Today, I had the privilege of interviewing suspense author V.B. Tenery. V.B.'s novel, Dead Ringer, has recently released. V.B. is sharing with us about her hybrid publication journey, her next release, and her favorite suspense authors (hint: we share a fave CBA suspense author!).~Heather Day Gilbert
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| Author V.B. Tenery |
Author V. B. Tenery lives with her family in East Texas. Not content to stay in one genre, her novels range from contemporary suspense and supernatural suspense, to an upcoming historical suspense set in WWII England. When not writing she enjoys reading, hiking, and tube-floating down rivers in the Texas Hill Country.
Interview with V. B. Tenery
HG: V. B., Dead Ringer is your second novel, following your indie-published Works of Darkness. Tell me a little about your path to
publication.
VBT: I love the
mystery/suspense genre, and I found that secular novels had grown too violent
for me to enjoy them. And I thought there must be other readers out there like
me. Great writers make writing look so easy, I decided “I can do that.” Wrong.
It took me years to learn the craft. It all came together for me about eight
years into the process and I started to look for an agent and/or publisher. We
all know how hard that can be, but I found a publisher last year, The Pelican
Group, who bought two of my novels. Dead
Ringer is the first release under their banner. The Watchman, a contemporary supernatural suspense is the second.
HG: The plot of Dead Ringer sounds very high-octane, in which the main
character, Mercy Lawrence, is mistaken for a star, and then whisked to a
private island...where she runs into spies, assassins, and the like. Do you
have to spend a lot of time researching these elements? And would you
categorize your writing as suspense, mystery, thriller, or somewhere
in-between?
VBT: I spent a
lot of time researching the locals in this novel and the CIA details. I
consider myself a suspense writer although there are elements of mystery. I
have to say, despite the research involved, this novel flowed smoothly from
beginning to end. I finished it in nine months. Works of Darkness was my first novel and it was a learning process
for me and took years of rewrites.
HG: What made you think of a doppelganger twist
in your story? I used to be a huge Ringer fan, which was a show about twin sisters. Definitely kept the stakes
high and unpredictable.
VBT: I never know
exactly where my story ideas come, but when I thought of this I saw its
tremendous potential for tension and intrigue. I have about a dozen novels
running around in my brain that I may never live long enough to write. That’s
the downside of starting a writing career late in life. I’m not a fast writer
and am in awe of writers who can turn out 3-4 books a year.
HG: Have you found the hybrid author experience
to be rewarding, and if so, in what ways? What was harder about it than you
expected?
VBT: I decided to
become a hybrid author just to test the water, so to speak. Works of Darkness was my first Indie
novel. I’ve love the freedom of Indie publishing. There are no walls between
you and your reader. There is no wait while your novel is put into queue to be
published which can take a year or more, and I loved having control of the
editing process. I published Works of
Darkness in two months after the novel was completed and most of that time
was waiting on various functions to be completed. The most difficult part was
assembling a great cover artist, editor, and a good formatting service. But you
only have to do that once. I made some mistakes but it was a learning process.
Reviews have been great, which has made all the hard work worth while. I hope the
same will hold true for Dead Ringer.
HG: Please tell us a little about your next
book. Are you developing a series?
VBT: Dead Ringer is a stand alone as is The Watchman which comes out in October. Works of Darkness, my first Indie, is an ongoing series featuring Police
Chief, Matt Foley and Sara Bradford, the developing love interest. The next
book in the series is Then There Were
None will also be an Indie novel and comes out in late August. These are
characters dear to my heart and they have been great fun to write. The first
three chapters of all four books are available on my website at: www.vbtenery.com
HG: And finally, who is your favorite author in
the suspense genre? I like knowing authors' fave authors because generally we
admire what we want to become!
VBT: In the
Christian market my favorite is Sibella Giorello. She weaves a great suspense
novel with vibrant locals and the spiritual elements are so seamless they never
interrupt the flow of the story. On the secular side, I love Michael Connelly.
His iconic Harry Bosch character is flawlessly flawed, and you can’t help but
root for him through his many trials.
HG: Oh, I love Sibella, as well, and will have
to read Connelly! All the best with your novels and thank you for visiting
today, V.B.!
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Bermuda airport facial recognition software has identified her as missing runway star, Traci Wallace. Despite Mercy’s protests, Traci’s husband, ex-
