AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Evelyne Sants

The Books Machine interviews Evelyne Sants, author of Dark Secrets of the Past, a thriller and suspense novel.

TBM: How do you imagine the ideal reader of your book?

ES: I imagine the ideal reader of my book as someone who is opened to the world, who likes to discover other cultures and countries, who likes to be surprised, who loves suspense and emotion.

TBM: How was the writer inside of you born?

ES: I discover this passion at school, I was a little shy girl and the first time I have to make poetry, my teacher loved it and encourages me. At this moment I understood that I could say all I was afraid, through words, and I early loved reading all kind of books.

TBM: What genres do you work with and why are you attracted to these forms of writing?

ES: I write suspense books, because these ones are what I prefer to read. I adore surprising readers, to take them completely out of their lives during the time of their reading. When I tell a story I do the same, I tell it without telling the end because I know that I will heard " And then? What happened next? " and I love that.

TBM: As a reader, what elements of a story do you love, or do you hate?

ES: I hate when I'm reading a book and I lost my mind in other things, I go out of the story, it's the sign that I'm boring with this story. Generally, it's a written book with lots of useless passages only to made volume. I love when a story keep all my thoughts, my attention, when I lost notion of the time and for a while I forget everything, I'm deeply in the story.

TBM: What inspired you to write Dark Secrets of the Past and what do you hope your readers will take away from this book?

ES: This story was born because I first just wanted to try to create a story, and I quickly understood that it was amazing to give emotions to our characters. Then I wanted to share with others my interest for the world, for people in general and share strong emotions.

TBM: How long did it take you to write this book and what did you do the day that you finished it?

ES: I wrote this book in two years, all the few moments I had it was to wrote this book, and when I finished it, first I was submerged by emotion, and I keep it secret I didn't tell to anyone. I was so happy to succeed on it that I preserve this moment just for me; I didn't want to give lots of explanations about it. And I needed to think about what I wanted to do with it. It was a great moment for me, so personal, a dream who came true after so much time and work so I just wanted to keep it on my heart and that's all.

TBM: What would you like to say to your readers?

ES: To my readers I want to say that for me the important in all my story with this book, it's not how many I sell but all the readers who told me that they like the book. If they are searching for strong emotions and for a book who take them all the time to unexpected twists, so they have to read it. I cry many times when I was writing it because it's so intense.

TBM: Why should the reader read Dark Secrets of the Past?

ES: This book it's a trip through a family with a mysterious secret, through India where I explain the hardest conditions of women's and little girls in this country. I'm sure that readers of this book will be transported toward a different story which leaves them all on suspense the entire book. When they finish it they will regret it. This book was N°1 of the Top 100 on Amazon France, and it's still on this Top, I hope that Anglo-saxons readers will receive it with the same enthusiasm.

AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Larry D. Thompson

TBM: How do you imagine the ideal reader of your book?

LT: I imagine the ideal reader of my books to be fascinated with the drama and thrills that permeate a high stakes trial and the lawyers involved.

TBM: How was the writer inside of you born?

LT: My older brother was an international best-selling author (In fact, his most famous book, Blood And Money, is finally going to be a major television series…after thirty years). He died young, and I always knew that I would take up his mantle. He wrote true crime. I write legal thrillers.

TBM: What genres do you work with and why are you attracted to these forms of writing?

LT: I write legal thrillers that involve some sort of major crime. Additionally, all of my stories, so far, raise questions about an underlying social problem in our country. Having been a trial lawyer my entire life, I know that great trials attract attention, whether on television or in the written word. A well written legal thriller is almost impossible to put down.

TBM: As a reader, what elements of a story do you love, or do you hate?

LT: I hate writers that fill their books with too much detail that rarely moves the plot. When a character walks into a room, I don’t need a page or so that describes the furniture, the drapes, the pictures on the wall, etc. Give the reader credit for using his or her own imagination. The writer should give a brief outline and let the reader fill in the details. For example, in The Insanity Plea, a major supporting character is a criminal lawyer. All the reader knows is that he is six feet, ten inches tall, a former NBA star turned criminal lawyer. The reader then learns about him through his words and actions. Any further description would have been superfluous..

TBM: What inspired you to write The Insanity Plea and what do you hope your readers will take away from this book?

LT: I was inspired to write The Insanity Plea after a woman named Andrea Yates was almost sent to the death chamber in Texas because she drowned her five babies. She needed to be committed because she was certainly insane, but execution should not have been in the picture. I was incensed at how the legal system treated the insane. My story has nothing to do with mamas drowning  babies, but it’s a thriller that every reader puts down, having read a fine story and also having a better understanding of the plight of the mentally ill in our society.

TBM: How long did it take you to write this book and what did you do the day that you finished it?

LT: I’m still a full time trial lawyer; so when I am not in trial I write a couple of hours weekday mornings before heading to the office and four or five hours on Saturday and Sunday. Keeping that schedule, I usually complete a book in about a year.

TBM: What would you like to say to your readers?

LT: To my readers, I want to ask that they try The Insanity Plea as a sample of my work ($5.95 on Kindle). I’m confident that having read it, they will be back to read my others.

TBM: What’s your greatest strength as a writer?

LT: I am often asked why I wait so long before I became a writer. The answer is that I was too busy raising kids and trying lawsuits to devote time to writing.  When my last child graduated from college and went off on his own, I decided that the time had come. As a sidelight, I might add that my last writing class was freshman English. I was stupid enough or brazen enough to think that since I had read fiction my entire life, I could write it. 

TBM: Why should the reader read The Insanity Plea?

LT: I’m proud to have written The Insanity Plea. My two goals were to write a really good thriller, involving a serial killer, and to share the plight of the mentally ill with readers. Considering the hundreds of comments on Amazon (4.7 stars average), I succeeded with both.

BOOK FEATURE: Stand Close by Sabrina Lacey

You know what they say, the universe never gives you more than you can handle...but is that for real? Discover this through the reading of STAND CLOSE, a romantic suspense 3 parts story

Rue is woken up the day after her 21st birthday by a knock at the door. Standing on the porch of her rinky-dink apartment is Jack Stone of the famous Stone Brothers. They've never met. It'd be like if one of the Hemsworth brothers was standing there looking at you in your ugliest PJ's when you haven't brushed your teeth yet. Not only that, but for some reason, he's pissed...and before he leaves, without explanation, Jack growls, "You'll be hearing from my lawyer." 

Those strange, six little words ricochet into a whole new life for Rue. From graveyard-shift supermarket checkout girl and dancer-in-training, to millionaire heiress who's in way over her head, the world is watching to see what she'll do. And with two new brothers and their rockstar best friend gunning for her (in very different ways), the pressure is on. You know what they say, the universe never gives you more than you can handle...but is that for real? 

Originally a three-part serial - Stand Close is now complete in this 333 pg. novel. 18+ due to sexy stuff.

FEATURED BOOK: False Identity

Believe in miracles ... believe in Christmas ... believe in love.

When a devastatingly handsome stranger saves her son from a group of thugs, Chancy Hamilton feels an instant connection to him. There's only one catch--he's homeless.

Their lives become intertwined, and Chancy is soon thrown into nightmarish events caused by a chilling deception where nothing is as it seems, bringing a terrifying aftermath that threatens not only her but the lives of her children.