think there’s any one particular show that I want my books to resemble, but there’s certainly things I can learn from these shows. I mean, each one keeps me coming back for more, and re-watching. For some it’s the characters, for others the plot, the humor, the suspense. I write what I love, so I guess there’s no surprise the shows that I enjoy watching all have elements that I tend to include in my books.

When you read outside your genre, what’s your candy? (I ask everybody this–I think it’s fascinating!)  

I’ve never freaked myself out since I plot out my suspense, but I’ve discovered that I have trouble writing a book that doesn’t have suspense, high drama, or action sequence. Even my two Dreamspun Desires category romance stories have my poor, sweet, unsuspecting characters thrust into danger. In all my books my characters face both internal and external conflicts, but when I ramp up the suspense, I make certain it flows organically within the story. My characters’ motivations and actions have brought them to this moment in time, and something has to come out of it.

The Foxling Soldati DSP Preorder

 

For more interviews and author close ups for Romantic Suspense, check out the rest of the blog tour—

 

July 28 – MM Good Book Reviews Amy Lane

July 28 – Alpha Book Reviews (Just a little about Jackson in Fish Out of Water)

July 31 – Open Skye Book Reviews Andrew Grey

August 1 – Two Chicks Obsessed Kim Fielding

August 2 – My Fiction Nook Rayna Vause

August 3 – Tammy’s Two Cents Ava Drake

August 4 – Happily Ever Chapter Melinda Leigh

August 7 – Long and Short Reviews Karen Rose

August 8 – Love Bytes Charlie Cochet

August 10 – The Novel Approach Tere Michaels

Blurb:

 

Fish Out of Water: Book Two  They must work together to stop a psychopath—and save each other.  Two months ago Jackson Rivers got shot while trying to save Ellery Cramer’s life. Not only is Jackson still suffering from his wounds, the triggerman remains at large—and the body count is mounting.  Jackson and Ellery have been trying to track down Tim Owens since Jackson got out of the hospital, but Owens’s time as a member of the department makes the DA reluctant to turn over any stones. When Owens starts going after people Jackson knows, Ellery’s instincts hit red alert. Hurt in a scuffle with drug-dealing squatters and trying damned hard not to grieve for a childhood spent in hell, Jackson is weak and vulnerable when Owens strikes.  Jackson gets away, but the fallout from the encounter might kill him. It’s not doing Ellery any favors either. When a police detective is abducted—and Jackson and Ellery hold the key to finding her—Ellery finds out exactly what he’s made of. He’s not the corporate shark who believes in winning at all costs; he’s the frightened lover trying to keep the man he cares for from self-destructing in his own valor.

Links:

Amazon

Dreamspinner Press

 

Previous book in the series:

 

Blurb:

Fish Out of Water: Book One

PI Jackson Rivers grew up on the mean streets of Del Paso Heights—and he doesn’t trust cops, even though he was one. When the man he thinks of as his brother is accused of killing a police officer in an obviously doctored crime, Jackson will move heaven and earth to keep Kaden and his family safe.  Defense attorney Ellery Cramer grew up with the proverbial silver spoon in his mouth, but that hasn’t stopped him from crushing on street-smart, swaggering Jackson Rivers for the past six years. But when Jackson asks for his help defending Kaden Cameron, Ellery is out of his depth—and not just with guarded, prickly Jackson. Kaden wasn’t just framed, he was framed by crooked cops, and the conspiracy goes higher than Ellery dares reach—and deep into Jackson’s troubled past. Both men are soon enmeshed in the mystery of who killed the cop in the minimart, and engaged in a race against time to clear Kaden’s name. But when the mystery is solved and the bullets stop flying, they’ll have to deal with their personal complications… and an attraction that’s spiraled out of control.

Amazon Link

Amy Lane exists happily with her noisy family in a crumbling suburban crapmansion, and equally happily with the surprisingly demanding voices who live in her head.

She loves cats, movies, yarn, pretty colors, pretty men, shiny things, and Twu Wuv, and despises house cleaning, low fat granola bars, and vainglorious prickweenies.

She can be found at her computer, dodging housework, or simultaneously reading, watching television, and knitting, because she likes to freak people out by proving it can be done.

Connect with Amy:

Website: greenshill.com

Blog: writerslane.blogspot.com

Twitter: @amymaclane

Facebook group: Amy Lane Anonymous

Goodreads: goodreads.com/amymaclane