Are you ready for Backlash?

Readers, it's always a treat to host Polly Iyer.  I first met her as a Mainstream finalist in the Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense contest.  I learned then, she's the total package, author, artist and entrepreneur.  Please welcome Polly Iyer as she talks to us about BACKLASH.  

BACKLASH,  a Diana Racine Mystery

When psychic Diana Racine’s old friend is murdered in New Orleans, her love, Lieutenant Ernie Lucier, brings her in to consult on the case. What she sees when she touches the dead man’s body is another man with silver eyes, a gang tattoo, and a bullet in the middle of his forehead. Before long, Diana and Lucier are drawn into a web of murders that stretches far into the past. The deeper they get into the investigation, the more it appears the deaths are the work of a group of vigilantes on a moral crusade. Vigilantes wearing the blue of the NOPD who won’t let anything or anyone stand in their way.

 

DONNELL: Ooooh, Polly, I can’t wait to read BACKLASH. Welcome back to Get Lost in a Story. Amazing how art imitates real life is, isn’t it? In light of what’s going on across the country, how do you feel about releasing this book?

POLLY: Every situation of revenge in the book is taken from real life. Every single one. I elaborated, of course. I felt the frustration of innocent people involved in a crime and centered the story on someone for whom the loss was personal and could have been avoided. It wasn’t hard to find examples. I had no idea what would happen subsequently in the US at the time I was writing Backlash. I won’t say any more because I don’t want to reveal anything to a future reader. Enough to say there are many inconsistencies in the justice system, as we’re all finding out.

DONNELL: I love psychic stories, and you bring Diana to life. Do you believe people have psychic abilities?

POLLY:  I have a friend who believes in psychic phenomenon completely. She’s gone to psychics and they’ve told her things no one could have known. Another friend has family that definitely has psychic sensitivity. One has to keep an open mind, so in short, yes.

DONNELL: You had special assistance from a law enforcement expert to write this novel. Can you talk about that?

POLLY: Because the book is as much police procedural as thriller, I did ask a few questions on CrimeSceneWriter. The rest came from Internet research, although I did have help from a forensic cop about drugs and its psychological and physical effects. I read many first-hand accounts that curled my hair and gave me insight into the addiction. My books all have multiple plots, and though that’s not the main plot, it was intrinsic to the development of the story.

DONNELL: This book also caused you some trepidation to complete. Why was that? Now that you’re finished, did it free you up to begin a fresh project anew?

POLLY: I didn’t want to disappoint my readers who liked the first two books, and they kept asking me when the next Diana Racine book was coming out. Such pressure. What if it wasn’t good enough? What if I didn’t develop my characters? There’s nothing worse than letting down your readers. I got through it, but there was a lot of second guessing, insecurity, and loss of objectivity. I am working on a standalone, but I also changed my mind about a fourth book in the series. I initially didn’t think there would be one, but I’ve already started the next book, so I guess getting over the third book did free me for continuing the series. Still, I assume I’ll have the same problems with the fourth book, but I think I’ll handle it better, though there’s nothing worse than a series that’s lost its steam. Yup, I’ll handle it better. Right.

DONNELL: Get Lost in a Story deals mainly with fun questions, but naturally I had to drag the hard questions out of you first. So let’s have some fun. You write on your porch, right. Tell us why that is and give us a visual.

POLLY: There’s a deck on the front of our house, which is high on a hill. I live on a city lake and on a jogging, cycling, and walking route. It’s quiet, and the outside is conducive to concentrating. This is in good weather only. You couldn't catch me out there now. It’s cold. B-r-r.

DONNELL: I have been blessed to meet you in person. You’re drop dead gorgeous and look a good twenty to thirty years younger than your actual age. How do you do it?

POLLY: You need to wear your glasses. But thank you. All I can say is one word: Genes.

DONNELL: In a prior life you lived in Boston. You now live in the South. What was the biggest learning experience/transition for you in your relocation?

POLLY: This is a loaded question, so I’ll just say there are plusses and minuses in both places.

DONNELL: What’s the most unusual thing you have in your closet.

POLLY: A jeweled sari that I wore only once, to a Halloween party.

Polly, now it’s your turn. Time to ask the reader a question.

POLLY IYER WANTS TO KNOW: There are many sub-genres of crime fiction, from cozy mysteries to noir. Considering that noir is hard crime, anything goes, and readers know that. As a reader, what subgenres do you like, and what turns you off from each one? Romance, sex, violence, disbelief, characters too stupid to live? Get my drift? What makes you close a book and say enough?

READERS NOW'S AS GOOD A TIME AS ANY TO TELL YOU THAT POLLY IYER'S HOOKED WILL BE FREE!!! DECEMBER 10-13, AND MURDER DEJA VU WILL BE FREE DECEMBER 17-20!!!  (And be sure to check out the covers.  Polly is the cover artist.)

Thanks for being our guest today.  To learn more about Polly, check out the following link.

http://PollyIyer.com
Stories that keep you reading past your bedtime.

Get Lost in a Story with Polly Iyer

Get Lost in a Story Readers, I met Polly Iyer several years ago as a finalist for the Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense.  She’s prolific, beautiful, smart and tells a helluva story.  I’m so pleased to bring her to the blog today.  See if you don’t agree when you read about . . .

Threads by Polly Iyer

Think about the worst moment in your life. A moment that changed irrevocably everything you’ve ever known. Would you take that moment back?

What if that moment offers you a different life, allows you to do things you would never do otherwise? Meet people you would never know?

Think again.

That one moment transforms the lives of a dozen people, each keeping a secret they can never expose. A single thread ties them together. Inextricably and forever. Cut it, and someone dies.

Now, would you take that moment back?

AND NOW LET'S LEARN ABOUT POLLY IYER

 

DONNELL:  Hi, friend, Welcome to GLIAS.  You put the P in Prolific.  I just have to ask, how much time do you spend writing?

POLLY: Writing isn’t always done on the computer. A writer writes constantly in her mind. I get my best ideas when I turn out the light at night. If I’m smart, I’ll write them down on the pad of paper beside my bed. I’ve forgotten many a good plot points in the morning that seemed brilliant at two a.m. As far as actually writing words—it really depends on where I am in the story. If I’m on roll, I can write for hours. If my mind is bogged down, and I’m at a loss in which direction I want the story to go next, I might write for a couple of hours and have to dump the whole thing because it’s forced.

DONNELL:  Sometimes when we chat you tell me you’re sitting outside.  Describe the view for me.

 POLLY:  If I’m sitting in my back yard out, I’m surrounded by trees. The only house I see is behind our fence on another street. We’re secluded from both our direct neighbors though we’re all friendly. If I’m out front, there’s a lake across the street. We’re on a prime jogging, walking, and biking route, so there’s always someone passing by. Our house is up on a hill, so they rarely look up. It’s very quiet. I love it and seem to work better outdoors.

DONNELL:  At one time you lived in Boston.  I’ve noticed some of your stories take place in Boston.  Do you miss Boston, miss your former life?

POLLY: I do miss Boston. When I lived there, I wrote copy and did illustrations for boutiques, and it was fun and interesting and I met some great people. Boston is a very small city area-wise, and public transportation gets you from one place to another in a flash. It’s also diverse in many ways: culturally, ethnically, and socially, so there’s something for everyone. You could always meet someone who sparked conversation, which I loved.

DONNELL:  If you’re not writing, where will we find you?

POLLY:  Probably out to lunch with my writer friends or doing housey things. Like the former; don’t like the latter much. I do not shop, unless it’s at Costco. One stop shopping. There is absolutely nothing I need. Writing and intentionally housebound, I tend to dress like a bag lady, so I have no need for clothes I won’t wear and have enough from my work days to dress up when I do. Even then, it’s slacks and a top.

DONNELL:  You write suspense so I like to ask the suspense authors – what’s the most suspenseful thing that’s ever happened to you?

POLLY: Gee, I’ve led such a boring life, I can’t think of anything outside the realm of my imagination that I’d actually consider suspenseful or threatening. Well, maybe that one time I responded in an unladylike manner to the driver of a pickup with Confederate flags all over it, and he followed my friend and me halfway from Charlotte, NC to home in SC. We were a little nervous. Otherwise my suspense comes from creating menacing plots.

DONNELL:  What’s in your refrigerator right now?

POLLY:  In my fridge, there are two different gallons of milk, two orange juices, (son is home, and he is picky), salad dressings, leftovers from last night’s dinner, fresh veggies, and various and sundry jars of I don’t know what, but most should probably be thrown out. In my other fridge (we have two), there’s water and beer. Now if you asked about my freezers, I’d have a whole different answer.

DONNELL:  (Dang, now I'm dying to know what's in your freezer.)  If you could meet anyone, past or present, who would it be or why?

I guess Thomas Jefferson or Abraham Lincoln. With Jefferson, I’d like an opinion on whether we have interpreted the Constitution the way he and the others intended, and whether he agrees with the changes modern times have necessitated. With Lincoln, I’d like to know what he thinks about our current implementation of the Emancipation Proclamation: that all men are created equal. Could he or did he foresee the problems ahead.

In spite of my writing genre fiction, I believe every book should have a question posed that makes the reader think or feel or question.

POLLY, NOW IT’S YOUR TURN.  TIME TO ASK READERS A QUESTION.

Polly will be giving away five copies of Threads for either Kindle or epub.

There’s been a controversy of late between two female authors―one a chick lit writer, the other literary―about likeable characters. I deplore female writers picking at each other—we have enough problems being treated on a level playing field with male authors not to have public bickering matches—however, the question is worth discussion. Though I think the responses will differ between readers of different genres, how far will you as a reader go in accepting a character who may not be likeable—and this can refer to anything from overly acerbic, smartass, or so cutesy you want to barf (maybe I’m the only one who finds that last one unlikeable), to downright unpleasant? When do you close the book?

 

CONTACT LINKS

Email: PollyIyer@gmail.com

Website: http://PollyIyer.com

Twitter: @PollyIyer

Facebook: Polly Iyer Author and Polly Iyer

Thanks for joining us today, Polly!

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