Today I'd Like You to Meet Author, Jennie Spallone




Jennie Spallone's Bio:

Suspense author Jennie Spallone wrote over one-hundred profiles and feature stories for local and national publications, as well as two special education texts, before putting pen to her first suspense novel. Deadly Choices won Third Place for Mystery Fiction at the Police Writers Conference (Name changed to Public Safety Writers) in Las Vegas, 2006.

Jennie, an active member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America, speaks at local bookstores and libraries, in addition to Mystery Conferences throughout the Country, including Scene of the Crime, Bouchercon, Printer's Row, Sleuthfest, Malice Domestic, Magna Cum Murder, Midwest Literary Fest, Love is Murder, Public Safety Writers of America, and the University of Wisconsin Writer's Institute. She can be contacted for bookings or just to share comments at spalloneauthor@aol.com . www.jenniespallone.com, jenniespallone.blogspot.com

My Interview with Jennie:

Marilyn: When did you know you wanted to be a writer?

Jennie: I knew I wanted to be a writer ever since high school when I wrote an Advice column for my school paper. I loved to solve problems, even back then. I was always interested in people's opinions, as well as the stories of their lives.

The first of my writing to ever get published began at Senn High School and worked its way up through the DePaulia at my alma mater, De Paul University. After graduating with a degree in Elementary Education, I went on to receive my Master's Degree in special Education, the one school whose newspaper I did not work for! Upon graduation, I worked for thirteen years as a freelance journalist for local and national newspapers and magazines partially including the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago Daily Herald, Chicago Parent Magazine, and Consumer's Digest Magazine. At that pace, I managed to write/see published over one-hundred of my feature stories and perspective pieces

Marilyn: Tell me about your book.

Jennie: Deadly Choices currently remains my own published suspense novel, with three additional novels to still find a home with a publisher. Deadly Choices, which won Third Place for Mystery Fiction at the Public Safety Writers' Conference in Las Vegas, 2006, is the story of a female paramedic on chicago's West Side who kidnaps the baby she's just delivered and gives it to her best friend, a Born Again Christian, to raise as her own. Friendship, turst, betrayal! I got compared to Dean Koontz on that one. What an honor!

Marilyn: How much does your heroine resemble you in your book?

Jennie: Although I recognize myself as the protaganist in subsequent books, I personally identify neither with the paramedic nor the detective in my first novel. It took me months to figure out how a nice Catholic girl could possibly kidnap a baby from a dead homeless woman. Once I figured it out, the manuscript was rescued from the bottom of my file cabinet and quickly found a home with Treble Heart Books. It only took two weeks for me to reduce my twenty-six point of view characters down to three so that the book could get published. Hey, I was motivated!

Marilyn: Where do your ideas come from?


Jennie: I get my ideas for my novels by reading the newspaper or scouring the Internet. I'm very much interested in social action topics that affect the individual and her/his relationship with society. Thus, I first discover my plot, then develop characters around that plot. I tend to write by the seat of my pants as opposed to outlining my novel. Although my way is like trial by fire because it's so painful to just "be in the moment", I can't sit still long enough to write a whole outline, then go back and fill in the pieces. Also, by allowing myself to be open to the universe, I offer my characters the option of scaling rocky terrain rather than skipping down a paved route. I don't try to be a controlling parent to my characters, just a friendly facilitator.

Marilyn: What kind of promotion works best for you?

Jennie: Promotion-wise, I am mix of old school -- hand-selling my book to everybody from the fellow/sister realtors I work with on a daily basis to the fans I meet at Mystery Author conferences, bookstores, and libraries, throughout the country. I am getting into Internet promotion and do have Facebook and Blogspot pages, as well as a website.

Marilyn: Where can we find your book to purchase?

Jennie: Fans can purchase Deadly Choices from Amazon, B&N.com, www.trebleheartbooks.com, and www.jenniespallone.com My blog, by the way, is at jenniespallone.blogspot.com.

Marilyn: Anything else you'd like to tell my blog readers?

Jennie: I'm looking for reviewers, as well as for interns who'd like to work on my website and expand me throughout the Internet. I can be reached at spalloneauthor@aol.com

Thank you, Marilyn, for interviewing me today. You have been a wonderful friend and mentor!

Luv,

Jennie

Marilyn: And thank you, Jennie, for visiting my blog today.

Comments

Mason Canyon said…
Thanks for introducing me to a "new to me" author.

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