An Interview With Virginia Kelly

by Grace Topping

Writers often focus on a single genre. However, recently many writers are trying different things, sometimes writing darker, going into Sci-Fi, etc. After years of writing romantic suspense, Virginia Kelly recently released her first mystery, Tangled Secrets. Virginia joins us at Writers Who Kill to talk about this transition.

 

 

Tangled Secrets

Turner’s Crossroads, where nothing happens… Until it does.

Reeling from her husband’s murder, librarian Gabriela Espinosa took her young daughter and sought refuge in the perceived safety of her tiny hometown in the Florida Panhandle. Six years later, the murder of her best friend shatters her sense of security and threatens the walls Gabi built to protect herself from grief.

Suspicion falls on an old friend of her late father’s. Though the man is troubled, Gabi believes he’s incapable of violence. In his defense, she begins asking questions which put her at odds with the local sheriff’s department and a mysterious new deputy.

As she uncovers a tangle of complicated relationships, there’s a second murder. With fear resonating through the town’s sleepy façade, Gabi confronts a dark past that lays bare Turner’s Crossroads’ secrets, putting her, and her daughter, in danger.

 

 

Welcome to Writers Who Kill, Virginia.

 

After writing award-nominated romantic suspense novels, what prompted you to write a traditional mystery?

 

Gabi’s story didn’t work as a romantic suspense novel, despite my efforts. When I realized it was more mystery than romance or suspense, I made the decision to go with a first-person protagonist and concentrate more on the mystery.

 

For you, what was the biggest difference between writing romantic suspense and mystery? Or is Tangled Secrets a suspense without the romance?

 

Tangled Secrets is suspenseful, and there’s a touch of romance, but the biggest differences between this novel and my others are the single, first-person point of view and the emphasis on the mystery.

 

Are there tropes in romantic suspense that you wouldn’t use in a mystery?

 

That’s a great question. I think it would depend on the trope and how much emphasis is placed on it. Several of my romantic suspense novels use mystery/suspense tropes. Romance is universal, so it can be used in mystery, but again, the amount of emphasis differentiates the genres. Personally, I would like to see more crossover between mystery and romance.

 

Does having your main character, Gabi Espinosa, a widow with a young child, change the dynamics of your story from what you were accustomed to writing?

 

I’ve written about a widow with a very young son before. But the story arc, which also included a mystery, leaned on the building relationship between the widow and her late husband’s partner, along with heavy doses of suspense and an overarching mystery.

 

Gabi is a librarian. Do you have a background as a librarian?

 

I do. I’ve worked in academic libraries, at a hospital library, and at a medical school library. All of which required research and teaching. I use my public library extensively as a patron, but work experience in one was long ago. I had to brush up on that for Tangled Secrets. Everyone should use their library’s amazing resources.

 

Your previous books have been standalone novels. Is Tangled Secrets a standalone, or do you plan to feature Gabi in a series?

 

I wrote Tangled Secrets as a first novel of a planned three-book series in order to develop Gabi’s character arc. I strive to make all my novels standalone. None require reading in order. When the second book is finished, I hope Tangled Secretswill be a standalone as well. 

Mysteries in a series usually have a series arc. Did this require you to plot out your book before you wrote it, or did you write it by the seat of your pants?

 

I’m a complete pantser. I desperately wish I weren’t. I’ve tried to change, but have learned to accept my writing process. As I said above, the series will develop Gabi’s character arc. The current plan completes that in three novels. I have a basic understanding of what her arc is and how each novel will push Gabi forward.

 

Which do you find more challenging to write, romantic suspense or mystery?

 

The mystery has been more difficult because of the single point of view. All the reader and Gabi can know as the mystery clues unfold is what she observes. My romantic suspense novels are written with two third-person POVs. This allows the reader to see two perspectives on the story arc and how that impacts two different people.

 

Now that you’ve written a mystery, do you have a preference between romantic suspense or mystery?

 

I think it will depend on the story I want to tell.

 

What was the most valuable thing you’ve learned since you started writing?

 

I’ve learned several valuable things: trust my own writing process; know when to ask for help from several amazing writer friends; read—a lot. Never quit learning.

 

What’s next for Gabi and for you?

 

I’m currently working on Gabi’s second book, tentatively titled Tangled Lies, as well as making yet another attempt at the sixth book in my romantic suspense Shadow Heroes series.

 

 

Thank you, Virginia.

 

 

If you would like to learn more about Virginia Kelly or her books, follow her at www.virginiakelly.net

 

 

Grace Topping is the author of the Laura Bishop Mystery Series.