Marketing for Romance Writers Magazine September, 2018 Volume # 1, Issue # 9 | Página 5

VAL TOBIN (Cont.) INTERVIEW MFRW: VT: Why did you decide to write romance novels? Relationships and love fascinate me, so it made sense to write romance novels. The first strictly romance novel I wrote was Injury. The Valiant Chronicles books may not be primarily ro- mance, but there’s a love story arc that’s inte- gral to the plot. MFRW: How much of your personality and life experi- ences are in your writing? All of my stories contain my personality and life experiences to varying degrees. The Experi- encers and A Ring of Truth (books one and two of The Valiant Chronicles series) actually in- clude incidents based on real events. I won’t reveal what those were here, but readers will probably be able to guess what are real and what are fabricated. VT: MFRW: VT: What kind of research do you do for a book? I do a variety of research, depending on what the story requires. I’ll visit locations, such as Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, for Poison Pen. I’ll consult with experts, such as martial arts or gun experts. For The Experiencers, I consulted with a hypnotherapist. Often, I’ll read books on a subject I need to learn more about or search the Internet using Google Scholar. Researching poisons for Poison Pen makes my browser his- tory interesting reading. MFRW: Tell us about your latest book. What motivated the story? Where did the idea come from? Where do your story ideas usually come from? 5 VT: Poison Pen is my latest release. Patti Roberts invited me to contribute to a series of books with the theme ―about three authors.‖ The criterion given was to write a romance story about three authors. The idea to make it a murder mystery where the reader knows who the killer is hit me im- mediately. Tension comes from the interaction between the killer and the other characters and from not knowing if an innocent person will go to prison for the crime. My authors are three women: one has OCD, another has agorapho- bia, and the third struggles with narcolepsy. Each woman must come to terms with the murder’s impact on her life, particularly how it affects her love life. My ideas usually come from contemplating ―what if‖ scenarios and wool gathering. MFRW: Do you feel humor is important in fiction and why? Yes, as long as it flows naturally and isn’t forced. Humor breaks tension. If done well, it enhances the story and develops character. Laughing is therapeutic. VT: