Time now for another Author Spotlight! Today, we feature romance and thriller author Mary Head, just in time for the release of her new book, No Safe Place. No Safe Place is a thriller, selected for publication through the Kindle Scout program.

Head now has two novels out, including the romance The Only One.

Before highlighting each book, let’s hear from the author herself.

What was your inspiration behind writing No Safe Place?

The simple answer is that I wanted to see Gary Oldman and Dianna Agron play father and daughter in something (they are still my ideal David and Hannah, though I know that if this book is ever made into a movie, they’ll both be too old to play these characters).

The longer answer is that father/daughter dynamics are some of my favorites to write, particularly a single father who will do anything to protect his daughter. I also love a good “damsel-in-distress” story, but I also wanted to sort of eschew a lot of the clichés that are inherent to this type of story. I wanted to write a woman who was forced into this terrible situation, but used her intelligence and her own strength to fight against it as best she could. I wanted to write a father who was desperate to find his daughter, who was a deeply good man, but also deeply flawed, and the way all of these characteristics clashed. I wanted villains who weren’t black-and-white, but surrounded by shades of gray, and I wanted supporting characters who felt just as important as the main ones.

Mostly, I wanted this story to feel real, and for the characters to be relatable.

A lot of writers will hover around one genre in particular and not stray that far from what works for them. You, meanwhile, pivoted right from romance (with your debut novel The Only One) to a thriller with No Safe Place. Are you conscious of genre when you’re writing, or do you just write stories that speak to you in the moment?

I definitely write whatever speaks to me. As an enthusiastic consumer of movies and books and TV shows, I am definitely a fan of a very wide array of genres. I enjoy playing in a variety of sandboxes, and I don’t try to limit myself whenever a new idea strikes. The two genres I’ve written for – romance and a kidnapping thriller – are two of my favorites, but I also enjoy taking my favorite genres and turning the common tropes within them on their heads.

No Safe Place was published through the Kindle Scout program. What was that experience like, and what advice would you have for anyone else thinking of giving that program a try?

The experience was stressful and nerve-wracking, to say the least, but ultimately for me, very rewarding.

I would definitely encourage everyone to give it a shot, but my biggest piece of advice is: don’t expect to get selected. From what I’ve heard from other people involved in the program, only about 2-5% of books submitted are actually selected for publication, so, to quote a popular dystopian YA series, the odds are not in your favor.

However, don’t let that stop you from submitting. Even if you don’t get chosen, you have exposure, which is always very important. You have the people who nominated your book, most of whom will actually want to read it no matter what your campaign outcome is, so you have an audience ready and waiting. Self-publishing through KDP is very simple and quick, and you have the option to have Kindle Scout send out an email to everyone who nominated your book to let them know that it’s available to buy.

I would also recommend joining kboards (http://www.kboards.com/) which is a forum for Kindle users, and specifically has a forum for writers with a thread for Kindle Scout. The members there are incredibly supportive, and you’ll have people to share the experience with. It’s also a great learning tool for anybody interested in self-publishing.

Character vs. plot: the seemingly endless debate over which is more important for a good story. Based on reading both The Only One and No Safe Place, is it safe to assume you sit firmly on the character side?

I would say yes, but really, I think characters and plot are intertwined. A great plot can be boring if the characters aren’t any good, but great characters don’t have anything to do if your plot isn’t interesting. For me personally, my characters definitely come first, and it’s usually their feelings and motivations that help shape the plot from a basic “girl meets boy” or “father searches for his kidnapped daughter” story to something compelling that people will want to read.

Funnily enough, I initially envisioned No Safe Place as having a lot more action than it does, but the characters eventually won out, and it became a much more character-driven story. So while I am definitely on the side of characters being important, to the point where I usually spend more time developing them than the actual plot of the story, I think both characters and plot are vital to what makes a good story.

Are you a heavy plotter, or do you just let the story take you where it will?

I would say I’m a combination of both. I tend to make outlines for my stories, and plot out the major points, but the journey from one plot point to another isn’t as heavily planned. As I mentioned before, I like to let my characters guide the plot, so how they get from point A to point B is usually up in the air, guided by vague ideas that can always change.

You’ve written a romance and a thriller to this point. What’s next?

Up next is the follow-up to No Safe Place called Finding Home Again, which will continue to follow Hannah’s story as she tries to put her life back together post-kidnapping. It was important to me to continue her story and show her healing process, as too often in media the aftermath of these types of traumatic events is never touched upon, and I want to show that things don’t always go back to normal after the story “ends.”

After Finding Home Again, I’ll be shifting genres again to supernatural romance with Crimson Hollow, which is essentially a vampire story, but with what I hope is a fun and interesting take on it.

What are some of your favorite books?

I’ve been catching up on the Pendergast series by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child lately. I’ve been a fan of this series, and the character Aloysius Pendergast, for years, and I highly recommend the series to everyone. They’re crime novels (Pendergast is an FBI agent who has a special interest in unusual murders, usually of the serial variety) with a supernatural, sometimes mystical, current that runs through them, and they’re incredibly riveting books; all too often I find myself staying up into the wee hours of the morning to finish each new book.

My all-time favorite standalone book has to be IT by Stephen King. To save the long drawn-out explanation of why I love it so much (because I could honestly talk about it forever), I’ll just link to my blog post about it.

I’m also a fan of several popular YA series, including Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling, His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, and A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket.

And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention how much I’ve enjoyed the Jill Andersen series, written by the owner of this very blog. Highly enjoyable reads, and I recommend them to anybody who’s into badass female superheroes. (Editor’s Note: I did not pay her to say this!)

 

Now for the reviews!

The Only One

I suppose a disclaimer is in order here: I’m not generally a fan of romance novels.

They’re just not my thing.

However, The Only One is the exception, because in her debut novel, Mary Head has made the characters relatable and easy to root for. As romance novels go, TOO is a quick read — don’t let the size of the paperback fool you. The chapters are short, the pacing is excellent, and before you know it, you’ll be almost as invested in Richard and Piper’s relationship as they are.

The author also makes each of the supporting characters easy to identify with, and they add to the overall fabric of the narrative. Richard and Piper do not exist in a vacuum, and it’s nice to see that while the story is clearly about them, everyone else is given a chance to breathe and find their voice. Jill, in particular, was a personal favorite.

Another of this book’s many strengths is its representation. While it is, at its heart, the story of a heterosexual relationship between two white people, the overall cast is more diverse than a lot of books. In addition, the relationship itself between Richard and Piper defies certain societal expectations in low-key, blink-and-you-might-miss-them ways. In my mind, these attributes really add to the story.

Long and short of it, if you’re a fan of the genre, The Only Oneis highly recommended. Even if you’re not, this is still a well-written book that tells an entertaining story.

Rating: *****

No Safe Place

No Safe Place is night and day from The Only One, Mary Head’s debut novel.

Whereas one was a romance that bucked many of that genre’s conventions, No Safe Place is a fast-paced thriller in which graduate student Hannah Cole is taken from her own home — leaving her FBI agent father David and his team to put the pieces together in a race against the clock.

One of this book’s chief strengths is its ability to get us to care about Hannah and David without spending too much time on their relationship. Far too many books spend so much time establishing relationships and timelines that by the time the action gets going, readers have already checked out. No Safe Place does not suffer from this; Head does a masterful job of establishing the particulars, getting us to to care about the principal players, while still managing to get the story moving along.

But Hannah is no damsel in distress; she’s fiercely intelligent and — being the daughter of an FBI agent — she’s capable of taking care of herself and has no qualms about doing so. That in and of itself turns the damsel-in-distress trope on its head and is enough reason to give this book a read.

Along the way, Head treats us to heroes whose flaws are readily apparent and villains who are perhaps a bit more sympathetic than we’re comfortable with. These characters are fleshed out and deep without spending time and space on fluff, allowing readers to take part in a journey that perhaps goes by a little quicker than expected.

A sequel is in the offing, but this book doesn’t end on a cliffhanger. The preeminent plot if wrapped up in a sufficiently satisfying manner, with each bread crumbs left over going forward. And, in Head’s continuing tradition of upsetting established tropes, this universes focuses less on Hannah’s abduction itself and more on the emotional ramifications of it — both during and after.

No Safe Place is a thriller with heart — and a tremendous read.

Rating: *****

Head’s work is available on Amazon. You can also follow her on Twitter and on Goodreads.