And our Sue's Clues Mystery Author is:

Terri Brisbin, like many of the authors I profile, is a busy, busy lady. It amazes me that she finds time to write with all that she has going on, but she has been doing it since 1998. Her seventh novel, THE COUNTESS BRIDE, will be on the shelves this month.

Terri lives in the Southern Jersey - Berlin, New Jersey to be exact. She is married and has 3 sons - a preteen, teen and one in his early 20's. In addition to being wife and mom, Terri also works as a dental hygienist. On top of all of that Terri is very involved with numerous writer organizations. She is an active member of the RWA of New Jersey, holds a membership with the Washington DC and Valley Forge (PA) chapters, and was an organizer of an email loop/support network for authors who've sold their first book or are trying to sell their first book, called ToBeez. Do you see what I mean about the busy part? *G*

Terri's first book, A LOVE THROUGH TIME, was met with rave reviews. Called a 'classic time-travel', other comments from reviewers were 'unusual and striking', 'adds a unique twist', 'provides plenty of humor', but 'sees to it that medieval life is not presented as all fun and games'. Her following time travels garnered the same excitement and praise as her first.

Her past three books, The Bride Trilogy, lived up to the expectations of her fans. While these were not time travels, Terri none the less took her readers back in time to the Medieval age and to one enjoyable read after another.

Terri loves to meet readers at book signings and hear from them through emails. After you read her interview below, stop by her website. Maybe she'll be in your town and you can stop by to say 'hi'. Or you can always contact her through her site.

1. Your books have been both historical romance and time travel. Do you have a preference for one over the other? Which do you think harder to write?

I love writing historical romances and actually writing time travels gives me a chance to do that, too! I think the time travels are a bit more difficult because I have to switch back and forth from a historical point of view to a modern one. I do about the same amount of research in writing both of them.

2. After visiting your website, I can see you are one very busy lady! A wife, mom of three and dental hygienist, member of three RWA chapters, and a writer's loop/support group. You're giving workshops, traveling, and writing on top of all of it. I feel tired just thinking about doing all of that. *G* What's a normal day like for you?

The thing is...there is no normal day for me. I work in a dental Office part-time and those are long days so little else happens (other than working, cooking dinner, etc.) I tend to write in deadline binges that come in a rush when my book is due -- sometimes I write 8-10 hours, mostly through the night. So, my life depends on my deadlines which I try to set around my other commitments...

3. Can you tell us about your kids? How old are they? What do they think about having a romance novelist for a mom?

My boys are 12, 18 and 23 and are not very impressed by having a published-author mom... except when it gets them something good for Christmas! My older two have not read my books, or, at least, not admitted to it, although their girlfriends have.

4. Your job as a dental hygienist puts you in contact with the public all the time. Have any of your patients recognized you as Terri the romance novelist?

The dentists I work with and my colleagues are very supportive of my writing and I have my books on a shelf in the room where I work. It is funny when patients look at my name-tag, then at the books, then back at my name-tag and then they ask if I really wrote those books! When I was interviewed for the NY Times and when I was on the Today Show, patients called into the office to tell me they saw me, pleased that they saw THEIR dental hygienist. I've also had patients see me at book signings, too.

5. Several of your books have been connected in some way, The Bride Trilogy and The MacKendimen Clan time travels. As a reader, I love that - seeing characters from previous books return and having the story for a minor character finally told. Is this something you plan in advance or does it just 'happen'?

I have not planned any of the connected stories that I've written so far. They've all come about while writing the first book. In the case of the Plantagenet Bride books, for Harlequin Historicals, I wrote the first one (THE DUMONT BRIDE) and didn't know the villain survived until I wrote the very last pages. Once he did, I knew I had to write the story of his redemption from evil. It wasn't until I was planning that story (THE NORMAN'S BRIDE) , that a reader said 'of course the next one is about Catherine and Geoffrey' that I 'saw' the third story (THE COUNTESS BRIDE) and proposed it.

BTW -- there are also two novellas connected to these books (LOVE AT FIRST STEP and THE RUNAWAY BRIDE) and another 'prequel' novel (THE KING'S MISTRESS) -- I just seem to find so many of the secondary characters so interesting and in need of their own stories!

I am actually working on an idea for two or three connected stories and will be submitting it to my editor soon -- it's strange to plan a multi-story arc in advance.

6. What is the best part about being an author? What's the hardest part?


The best part is meeting readers who actually have read my books and can discuss them with me! The hardest part is the writing...it's both incredibly difficult and wonderfully fulfilling to create a story and characters and see where they go and how they get there.

7. What do you like to do in your free time? Any hobbies?


I am an avid reader so that's what I try to do in my spare time. I am also very active in my romance writers' associations as well as my dental hygienists' association so I stay pretty busy.

8. Where do you get your ideas for your books?


I get my ideas from all over -- sometimes from the story or characters I'm working on, sometimes from articles in the newspaper or in books I read. I have learned to never ignore snippets of info and ideas anymore....

Thanks, Terri!

Visit Terri at her website: http://www.terribrisbin.com/