Today’s interview is with Autumn Piper, author of Trouble Under Venus, and she shares with us how her real life situation affected the story, bending the rules of standard romance writing and the effectiveness of book trailers.

LZ: What inspired Trouble Under Venus?

AP: The heroine in this story — Miranda, or Randi, as she’s called — is in the same situation I’m in. Her father has been missing since she was very young. Without a trace, he disappeared from Miami. And to make things more mysterious, he was involved with some shady characters in the Cuban mafia down there. (All the same as me.) Her burning curiosity leads her on a quest to find out what happened to him.

LZ: What prompted you to add the element of time travel?

AP: It was the perfect solution to Randi’s/my problem: travel back in time to before Dad went missing, and try to discover what happened. Plus, Randi’s quite a daredevil. She’s into skydiving, base jumping, para-skiing… so joining an experimental time travel program is a natural fit for her.

LZ: What was the hardest part of writing your new book?

AP: For this book, I really had to do lots of research: on time travel, wormholes, vortexes, feng shui, meditation… And it’s really easy to get caught up in research. I still cry when I read the ending though. When I first wrote it, I kinda went into a funk for a few days afterward.

LZ: What was the most rewarding?

AP: In some sense, I’d hoped for closure by writing this story. I guess, in a weird way, now I do feel like I’ve “met” my father.

LZ: Your experience with closure is a great example of how powerful writing can be. Do you feel as though your search for your father has truly come to an end now? Do you think you’ve come any closer to discerning the truth?

AP: Sometimes I toy with the idea of contacting that guy on TV, The Locator, or something. Once I sat down and wrote letters to every guy with my father’s name who had the same birth year… only got one response back, and it was from the guy’s widow. I’m pretty sure the mystery of his whereabouts will remain just that — a mystery. Unless, of course, I hit it really big and end up on Dateline, The Today Show, or the like, and somebody watching knows what happened to him!

LZ: On your site, www.autumnpiper.com, you state, “Many of my stories bend ‘the rules’ of traditional romantic fiction (or flat-out ignore them).” Can you elaborate further?

AP: Traditional romantic heroines need to be either virgins or have been widowed (or both, LOL). If they have had other romantic/sexual relationships, these should not be “witnessed” by the reader. I happily ignore this rule and let my heroines dump their going-nowhere relationships if the story calls for it.

Also, some of my stories deal with subjects, such as an adulterous spouse, which most romances stay away from. I can understand this — in most cases, if someone is reading a romance, they don’t want to deal with Real Life Issues. Still, if it’s the story that needs told… I’ll tell it, with a warning upfront, of course. I sometimes call my work “women’s fiction” in order to avoid all the trappings of The Rules.

LZ: What’re your readers’ reactions to you bending The Rules and dealing with Real Life Issues in your stories?

AP: So far, so good! I did include a warning on Waiting for Revenge, which should somewhat prepare any traditionalists. I wouldn’t want to trick anybody into reading something they didn’t want to, but hopefully most people don’t mind a little fresh subject matter in their romances.

LZ: According to your Lyrical Press author page, you most love books that have “characters you can sympathize with or hate (sometimes both at once), a story you simply must see through to the end, and realistic dialogue.” Can you cite a specific example of this, either your own work or someone else’s, or both?

AP: A real master of this liking/hating a character is Stephen King. He can give you a main character who, in cases of dire need will do some really horrific — yet understandable — things. I do enjoy stories where the hero or heroine is not perfect. Another old-school romance rule was to never, ever give readers any reason to hate your hero or heroine. But, dangit, how much more fantastic is it to read about a flawed character, but still fall for him anyway?

LZ: What is your experience with book trailers?

AP: I think book trailers are a fantastic medium for advertising. Anytime you have another way to reach potential readers, go for it!

LZ: Are they effective?

AP: I’m honestly not sure. It probably depends on where they’re utilized. One new, awesome place for authors to reach lots of readers is with the Coffee Time Romance YouTube Channel. It’s a vast collection of all sorts of book trailers.

LZ: What are your tips for their creation?

AP: I’ve made all of my own using Windows Movie Maker, and had my CPs look them over, then made changes as needed. I think the most I’ve spent on one, for which I purchased music as well as images, was $24. They’re basic, because I think the crazy effects and transitions distract from the premise you’re trying to get across, but the images are high quality.

Biggest thing I’ve learned about trailers? Keep them short! A minute is perfect, with a few seconds of credits and links afterward. Never go over 90 seconds. People will skip it and not even bother watching if they see it’s long. It should be a teaser, like one of those little soft mints that melt on your tongue and make you want more (not a whole dang chocolate bar).

LZ: What’s next for Autumn Piper?

AP: More trouble — Fallen Star Trouble. It’s about a washed-up rock star and the woman who broke his heart right before his spiral down. E-book release is in September from Lyrical Press.

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To purchase Trouble Under Venus from its publisher, Lyrical Press, visit www.lyricalpress.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=3_25&products_id=202.

For details about Autumn Piper, visit www.autumnpiper.com or piperpatter.blogspot.com.