Tami Hoag on The Alibi Man!

Tami Hoag calls herself a "hard-boiled" suspense author who also leads a "crazy double life." When Tami isn't writing she's riding—as a internationally competitive equestrian. Listen as Tami talks about how her two passions come together, and offers an intimate portrait of her heroine in The Alibi Man, Elena Estes.

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Tami Hoag Video Interview!

View the video interview with Tami Hoag where she discusses PRIOR BAD ACTS and how she crafts her bestsellers.

READER Q&A

1. Can you please tell us a little bit about how you approach writing. Just so you know, questions included the following: What is your schedule like? Where do you get your inspiration? Your characters (including those sinister villains)? Do you/How do you research? Do you rewrite a lot? What is your favorite part of writing? Do you have any advice for aspiring writers? —Angela T., Peter, Carole P., Connie G., Christa, Susie F., Barbara S.

Writing about crime, ideas are everywhere. Some part of a news story might catch my interest, or something on an A&E documentary, or something I come across in a reference book. All it takes is a topic or a crime or a character to catch my interest and spark the question: What if...? Characters sort of come to me and shape themselves as I learn more about them. That's one of my favorite parts of the process—the characters. I also LOVE writing dialog.

Research might come from a book, or from a contact in law enforcement, or from personal experience. I enjoy doing the research. I often come across things during the course of the research that turn the book in an unexpected direction, or might spark ideas for a future project.

My process is to begin with the catalyst for the story—usually a crime—and with a handful of central characters, and I basically turn them loose and follow them around, and write what happens. I don't work from an outline because I prefer to be free from any imagined boundaries. I want the story to happen. I want to be as surprised and shocked as I hope readers will be. I generally write afternoons and evenings, and keep mornings for myself.

Advice to aspiring writers: Work hard, be talented, get lucky. Of the three, there's really only one aspect you control. Work hard—learn about the craft of writing, and the business of writing, and do your best to write the best story you can write every time you sit down to work.

2. You write such strong characters that readers become attached to them. And yet, no single group of characters runs throughout all your novels. Readers want to know if any of those previously created will be reappearing in future works.

a. Is there any chance we'll see a book with A. J. Doucet from A THIN DARK LINE as the main character? —Teresa W.

b. Is there going to be a third book in the Sin series, after NIGHT SINS and GUILTY AS SIN? —Anne R.

c. I loved DARK HORSE and it's two main characters. Would you consider having them return in another book? —Patty B.

d. Are ASHES TO ASHES and DUST TO DUST going to be made into a trilogy? —Angelina L., Lynn M.

First of all, I'm very flattered when readers want characters to return again and again. Writing characters that people feel that strongly about is something I strive for. That said, however, I'm not one to want to write a series in the traditional book after book after book sense. That would get old for me in a hurry. I need to keep things fresh, and so I move from one thing to the next. But I never close my mind to the idea of writing about past characters again. My next book—PRIOR BAD ACTS—will feature Kovac and Liska from DUST TO DUST. And I will definitely revisit Kev Parker and his friends from KILL THE MESSENGER. But these things have to happen in their own time. I can't sit down and force a story idea on a particular set of characters, which is one of the big pitfalls of writing a series.

3. I was very pleased to meet you on the Maui Writer's Conference cruise; you induced me to read some of your older romance novels which I had to work to find! In what way do you feel your earlier romance novels prepared you for writing your current crime mystery novels? —Caroline H.

In every way. I learned the business of writing, the craft of writing, what it means to be a professional writer with deadlines. Most importantly, I honed my abilities to create three-dimensional, sympathetic characters.

4. Is there some way to get a hold of the romance novels that you wrote before you started writing suspense? —Charlotte L.

You have to haunt the used bookstores and e-bay for my old Loveswept romances. Everything else I've written is still in print and available through booksellers.

5. I am a huge fan. I have read your books over and over and just can't seem to get enough. My favorites are LUCKY'S LADY and DARK PARADISE. My question for you is, have you ever been approached about turning one of your books into a movie? —Yvonne

NIGHT SINS was turned into a miniseries in 1997, and it still airs all the time on TNT, which I take as a great compliment. GUILTY AS SIN and A THIN DARK LINE were both optioned for television, but for various reasons were never made. The movie business is like the lottery—if you're in the right place at the right time with the right numbers, you might win. I have my fingers crossed for KILL THE MESSENGER.

*** Archived Conversation ***

Here, for fun, are 10 great things you probably didn't know about our favorite writer!

1. Favorite character (your own, or another writer's)?

Raymond Chandler's Phillip Marlow

2. Favorite hour of the day?

Just before dawn. I feel as if I have the world to myself, and the day still has the possibility to be the best day of my life.

3. Treat you give yourself when you need a pick-me-up?

Shopping!! Nothing lifts my mood like a day of unbridled fiscal irresponsibility.

4. Activity that most inspires you?

Riding. My horses are my sanity. They take me out of whatever mental frenzy or writer's block I might be in, and calm me and center me. When I sit down to write after a good hour's work with my competition horse, I come to the writing in a much better frame of mind.

5. The book you re-read every year?

I rarely re-read a book because there are so many I haven't read and want to. But I picked up a book last spring I think I will definitely pick up again and again: It's My F***ing Birthday by Merrill Markoe. That one really resonated with me, and I laughed so hard. A great book for a gal if you're feeling down... or if you dread your birthday, or if you've been involved with a bastard, or dated a loser, or if you have parents.

6. The scene in your own books you are most surprised you wrote?

Usually the climax. I often surprise myself with who the killer turns out to be. I know most people think suspense writers start out knowing who did it, then work backwards to outline the book and lay the clues and red herrings. I don't write from an outline. That takes all the fun out of it for me.

7. Best moment for you in the process of writing a novel?

The absolute best moments of writing a book for me are the times when the story is unfolding effortlessly before me like a movie, and I feel as if I'm just typing, I'm just a scribe.

8. The sound you love best?

My editor telling me I'm brilliant! Or the sounds of horses settling in their stalls for the night.

9. The sound you dislike most?

The sound of someone crying, because I know they've been hurt in some way that's terrible to them, and that not many people around them understand. That's my idea of hell: to be in that kind of emotional aguish while the rest of the world is going on, oblivious.
Or whining. No whining!!

10. If you weren't a writer, what career would you want to have?

Dennis Quaid's love slave. Or, if you mean a real job, I would probably have gone into psychology and/or the law. I would have made one kick-ass prosecutor.

Your novels are so detailed and so precise about procedure. How do you undertake research?

Like most crime writers I have a library full of reference books on law enforcement, crime scene procedures, the minds of serial killers, and so forth. And with great networks like A&E and Discovery, I've also amassed a considerable video library. But by far my favorite method of research is hands on. I try to interview people who actually do the jobs I write about, which is always fun and interesting. I've met so many terrific people in law enforcement who were very generous with their time and expertise. I've been able to ride along with a sex crime detective, sit down with an FBI profiler and review old cases-crime scene video and all! I've toured the FBI Academy and was given the opportunity to try my hand at their firearms training interactive video test. For me the most valuable part of this kind of research, however, is just hanging out with the men and women on the job, listening to them, absorbing the atmosphere and attitudes of their world.

Q: Spill the beans: which of your novels is your favorite?

No one ever believes me when I say this, but I really don't have a favorite. Each book is a journey from its inception to publication. Some came more easily than others. More than one bore the charming nickname The Book From Hell when I was struggling through the process.

I've heard it said that producing a book is a lot like having a baby. Conception is the fun part. In the beginning there is idealism, and perfection seems possible. Then the book starts to grow and change and take on a personality of its own, and suddenly I realize the enormity of what I've taken on. By the time I deliver the thing, I—and all around me—have begun to question my sanity. I want to strangle my muse and scream: Why did I ever let you talk me into this?! Then one day there it is in my hands: A real, "honest-to-goodness" book, with a striking cover with my name in big letters. At that point, that book becomes the most wonderful brilliant thing I've ever done. Characters I may have cursed every day for nine months are my old dear friends, and I'm sad to think I have to leave them behind and move on. But that new idea, THAT'S the best idea I've ever had, and it has the potential to be perfect. . . And the process starts again.

Q: If you could be something other than an author, what would you be?

That's a really hard question. First, I can't imagine not being a writer, because that's as much who I am as what I do. Before I became published, of course, I had a long list of odd jobs. Everything from working for a newspaper to being a photographer's assistant to selling posh bathroom accoutrements. Safe to say, none could be considered a dream job for me.

I have a lot of wildly varying interests, from psychology to the law to music to interior design—which makes being a writer the perfect job because I get to take a turn being anything I want via a character. And I don't have worry about office politics or boring paperwork. But regardless, of the job, I would also have to do something creative because that's the way I am. I need to create things and change things, to have a vision of something and make it happen.

Q: What's your favorite book or author? Who influenced you as you were growing up, and who made an impression on you as you embarked on your bestselling career?

I read all kinds of books growing up. I can't say that any one author influenced me more than another. I tried to learn from all of them. As far as learning the business, I gained a good idea of what it means to be a working writer by reading columns and articles by Lawrence Block.

These days when I get a chance to read for pleasure, I love Raymond Chandler for classic crime fiction. Among my contemporaries, my favorites include Michael Connolly, Steve Thayer, and Eileen Dreyer.

Eileen writes thrillers now, but began her career as did I—writing romance. She and I and two other romance writers—Elizabeth Grayson and Kimberly Cates—form The Divas. I often thank the Divas in my book acknowledgments, and readers often ask me who the Divas are. Now you know. The four of us came into the business at about the same time and bonded. No matter what may change in our careers or in our personal lives, the Divas remain a constant source of support for each other.