Tick Tock by Gail Ramsey

Without a doubt, the question I am most frequently asked is if I've always wanted to be a novelist? For me, being a novelist makes everything else I've experienced in my life relevant. After eighteen years assisting lawyers in the courtroom, I've penned a book essentially bringing in several aspects of my work, interests, loves and losses. I read of literary talents and thought that the life of a novelist seemed glamorous. Now, I know that that is very far from the truth. Lots of sleepless nights went into bringing my debut to the market.

In the case of Tick Tock, probably the next question I am asked is where the book came from? An imagination free to roam is a wonderfully creative thing. I see a story to tell in most things, but muse especially at those times when I'm just chitchatting with my sisters and friends. I think I'm naturally drawn to legal stories. Yet even before I had a real job, Perry Mason was my favorite TV show. While there are now so many legal stories hitting television, I'm even drawn to the trials that don't necessary hit high profile status but affect the lives of real people. If I've touch on anything that seems remotely true though, it only means that I've crafted a believable story. As John Grisham says, "its fiction, folks."

By far, most readers say the suspense, the scenes, law, and the perplexity of the relationships were well done, believable, and real even if pathetic and tragic at times. I often note that writing for me is like peeking into the personal lives of people where we see vulnerabilities, weaknesses, and strengthens. A true person has all these things going on and one of my favorite characters is the protagonist, Spiegel Cullen, who for all the professionalism that she embodies, was at times weak when it came to guys until she found her toughness.

But an unlikely killer on trial for murder in a foreign jurisdiction - where in the heck did that come from? Again, probably an overactive imagination, but when I first started writing the novel I didn't even know that the person accused was as unlikely as she turned out to be. I learned that people, no matter how unlikely can loose their sense of reality when entangled in emotional turmoil and that is what I sought to bring forth. Without giving much of the story away though, for me its not that the island mystery was too stymie to figure out; some readers were guessing to the end and yet other sleuth-readers figured it out sooner, but weaving the plots and twists was as much fun to watch unfold. Even if you thought you had it figured out, getting there was as much fun as predicting the killer.

Finally, at the end of the tale, the near fatal incident jarred Spiegel from her legal work and hence readers from the courtroom drama. Essentially, the court case was over and true to life some unexpected tragic occurrence can cause one to shift gears abruptly at times in life too, but stay tune.