A short Q & A with “Exposure” author Brandilyn Collins
Brandilyn Collins is the bestselling author of “Dark Pursuit,” “Amber Morn” and other suspense novels. Her latest book, “Exposure,” published by Zondervan, is set in Wilmore and features several local businesses and locations. Her descriptions of the town are all realistic, and only the character names are changed. I spoke with Collins, who grew up in Wilmore and whose family still lives there, briefly about the book and writing about her hometown.
TY: How would you sum up the plot in a couple of sentences?
BC: Kaycee, my protagonist, is a mewspaper columnist who writes about her fears, and her worst fear is being watched, that paranoia. This is a novel about when your worst fears come true. She has to face down those fears. And underlying all of that suspense plot in Kaycee’s life are thoughts of fears in our own life. Everybody deals with fear. How do we deal with it? How do we even recognize it? Do we recognize that our fears can really run our lives if we let them? That’s sort of the underlying theme of the book.
TY: How do you feel like Wilmore is portrayed in the story?
BC: Well, it’s portrayed from the point of view of my character, Kaycee, who’s in a lot of trouble, so in that sense, I certainly wreaked a bit of havoc in the quiet town of Wilmore, which usually isn’t the case.
TY: Geographically you’ve got everything down, but did you go to people for help?
BC: Yes, I did. I went to the chief of police (Steve Boven), and later I interviewed another police officer (Mike Bandy). I had to lay out the crazy scenarios that would happen in the town and say, ‘How would you handle this?’ and that kind of thing. And of course I had to drive all the streets, make note of all of the businesses that have come and gone since I lived there, which was some time ago. I took note of everything down to the details — where does the sidewalk end on this particular street, and what’s across the street?
TY: You see these types of stories taking place in big cities where wild things are happening all the time, but how does placing it in a town like Wilmore change the way you write it?
BC: It’s interesting in a small town when murder and mayhem take place. Small towns are used to being quiet. Also everybody knows everyone — it’s a completely different feel. So to sort of wreak havoc in a small area, it has much more of an impact than say the same kind of tale taking place in New York City. You get the whole town involved, basically.
TY: You trademarked the term “Seatbelt suspense” — what does that mean?
BC: Seatbelt Suspense is a registered brand of the kind of suspense that I write. It means that if you pick up a Brandilyn Collins novel, you can expect a fast start, deep characterization, lots of plot twists and an underlying thread of faith somewhere within the story.
You can pick up a copy of “Exposure” at most major bookstores and on Amazon.com. For more information on Brandilyn Collins, visit www.brandilyncollins.com or her blog at www.forensicfaith.blogspot.com.
