What scenes do you enjoy writing the most?

An interesting question, one I've never been asked before.  I think the scenes I enjoy most are writing about my villains and any scene that has great emotion.  For me emotion is what drives a book, what makes it a good read.  Whether it's the emotion of fear or of love, grief or incredible happiness, readers want to feel what the characters are feeling.

What drew you to tell the story of Last Gasp?  How do you summarize it for potential readers?

All of my story ideas spring forth from a single scene or sentence I see inside my head.  The scene that started Last Gasp was actually a thought from the killer's point of view:

"He'd always heard that under the right circumstances anyone was capable of anything.  He'd never really believed it until that day in May when the skies grew dark with the approach of a dust storm and the wind screamed like a cat in heat and she'd pissed him off so much he'd snapped."

This begins a story of a family massacre, a survivor who struggles to cope with the belief that her father had committed the murders of her mother and siblings and what happens when a lawyer arrives in town with another side of the story. As the two work together to uncover the truth, they dig up town secrets and stir up a killer who might be the original one - or a copycat.

You have managed to write successful books and to win awards.  Which matters more to you the regard of your peers or the love from your readers?

There's no question I love getting awards!  I also love the idea that I have the respect of my peers, but it's definitely more important to me that my books touch readers.  They are who I write for, the people I most want to please.

There have to be thousands of people out there who dream of writing romance novels.  How did you get your first novel published, and what convinced you that you could do it?

I don't think I was convinced that I could do it when I first started writing.  But, I knew it was something I wanted to do and I was willing to put in the work it takes to get published.  I read and studied the markets, and wrote...and wrote...and wrote some more.

What advice do you give writers who'd like to break into Romance or Suspense writing?

Study the market.  Write.  Join a writers' group.  Write.  Read in the genre you want to break into.  Write.  Don't let rejection letters stop you.  Write. Notice a theme here?  The best way to become a writer is to write, set a schedule for yourself and take it seriously.  I know people who are probably very talented writers, but they research and go to meetings and attend conferences and talk about what they intend to write, but they never begin!  In order to become a published author you first have to be a writer, and a writer writes!

Dennis Tafoya is the author of Dope Thief, coming from St. Martin's Minotaur in May, 2009. He's an ITW Debut Author and is currently working on his second novel for St. Martin's. He lives and works in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.