Interview with Lori Graham, Senior Editor at The Wild Rose Press

Hi Lori, please tell us a little about what you do at the Wild Rose Press.

I am the senior editor of the Crimson Rose line of The Wild Rose Press. This publishing company started 3 ½ years ago and I joined the staff just shortly after they opened their doors. Our goal at TWRP is to work with authors to help them perfect their craft. Yes, we like to publish books, of course, but we want to give authors the information they need. For example, every manuscript gets a response and none of them is a form letter. For me personally, I am blessed to work with a great bunch of authors as I edit their work. In addition, I also get the joy of managing an incredible editing staff. This group of women makes my life a lot of fun.

What makes a query grab you and what are you actively looking to acquire right now?

The thing that grabs me most is an author who I can work with. Someone who takes the time to research their plot and develop their craft. They create characters with depth and reality. This is what grabs me. As far as acquisitions, we have a special submission call going on right now called Jewels of the Night. You can visit our website at www.thewildrosepress.com and go to the crimson submission page or the behind the garden gate blog to get the details. If you have any questions, of course, you can email me directly at lori (at) thewildrosepress.com.

What really makes a suspense novel work for you?

Again, this comes back to a plot that is real. Given that we are dealing with suspense, it is important that certain rules be followed. For example, if the hero is an FBI agent, the way the character develops and acts needs to be somewhat consistent with how a real FBI agent might act. Granted there is some license that fiction can take, but it can’t go too far. So again, the research portion is very important and really polishes the book. The other aspect I look for is the development of those characters. The hero and heroine need to be as three dimensional as the author can get them. The reader wants to be able to know what they are thinking, feeling, seeing, touching, smelling, tasting – the emotions are important.

Who are your all time favorite romantic suspense authors/books?

There are simply too many to count. It all started with Nancy Drew, moved to Phyllis Whitney, and has come up to Cindy Gerard. There are more and I enjoy them all.

Is there a romantic suspense novel at Wild Rose that you're particularly excited about.