Helen Starbuck Author Bio:
Helen Starbuck, no relation to the coffee bunch, is a Colorado native, former OR nurse/nurse editor, and award-winning author of the Annie Collins Mystery Series and standalone romantic suspense novels. She loves mysteries, suspense, romance, and any book that is well written. She’s a huge fan of books with independent, strong, women characters and, as Neil Gaiman says, “…stories where women save themselves.” When not writing you can find her ballroom dancing, talking to her cat Bean, and gardening.
What inspires you to write?
I'm inspired to write by many things. A song I hear will often trigger an idea for a character or plot line, an overheard conversation can give me ideas about character development, and places I see often trigger new story ideas. My overarching reason for writing is to escape the daily grind and create new situations and stories that are more to my liking, It's often more entertaining that real life.
Tell us about your writing process.
I'm what's called a pantser—I write by the seat of my pants. For some reason I cannot outline a story before it's written. When I worked as a clinical editor for a nursing journal, I could easily outline articles because they were factual and progressed in a direct line from A to Z. With fiction, that doesn't work for me. The story comes to me in a generalized way and often ends up nowhere near where I thought it would. Usually, that means I have to go back and rework areas or characters after the first draft is done. Sometimes that entails creating a timeline after I've written the first draft to make sure the story is making sense. As a panther, I rely on my beta readers' feedback to help ensure that the story works and there are no plot holes. Pantsing is a lot more work, in my opinion, and it would probably be simpler if I could outline, but I just can't do it.
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
I often wonder if other writers have strong-willed characters and if they behave or run wild? My characters are very opinionated. They don’t run wild, but boy can they be hard to wrangle. They often come to me in the middle of the night with “Have you thought about this?” propositions, to let me know they’ve decided to do something different or that I have taken them in the wrong direction. It’s my imagination—I don’t need meds—but I’ve begun to wonder if my characters live in an alternate universe that I am allowed to tap into. Their worlds are very real to me.
I hadn’t planned on writing a series, but I liked my characters so much I ended up doing just that. And they often morph into ways I hadn’t planned on. After the third book in my Annie Collins Mystery Series was published, the characters went silent. I joke that I put my main characters through such hell in The Burden of Hate, that they didn’t want anything to do with me. It was at that point, that I began getting ideas for my standalone romantic suspense novels. That kept me busy until the characters from my mystery series began talking again. Characters can be very opinionated. You just have to go along for the ride some days.
Who are your favorite authors?
Tami Hoag is one of my favorite authors. Her suspense/police procedural novels are excellent and her characters are memorable. I love Anne Frasier. Her Jude Fontaine series is excellent, and I love Jane Harper for her mysteries set in Australia. Her descriptions of the setting make you feel as if you're there in the outback. Closer to home (ie, Colorado) Barbara Nickless is a favorite author. Her Sydney Rose Parnell series is wonderful as is her new Professor Evan Wilding series. Ruth Downie, a British author, has a great Roman Empire series set in Britain that begins with Medicus.
What genres do you write?
Mystery and romantic suspense
How did you choose the genre(s) you write?
I chose to write mysteries and romantic suspense novels because that's the genre I love and read.
What three things are on your writing desk at any given moment?
The three things normally on my desk are my laptop, notes from classes and research, and my cat Bean (he likes to help).
What hobbies do you have when you need a break from writing?
I love to ballroom dance (waltz, foxtrot, tango, latin dances and some country western dances). It relaxes me, makes me focus on a new skill and, as my teacher reminds me, "the goal is to suck a little less each day." That applies to writing as well as dancing.
I also love to garden. I'm very fond of flowers that I cut and bring inside for bouquets and I love planting things bees and hummingbirds love. Walking by my lavender plantings and seeing bees gathering pollen is rewarding and watching hummingbirds feed on my flowers is exciting.
I love to travel in the US and Europe. I am fascinated by history and new places to visit.
What formats are your books in?
eBook, Print, Audiobook
Website(s)
Home Page Link
Follow On Amazon
Link to Author Page on Barnes & Noble
Author’s Social Media Links
Goodreads
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
YouTube
Instagram
All information is provided by the author and is presented as it was submitted so you the reader get to hear the author’s own “voice” in their interview.
