Author Interview - Jordyn Redwood

Anne: Our interview today is with a phenomenal woman. Jordyn Redwood is (may I have a few drum rolls, please): A pediatric emergency room nurse; a blogger who helps authors decide what medical traumas to put their characters through (http://www.redwoodsmedicaledge.com/); a multi-published author as of next month (Proof and Poison); a wife; a mother of two girls; and the owner (?) of a bloodhound. I wonder what she does in her spare time.

Inquiring minds always want to know, Nurse Redwood, what inspired your story for Poison?

Jordyn: I watched a Discovery Health Channel special.

Anne: If you could audition for any of the characters when this series is made into a movie, which would it be?

Jordyn: Honestly, I think I’d be a good fit for Lilly’s best friend in Proof, Dana. I think she and I are kindred spirits. Tough when we need to be tough and soft when we need to be more gentle. I’m definitely a tell-it-like-it-is girl.

Anne: How do you develop your characters? Do you do a character outline?

Jordyn:  I’m going to admit that characterization is not my strength and is an area I’m working hardest on to grow as an author. I read a lot of books on characterization and am starting to spend more time thinking of my characters as people instead of flowers for my plot. I do character cards where I have a photo (usually of a celebrity) that I pattern them after and write down some specific character traits and pertinent history. These cards help me to keep descriptions consistent.

Anne: What part of writing a book do you find the most fun?

Jordyn: The research. Planning the next plot. I’m a learner at heart ,and I read several non-fiction books as research for my fiction. I easily get sidetracked trying to find those fun little facts to add to the story.

Anne: What part of the publishing process do you like the least?

Jordyn: Writing the first draft is a challenge—particularly when I’m stuck and don’t know where the plot should go next. I’m between a plotter [one who plans out the entire book before writing] and a pantser [one who writes by the seat of their pants], so I have a general idea of the story direction but not each chapter outlined. I hate getting stuck!

Anne: How long did it take to write, edit, and publish bloodlines?

Jordyn: Bloodlines is the name of the trilogy—so it took close to four years to write the whole trilogy and the third book, Peril (releasing in October of 2013), is not yet edited. Let me clarify one point. Proof was a novel I dabbled on for years. From 2006-2008 I’d written about 1/3 of the novel. In 2009, when the American Christian Fiction Writers conference came to Denver, I decided it needed to get finished to see if I could land an agent. And the rest is history, as they say.

Anne: Would you like to tell us a little about the next book in this series?

Jordyn: Poison is releasing here in February, 2013! It takes place five years after the Chapter 2 hostage incident in Proof (which you can read on my website if you’d like.) What everyone thought was an hallucination named Lucent who convinced a father to murder half his family is now alive and real and may have kidnapped Raven—one of the few survivors of that fateful day. It’s up to Raven’s estranged half-sister, Keelyn Blake, to find her and figure out why those who responded to the crisis are now dying. And of course, there’s a medical mystery tied into it all.

 

Thank you so much for having me, Anne. It’s been an honor to get to spend time with your blog readers.  

Anne: Trust me, the honor is mine. I have so loved reading Proof, am anxious to read Poison, and will wait with baited breath to read Peril!