Ann Charles
USA Today Bestselling author, Ann Charles, writes spicy mysteries full of comedy, adventure, suspense, romance, and paranormal mayhem. When she's not dabbling in fiction, she's arm wrestling with her two kids, attempting to seduce her husband, and arguing with her sassy cats.
Marina Raydun: Your bibliography spans a few genres. Do you find it difficult to switch around between paranormal, suspense, romance et cetera?
Ann Charles: No, because my books incorporate elements of multiple genres within each story. For example, the Deadwood Mystery series has more than just mystery. There is a fair amount of paranormal, lots of humor, and a good dose of romance, too. I like my genres how I like my drinks—mixed. Ha!
MR: You have a B.A. in English, with an emphasis on creative writing. How much of an advantage do you think this background affords you out there in the publishing world?
AC: The B.A. in English looks good on paper, and all of those college writing assignments gave me plenty of practice at organizing my thoughts so I could put them on the page in a logical order. In truth, my practical experiences have been far more valuable to my success in this business. Experimentation in marketing, promotion, and story telling over the years has been an education in itself.
MR: If you had to do something differently as a child or a teenager to become a better writer as an adult, what would you do?
AC: I would try to visit more museums and explore history to a greater degree. I think there is so much to learn from the past, including practical lessons. We travel a bit with our kids, going to book signings in different locations during school holidays and breaks. We try to visit museums and local historical venues whenever we can and expose them to as much history as possible along the road.
MR: What other authors are you friends with, and how do they help you become a better writer?
AC: Well, I’ve been in this business for 20+ years now, so I know many authors and have friendships that go back decades. The author world is a small community, like several other trades. Many of my relationships are primarily business-related, but some authors have become good friends in the process of working together at different times to advance our careers. We help each other by sharing information on marketing, promoting, and sales, as well as business news about changing markets and newfound opportunities. We co-promote our books and share career-advancing tips and prospects. On the writing front, we don’t really help each other become better writers—that’s something I work on with every book on my own.
MR: What book do you wish you had written?
AC: I wish I’d written Cheryl Reavis’s Family Blessings series because her characterization is incredible and her knowledge/research/understanding of the Navajo life and culture as evident in the stories is awe-inspiring. Cheryl’s skill at bringing characters to life is something I aspire to achieve with my own stories.
MR: Is there one topic you would never write about as an author? Why?
AC: There are many topics that are bad juju for my type of fiction writing, especially politics and religion. There are also literary tropes that I avoid—for example, the good ol’ love triangle. I almost always feel badly for the loser in the end, even if I didn’t like him/her as much as the winner. Love triangles cause me too much angst as a reader and I quickly grow frustrated with the inability to pick one love interest. The only love triangle story I’ve ever enjoyed is in the movie Bandits with Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton, and Cate Blanchett. That was done well and the ending was happy for all.
MR: What literary character is most like you?
AC: Violet Parker from my Deadwood Mystery series. We have nearly identical senses of humor and tastes in men. Ha! Kidding … sort of. I’d like to think I’m witty and inquisitive like Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice, but I’m probably more like Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit, just wanting to stay home, eat good food, and be comfortable in Bag End, his little home in the ground.
MR: What literary pilgrimages have you gone on?
AC: Well, I visit Deadwood, South Dakota yearly if not more often, researching and soaking up the local culture and atmosphere to help bring my Deadwood Mystery series more to life for readers. Before I moved to Arizona, we would come down and visit the area where I set my Jackrabbit Junction Mystery series (southeastern Arizona). I’ve been to Mexico several times and try to soak up the culture to enhance my Dig Site Mystery series.
As for other books that are not mine, I’ve explored El Malpais National Monument area, which is the setting for one of my favorite Louis L’Amour books, Flint. My husband and I have driven along the Santa Fe Trail and the Cimarron Trail, which are mentioned in many westerns. I’ve been to Mark Twain’s hometown on the Mississippi River and explored several southern plantations, which I’ve read about in history books and various stories. Oh, and I’ve hiked a mile in the Arizona mountains up to Fort Bowie National Historic Site, a 19th-century outpost of the US Army, which I knew about from many books I’d read and movies I’d watched over the years. There are more places I’ve gone due to reading about them in books (including foreign locals), but we’d need a lot more time and some good tequila to keep going down this path.
MR: What are your literary pet peeves?
AC: Love triangles, ha ha ha. Let’s see, what else … loose plot threads. In a series, I am okay with plot threads that are not tied off by the end of a book because I figure there will be more to come in the future books. However, in a single title, if the author didn’t tie up all loose threads, then I’m left unsatisfied. I also don’t like rushed endings where it feels like the author was out of time and had run up against his or her publishing deadline, so they rushed the ending. If I’ve invested a lot of time reading a whole story, I want to feel like time was taken to deliver a full ending.
MR: Who is your literary crush?
AC: Legolas the Sindarin Elf of the Woodland Realm from J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. I read this series for a college class and liked Legolas from the get-go. Orlando Bloom playing him in the movies didn’t hurt this literary crush any either, ha ha ha. Oh, and of course Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice, even though he was rotten at communication until the end of the book.
For more on Ann Charles, please visit:
Website: http://anncharles.com/books/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AnnCharlesAuthorPage
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Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/ann-charles
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4605878.Ann_Charles
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Ann-Charles/e/B004JLYPFW
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/AnnCharlesAuthor