Double header today! First, we have an interview with Ron Corriveau, author of YA thriller The Agent's Daughter, plus a giveaway. And second we reveal the 2014 Month9Books' trailer, so scroll down after this interview and check that out too. Now, on to the interview!
The Agent’s Daughter by Ron Corriveau
Publication date: May 18th 2013
Genres: Romance, Thriller, Young Adult
She just doesn’t know it.
Legendary spy Evan Roberts always knew that his fifteen-year-old daughter Melina also possessed the absolute lack of fear required of an agent. Without telling her his real profession or his intention, he began to guide her toward an eventual career as a spy. However, Melina’s world is shattered after her mom is involved in an accident that leaves her mysteriously unhurt but unresponsive. Her father’s plans on hold, Melina settles into life at a suburban high school, immersing herself in a world of schoolwork, her friends and a budding romance with Alex, the cute new guy in her class.
When Melina and her father uncover shocking new information about her mother’s accident, Melina is pulled deep into her father’s shadowy world. With Alex desperately trying to find her and only hours to go before it will be too late to save her mother, Melina and her father work together using their combined skills to find a way to reach her.
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Hi, Ron! Welcome to We Do Write. Tell us a bit about yourself.
Hello Dorothy, Elizabeth and Sandra. Thank you for welcoming me to your blog. I am a slightly middle-aged dude that grew up in Southern California, studied electrical engineering and then moved to Texas where I work for a large telecommunications company designing integrated circuits. I have been happily married to the lovely Denise for seventeen years, and we have two great kids: Melina, aged 14 and Travis, aged 11.
How long have you been writing?
Just a couple of years. It never occurred to me to write until, one day, I realized that my daughter was getting older and more independent. I had a lot of thoughts and feelings about being a dad bottled inside so I let them loose in a form that she loved. A Book.
What a great way to bond with your daughter! Tell us about THE AGENT'S DAUGHTER. What’s the story about?
It is about a young woman in high school, named Melina that has a father that is a member of a special top-secret presidential spy agency. He has kept this from her as well as his gut feeling that she has the rare qualities that it takes to join the agency. Eventually, Melina gets her chance as she is drawn into her father’s world where they work together to stop one of her father’s enemies. There is also a romance. My daughter has told me that all good young adult novels have a romance, so I included a young crush for Melina that is central to the story.
It sounds like your daughter knows what she's talking about. She must read a lot. How did the idea of the story come to you?
I knew that I wanted to have a father and daughter as characters and that I wanted them to work together as well as have a chance to talk. This brought me to the spy genre. The rest of the details were written and refined as I went along.
Do you have a critique group/partner or beta readers, or do you self-edit?
I didn’t show anyone a word until I was completely finished. Or thought I was finished. I gave it to my daughter and sister to proofread in electronic form and then once again in paperback form. Let’s just say they had a lot of good constructive ideas. I owe them a lot.
Are you a plotter or a pantser?
Pantser. Other than having the general arc of the story in mind, I wrote in chapter order. One caveat to that is that I wrote for at most one hour per day and at most one page. I found that if I went very slowly, I had more time to think about where the story could go. It was like steering a really slow boat. Later, when I finished the story, I looked at it as a whole and made changes on a larger scale.
What’s the hardest part of writing for you?
I studied engineering, so grammar does not come naturally for me. If a grammar problem got past me or my two crack readers, sorry about that.
I don’t have anything that I need nearby, it is more what I don’t need nearby. I need silence, and I need to be alone. This is why I have tended to write at night when everyone has gone to bed.
Ah yes! Vampire writing is the best. What are you reading right now?
I am currently not reading a book, but my daughter has mandated that I read Divergent before the movie comes out.
If you could have any super power, what would it be?
Invincibility. I could right a lot of wrongs in the world with that power.
What's the weirdest thing you've googled?
Okay, this question is going to cement my status as a geek. I do some amateur painting. Acrylic on acrylic. Abstract. So, I wanted to paint something for my son Travis’ bedroom. He is a science nut, so I did a Google image search for a picture of when they discovered the charmed quark. The picture shows the tracks made in the bubble chamber by the subatomic particles when they blew a proton apart. I thought that this image would make a perfect start for an abstract painting.
Quick writing test! Use the following words in a sentence: agent, relatively, and platypus.
Ah, but this is too easy:
“Perry the Platypus is a relatively great agent,” said Heinz Doofenshmirtz.
“Perry the Platypus is a relatively great agent,” said Heinz Doofenshmirtz.
Ha! Finish this sentence: If I'm not writing, I'm probably ...
Spending as much time as I can with my family.
Here’s the part where you thank the people who are supporting you. Let's hear your shout outs.
My wife has been extremely supportive, offering countless words of encouragement. My sister and my daughter have been invaluable, not only for their editing capabilities, but for insight into how some of the female characters should be written.
And finally, where can people find you and your books online?
The book is available pretty much everywhere. Amazon, Barnes and Noble, you name it. All of the links, including a link to the Goodreads page are right on the front page of the family website www.corriveau.org.
AUTHOR BIO
Ron Corriveau is an electrical engineer and works designing custom integrated circuits. He started writing to prove to himself that he actually does have a right side to his brain. Originally from Southern California, he currently lives outside of Dallas with his lovely wife and two awesome kids. He has only recently come to terms with the fact that he is a geek, although he would like to stress that he doesn’t hold any kind of leadership role in the organization.
Ron Corriveau is an electrical engineer and works designing custom integrated circuits. He started writing to prove to himself that he actually does have a right side to his brain. Originally from Southern California, he currently lives outside of Dallas with his lovely wife and two awesome kids. He has only recently come to terms with the fact that he is a geek, although he would like to stress that he doesn’t hold any kind of leadership role in the organization.
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