Guest: Caridad Pineiro

Please welcome Caridad to the convertible today!  [Apologies from Michele who posted this veeery late.]

When Bronte meets Bond meets Buffy . . .

                  As a writer, one of the questions I am asked most often – besides “Where is the bathroom?” during book signings – is “Where do you get the ideas for your stories?”

                  In my case, they come from a combination of life experiences and my equation of the three Bs of writing -- Bronte, Bond and Buffy.  You’re probably wondering where I got such an eclectic mix for the three Bs and that’s the part where the life experiences come into the picture.

                  I grew up in Levittown, Long Island and summers there were filled with trips to the beach and community pool as well as long walks to the local library.  The last was my favorite. 

I discovered Bronte in the library.  I read and re-read WUTHERING HEIGHTS all summer long.  I kept on checking it out until I was told that I couldn’t check it out again, but my love of dark stories packed with incredible emotion had already been born.

                  Shortly after that James Bond came into my life.  I sat there engrossed during my first Bond movie.  I immediately imagined Heathcliff standing up to Catherine so that a Happily Ever After finally occurred.  During that mental rewrite, I also threw in lots of sword fights.  Think James Bond on the moors.  A charging steed instead of a slick Aston Martin.  Luckily, we had a complete set of the Fleming Bond novels at home for me to read.

When my fifth grade teacher asked our class to write a book, it was no surprise that mine turned out to be a romance packed with action and adventure.

                  I kept on writing after that, relying on that mix of the two Bs, always knowing that I was sticking something else into my stories, but never quite being able to identify it until I stumbled across Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  Then I knew what it was – a totally empowered female who could tackle any challenge.

Heathcliff was not going to just ride up and ride off with Catherine.  She was going to damn well be able to take control of her life also.  The final B of my writing equation.  Buffy.

                  SINS OF THE FLESH was born of that equation and some additional life experiences.

                  I was a science major in college and took some totally cool courses. Over the years I followed what was happening with genetic engineering because of that interest.  It seemed natural to combine that fascination into a novel along with an important moral imperative I had been taught – understanding our responsibility to society as scientists.  In SINS OF THE FLESH, the scientists have forgotten that responsibility, choosing economic gain over their moral obligations to their gene therapy patients.

My heroine, Caterina Shaw, is a celebrated cellist who has gone blind from a brain tumor.  But Caterina is not some withering heroine.  She’s willing to take a risk with an experimental gene therapy to save her life.  When that risk places her in harm’s way, she is not afraid to fight for her life.  The first two Bs. The emotion of Bronte and the empowerment of Buffy.

                  The hero, Mick Carrera, is an ex-Army Ranger who is supremely confident in his abilities and has lots of high tech gadgets just like Bond.                

 The third B in the equation.   Except that Mick has a little bit of Heathcliff in him and is capable of great love when the right woman comes into his life in SINS OF THE FLESH.

                  For aspiring writers, I encourage you to observe the things around you and embrace all those life experiences for they will generate the ideas for your stories.  Find your own equation and write!

Please visit Caridad at her website!