Author Spotlight - Nike Chillemi talks about her passion for writing crime/romantic suspense

Without getting too philosophical, long ago I discovered the murder mystery genre originated in the Christian west. From the very beginning murder mysteries, who-dun-its, and detective stories have been about the fight between good and evil. The history of the murder mystery has been that of solving a moral dilemma (a deadly crime) -- and the guilty party, no matter how smart or cunning, is caught and punished.

Mostly I read hard-boiled mysteries, where the villains are indeed vile. Many call this noir fiction because of it's darkness. I think an author can go over the top with darkness and it can get, as my daughter would say, creepy. There has to be a balance.
I try to make my heroines and heroes into capable, three-dimensional characters, who are not dummies. I want my main characters to show some brainpower and have the ability to deal with different situations. They need a worthy opponent for a bad guy who's really bad. Otherwise, Barney Fife could solve the crime. My villains are serious contenders, often demented, always shrewd.

In my debut novel, BURNING HEARTS, the most difficult character to craft was Erica Brogna, my heroine. I had to make her spunky, capable, smart, obstinate, and determined enough to have her go after a truly demented killer. She's the youngest of my three heroines in the Sanctuary Point series, so she also had to be cute, vulnerable, and sweet. She also had to be independent enough to get into trouble, yet be able to love and depend on others, especially that hunk of a hero I created for her, Lorne Kincade.

I present pretty heinous crimes in my novels, but what I'm trying to get across is that Love, with a capital "L" always wins. There is a love imbued in the human soul that comes from God. It makes people better than what they are, makes them capable of doing greater things than they can do. It's this Love that triumphs over evil. All people are capable of feeling and acting on this type of love, but the closer in relationship we come to God, the more we are able to Love as He does.

Purchase links…
Desert Breeze. http://stores.desertbreezepublishing.com/-strse-167/Nike-Chillemi-Sanctuary-Point/Detail.bok
Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/Sanctuary-Point-Book-One-ebook/dp/B0050PJSTY/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_1

Barnes & Nobel. http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Sanctuary-Point-Book-One/Nike-Chillemi/e/2940012411747/?itm=1&USRI=nike+chillemi