I was very happy when Ronnie agreed to guest here. She's a New York City native, born and bred in Brooklyn, where she was a teacher in the New York City Department of Education
for 33 years including the obtaining of a New York State license as School
Psychologist. Her various roles included classroom teacher, staff developer,
crisis intervention specialist, and mentor for teachers who were struggling.
Always an advocate for the child, Allen carries this through as a theme in her
novel Gemini, with the reader seeing the horrors of child abuse through the eyes
of three characters.
In the early 1990s she began a journey into holistic healing and alternative therapies and completed her PhD in Parapsychic Sciences in 2001.
Along the way, she picked up many certifications. She is a Board Certified Holistic Health Practitioner as well as a crystal therapist, Reiki practitioner, metaphysician, dream analyst, and Tarot Master Instructor. She has taught workshops in New York City and in Central Florida where she now lives.
Combining a love of the crime genre and her psychology background, with her alternative therapies experiences, writing psychological thrillers is the perfect venue for her.
In the early 1990s she began a journey into holistic healing and alternative therapies and completed her PhD in Parapsychic Sciences in 2001.
Along the way, she picked up many certifications. She is a Board Certified Holistic Health Practitioner as well as a crystal therapist, Reiki practitioner, metaphysician, dream analyst, and Tarot Master Instructor. She has taught workshops in New York City and in Central Florida where she now lives.
Combining a love of the crime genre and her psychology background, with her alternative therapies experiences, writing psychological thrillers is the perfect venue for her.
The Sign Behind the Crime Series
Gemini
His life is exactly the way he wants it to be—until he meets
her…
Both psychic and clairvoyant, Dr. John Trenton is a forensic
psychiatrist who has a wife he worships and a position as a department head at
a hospital for the criminally insane in Manhattan. His patients—young adult
men, who are some of the most psychotic and psychopathic criminals in
NYC—enable him to live his life on the edge, just the way he likes it. Then he
meets a woman who changes everything.
She is two days from accomplishing the revenge she lives
for—until she meets him…
Stripper by night, school psychologist by day, Gemini
obsessed Barbara Montgomery, makes a critical mistake and is committed for
seventy-two hours of observation, where she risks it all in an unnerving
escape. Furious with Dr. Trenton for interfering in her life, she is now determined
to kill his wife and unborn child, along with everyone else who has ever caused
her pain—real or imagined.
As the killing spree continues, John is forced to use all
his ESP, as well as his knowledge and expertise, to interpret this
psychopath’s Gemini obsession and unravel her dark and murderous past. But
can he track her down and bring her to justice—before she destroys his world
completely?
Aries
Lying. Deception. Cover-ups. Anger. Revenge. Death. That’s
what happens when an Aries-obsessed killer combines black magick rituals,
knives…and murder.
Samantha Wright, a rookie NYPD detective, gets her first
case, a big one, by stumbling over the body while jogging in the park. Sam has
a lot to prove, both to herself and to her new precinct, on this serial murder
case involving fashion icons in NYC. Together with a rough around the edges BJJ
fighter, forensic psychiatrist, Frank Khaos, Sam chases down leads through the
five boroughs of NYC. As the bodies pile up, sparks fly and Sam and Frank,
polar opposites, go from their dislike for each other to setting the sheets on
fire. But their main suspect is hooked up to an IV in a hospital bed, so how
has she pulled off five murders in seven days? And can Sam and Frank stop her
before even more innocent lives are lost?
AN INTERVIEW WITH RONNIE
You, the Author
Tell us more about yourself! Readers love to know about the
authors, and this would give you the chance to make them feel close to you!
What kind of books do
you love to read? Why?
I love thrillers, psychological and domestic. For me I get
high on the action and when an author writes multi layered plots, which are the
norm for this genre, I can become very involved in the experience.
What is your stress
buster?
I Love love love love shopping, so my stress buster would be
watching the home shopping channels, and yes ordering, much to the dismay of my
husband. It's also my guilty pleasure, as it is for the rookie detective in
Aries. She and I are definitely the fashionistas.
Describe yourself in
one word.
Undeterred
If a fairy grants you
one wish and one wish only, what would it be? Why?
Wow! Only one? I have so many wishes that I'd like granted,
but I'll focus on a career one. I'm looking toward the universe and taking
action to be guided to TV producers to take Aries and Gemini to a TV episodic.
How would readers
find out more about you?
Http://www.ronnieallennovel.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ronnieanovelist
Twitter & Instagram @ronnieanovelist
Your writing
How did you feel when
you receive your first contract? What did you do? Any celebratory dinner,
dance, event, etc to commemorate the occasion?
Omg! It was amazing. I remember it as if it was yesterday.
May 14, 2014 at 9:06 PM, I received an email from my publisher Black Opal Books
saying they wanted to publish Gemini. I let out such a scream that my neighbors
down the block probably heard me. My husband was watching a game on TV in the
den and I ran in screaming and jumping up-and-down he thought I was having a
nervous break down. I couldn't stop the excitement for hours. I responded with
a resounding yes, and I received the contract via email two weeks later. I
printed out the contract went through it with a fine tooth comb, and I was
familiar with contracts and what should be included within them from discussion
with other writers. This one was easily understood. I sent it back the next
day. Gemini was released on June 6, 2015.
What is your advice
to aspiring writers?
My main advice is to learn your craft, the parameters of
your genre, what is the excepted in the industry, learn the industry trends,
become familiar with how to look for publishers and which ones to avoid, and
basically to do your homework before you submit to a publisher. Another bit of
advice is to not give up in your quest for a traditional publisher, and self
publish because you do not want to do the work. Self publishing should be a
choice you make because you want to do it no matter what, not as an easy way
out or to get your work out there. No matter which route you take, make sure
your manuscript is edited, formatted, story structured to the best it can be.
Notice I said the best it could be, not to the best of your ability because
with the former you may have to hire professionals to get your manuscript to
where it is in publishable shape. Also, never pay to be published. Run from
Vanity Presses.
Among those that
you’ve written, which is your favorite book and why?
I love both my books Gemini and Aries, but Aries is my
favorite because I like the sassy intelligence of one of the main characters,
detective Samantha Wright, and the other main character, Dr. Frank Khaos, is a
drop-dead sexy hunk, as well as the most compassionate, caring man who is
giving back to society for his privileged life after his adoption at 10 in
spite of the personal traumas he is going through.
Which of your heroes/heroines
is most similar to you? Why?
Great question for me. Everyone asks writers if they're in
their own novels. For me, it's a resounding yes. For example, Dr. John Trenton
is psychic and clairvoyant and practices alternative therapies with his clients.
These are the same therapies that I practice and then I teach my clients. Even
the killer Barbara Montgomery is a master in Tarot which I am. The reader will
learn about Tarot, crystals, contacting their spirit guides. Barbara also has
the same day job I had, minus being the stripper and murderer.
In Aries, the rookie detective, Samantha Wright is first
coming to terms with her abilities and she works with crystals and spiritual
cleansing as well as her spirit guide. She taught for ten years before entering
the NYPD. She smart, sassy, and what's on her mind is in her mouth, very much
like me when necessary.
Some writers edit
excessively as they write; others wait until a novel is finished to do the bulk
of editing. How about you?
I plot a lot before I type but I'm finding the more I am
writing, now into the fourth novel, I'm leaning towards being a panster rather
than a plotter. The novel is taking me in the direction I want to go, and
expanding it where plot twists that I did not expect to happen did. These are
making the novel, Libra, flow beautifully. I do edit as I go. I'll print out 12
chapters, and go through it to make sure I mark all of my set ups that I need
to pay off in the later part of the novel. This helps me avoid plot holes. I
will work on sentence structure and grammar minimally at this point because as
I go through other edits I will go deeper possibly into description and a lot
of my sentences may change.
How much research was
involved in writing your book? How did
you go about it?
Research is very important in my genre. Crime scenes,
forensics, medical information, locations, all have to be portrayed
realistically. I google all the time, print out relevant information, and keep
everything in labeled folders. This is necessary, and I referred to the same
folders for future novels. It also may be necessary to send proof to your
publisher's editor who might question a fact. I had to do that for one fact in
Gemini in discussing the difference between a psych patient and a forensic
patient, the latter being in a hospital for the criminally insane unable to
stand trial.
How much time do you
spend promoting your books?
I spend a lot of time promoting my books. In fact I find it
more stressful after publication then the entire process of writing and finding
a publisher.
Have you had any
careers before becoming a writer?
I've had many careers. I was a teacher in the New York City
Board of Education for 33 years. From the late 70s to mid 90s I was in
screenwriting and film and I had a script consulting practice, The Script Tutor
of Brooklyn. In the mid-90's I began a journey in holistic healing, became certified
in many areas and obtained my PhD in Parapsychic Sciences in 2001.
Do you have or belong
to a writing organization? Which one?
I belong to RWA, ITW, and MWA.
