Spotlight Thursday: Gayle Roper

Author Spotlight: Gayle Roper

I had the pleasure of meeting Gayle Roper at the Mt. Hermon Christian Writer's Conference. That's part of our group up above. Several are now published and I'm sure they credit Gayle with helping them along the way. She's in the front right. 

She's been my mentor, but more than that, she's become a friend. I love Gayle's books and their mixture of romance, suspense, with a dash of humor. I asked her some questions and you get to peek over my shoulder. 

Gayle, tell us about your newest book and what sparked the idea.

My most recent book is Shadows on the Sand, the fifth of my books set in my fictionalized Jersey shore town of Seaside. I was talking with my editor, and she mentioned that there might be a story in the cop who shows up at the crime in the other four books. Yes, I thought. Greg would be a good hero. Only trouble was that the books are romantic suspense and Greg was already married. What to do, what to do! But I figured it out as you’ll see when you read the book.

As for the heroine, she needed to be someone he’d interact with more than just politely at a crime scene. Enter Carrie who runs Carrie’s Café where Greg eats breakfast each morning. She’s a gutsy lady who’s more than a match for a cynical cop.

Which of your characters is most like you and why?

I don’t think any of my characters are like me. Some of them do things like I do, say drink Coke or enjoy Oreos, but they aren’t me. In fact one of the great challenges is writing characters who aren’t like me. What would he or she do in this situation since they don’t think like me?

How do you celebrate when you finish a book?

Aside from feeling several pounds lighter with the weight of the project gone from my shoulders? Go out for dinner. I love to eat out (I think that really means I don’t especially like to cook), so going out for a nice meal is my favorite was to celebrate.

What's your favorite part of the writing process?

My favorite part of writing is definitely rewriting. Getting the words on the page originally is hard, hard work. But playing with them, making them the best I can, adding more personality, more depth, more humor, more everything—that’s great fun. I am a sparse writer when I originally put something on paper, so deepening every part of the story is not only necessary but fun and exciting.

When you read for pleasure, what's your favorite genre?

I enjoy romantic suspense, mysteries with a touch of romance, and some straight romance if the plot is complex enough. There’s something wonderful about being taken to a world that’s not mine, especially on days when my world seems boring or sad or too hard. When the Bible says to weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice, I don’t think it means fictional somebodies. Still there’s a sense of life becoming a bit brighter and better when in the company of characters and a story you like.