Author Interview: Bianca Mori talks about #HeistClub

*This is the full transcript of the author interview, parts of which came out in in an article in Manila Bulletin titled Criminal Minds last July 11, 2016.

Romance author Bianca Mori, known for Tame the Kitten tries her hand at a completely different genre, she shares her experience with us. 

What were the hurdles that you had to overcome when you were writing Snakehead?
Time, mostly! We had about two months to submit the first draft, and I was really busy with work, so at one point I locked myself in one Saturday and banged out 8 chapters in order to make the deadline. In retrospect...not the best way to write a procedural. Editing was brutal. Another hurdle is just getting into that headspace which allows a person to write about crime. Crimes are an aberration - basically an act that declares rebellion against moral and legal mores that we all agree to live with in exchange for a relatively harmonious society. So trying to understand why a person would commit such an aberration - exploring their motives, and the fallout/consequences of their act - that's not an easy place to inhabit.

What made you take a chance to write crime fiction?
It's one of my favorite genres. I love a good procedural. I had a true crime phase when I was all caught up with heinous murders and such, but in time I had to stop because it was really disturbing. So I guess I just wanted to write something that I also liked to read.

How was it different from your other books, genres you write in? Romance right?
I've mainly written romance, but since last year I shifted towards romance-suspense which shares some aspects with crime (i.e. morally compromised characters, violence, tricky procedurals). I also used to write a lot of horror so writing crime was like revisiting the same well. There are a lot of differences especially in the genre conventions. Romance mandates a happily ever after, for example. You also have to root for the characters, which is not necessarily the case with crime.

Have you always wanted to write crime fic? Why so?
 It was something I really wanted to try, since I enjoy reading it. There's a technical aspect to writing crime / mystery / thrillers that really interests me, that sleight-of-hand, misdirection thing that is so satisfying when done well. I don't think I'm at that level yet, but it's fun to figure out how it's done!

Other things that you would like to share?
I re-read Snakehead prior to adding it on Amazon and I just realized how influenced it is by Gillian Flynn. I remember reading Dark Places in preparation for #HeistClub and that book is so distasteful, but I kind of have echoes of that in my story.

Snakehead and other #heistclub books are available here  http://bit.ly/heistclubamazon

For more about #HeistClub: http://alicekamatis.blogspot.com/search/label/%23heistclub