Susan May Warren's Interview with Suite T

Susan May Warren

USA Today bestselling author Susan May Warren is a master at blending captivating settings and charismatic personalities with high-action suspense and romance. In Sundown, the epic finale to the Sky King Ranch series, Warren plunges readers back into the heart of the Alaskan wilderness where Colt Kingston and his brothers must band together to save the country they’ve vowed to protect.

Tell us a little about your new novel, Sundown.

Sundown is the epic conclusion to the Sky King Ranch trilogy. Taylor “Tae” Price is hiding something—former Delta Operator Colt Kingston knows it. But she’s not talking . . . at least until she’s targeted by a Russian assassin. Then suddenly she has a story that no one believes, except, maybe Colt. And not just because she helped nurse him back to his feet after his terrible captivity in Nigeria. There’s something about Tae’s story that rings true, even if it feels unbelievable that she alone holds the antidote to a terrible biological threat. Colt and Tae—and
the rest of the Sky King Ranch family—must race against time to stop the attack.

Your female protagonist, Tae, comes to Sky King Ranch with a lot of secrets. Can you offer some hints as to how these secrets could have a huge impact on the world?

Tae works for a private group that researches rogue, virulent strains of already known diseases—Ebola, hantavirus, smallpox, etc. When one of these kinds of diseases is unleashed, it’s up to her to find the cure. Colt Kingston, one of the three triplets featured in the Sky King Ranch series, is a former Delta Operative. 

Can you explain what this profession entails and why it is important in Sundown?

Delta Force is a special ops group within the US Army that operates under special command of the Joint Special Operations Command. They specialize in counterterrorism, hostage rescue, and recon, often with high-value targets. This is especially important because Colt comes to the story with specific skills that allow him to direct action against the group producing the virus. His experience is exactly what they need to find and stop the terrorists.

The Sky King Ranch series is set in Alaska, which is often referred to as the Last Frontier. Why did you choose this setting?

Alaska is its own amazing character! I love the setting because it challenges our characters to go beyond themselves to look within and find courage they didn’t know they had. Setting a book in Alaska allows me to create desperate scenarios that add to both the suspense and character growth. It is just hands-down, mind-
blowingly beautiful.

Sundown is the final book in your Sky King Ranch series. What is the connecting element for all of the books in this series?

All of the brothers have returned home wounded in some way, both physically and mentally, so coming back to the ranch offers them a place to confront those wounds and heal. Also, the appearance of Tae in book 1 is threaded through the series and connects all three books in the epic plot.

Are there any threads that run through the whole series that will be wrapped up in Sundown?

There are many threads!! Some, of course, I can’t give away, but all the characters have ongoing problems, question or issues that in some way get resolved or answered, from family problems to health issues to backstory questions.

What inspired the idea for this series?

The idea began years ago when I penned a different series about Alaskan smokejumpers and readers first met Larke, the brothers’ oldest sister. My fans reached out and asked me for the triplets’ stories, and suddenly all
three brothers walked into my brain with their problems and started talking!

What lessons do you hope readers can gain from reading Sundown?

The series is really about how we need to take a long-range view of our lives, because God is active and working on our story even when we feel alone. I hope readers are encouraged to trust the Lord and see that no situation is out of his control.

What do you love most about writing romance novels packed with both action and adventure?

I love meeting and falling in love with my heroes! They are so fun to write about, and getting them into trouble—and out of it—with the right partner is a blast!

Susan May Warren is the USA Today bestselling author of more than 90 novels with more than 1.5 million books sold, including the Global Search and Rescue and the Montana Rescue series, as well as Sunrise and Sunburst. Winner of a RITA Award and multiple Christy and Carol Awards, as well as the HOLT Medallion and numerous Readers’ Choice Awards, Susan makes her home in Minnesota. 

Find her online at www.susanmaywarren.com, on Facebook
@SusanMayWarrenFiction, and on Twitter @SusanMayWarren.

Come Behind the Pages of Sunburst….

Susan May Warren

“What do you mean I can’t attend my son’s wedding?”

This question, this thought circled my mind for the better part of 2020 as Covid swept the world. Amidst so many horrors was the realization that my son would be getting married in Italy, without his family present.

Not as terrible as so many other losses, but still, a major bummer.

Of course, we weren’t the only ones disappointed. His beautiful bride, Precious, was from Nigeria. They both lived in Italy, and while their Italian wedding was beautiful…it wasn’t a traditional Nigerian wedding. (and if you’ve never seen a Nigerian wedding, you are missing out!)

Another major bummer.

Our family had the privilege of meeting Precious the Christmas before, when our son brought her stateside for a holiday visit. She’d never seen snow before. Or experienced the deep cold of Minnesota. But she brought a warmth to our lives through her personality and her culture.

“Can I cook for you?” she asked a couple days after arriving.

“Yes!” 

We took a trip to the Nigerian market in Minneapolis and bought things that I had never heard of eating. Tripe. Crawfish powder. Bitter greens. Fish head. And…goat.

She cooked up a storm, and we gathered around the table for a spicy culinary experience. Goat soup is not for everyone, but the laughter as we ate it together and learned about Precious’ life in Nigeria, as well as their wedding plans, ignited a story idea.

What if an American guy fell in love with a Nigerian woman and had to marry her in Nigeria? What sort of traditions would he need to observe?

That began an exploration of Nigerian wedding customs. And, because Precious and Pete couldn’t return to Nigeria for their wedding, she and I dreamed up her perfect traditional Urohobo wedding. We spent hours on zoom talking about Nigeria—foods, customs, language (pidgin English) and traditions. I asked crazy questions (e.g. why does your father have three wives?) and she helped me plot a book that involved a lost love, a marriage of convenience, and an epic adventure through Nigeria.

 

Most of all, we created the fictional Urohobo wedding that she never got.

 Sunburst, book two in my Sky King Ranch series, came out June 6^th. It’s a tribute and love story to my sweet daughter-in-law, and a deep dive into a culture filled with family, honor and love. It’s also a high stakes escape through a country that is besieged (mostly in the north) by violence by the Boko Haram and other guerilla groups.

I probably got a lot of things wrong. But what I received was a priceless introduction into the culture of my grandchildren, and a new addition to our family.

I hope you enjoy reading Sunburst as much as we enjoyed dreaming it up. It’s the second book in the epic adventure about three brothers who return home to their father’s bush service/ranch only to discover that trouble is waiting, in Alaska…and around the world. (Some of that trouble may be in Nigeria!)

Thank you for reading!

Susan May Warren

Susan May Warren is the USA Today bestselling author of more than 85 novels with more than 1.5 million books sold, including the Global Search and Rescue and the Montana Rescue series, as well as Sunrise. Winner of a RITA Award and multiple Christy and Carol Awards, as well as the HOLT Medallion and numerous Readers’ Choice Awards.

Susan makes her home in Minnesota.

Find her online at www.susanmaywarren.com, on Facebook

@SusanMayWarrenFiction, and on Twitter

@SusanMayWarren.

Susan May Warren Talks About International Intrigue

In January 2022, USA Today bestselling author Susan May Warren introduced fans to her new Sky King Ranch series. Now Warren propels readers back into the thick of the action in a tale full of suspense, romance, and international intrigue in the next epic installment, Sunburst.



Sunburst is a twist on the marriage of convenience trope. It’s set in beautiful Nigeria and is about a former Navy SEAL who is sent in to rescue his brother from the Boko Haram. He discovers, among the captives held with his brother, the woman he never stopped loving . . . but can’t have. That is, until they find themselves on the run in Nigeria and the only way to protect her is to marry her. But when the dust settles and they’re safe, can he let her go? It’s book 2 in the epic Sky King Ranch trilogy.

What is the connecting factor for all three books in this series? 

Sky King Ranch is the home of the Kingston brothers, who went their separate ways ten years ago after an epic family fight. They all entered different branches of the military and are now all separated from that life, for different reasons. They find themselves returning home to the ranch only to discover that there is trouble afoot that’s bigger than the ranch, bigger than Alaska, and something only they can stop. This all starts with a mysterious woman who arrives in Alaska in book 1. So the connecting tissue is more than the family and the ranch; it’s the suspense thread that thickens with each story. 

Sunburst is set in Nigeria. Can you please tell readers why you selected this location?

During the pandemic my son married a darling woman from Nigeria named Precious. They were married in Italy. My husband and I were unable to attend, and she wasn’t able to return to her home, which was a big deal. Nigerian weddings are something to behold, and I hated that she missed out on that special event. So, when I was outlining my next book I thought, what if Presh and I planned a fictional wedding for my heroine, and thus, she at least got to take part in planning a beautiful Nigerian wedding. Plus, it gave me a chance to experience her culture through research and deepened our relationship through our many hours spent together on Zoom. Someday I hope to visit Nigeria—and attend her wedding event. (Yes, even though they are already married!)

Although your two main characters, Ranger Kingston and Noemi Sutton, reconnect in Nigeria, they have met before. Can you provide a little information on their backstory? 

Ranger and Noemi met in one of my favorite places—Key West. I set their meeting before the hurricane damaged the Bahama Mama resort in The Heart of a Hero, so it was fun to revisit that location. They met while Ranger was training for a free-diving certification and Noemi and her father were ashore to fix their sailboat. As for the rest . . . well, you’ll just have to read the book! 

In an effort to save themselves and the rest of the hostages, Ranger and Noemi come up with a plan. Can you give a hint to what this plan involves?

Well, the trope sort of gives it away, but they are inadvertently mistaken for a married couple, which plays into their game plan until they meet Noemi’s uncle, who is the Ovie of the area (aka the king). He’s not so happy that they married without his permission, so everything goes off the rails! 

NGO worker Noemi Sutton is in Nigeria attempting to return a young girl to her family in the Boko Haram territory. What type of research was required to accurately portray the intense danger that this undertaking would entail?

Aside from reading news reports and watching terrible videos, I read a number of books by survivors who had been kidnapped by the Boko Haram. One was a fantastic book titled Under the Tamarind Tree. That’s where I got my idea for the massive Kuka tree in chapter 1. I also read a number of memoirs by former missionaries to the area to get their take on the life from a foreign point of view.

 Do you have a favorite character or one that you can really relate to? 

I think I really love Auntie Precious. She immediately takes my heroine, Noemi, into her heart. I’d like to be like her. 

Sunburst is packed with suspense, romance, and international intrigue. What is the secret to being able to masterfully blend all three of these elements?

Each step of the story in one area creates a problem in one of the other areas—so
everything is connected. The romance isn’t just tacked on and the suspense isn’t just “stuff that happens.” When I plot, I start with the international problem, and then I make it personal by giving the characters a trigger, or ignition, into the plot. This in
turn triggers the romance, which causes them to do something about that situation,
adding to the suspense. Then it all twines into the international plot. Going back and forth like this keeps the story from being episodic and instead builds on each story thread.

What do you hope readers will experience when reading Sunburst?

 I hope they sense the peace that comes with trusting God, even when he seems far. He is closer than we think, and sometimes it just takes opening our eyes to see him.

Susan May Warren is the USA Today bestselling author of more than 85 novels with more than 1.5 million books sold, including the Global Search and Rescue and the Montana Rescue series, as well as Sunrise. Winner of a RITA Award and multiple Christy and Carol Awards, as well as the HOLT Medallion and numerous Readers’ Choice Awards, Susan makes her home in Minnesota. 

Find her online at www.susanmaywarren.com, on Facebook @SusanMayWarrenFiction, and on Twitter @SusanMayWarren. 

Bestselling Author Plunges Readers into the Heart of Alaska

Susan May Warren

Fan favorite Susan May Warren is back with another exhilarating tale set in the Alaskan wilderness. Filled with Warren’s signature blend of action, danger, and romance, Sunrise takes readers on a search and rescue mission where a blizzard, a grizzly, and the biting cold are only some of the perils one encounters in this inhospitable backcountry.

Sunrise is the epic first book in a trilogy set in beautiful Alaska. This series is about three brothers who return home after serving their country. Our male hero, Dodge, sets about healing a terrible rift that has driven the brothers apart—starting with forgiving the woman who betrayed him. In the mix, he discovers the ignition of a plot that spans the globe and will bring his brothers home to help save the world.

Dodge Kingston was the heir to Sky King Ranch, a bush pilot service basednear Denali National Park. But after a terrible family fight, Dodge left Alaska. Now a decade later, he returns home to the destiny that is waiting for him. However, he doesn’t count on meeting up again with Echo, his childhood bestfriend and former flame.

Echo is a true Alaskan—a homesteader, dogsledder, and a research guide for the DNR—but her free spirit can lead her into danger. When one of her research assistants goes missing, she heads into the wilderness to find her. But what she encounters is much more than the fierce elements.

When Echo goes missing, Dodge can’t ignore the twist of worry in his gut, and he is right. Echo is in trouble and on the run. Will Dodge be able to find her in time? And if he does, is there still room for him in her heart?

Susan May Warren is the USA Today bestselling author of more than 85 novels with more than 1 million books sold, including the Global Search and Rescue and the Montana Rescue series. Winner of a RITA Award and multiple Christy and Carol Awards, as well as the HOLT Medallion and numerous Readers’ Choice Awards, Susan makes her home in Minnesota. Find her online at www.SusanMayWarren.com,

on Facebook @SusanMayWarrenFiction, and on Twitter

@SusanMayWarren.

The Price of Valor

Susan May Warren

What would you do for your country? Or for an ideal that you believe in? Five years ago, when my son came to me and said, “I’d like to join the Navy,” I had to take a hard look at what I believed in. Yes, it was his decision, but I wondered if I loved my country enough to willingly give my son to it.

 

Yes. Yes, I do. And I say that after living overseas for ten years, seeing how other countries live and knowing our ideals of freedom of thought, speech and the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness have come at a great cost, both past and current.

How Do you Make your Reader Care?

By Susan May Warren, author ofThe Way of the Brave (Released 1/7/20)

There are 600,000 and 1,000,000 books published every year in the US alone. Yes, that’s a lot. But you don’t need that number to blow your mind…simply walk into a Barnes and Noble and notice the shelves and shelves of books…

5 Characterization Mistakes—and How to Avoid Them

By Jocelyn Green

Common mistakes can undermine a novel. Thankfully, you can route them out before this happens to you. Here are five pitfalls in crafting and portraying your characters—and how to avoid them.

Mistake: Giving historical characters 21^st century dialogue, attitudes, and values.

Do your homework and research the culture of the region and era. A colonial character whose cause is women’s suffrage, for example, won’t ring true.

Bottom line: Be true to your time period.

Mistake: Letting characters be two-dimensional.

Even villains should have something sympathetic about them, and heroes should be imperfect.

“Without personalizing, we face the pitfalls of clichéd characters such as the ‘old man’ or the ‘young woman.’ Our adaptation of personalizing focuses not on hair color and body type, but on the discovery of a character’s inner values, which give rise to unique traits and mannerisms that will become an integral part of the story.” ~Brandilyn Collins in Gettinginto Character

Bottom line: Let them be full people, with flaws and strengths, motivations, goals and internal conflicts.

Mistake: Skimping on the character’s conflict and motivation.

Without compelling motivation, a character won’t strive toward a goal at all costs. Keep up the tension by pitting one character’s motivation against another.

“Good conflict should push your character further and further from their goals, yet strengthen their motivation to push ahead.” ~Susan May Warren in From the Inside Out

Bottom line: Do character work.

Mistake: Not using beats to convey character emotion and drama.

Rather than always using tags with dialogue (“she said,” he asked,” etc.), use beats of action or feeling to convey nonverbal cues.

For example, here is a portion of Chapter 1 in my novel Widow of Gettysburg, using tags:

“I am sorry for your loss, truly,” he said. “How long’s it been? Since your husband died?”

“Since the Battle of Bull Run,” said Liberty. “The first.”

“Almost two years. You should be out of mourning soon.”

“If I so choose,” she replied. “Some widows wear black for the rest of their lives.”

“And bury yourself with the dead? I can’t imagine that kind of life for you.”

“It’s not your concern,” she said.

Now here is it again, using beats instead:

“I am sorry for your loss, truly.” His gaze probed her face, and she wondered if she looked sorry for her loss, too. Or just guilty. “How long’s it been? Since your husband died?”

She swallowed. “Since the Battle of Bull Run. The first.”

“Almost two years. You should be out of mourning soon.”

Liberty stiffened. “If I so choose. Some widows wear black for the rest of their lives.”

“And bury yourself with the dead? I can’t imagine that kind of life for you.”

An unwelcome tingle ran down her spine. “It’s not your concern.” She pounded the dough again.

Bottom line: Use beats to further personalize your characters.

Mistake 5: Letting your characters off easy.

Crisis both reveals what a character is truly made of, and transforms them. What is the worst thing that could happen to your character? Now do that, and let the character respond authentically.

Bottom line: Make life for your character extremely difficult, and watch what happens.

Go deeper with your characters with these five tips, and your plot is sure to improve.

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Award-winning author Jocelyn Green inspires faith and courage in her readers through both fiction and nonfiction. A former military wife herself, she offers encouragement and hope to military wives worldwide through her Faith Deployed ministry. Her novels, inspired by real heroines on America’s home front, are marked by their historical integrity and gritty inspiration. Her first novel, Wedded to War, is a double finalist in the Christy Awards. 

Visit her at www.jocelyngreen.com  Facebook: facebook.com/jocelyngreenauthor