Willow Rose - Chasing a Killer No-One Believes Exists

Willow Rose is a multi-million-copy best-selling Author and an Amazon ALL-star Author of more than 70 novels. Her books are sold all over the world. Several of her books have reached the Kindle top 10 of ALL books in the US, UK, and Canada. She has sold more than three million books all over the world. As our Author of the Day, Willow tells us all about her book, Let Me Go.

Please give us a short introduction to what Let Me Go is about.

Let Me Go is the fifth book in my Eva Rae Thomas series. Former FBI-profiler Eva Rae Thomas is chasing a killer that no one believes even exists. The story is about swatting, the act of making a prank call to emergency services in order to bring a large number of armed police officers to a particular address. It’s been known to be used as harassment and has ended up fatally in some cases. It’s used a lot in the gaming community. The killer in this book is using it to get his message out. It’s the perfect murder, because it doesn’t look like murder.

What inspired you to write about someone who receives news from a stranger that their child is about to be killed?

I just thought it would be an interesting scene, to show how Eva Rae was struggling to get people around her to listen, and how no one would believe her.

Tell us more about Eva Rae Thomas. What makes her tick?

Eva Rae Thomas wants to save the world, even if it sometimes costs her dearly. Her sister was kidnapped in a Walmart when they were young children and that has left her wanting to save everyone else since. Because she couldn’t save her. That’s why she became an FBI profiler in the first place. But she had to give that job up when her husband left her and she was suddenly alone with three children. She wants the rid the world of evil, but that’s easier said than done.

Readers say that this story is so full of twists and turns that you don't see the end coming. Was this intentional?

I always do my best to trick my readers. That’s what I like when reading a mystery or watching one on TV. I need to be surprised at least a few times and it has to be clever.

This story is based on a real case. How true did you stay to the original case and how much research did it require from you?

I usually only let the real story inspire me, and take some of the details, but make it my own. I do a a lot of research till I know all there is to know about the subject. Most of it is never used for anything and just stays with me as strange knowledge that will end up making an interesting dinner conversation.

What are some things you do to give depth to your characters?

I make sure we know how they feel all the time, what their thoughts are and what emotions go through them. I give them background stories that will make you root for them.

When working on a novel, how do you immerse yourself in the main characters' lives? Do you observe people in a certain culture, or do you try to walk in their shoes?

I love to observe people and will do so when going places, then use it in books. But I also use people I know. I’ll hear stories they tell or know stuff they go through and then use it in my books. I sense people's emotions strongly and it is easy for me to put myself in someone’s place, no matter what they go through. It’s the same thing when I write about my character. I feel everything they feel and it can be exhausting sometimes, lol.

How do you come up with such brilliant ideas for conflict? I mean, the way the plot goes is just never what you expected it to be, you never know what might happen next!

I always start out with an idea, but then it develops as I go along. While I write I try to twist things around, so that when the reader think they can see what way things are gong, then I often do something completely different. I like to look at a scene or a situation, then do the opposite of what I initially intended to do. Let another character die instead of the one we thought would die next, or let someone survive even if we were certain he was gone. Sometimes I’d let the reader think someone is the killer, let them think they had it all figured out, and then let him be the next victim. I always think about what I can do in a scene that will be unexpected.

What is your favorite book written by you?

It’s always the last book I wrote. Right when I am done with it, I always believe it’s the best book I have written. That’s how it’s supposed to be.

When working on a new book, what’s the first thing you do?

I get most of my ideas when I am not trying to. When I am doing something else that doesn’t involve writing or reading. I always have 3-4 ideas rummaging in my mind and as I decide to write one of them, I begin my research. Once I feel like I am about to burst, then I start to write.

Do you ever have days when writing is a struggle?

Sure. I have days when things just won’t work the way I want them to, when I am tired and the words don’t flow. When I am in the middle of a book, I always tell my husband that 'this one won’t be as good as the others’. We laugh about it now, because it has almost become a ritual for me, to not like my books halfway, but then once I am done, I like them again.

What are you working on right now?

I have just started a new series called The Harry Hunter Mystery-series. Harry Hunter is my new favorite character and I might be a little in love with him. He is a Miami detective whose wife overdosed three years ago and suffered brain damage, leaving him to care for their daughter alone. He is struggling to keep things afloat with his job and taking care of his daughter and wife. The first book All The Good Girls will be out in January and I am very excited about it.

Where can our readers discover more of your work or interact with you?

They can write to my email, check out my webpage or follow me on SOME. They can also sign up to receive my VIP News letter. Then they will get a free ebooks, giveaways and news from me every week.

They can sign up here: readerlinks.com/l/415254