About Bridges Burned:
Paramedic Zoe Chambers is used to
saving lives, but when she stops a man from running into a raging inferno in a
futile attempt to rescue his wife, Zoe finds herself drawn to him, and even
more so to his ten-year-old daughter. She invites them both to live at the farm
while the grieving widower picks up the pieces of his life.
Vance Township Police Chief Pete
Adams, of course, is not happy with this setup, especially when he finds
evidence implicating Zoe's new houseguest in murder times two. When Zoe ignores
Pete's dire warnings, she runs the very real chance of burning one too many
bridges, losing everything--and everyone--she holds dear.
DONNELL: Good morning, Annette, thanks for being my
guest today. I did a little arm-twisting
to get you here – you’ve been busy. Talk
about a typical day for you.
ANNETTE:
I’m so glad to be here, Donnell! As for “typical,” I’m not sure if there is
such a
thing. I crave routine, but the life seems to have other plans for me. I
write just about every day—or at least 6 days a week. But the rest of the day
might involve doing promotion of some sort, taking care of Pennwriters business
(I’m vice president), doing research, or spending time with my mom who turns 95
tomorrow! On rare occasions, I clean house.
ANNETTE:
I discovered yoga! I’d had a bad spill from a colt I was trying to break (who
broke whom is a good question!) and landed in basically a shoulder stand. I was
a regular customer at my chiropractor until I started taking yoga classes.
Eight months of yoga did more to help my pain than eight years of chiropractic.
Nothing against chiropractors, mind you. I still go for tune-ups. Anyhow, I
became a yoga instructor, taught in a studio for over 10 years and continued to
teach privately until very recently.
Readers, follow Annette at http://www.annettedashofy.com/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/annette.dashofy
Twitter: @Annette_Dashofy
Thanks for being our guest, Annette!
DONNELL: You once fell off a horse, and of course got
right back on – but you did something else that has become a lifelong
habit/passion for you. What is that?
ANNETTE:
I discovered yoga! I’d had a bad spill from a colt I was trying to break (who
broke whom is a good question!) and landed in basically a shoulder stand. I was
a regular customer at my chiropractor until I started taking yoga classes.
Eight months of yoga did more to help my pain than eight years of chiropractic.
Nothing against chiropractors, mind you. I still go for tune-ups. Anyhow, I
became a yoga instructor, taught in a studio for over 10 years and continued to
teach privately until very recently.
DONNELL: You also have something in common with
Paramedic Zoe Chambers. How much is Zoe
like Annette Dashofy, and in what ways are you dissimilar?
ANNETTE: I worked as an EMT on our local ambulance
service when I was younger, so I know the world Zoe lives in. Both she and I
are farm gals who love cats and horses. The Kroll’s farmhouse where she lives
is based on my grandparents’ farmhouse where I grew up. HOWEVER, Zoe is younger
than I am, has a much better figure, and is tougher. While I had a boring,
“normal” childhood, Zoe had a rough time of it, losing her dad when she was
eight. As a teen, she was a wild child where the boys were concerned. Me? Eh.
Not so much. I was a nerdy geek wallflower.
DONNELL: Police Chief Pete Adams is one of my favorite
characters of all time. You have managed
to make him very human to me. He’s
divorced, has a father with Alzheimer’s, works a case with a badly sprained
ankle. You really put him through the ringer.
Bad for Pete, intriguing for readers.
Who/what inspired you to create Pete?
ANNETTE: Pete and Zoe first appeared on the page in a
short story I wrote (“A Signature in Blood”), which was nominated for a
Derringer Award in 2007. At the time, I never intended to write anything else
with them in it. But I wanted to create a new series, and someone who liked the
short story asked me when she could expect to see more of Pete and Zoe. So I
spent some time fleshing them out, but it wasn’t until I decided Pete kinda
looked like Mark Harmon that he became a living, breathing character to me. I
knew he was divorced from the start, but his dad came later, probably because I
was dealing with losing my own father to the disease. And the bad ankle think
happened organically during the writing of Lost Legacy. I even thought for a
long time I might go back during revisions and take the injury thread out of
the story!
DONNELL: You also have another series that I’m dying
for you to release. Any plans?
ANNETTE: You simply will not let that one go, will you, Donnell? Ha. I know you don’t want
to hear this, but no, I don’t have any plans to drag my racetrack veterinarian
series out of mothballs and publish it. However, I never say never, so who
knows?
DONNELL: If you’re not writing, where will we find
you?
ANNETTE: You mean in my “spare time?” Please see my
answer regarding my routine day. Okay, assuming I’m not writing, promoting,
taking care of business and Mom, you’ll probably find me reading. Or, if I can
finagle an invitation from one of my horsey friends, you’ll find me in the
saddle, out on the trails.
DONNELL: Now it’s time for you to ask the reader a
question. And, readers, this just in . . . Annette will be giving away a Zoe Chambers
mystery (winners’ choice) to 3 commenters who answer this question:
ANNETTE WANTS TO KNOW: I
was on a panel at a book festival a couple weeks ago discussing the trend
toward unlikeable characters in fiction. My question is: What makes a main character
likeable or unlikeable to you?
Facebook: www.facebook.com/annette.dashofy
Twitter: @Annette_Dashofy
