Q&A with L.R. Jones

 

 

 

L.R. Jones is the author of the new novel The Wedding Party. Her other books include the novel You Look Beautiful Tonight. L.R. Jones is a pseudonym for author Lisa Renee Jones. She lives in Colorado.

 

Q: What inspired you to write The Wedding Party, and how did you create your cast of characters?

 

A: I was at The Stanley Hotel and it's not only haunted, it's the hotel where Stephen King wrote The Shining. So I thought, what if a murder happened here?

It's easy to be inspired to write a dark themed story while at that hotel.

I then wanted a cast of characters that came together in a very White Lotus, Agatha Christie way, where the hotel brought them together. What better way to do that than with a wedding party?

Q: Without giving anything away, did you know how the novel would end before you started writing it, or did you make many changes along the way?

 

A: I did know how it would end and I don't always when I start writing but the end was something that came to me early and I was always writing towards it.

Q: Did you need to do any research to write the book?

A: I did a lot of research on personality disorders and it played a role in how I wrote one of the characters even though I didn't end up actually using the disorder in question as a motivation for the bad deeds in the books.

Q: What do you hope readers take away from the story?

A: An editor told me years ago if you make people relate to your bad guy, it affects them emotionally because it hits close to home. It also makes them think how easily a killer could be right there in front of them.

 

This story is really at its core about two people who faced tragedy and how different they allowed those tragedies to shape who they are as people.

Q: What are you working on now?

A: A top secret project I can't wait to share!

Q: Anything else we should know?

A: My other thriller, You Look Beautiful Tonight, is out now, and it's in the vein of You — what if you felt invisible, as we all have in life, and then suddenly someone made you feel noticed? But what happens when that someone starts trying to make everyone they perceive as doing you wrong, pay a price?

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb