Current Project
Are killers made or are they born? When lawyer Ian Michaels is drawn into a sensational murder case to represent the killer, he is compelled to find the answer to this question. His client, Kenny Johnson looks like a normal sixteen year old on the outside, but Ian wants to know what drives the young man to kill.
During his investigation into the boy’s past, Ian finds an estranged mother who claims she traded Kenny’s soul to the devil to save her own, a cowardly father who remarried and would do anything to keep peace in the family, including turning a blind eye while the step mother bestows untold horrors on the boy.
Ian understands that the publicity of the case has affected his life in more ways than one. When his wife leaves him, not only does he see how selfish he’s been for a long time, but realizes, he’s been in love with another woman for many years.
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This audio book is now available on Audible.com, iBooks, Amazon, and a few other sources. I’ve had the pleasure of working directly with the author on this project. She’s given me a lot of insight into her vision of the characters in the book.
My interview with Susan Keene:
Q: It’s been a few years since you’ve written Tattered Wings. As you look back now, what about this novel stands out for you the most?
It is strange but when I begin to listen to Tattered Wings, I sometimes forgot I wrote it. Your voice enhances the words and I have gotten lost in the story twice for that reason.
What stands out so much now are all of the different emotions and intense feelings of the characters. I like to think it will remind people that the book mimics life in the fact that something has to hit us in the head before we realize we might be wrong in our thinking.
Q: I’m really enjoying doing the voices for Tattered Wings. What is it like for you, as the author, to hear another person’s portrayal of the characters you created?
This is the first audiobook I have been a part of. Listening to it is a rush. I can close my eyes and picture the scenes. This could quickly become my favorite way to enjoy a novel.
Q: The protagonist of your book, Ian, is a successful attorney. As the story progresses, he goes through a great number of life changes. Did you have the conclusion of the book already in mind when you began writing his character, or did you have his character develop during the writing process?
When I write a book, it begins with a small idea or a person I can’t get off my mind. It festers and grows until I feel compelled to write it down. I have no idea what is going to happen in my stories or how they will end. In this particular book, I realized Ian could use a change of attitude so I gave him one. At this point, I have to say the story flows out of me as if it is coming from somewhere else. I write until the particular thought I had in mind runs out. I give it up for the day and lo and behold, something appears again in a few hours.
Q: Some of the scenes in the book are very powerful, emotion-wise, and I can only imagine what sort of mindset you must have been in to write them. Do you see any of them differently when viewed through the lens of an audiobook?
Actually, the audiobook gives me a chance to sit back, relax and let the story take me along. I was not distracted by the size of the print, the noise in the room, or a misplaced word.
So far as the emotional scenes go, you have done them justice.