Interview with Suspense Sister Marji Lane

 I'm so honored to have the privilege of interviewing our very own Marji Lane regarding her latest release, D-Valued! Let's dig right in to the interview and learn more about Marji and her book. 

What first drew you to writing suspense, and what makes you keep coming back to the genre?

I was a fan of Christian mystery and suspense before I started seriously writing. The “Smart Chick” mysteries by Mindy Starnes Clark inspired me to stop dabbling and actually finish some of the stories I’d started. I had an agent interested within the year and writing mysteries with suspense became a delight. Like a mid-week vacay when I could shut everything else down and delight in the stories the Lord gave. 

How does your faith influence the stories you write?

That has developed throughout the last couple of decades. I guess how my own faith has grown, the faith of my characters has become more prominent. I’ve always written broken characters in impossible situations who have to rely on the Lord and the people He puts into their paths for their very survival. In this series, Tasha’s faith has grown over the last few years, stemming from a difficulty in her past. In this book, she’s reeling, trying to turn the page to a new chapter in her life. Her faith-filled habits take a back seat for a short time until she recognizes her self-reliance. The same self-reliance that has made terrible problems for her in the past. But this is a developing part of her full story – the complete series. It’s gonna take a while for her to go beyond all of her issues. I look forward to walking with her through it.

I love reading characters who grow over time! Can't wait to see how Tasha develops! What do you love most about writing characters who are facing fear, danger, or impossible choices?

Usually, my characters have no idea that they wear a target on their backs. The reveal of the truth of that is one of my favorite parts of the book! In fact, revealing truth to the characters, and revealing Truth through the characters, has to be one of my favorite parts of writing. In this book, Tasha believes all sorts of lies that she tells herself. She has a lot to sort through, from past situations and new people in her life. She comes in like she’s living as closed as a clamshell. Her friends and her aunt have trouble breaking through, but the desperate situations that develop shatter her shell at the most inopportune times. Bringing characters to that position is the most fun part of writing for me. 

How do you balance darkness and danger with themes of hope, redemption, and faith?

Funny you should ask. In a recent introduction, when I told the man that I wrote Christian murder mysteries, he asked, “How does murder and Christian work together?” 

I thought my answer was clever. “How does murder work with anything?” But the truth of the matter is that sometimes we have to be brought to the pit before we recognize our need to look up. 

Being an author, I get to experience the joy (and often write with tears streaming down my face) of that situation again and again. In a recent manuscript, a man who has lost everything and assumed he’d lost his faith looks up at the sky and says, “I’m trying to trust You. I just don’t know how.” I find that question is true for believers as well. That’s what the growth of our relationship with the Lord is all about. As the old hymn says, we have to learn to follow - to Trust and Obey. I think authentic faith displayed in the characters is essential. 

Authentic faith in relatable characters is a great way to show Christianity without getting heavy handed. What is something about your writing process—or your personality as a writer—that might surprise your readers? 

I am a planner. A HUGE plotter. I outline the tar out of my stories. And my characters grow from a six-page list of questions. I even take the characters through a personality test. I’m not exaggerating when I say that those initial 6 pages of questions quickly become little miniature novels all by themselves. 

Even with all of that planning, at least once in every book, I have an unexpected situation. I realized early on that the inspiration just jumped into the stories. Writing a book about a woman who had fled her home and gone into hiding, she visited a library and opened the news of her hometown to see if her disappearance warranted a news story. In her search, she found a picture of an empty burned out lot. Then suddenly she realized that she was looking through the lot to her backdoor neighbor’s house. The lot had been her house. The shock of that moment almost 15 years ago still resonates. And something similar happens at least once in everyone one of my stories. 

If your readers walk away from this book with one thing besides a good dose of suspense, what would you hope they take with them?

I hope Tasha stays with them. She’s complex and still has so much more to reveal – as do her friends. This series has twists and turns that I haven’t even fully fleshed out yet, but I’m excited to see where it goes!

I love behind the scenes information on how great books are written! Get your copy of D-Valued by Marji Lane here. Or comment below with your favorite part about fall for a chance to win an e-book copy.