Interview with famous LDS author Tristi Pinkston

I had an opportunity to interview Tristi Pinkston in celebration of the release of her newest novel, Agent in Old Lace. Here is the description on the jacket:

Shannon Tanner has it all a perfect family, a perfect job, and a perfect boyfriend. Or so she thinks. What Shannon doesn t know is that her boyfriend, Mark, is stealing money from her father and making millions doing it. When Shannon learns Mark s secret, he turns on her, and Shannon s life abruptly goes from perfect to perilous.In an effort to protect Shannon, the FBI assigns their only female agent to go undercover as her personal bodyguard. But when the agent is injured the day before the assignment, they turn to the next best thing: their top agent, Rick Holden in a dress. Life seems safe again for Shannon with Rick by her side and Mark apparently gone for good. Then Shannon gets word that her best friend has been kidnapped, and it becomes clear that Mark isn t going to stop any time soon. Shannon realizes the only way to save herself and her friend and stop Mark once and for all is by sending Rick, her only source of protection, away. Can Rick save Shannon before it s too late?

Q. Tristi, your first three books are historical fiction, but your new release, "Agent in Old Lace," is a contemporary novel. What inspired the change?

A. After spending hours upon hours researching some of the aspects of man's inhumanity for my first two books, I needed to focus on something light to help clear out some of the cobwebs. I decided to try my hand at a mystery, and I didn't know it was going to end up being as humorous as it did.

Q. I understand you wrote "Agent in Old Lace" a while ago?

A. Yes, I wrote it back in 2003. It sat on my hard drive for a little while and then I decided to do a makeover on it. I heightened up the suspense, got rid of a lot of exposition, and it's now a much better book than it was before. It's a lot more suspenseful.

Q. How would you describe "Agent in Old Lace?"

A. It's a contemporary mystery/romance/suspense/comedy. But that's a whole lot to say at once. So I'd probably classify it as a romantic suspense,although it's not the freaky-scary kind of suspense.

Q. Are you going to stick with contemporary novels from now on?

A. For the time being, that's what I'm writing. I have a new mystery series I'm launching this fall, and after those books are done, I've got ideas for another series idea after that. But I'm not giving up historical fiction. I've got a lot of ideas still percolating in my brain.

Q: You are such an amazing prolific and creative author with tons of ideas. Plus you have a family to take care of. Where do you find timeto write while taking care of your family?

A: I have my computer on almost all the time and whenever I get an idea, I sneak away for a second to jot it down. Then at night, after the kids are asleep, I'm able to get in and really work. My husband is also very supportive and takes care of the kids for me when I've got something pressing that needs to be finished. I've given up some sleep and a lot of tv, and my house isn't very clean, but those are some of the things I've sacrificed to make it all fit.

Q: How do you come up with your many ideas?

A. They've all come from such different places: from dreams, from things I overhear, from asking "what if?" There's really no one place that's given me all the ideas. I believe in being open and just seeing where they'll come from next.

Tristi's book looks so good I can't wait for mine to come in the mail! Here are some of Tristi's links:

Here's the preorder link for the book:
Tristi's website: http://www.tristipinkston.com/
Tristi's blog: http://www.tristipinkston.blogspot.com/