Chatting with the Pros: Jenifer Ruff

My “Chatting with the Pros” guest for October is crime fiction author Jenifer Ruff. She was a guest back when
I first ran the blog series, and I am delighted to have her back for the renewel of the series. (You can see our original interview here.) I am a big fan of her Agent Victoria Heslin Series and I’ve also read the first book in her FBI & CDC series. (You’ll find the links to those reviews in the interview below.)

About Jenifer Ruff

USA TODAY bestselling author Jenifer Ruff writes dark and twisty thrillers, including the award-winning Agent Victoria Thriller Series. Jenifer lives in North Carolina and the mountains of Virginia with her family and a pack of greyhounds. If she’s not writing, she’s probably devouring books or out exploring trails with her dogs. For more information you can visit her website at Jenruff.com or join her at Facebook at facebook.com/authorjruff/

Interview

Kaye: Your books are published under Greyt Companion Press, which is your independent press. Why did you choose to publish independently? Did you try traditional publishing first?

Jenifer: Honestly, I didn’t know what I was doing at first. I didn’t look for an agent, I just started with a small publisher a friend had used. They were great, and it didn’t cost me a penny, but I soon realized I wanted more control over my books. Over the past few years, working full-time as an author and publisher, my writing opportunities grew to a bit more than I could handle alone. Now I have a literary agent who is helping me with some traditional opportunities, foreign rights, and sub rights.

Kaye: As an independent author, can you tell us about your author journey and how you became a U.S.A. Today bestselling author?

Jenifer: Since my first book was published almost ten years ago, I’ve written and published sixteen more books, learned as much as I could about the craft of writing, publishing, and book marketing. I love all of it, and with the industry and tools constantly changing, it’s impossible to ever get bored.

Kaye: I have to say I love your Victoria Heslin thriller series, and I’ve read and reviewed all but two of them. But that series isn’t the only one you write. You also write the FBI & CDC series, and the Brook Walton series. Can you talk a little about each series, so readers might get an idea of each one?

Jenifer: First, thank you so much for reading and reviewing my books. I’m so grateful!  Here is a little about each series. All of my books are dark and twisty, but clean (no sex, no swearing.)

The Agent Victoria Thriller Series – The Numbers Killer, Pretty Little Girls, When They Find Us, Ripple of Doubt, The Groom Went Missing, Vanished on Vacation, The Atonement Murders, The Ones They Buried, The Bad Neighbor

Victoria is an introverted special agent with the FBI. She is also an heiress, which allows her to pursue her passion of rescuing animals. She is smart, determined, selfless, and courageous. Victoria’s investigations include tracking serial killers, spree killers, and several missing person cases. She also survived a plane crash and its harrowing aftermath, an incident that made global headlines as rescuers struggled to find the missing jet.

The Brooke Walton Series – Everett, Rothaker, The Intern

This dark psychological thriller series features Brooke Walton, an Ivy League psychopath, on her journey through college and medical school. Brooke is the most determined woman ever. She won’t let anyone or anything stand in the way of her goals. Her stories give you a chilling look inside her mind.  Brooke is my favorite creation. Readers either love her, want to see her locked up for life, or can’t quite decide.

 The FBI & CDC Thriller Series – Only Wrong Once, Only One Cure, and Only One Wave: The Tsunami Effect

This series features infectious disease expert Dr. Madeline Hamilton and FBI Anti-Terror Agent Quinn Traynor. They’ve dedicated their lives to preventing epidemics and terrorism. I’ve placed them in terrifying situations, forcing them to risk their own lives again and again to protect the rest of us.

Kaye: Most stories are not non-stop action. What are some tips you can offer rising authors for keeping the tension going and holding readers’ interest?

Jenifer: If you’re  bored with what you’ve written, readers probably will be too, so scrap the bits that don’t excite you.  Always have a central question that needs answering (Who did it? What is the motive? What is the connection?) to keep readers turning the pages.

Kaye: There is some of you in the character of Victoria Heslin, for sure. For one thing, she has a bunch of greyhounds, and you do, as well. Although I don’t think you have as many as she does. What other aspects of Jenifer Ruff went into the creation of Victoria Heslin?

Jenifer: Besides her love for animals, Victoria is an introvert. She’s not shy, but the act of socializing drains her energy, while quiet activities and alone time fill her up – and that is totally me. In most of the Victoria books she picks up a mystery-thriller to read on her Kindle when she has downtime. That’s something I do every day.

Kaye: A current hot topic in the writing and publishing worlds is the use of generative AI in writing and imagery, and even AI narration for audiobooks. Where do you stand on the use of AI?

Jenifer: I think AI is amazing, and I’d prefer it not get any better at writing or narration for the sake of everyone currently making a living in those occupations!  I don’t think it could ever push authors and audio book narrators out of the market completely, since so much of a book’s success is related to marketing efforts, and of course luck. But who knows. It’s exciting and also scary.

Kaye: What is the best advice you have for aspiring authors of Crime Fiction?

Jenifer: Read as much as you can in the genre. If you simply enjoy writing and are happy to see your book in print, there are many stress-free ways to accomplish that goal.  If sales are important, you must be on social media promoting your books, constantly making an effort to reach new readers. There’s really no way around that these days, unless you have an amazing publishing team doing it for you.

Kaye: Would you like to tell us about your latest book?

Jenifer: The Bad Neighbor is book 9 in my Victoria series but written as a standalone like the rest of them. I just finished proofing the audiobook—narrator Kate Handford just blew me away with her recording—and it’s fresh in my mind. Writing villains is my absolute favorite, getting into their heads and creating their motives, and this one was especially interesting to me.  Here’s a taste of what it’s about.

In the idyllic Mountain Meadows neighborhood, a fresh start can quickly become a fatal ending.
For newcomers Chris and Zoey Hamilton, the affluent community seems like the perfect location to build a life together. Instead, history repeats itself when Zoey vanishes without a trace—just like the previous homeowner five years ago.

The secrets in Mountain Meadows run deep, and the greatest threats aren’t lurking in the shadows…they’re hosting dinner parties, attending parent-teacher conferences, going to yoga, and waving hello from behind their perfectly trimmed hedges. One of those polite, smiling individuals will stop at nothing to keep the past buried.

Kaye: Where can interested readers find out more about you and your books?

Jenifer: All my books and audiobooks are available on Amazon or through my website Jenruff.com. Print and audiobooks can also be ordered from any major retailer. If my books aren’t in your local library, you can always request them. Libraries are usually very accommodating to requests.

Thank you so much for interviewing me and for your thoughtful questions. I really appreciate it!

My Review of The Bad Neighbor

I received a digital copy of The Bad Neighbor in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed here are my own.

That being said, and as already stated, I am a big fan of Jenifer Ruff’s Agent Victoria Heslin Thriller series, of which this is book 9. Each book tells of a different case or situation in which our protagonist, Victoria Heslin, finds herself in. Usually, it’s an accounting of a case that she’s working as a government agent, but occassionally, as in When They Find Us, Heslin is off duty and the situation occurs in her personal life.

In The Bad Neighbor, Heslin finds trouble brewing right in her own neighborhood when a new neighbor turns up missing, and Victoria and her lover, Ned, join in the search to find her and uncover hidden secrets about her neighbors which make them all look a little guilty. It seems that everyone has something to hide and one of them is a killer.

As all the other books in this series, The Bad Neighbor is well written, masterfully leading the reader through twists and turns which eventually lead to a solution to the mystery. This book is everything that a crime fiction thriller should be and makes one wonder how much we really know about our neighbors, and how much do we really want to know. I give it five quills.

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Kaye Lynne Booth does honest book reviews on Writing to be Read in exchange for ARCs. Have a book you’d like reviewed? You can request a review on the Book Review tab above.

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