Casual Conversation #5

A Visit with Suzi Albracht

Today I will be chatting with Suzi Albracht. Hello, I would like to begin by having you tell us all a little about yourself as a way of introduction.

Hi. I'm happy to be here. I live near Annapolis, MD right now but my boyfriend and I plan to move to North Carolina sometime late this year. Writing-wise, I started writing as a child and never stopped. For a time, I wrote screenplays and had many producers, some famous calling me at home but to be honest, it never really suited me. I returned to writing novels, and now I write Paranormal Romance/Ghost novels and Supernatural Horror Crime Thrillers. I am self-published. You can find me on Amazon, Barnes and Nobel, and Kobo, at present. I also design and create all my own covers, trailers, and photo cards.

My husband and I lived in the mountains on the border of Tennessee and North Carolina years ago, it is so beautiful! Love going back to visit my sister who still lives there.  It sounds like you are well-rounded in your writing abilities. Screenplays would be really hard to write in my opinion. I will share links to find you at the end. 

We are anxiously waiting to make the move. Last year, we made a trip down to check out the Hampstead/Topsail area and fell in love. We vacation in the OBX every year and already loved North Carolina, but the Hampstead/Topsail topped even that. Psst... don't tell the OBX people, I have fans who read my OBX series, and they are serious OBX lovers. Seriously, I just love North Carolina and could see myself living in either place.

Yes, writing screenplays is a very disciplined art, and the biggest reason I didn't like it as much is that you are basically giving the bare-bones of the story. You can write beautiful dialog, but you can't tell others involved in making the movie what to do. For instance, you can't tell the producer how to produce, the director how to act, the set designer how to design. As the screenwriter, I had to walk a fine line that choked me at times. I love being responsible for creating every little nuance of my book.

Before we really start discussing your writing, your covers are amazing.  I had no idea you created them! Which was your favorite to make? What is a photo card? And finally how do you decide what to put into a trailer?

I would say I love all my covers. Each one was a pleasure to create. It's hard to pick a favorite, but if I have to pick one, I have to choose The Devil's Lieutenant. That was a hard book to interpret into a cover. I had several different covers where it wasn't quite as perfect as I wanted. When I came up with this one, I knew immediately that cover connected to the words within. I think it is powerfully suggestive.

Photo cards are sometimes called teasers. I use them to tweet my books on Twitter and to do posts on Facebook. Sometimes I add my cover, sometimes not. On some I had short phrases, on others, the image says it all, so I simply add the title, the genre, and/or where to find the books.

For my trailers, I create a short storyline that does not include the outcome. I try to use images and music that project my story. I try to keep it tight, but my trailers are still around 3 to 3 1/2 minutes long. The main thought is to intrigue the viewer to the point where they want to know more so that they have to buy the book. My trailers tell a part of the story, and I've seen trailers by others that aren't like that so maybe I am not the norm, but I prefer my method of storytelling in my trailers. My goal was to create them to be somewhat like a movie trailer that incorporates part of the story and some of the characters. I spend a lot of time searching for the perfect background music and photos so to be honest, all my trailers are my favorite, but for this moment, I will choose The Siren of Diamond Shoals.

That trailer is amazing! Wow!  I am enticed! Your photo cards are what I refer to as book memes then, thanks for explaining.  I attempted to do "photo cards" and trailers but never have I even come close to your easy flow.  It is awesome that you offer your talents to the rest of us through Wickedly Awesome Designs. 

I loved the Devil's Lieutenant series!  That cover is intriguing! It looks different than the one I have.  The story itself is so far from the norm.  Where do you find the inspiration, the seed that blooms into these amazing worlds you create?

That cover is the latest rendition and the last (I hope). I loved each of the previous covers, but none of them fit so perfectly until I created that one. As to where my ideas come from, I am a people watcher and small tidbits collector. Sometimes, I will come across someone who sparks a flame in my mind or perhaps some strange story I read or see on television will inspire me to have a ‘what if’ thought. They light a fire in my creative process, but the end results are never like the original inspiration. For instance, on one of our vacations to Arizona, we went to a live presentation of the Gun Fight at the OK Corral in Tombstone. There was one actor who played Doc Holiday who fascinated me. There was a point in his performance where the actor slid a sideways glance to the audience. I loved that look much that I use it from time to time. I will deliberately call it up from my memory banks. And then a character will pop into my thoughts. I'll begin to ask him questions, and before long, I will find myself knee-deep in the entire story. After that, it's just a matter of putting it all on paper and fine-tuning the details. To be honest, I love my villains as much as my heroes so any of them could show up at any time. In the case of The Devil's Lieutenant, it was Carl "Thumbs" Royce who joined me in my dreams. He snickered and said, "Girl... I am the nightmare you were expecting." You know he had me at "Girl.

He would have had me at "Girl" too! I loved how your characters in the Devil's Lieutenant series, even the villains, have human frailties.  Their doubts and indecision keep them real for me. I just started your book A Love Haunting. What made you decide ghosts had to be taught to be ghosts?

That’s a great question. The answer is that every one of my ghosts in A Love Haunting died unexpectedly. They weren't expecting what happened to them. Even Maggie, Elise and Edna Jean were so caught up in grieving for their loved ones lost at sea that they lost all concept of how to go on living their lives so when they died the ladies probably didn't even notice that they were dead. In fact, in the book, when Jordan first meets Maggie and Elise, he is warned to not say anything to them about being dead because they refused to believe they were deceased. And for Jordan as well as a few others, dying made him a lost soul. He was a healer and protector in life, then when he died in the car accident, his only focus was on saving Emily. Once she was taken to the hospital by the paramedics, he was lost. I think those individuals that become ghosts rather than moving on to Heaven or eternal rest are traumatized souls, almost like small children who have to be spoon-fed bits and pieces of their new reality. So naturally, it only makes sense (to me anyway) that they have to learn how to be a ghost. Plus, even ghosts have some rules in their lives that they must follow. I think Luke does a great job of teaching with a gentle hand.

I see that this is going to be a series also.  Are the stories intertwined?  Or are each of the books actually stand-alones?

I have two series - The Devil's Due Collection and An OBX Haunting. Currently, The Devil's Due Collection consists of 3 novels, while An OBX consists of 2. I am working on the next book in each series. I am excited to share that I plan to release one at the beginning of summer and the other at the end of summer (fingers crossed). While all my books are part of a series, I do believe you can read any of them separately should you choose to do so.

I did, in fact, read the Devil's Due collection out of order. (I am a rebel that way, lol)  So I can attest to the fact those books could be stand-alones.  You have a flair for this genre.  Besides screenplays, is there any other format you would consider dipping your pen in?

I have thought long and hard about your question and have decided that I am in the place I need to be - writing novels. I was a technical writer for many years, and it was there that I fine-tuned the skills of being organized and detailed. Along the way, I dove into writing screenplays for several years and developed the ability to write a tight storyline. And when I returned to writing novels, I brought those skills with me. Now, as I weave a story into a novel, I become one with the book. It is almost as if my heart beats alongside my book’s heartbeat. I walk in my character's shoes, I carry their mantle of emotions, I am each character at times. When they feel heartache, my heart breaks. When they commit an offense against others, my soul understands their motive. I came home to writing novels, and now am where I was always meant to be.

It is obvious how connected you are to your characters, that is what makes your books such fantastic reads.  I am impressed by the fact that your books do not use sex as a selling point. Was this a conscious decision on your part? Or is it still something you might start putting in your future books?

Thanks for noticing. Some time back, I saw that a lot of people use sex in books when it doesn’t even do anything for the story. I always skip over those sex scenes unless they move the story along or explain something that I might not know otherwise. And yes, I made a conscious decision to not use sex in my books. I consider myself to be a truth teller and feel I have a multitude of other ways to weave my story, which are more intriguing and memorable. However, I don’t mind using intimacy between characters as long as it tells the reader something they need to know. For instance, in A Love Haunting, there is an intimate shower scene. I felt it was essential to express the depth of connection between Jordan and Emily. And since Jordan gets killed in a car accident right after, it needed to be immediate. Even so, I went to great lengths to ensure that I did so in a tasteful way. No unnecessary violence or sex will ever appear in my books. I much prefer leaving some things to the imagination of the reader. And that can be even more exciting since every reader will have a different opinion as to what happened. In an upcoming book, I do have one hot scene. I tried to tone it down, but the chemistry between those two characters demanded it. However, while there is a lot of kissing and touching and wild thoughts in that scene, I refrained from getting graphic in my descriptions. Besides, if you’ve read my books, you know that my imagination runs more along the lines of “let’s see if I can scare the pants off you” and “did you know that ghosts can do...”   

I agree with your assessment of sex in books.  I get so annoyed when I am reading along and suddenly there is a graphic description that has nothing to do with the story. If I wanted erotica, I would have bought erotica.  I like how you imply within your stories, lets my imagination run free.
I am also enjoy reading your books because you do not jump on the other bandwagon of using S&M in your them.  It is refreshing to read relationships based on feelings and trust. Honor and integrity seems to be a main theme of yours.
Can you give us a teaser from your upcoming book?  Is it the next installment of one of your series or something new?

I am so pleased that you noticed my deliberate choice to include positive values into my stories. My good guys are always men and women I would like to be associated with, people I can look up to. They are not perfect, but they strive to be decent human beings. Even my bad guys have some good in them that occasionally pokes out. Because I see the morals and values of the world around us deteriorating, I will always strive to write characters motivated by their love of family, church, and happiness.

On to my current writing projects, I am working on two books. The first book, The Ghost Fixer, is book three in An OBX Haunting.  I will be finishing, before summer I hope, The Ghost Fixer. And for The Devil’s Due Collection, I hope to publish book four, The Reluctant Angel of Death, sometime mid to late summer. I’ll give you a brief glimpse into each by sharing a few beginning paragraphs. These are still in draft form so please forgive any errors.

The Ghost Fixer

Since I’ve been dead, I’ve been busier than a toothless beaver gumming one of those gigantic Sequoia trees in the Redwood National Park. I’ve been assisting Luke, helping to rescue Ava and scheming to trick Moira, the Siren of Diamond Shoals. And at the same time, I’m always trying to figure out a way I can spend more time with my wife, who is still alive, so you can imagine how much work that is. If you had asked me when I was alive what it would be like to be a ghost, I would have said being a ghost would be full of fun and games. I would never have believed that being a ghost could be so exhausting. And exciting. Let’s not forget how exciting things have been for me.

After our little adventure with Moira and her dungeon, I felt drained. At the time, I was so busy working on our goal of rescuing those bones that I didn’t realize the toll on my body and mind. For days afterward, I found myself staring off into space. When I attempted to read, I had to keep reading the same paragraph over and over. Basically, I was a mess.

The others seemed no worse for the wear. In fact, T.L. and Ava seemed more animated and energized. It wore me out just to try to exchange a few words with them. T.L. was making significant progress, or so he said, on a way for Em and me to spend some time together. That was great, but listening to him explain how it was going to work made me have a huge blank space in my brain.

So, I told everyone I was taking a sabbatical from the ghost life, and by that, I meant I was taking a super long rest. Even though we ghosts don’t sleep, rests are musts if we want to have half a brain. So I went down to my closet at the hospital and threw myself on my make-shift bed, plumped up my cushions, and pulled the covers up to my chin. It felt so good…

                              ***

I awoke with a start when I felt someone’s breath on my face. Right away, I knew who it was because I could smell the grape bubblegum and that meant it could only be one person… T.L. Daniels. I blame Ava for the gum. She’s the one who told T.L. he looked like a cool dude when he chewed gum. Now, everyone knows that no one looks good chewing gum, but none of us wanted to tell T.L., so we all zipped our lips and kept quiet.

Anyway, I rubbed the sleep crumbs from my eyes and opened them up to see T.L. with his face right up to mine. We were practically eyeball to eyeball. Good lord, I could see his nose hair quivering.

“Thank goodness, you are finally awake.” T.L. got out in one gulp of air.

“What are you doing here? This is my private space. You can’t just show up here.”

A strange noise behind T.L. caught my attention. Living in a hospital closet, I was used to hearing the living going about their business out in the hall, but this sounded closer. I cranked my neck so I could see behind T.L.
And what did I see? A line of fidgeting ghosts behind him trailed out the closed door. Crap. It always shocks me when I see a bunch of ghosts in one place. That’s because ghosts who died before the 1900s look like they did when they were alive. But those who passed after 1900, for the most part, look like they did at their moment of death. Unless of course, someone educated them on how to present themselves like Luke did with me. This group was a strange mixture of both. I slid a pleasant look on my face since I didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings.
I guess one of them saw me looking and told the others because as one, their heads swiveled toward me and they began to shout out requests. I know it was rude, but I ignored them for the moment and turned to T.L.

The Reluctant Angel of Death

I am my father’s daughter.

In the past year, tragedy has struck, and new beginnings have sprung from the ashes. You see, the people I loved the most in my life have perished and me? I am still trying to navigate my transition from Soccer Mom of the Year to the Angel of Death…

My life was always like that. I came screaming into the world on a hot Wednesday in August,  born to Edward and Isabella Romano. The moment my mother gazed upon my face, she anointed me Lilliana. My father was equally adamant that my name would be Bianca. And so a compromise was made. My birth name is Bianca Lilliana Romano.

My mother loved me with gentleness. She swaddled me with her love and made me feel safe while my father loved me with an intensity no man could equal. From birth, I knew my father would defend me with his life, he would fight the fiercest enemy to protect me. I was a loved and cherished child.

I was also raised to have morals, manners, and kindness.  I automatically knew that my very presence reflected on my parents, and I did my best to honor them. My life was full of goodness.

And then, I met my future husband, Bill Branch. He was quirky and odd, but I loved Bill with all my heart. I thought he was a gifted writer who simply needed a break so that he could show the world his talent. I felt the reason Bill kept his true feelings to himself was because of rejection he had experienced as a small child. And so, I thought that if I loved Bill with all my heart and showed him that love, he would become the man he should be.

My father saw a different Bill. He didn’t think Bill was good enough for me. He felt Bill didn’t cherish me. No, Daddy did not care for Bill at all. But because my father loved me, he gave Bill the opportunities he otherwise would not have had. And once I had given birth to my daughter, there was even more reason to turn Bill into a success. Daddy loved my daughter almost more than he loved me.

Daddy called in favors so Bill could live his dream of being a True Crime author. He created success for Bill where none had been. And my father took that generosity even further. He called in an especially lucrative favor to get Bill’s first book turned into a movie. Before long, Bill was experiencing financial success and the praise of his peers.

My life should have been complete. But Bill turned out to be someone out for himself. He took and took and then took some more. He didn’t appreciate my father’s help or my love. Our beautiful new house in the elite neighborhood and our fat bank accounts were not enough for him. Bill wanted more. More money, more influence, more fans. No matter, how much we had, it was never enough for him.

I could have overlooked Bill’s selfishness, but it soon became clear to me and everyone else that I was one of his points of discontent. Bill had “the grass is greener” syndrome.

Still, in spite of everything, I couldn’t let my marriage go. I fought to turn Bill into a good husband, father, and son-in-law. But Bill wasn’t interested in being helped. Instead, he embarked on a relationship with our eight-year-old daughter’s teacher. At that point, I finally came to a breaking point in my marriage. I could no longer turn the other cheek. Soccer Mom of the Year was sick of Dick of the Year.

I hope you enjoyed my snippets. I’m having a great time writing those books. More books are waiting for me to finish so they can have their turn. I love being an author.

OMG!!!  Those snippets are awesome!!  Write faster!!!  I will definitely be watching for both of them!  Wow!!!  I was already grateful you were willing to chat with me and now you treat me with these wonderful teasers!  Thank you!  Again, thank you for chatting with me.  I wish you the best of everything in your writing.  I am very glad you are an author!
  
Thanks, Cindy. I’ll be honest... this is the best interview I have had. Your questions are insightful and delve into a couple of topics that I think need to be talked about by other authors. You really made me ponder before I responded. Thank you. Seriously, I got a little misty when it was over because it was so much fun.
I hope your readers enjoy the interview and are intrigued enough to check out my books. Speaking of my books, I think now would be a good time to share links. I love interacting with my readers and am open to questions and discussions about my work. Thanks for everything, Cindy. And thanks to your readers who now know my inner thoughts.

My Social Media Links:
 
My Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/SuziAlbracht

My handles on Twitter and Instagram are the same: @SuziAlbracht 

My pre-designed book cover service is Wickedly Awesome Designs:  
https://www.facebook.com/groups/186538375480115/
 
My author link at Amazon is: author.to/SuziAlbracht
 
A Love Haunting: A Ghost’s Story of Forever Love
Books2read.com/ALoveHaunting
YouTube: http://bit.ly/LoveHaunting

The Siren of Diamond Shoals: A Ghost’s Rescue Mission
Books2read.com/TheSirenofDiamondShoals
YouTube: http://bit.ly/Siren_DiamondShoals

Death Most Wicked: A Cop’s Murderous Father’s Torment
Books2read.com/DeathMostWicked
YouTube: http://bit.ly/deathmostwicked

The Devil’s Lieutenant: A Cop’s Harrowing Plunge into the Underworld
Books2read.com/TheDevilsLieutenant
YouTube: http://bit.ly/TheDevilsLt

Scorn Kills:  A Twisted Novel of Dark Obsession
Books2read.com/ScornKills
YouTube: http://bit.ly/Scorn_Kills