Author Q&A: Annie Solomon (Focus on BLIND CURVE)
Author: Mary Varble
Original Publication Date in Love Notes: February 2005

MV: Annie, the chapter excerpt you have on your web site for your upcoming novel, Blind Curve, is riveting. Where did you come up with the idea for a blind hero?

AS: I'm always on the lookout for story ideas and I have a friend who is a mobility instructor. She likes to say she teaches blind kids to play in the streets... Anyway, I'd known her for a long time, but never really knew what she did, and one day a couple of years ago, we got to talking about it, and I just thought her job was interesting and would make a great story. Since I write suspense, I knew that meant some kind of law enforcement angle, hence the blind cop hero.

MV: It seems that you've gone outside the box with most of heroes and/or heroines. Was it a difficult to sell your agent or editor on a hero with such a profound challenge?

AS: The first sell was hard. I got a lot of response from agents that they didn't know how to sell my first book, which had a pretty dark hero. And a lot of rejections from publishers. I guess it's like anything else--you have to find the right person at the right time. I was lucky with Warner. They've been great to work with. I do think that writing the standard stalker/serial killer book might get me more readership faster, but I don't read that kind of stuff, so it's hard for me to write. I'm sure there's a stalker/serial killer story somewhere in my brain but I haven't located it yet...

MV: The medical condition you describe, cortical stroke, reads very authentically. How much time did you spend researching the condition, and who or what were your resources?

AS: I spoke with an opthamologist and a neurologist. The opthamologist works at the Tennessee School for the Blind and was recommended by my mobility instructor friend. We spent a wonderfully grisly lunch going over all the ways my hero could be blinded. Most of them involved wounds that would have severely damaged his face, which was a big problem, as one of the conflicts in the book is the gorgeous sexy hero and the plain Jane heroine. The opthamologist came up with the cortical blindness angle, which is actually a neurological disorder. I'm under treatment for migraines, so I spent another lunch with my neurologist and he helped with the medicalese and the authenticity. I'm not a big researcher, so I get the info I need when I need it, rather than spend months digging.

MV: You've portrayed Danny's denial and anger on learning his diagnosis very vividly. Do you know anyone who lives with blindness on a day-to-day basis? Did you do any personal experiments, such as blindfolding yourself for a day?

AS: I don't know anyone personally, but I did have my friend come over and blindfold me. That was an experience, let me tell you. Just navigating from the front door to the kitchen was a heart-pounding few minutes. I was constantly sure I was going to fall. Developing that long-term trust in your surroundings must be very difficult. I also spoke with a Rehab Counselor who works with blind people, and spent a day at the Vision Impairment Department at the Tennessee Rehabilitation Center, an amazing place that teaches the newly blind or the vision impaired how to do all the things Danny needs to learn--from making your bed to washing your clothes to cooking a meal and then eating it. I was blown away by how self-sufficient you can truly become, despite what we consider a terrible handicap. The instructors, some of whom are blind, and all the students, were fantastically welcoming and willing to share their stories.

MV: From start to finish, how long did BLIND CURVE take you to write? And do you have a definite writing schedule?

AS: I think the book took close to a year to write. I write in the mornings mostly. I'm a very slow writer and go through a lot of hair-tearing and doom and gloom when I swear I'll never finish this book and if I do that I'll never write another one.

MV: Thank you so much for taking time for this interview. What's next on the calendar for Annie Solomon?

AS: Thank you for the chance to blab about myself! Next for me is a romantic suspense anthology for NAL, which will be out sometime in 2006. I don't think the book has a title yet, but my story is called NECESSARY BETRAYALS. And I'm working on my fifth book for Warner, another romantic suspense which is currently untitled, but is a cross between Alias and The Bourne Identity.

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Annie Solomon is a member of Music City Romance Writers. Her fourth release from Warner Forever, BLIND CURVE, will be on the bookshelves this month (February). You can check out BLIND CURVE for yourself at www.anniesolomon.net

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