Run! Katie! follows a psychic with the ability to receive messages from the dead who helps a mother in the afterlife protect her daughter, who is being hunted. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story? 

The inspiration for the story came when I read a news story about a mother that went missing. The father, who was the primary suspect, had recently been cleared by the police, but not by many people in the town. I wanted to create a mystery that not only dealt with a mother’s sudden unexplained disappearance, but had the mother reaching out from beyond to protect her daughter from impending danger. I wasn’t sure how this would look, but while writing the story, the idea of a psychic being involved popped into my head. I did some research and the character of Peter was created. Luckily for me, once the character was created, it wasn’t long before that character took over and wrote himself!

What were some of the trials that you felt were important to highlight the characters’ development? 

The trials faced by the characters in Run! Katie! are trials that many people have experienced in their life. Feelings of loneliness, loss, betrayal, anger and guilt are emotions most everyone has had to deal with. Sometimes a situation occurs that results in the unexpected loss of a loved one, which turns a person’s life upside down. This happens to the main characters in the story. Although the situations faced in the book involve extreme circumstances, the emotions and reactions of the characters are familiar to most everyone. I believe this helps make the characters relatable and easy to empathize with. 

What experience in your life has had the biggest impact on your writing? 

Reading! Reading! Reading! I became a reader early on. I can still remember falling in love with the book “Fredrick” by Leo Lionni when I was around five years old. One of my earliest memories is my mom reading that book to me, and me immediately knowing that I wanted to be a storyteller, just like Fredrick! This desire only grew stronger the more books I read and I read a lot of books! The other experience that affected my writing a novel was retirement. Once I retired and began traveling the country in our motorhome, I no longer had the excuse of not having enough time to write my novel! So, with much encouragement from my husband, family members, and a dear friend, my lifelong dream became a reality!

What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available? 

I am currently writing a follow up to Run! Katie! with Peter and Patty as main characters, as well as working on an unrelated mystery that I started writing years ago! My goal is to have at least one finished and off to my publisher this summer.

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Original source: https://literarytitan.com/2023/05/07/sudden-unexplained-disappearance/