Maddox Files: Back to Business

Today I’m happy to share an interview I did with my friend Rhonda. Also known as R. J. Davies Mornix. She recently released her debut novel,Maddox Files: Back to Business, you can find her buy links at the end. Do check it out and see if it may be something you’d like.

BOOK BLURB:

A 26-year-old Dice Maddox living in Toronto, Ontario struggles with her failing love life and a career she doesn’t love deciding to get back into a business she was once good at. Ryan Winters her first client was a confirmed bachelor until he had a small car accident, a woman named Lily Winters claims to have been married to him for 6 months. Digging deeper into Lily Winters, Dice soon discovers that she isn’t who she says she is but wait what is she? A demon? An alien? Will Dice Maddox first case back be her last?

1. Why did you decide on your genre?

I have always had a passion for science fiction from a young age, something about exploring other worlds, adventures and galactic wars excite me. In my teens I watched a lot of Detective shows as well. Maddox Files Series is a blend of Private Investigation/Science Fiction.

2. Do you plan or are you a by the seat or your pants writer?

(laughs) it’s a combination of both. Books 1-4 no planning what so ever. Book 5 – 7 I have outlined but book five is taking on a life of its own. It’s always good to have a plan. My other two series (two books each) I didn’t plot them either.

3. Your characters are gutsy and go through quite an adventure. How did you come up with them and the plot?

I love strong characters more importantly I love real characters like real people. Because I really feel we all have that inner strength that we can tap into when we need it. For Dice Maddox I knew I wanted someone young in their twenties who was stronger than she thinks, a risk taker, a go getter who likes to question everything. My mother thought she was a younger version of me and there are some parts me in there sure but make no mistake I think Dice Maddox is her own person.

4. What’s your favourite way to write? In silence, with music, in a coffee shop?

I am married with children, so there are times when I am sitting in the living room with everyone else around me doing their own thing. When I zone into my books it’s like being transported to that realm and it’s just me in my characters’ mind and body living the experience. So I have my moments, where I am alone and it’s quiet, I like it … other times when I have music playing and yes I have sat in a coffee shops with my note book and pen jotting down scenes and paragraphs of story.

5. How long was the process and did you encounter any stumbling blocks?

Book 1, 2, 3, 4 all were written under 30 days. Book one was written in 22 days. Book Five I have only spent 4 days on it so far and plan on getting back to it this week. Sometimes I will come to a spot where Dice has too many options, I will take five minutes quiet my mind and before that five minutes is up I’ve plotted the next 3-4 chapters in my head, and then I am back at writing. I have never had writer’s block. However with that being said the first book I have ever written Quin’s Quest took me almost 20 years to write because I fell into the trap of writing/editing/rewriting the first draft. After hearing Stephen King say the first draft is crap and it’s you telling yourself the story … I was done the book in 23 days.