Ginny Aiken, author of 38 books, knows how to mix mayhem with humor

Ada: How many books have you written? I almost had to tuck my eyeballs back in when I logged into your Amazon author page. I started writing down the trilogies and series, turning pages and finally discovered I couldn’t report on it all without writing a book myself!

Ginny: All in all, I’ve contracted 38 manuscripts, but that’s over 19 years.

Ada: How many genres?

Ginny: I’ve written historicals, contemporary romance, cozies, and romantic suspense.

Ada: You must write with lots of humor. I couldn’t help but smile when I saw the listing for “Deadly Décor Mysteries” and “Shop ‘Til you U Drop” for series titles. Humor isn’t easy to write. It’s difficult to determine whether a situation will make a reader or listener laugh. How do you create humorous situations?

Ginny: I don’t know that I actually create the situations, at least, not purposefully. I think it’s more a case of the oddball way my quirky brain works. I tend to handle stress by looking for something humorous, and it tends to come out in my writing.

Ada: Do your mob and crime books contain humor, or are they suspense or thrillers?

Ginny: My mob books were very humorous, but my Carolina Justice series for Love Inspired was flat out romantic suspense.

Ada: I see you’ve co-authored books with Catherine Palmer and other authors with each of you writing a separate novella or fits into the theme. Is that difficult? If it’s easy, why?

Ginny: I love working on anthologies and collections. I find batting ideas back and forth with other authors to be the best way to figure out plot twists and levels of character development I otherwise wouldn’t have come up with on my own.

 Ada: What is your latest book and how does it differ from others?

Ginny: My latest title, REMEMBER ME WHEN, is the second book of my Women of Hope series. While the three books stand on their own, the group of stories is based on the lives of three biblical women. The first title, FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS, is of course based on Queen Esther. The second one, REMEMBER ME WHEN, is based on Abigail and King David. And the last book, SHE SHALL BE PRAISED, is based on the woman in Proverbs 31, and will release in January of 2014. These books differ from my previous titles in that the plots are loosely fashioned after the Bible stories familiar to all of us. My twist in the concept is that I set them in Oregon in the late 1870s and 1880s. REMEMBER ME WHEN, packs a powerful punch, touching on some delicate issues women have faced over the centuries, and unfortunately continue to face today. It’s the least humorous one of the three titles.

Ada: How long does it take you to write a book?

Ginny: As you can see, I write long historical as well as short contemporary romances. You can imagine that each holds its own kind of challenge, and if nothing else, there’s a huge difference between a 55,000-60,000 word book and one that clocks in at 100,000 words. And I love writing the two different type of books.

Ada: Do all of your books have a spiritual element?

Ginny: Yes, they do. Because I love the Lord, I live by my ever-present Bible. A book without a spiritual element would be completely foreign to me. I started writing for the secular market back in the Dark Ages, and I had a rotten time of it. When I was offered the opportunity to serve God fully with my writing, I jumped and have never looked back.

Ada: What satisfies you most about being a writer?

Ginny: Wow! I don’t know that I can pinpoint one thing. I do know I love the idea-rich creative process, so brainstorming is a treat for me. I love living in two worlds—sometimes my ‘real’ world isn’t so much fun, and having a second one to focus on for a while is a blessing. I can then go back to the day-to-day challenges with a refreshed attitude. Besides, who doesn’t love walking 5 steps to your office in your PJs?

Ada: What is your greatest desire for your future as a novelist?

Ginny: To continue to honor God with the stories He gives me to write, and I want to touch more readers—those reader letters mean the world to a novelist. Thanks so much for the opportunity to share a little of me with you and those who follow your blog.