Interview with Brandilyn Collins

Be sure to check out the interview with my dear friend, Brandilyn Collins. If you like suspense books that will take you on an emotional roller coaster be sure to check out her novels!

Welcome Brandilyn! Can you start by telling me a little about you and your writing?

I write Seatbelt Suspense — fast-paced thrillers with God’s truth woven in. My publisher is Zondervan (a division of HarperCollins). Why chilling suspense? you ask. Why not romance, or historicals–something a little easier on the nerves? My mother asks me the same thing. She thinks I’m getting more warped by the minute. She’s probably right. My stories do tend to be . . . intense. But the truth is, I have an amazing, fun freedom in writing Christian suspense. I get to tell all sorts of scary stories–and inject the hope of God into them. That’s the best of both worlds, if you ask me.

My #1 job as a Christian novelist is to write the best rollickin’ story I possibly can. I want to grab you–from the very first line. I want to take you on a rollercoaster ride, make you need to sleep with a nightlight on. I want to make you forget to b r e a t h e. Yet along the way, you won’t be so inundated with evil that you’re left feeling hopeless. Quite the opposite. My books present hope.

Brandilyn, I know your parents were missionaries for many years, did their relationship with God impact your life and your writing?

My parents had a huge impact on my life. They taught me the Christian faith, and they lived their faith. They prayed for me, guided me, loved me. They also instilled confidence in me, teaching me I could do anything I put my mind to. That determination is very important for what I do, because the writing business is hard.

In your books, good and evil are protrayed so clearly . . . what type of response have you received from readers?

Very positive responses in the many letters and reviews I’ve received of my books. Many speak mostly about the stories themselves — the “gripping,” “intense,” “I-couldn’t-put-it-down” types of comments. (You can read some about Web of Lies on amazon.com.) Other letters speak to the spiritual impact my books have had on them. I’ve excerpted some of these letters on the Reader Feedback page of my Web site.

Tell me about your newest release.

Web of Lies brings together Annie Kingston, the forensic artist from my Hidden Faces series, and Chelsea Adams, the woman who sees visions from my former suspense series. It is a fast-paced, twisting story of multiple murders. How are they linked? Here’s the back cover copy:

She was washing dishes when her world began to blur.

Chelsea Adams hitched in a breath, her skin pebbling. She knew the dreaded sign all too well. God was pushing a vision into her consciousness.

Black dots crowded her sight. She dropped a plate, heard it crack against the porcelain sink. Her fingers fumbled for the faucet. The hiss of water ceased.

God, I don’t want this. Please!

After witnessing a shooting at a convenience store, forensic artist Annie Kingston must draw a composite of the suspect. But before she can begin, she hears that Chelsea Adams wants to meet with her—now. Chelsea Adams—the woman who made national headlines with her visions of murder. And this vision is by far the most chilling.

Chelsea and Annie soon find themselves snared in a terrifying battle against time, greed, and a deadly opponent. If they tell the police, will their story be believed? With the web of lies thickening, and lives ultimately at stake, who will know enough to stop the evil?

Whoa. That’s insense! What can readers expect from Brandilyn Collins in the future?

More Seatbelt Suspense, of course! My next release (August ’06) is Violet Dawn, first in the new Kanner Lake series, set in north Idaho.

For an inside look at my books, my writing life, teaching on the craft of fiction and other eclectic topics, please visit my blog, Forensics and Faith. To read excerpts from all of my books, please visit my Website.