Stars of Romantic Suspense: Caridad Pineiro

I have known Caridad for many years. She's tireless, and the one of the most encouraging writers I've ever met.

Caridad Pineiro is the NY Times bestselling author of over twenty-six paranormal romance and romantic suspense novels and novellas.  Look for THE FIFTH KINGDOM, a romantic suspense from Carina Press in July 2011 and THE LOST, the first book in the new SIN HUNTERS paranormal romance series in August 2011.  Caridad has also done the foreword for OBSESSED:  EROTIC ROMANCE FOR WOMEN edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel which will be available in August 2011.  Her popular THE CALLING vampire series returns in 2012, but vampire lovers will enjoy A VAMPIRE FOR CHRISTMAS (October 2011) which includes Caridad's novella, WHEN HERALD ANGELS SING. For more information on Caridad, please visit www.caridad.com.

1. When did you know you wanted to be a writer?  I wrote my first book in the fifth grade when a teacher assigned a class project.  I knew from that moment on that I wanted to be a writer.
2. How long have you been writing?  I started seriously pursuing a career in publishing shortly after the birth of my daughter.  I had been writing off and on for nearly a dozen years, but her birth gave me the impetus to finally finish a book and try to sell it.
3. How did you pick the genre you write in?  Even in the fifth grade I wrote a romance.  I loved reading romance and so there I never had any hesitation that what I wanted to write was a romance.
4. Do you plot or do you write by the seat of your pants?  I used to be a pantster, but now I find that doing a synopsis really helps me find the focus of the book and keeps me from straying.
5. What drew you to the subject of THE FIFTH KINGDOM?  I had taken a business trip to Mexico and had an opportunity to visit some Mexican pyramids and also explore several areas in Mexico City.  That adventure got me thinking about what would happen if someone found Montezuma’s tomb and a unique relic within the tomb and voila, THE FIFTH KINGDOM was born.
6. Did you encounter any obstacles in researching it?  It took some time to research it because I wanted to get the history right.  The hardest part was trying to lay out a plausible explanation for the location of the tomb and its possible existence close to Mexico City.
7. What was the name of the first novel you wrote? Did you try to publish it?  The name of my first novel was LONG WAY HOME and yes, I did try to sell it, but couldn’t.  I still hope to revisit it one day and maybe finish it.
8. What do you know now that you are published that you didn’t know pre-published that you wish you knew?  I know now that writing the book is just a small part of the work involved.  The editing after the fact as well as promotion and marketing take a great deal of work and it’s sometimes difficult to find the balance between writing and the other aspects of the publishing world.
9. How many rejections have you received?  Too many to count.  Way more than the 27 books I’ve published.
10. What was the best writing advice someone gave you?  Actually, it was my mom who gave me invaluable life advice:  Nothing worthwhile is every easy.
11. What was the worst? Did you know it at the time?  The worst advice was to sign a contract for a big advance before my career was really ready for that kind of pressure.  It didn’t work out well and in retrospect, I’m sorry I did it.
12. Why did you pick the publisher that ultimately published your book?  I went with Carina Press for THE FIFTH KINGDOM because it was a very different kind of romantic suspense with a twist in the middle of the book that I would not have been able to do elsewhere.  I know readers will be saying, “Oh, no, she didn’t!”, but then go on with the rest of the thrill ride in the story.
13. If you could ask your readers one question, what would it be?  What do they like best about reading romance.
14. Tell me one thing about yourself that very few people know?  I am basically shy.  It’s taken me a very long time to be a more public person.
15. If you have a day job, what is it?  I’m an attorney by day, romance writer by night.
16. THE FIFTH KINGDOM is a romantic suspense revolving around the search for a missing archeologist and a terrorist group who may have kidnapped her.  The CIA Agent searching for the group and the woman is forced to work with the woman’s daughter, who has a dysfunctional relationship with her mother.  There is lots of action and emotion in the story.
17. What do you consider your strengths in terms of your writing?  Action and emotion.  I try to create characters that come alive for readers and have them on the edge of their seats as they wonder what will happen to them.
18. What do you consider your weakness and what strategies do you use to overcome it?  I am not good at description.  I usually write the dialogue and  action first and then go back and layer in the description during later drafts.
19. What’s your writing schedule?  I write for at least 2 to 3 hours every day and for several hours on Saturdays and Sundays.
20. What’s your favorite quote?  Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.
21. What authors do you admire?  Nora Roberts is up there, especially for her JD Robb IN DEATH series.
22. What three things would you want with you on a desert island?  The complete IN DEATH SERIES, my daughter and a computer run by solar power with an Internet connection.

Dr. Deanna Vasquez hasn't spoken to her mother in years, not since the renowned archaeologist abandoned her family in her quest to find the lost tomb of Montezuma. When CIA agent Bill Santana shows up in her classroom with the news that her mother has been abducted by terrorists, Deanna has to help in any way she can.

Bill needs Deanna's expertise to determine the location of her mother's latest find, before her kidnappers do. He fears whatever mysteries the tomb holds could be deadly in the wrong hands. In an effort to make contact with the terrorist cell, Bill accompanies Deanna to Mexico posing as her fiancé-a ruse made doubly dangerous because of the very real heat between them...