#Author Interview - Stacy Eaton, Police Officer and Writer

I'm happy to have author Stacy Eaton visiting us today. Stacy is a full-time police officer, mother, and business owner and still manages to author three books.

Stacy, you've just recently released your third book, Whether I'll Live or Die. It is quite different from your first two police vampire books. Tell us a bit about it and how you were inspired to write it.

Hi Rachelle! – Thanks for having me here today. Yes, I did released Whether I’ll Live or Die in July. This book deals with a very important issue, an issue that is very near and dear to my heart, Domestic Violence. I have dealt with it in my past, and since I work as a police officer, I see it every day in my job. 

I wanted to somehow put what I do and see as a police officer into a story where the reader will be about to learn about the affects it has on people.  I was hoping that when I wrote it, I would be able to show people why it is so hard for a victim to walk away, even when their lives were in jeopardy.  I think I accomplished both of those with this novel.

You have accomplished it. I can really get into the mind of the victim and feel for her. You must come across a lot of gruesome scenes in your job. How does being an active police officer affect your writing?

First and foremost it gives me ideas for the material that I write. There are a lot of people out there that write police procedurals and have to do quite a bit of research to be able to write them correctly. Being on the job allows me an inside view into what really happens and it also helps me to be able to explain it in a way that people can understand.

I try very hard to make sure that what I write is correct in detail, not what you see on television shows. We really don’t solve crimes in an hour – and sending DNA out to be tested takes weeks, not hours. My writing allows readers to feel as if they are riding along beside the character, seeing what really happens on the streets.

Oh well, I think TV shows have to condense things down to an hour, but I appreciate the details of real police work. What type of female characters do you find easy to write about? Do you like tough, independent, hard-as-nails alpha babes, or soft, romantic, cuddly nurturers?

Cuddly nurturers? What’s that??? Lol…. I definitely write a very strong character. Well, except in Whether I’llLive or Die. In my new book, Amanda is a very naïve and young woman who moves from one bad relationship to another. Nicole is the police officer in this book, and while she is young at the start of the book, she grows to be a very strong woman who needs to be in control of her life.

In every book I write, my female leads are strong. That is not to say they don’t have feelings like other woman, and aren’t emotional, but they deal with life head on and take each challenge as it comes.

  

Are you reflected in any of your protagonists or are they entirely different from you? What would your protagonist say about you?

There is a very strong piece of me in each of my female leads. Writing Ofc. Nicole Nolan was like writing the start of my police career. Her hopes, her dreams and what scared her came right from my experience.

Using my own strong and sometimes weak points makes it easier for me to relate to a character. I don’t think I would be able to write a very weak emotional character because I just can’t visualize myself in that.

I have a series that I started, the My Blood Runs Blue series and Ofc. Kristin Greene is the lead character in that one. My friends who know me personally laugh when they read the books because they can picture me doing and saying the things that she does in the books. It’s fun to put myself into fictional places!

What's in the works?

Wow… what isn’t these days! Actually I am working on the third book in my paranormal vampire police series and I hope to have it out early next year. I am also working on a new series about a police officer who dies in the line of duty and becomes a guardian angel. I am having a blast writing that one and hope to have that out either late this year or very early in 2013.

Sometime next year, I hope to release a contemporary romance novel that I started two years ago. I put it aside when I came across a snag and now that I figured out how to move it forward, I want to complete that and get it out.  I have a few other plotlines that I am working on, so when my crazy schedule allows me, I’ll start working on those.

Wow, that is a lot of works in progress. Thanks for chatting with us Stacy. Anything else you'd like to say to our readers?

Thank you so much Rachelle! I appreciate you allowing me to visit!! I hope that your readers enjoyed the questions and I hope that they take the time to check out my latest novel. It is something that everyone should read, whether you have been a victim, know someone who is, or have no clue about it, it will open your eyes to a very dangerous and secretive world that few will talk about openly.

I'm glad you've brought this out for a lot of people to understand. Thank you, Stacy, and I wish you continued success in all your endeavors.

Author Bio:

Stacy is a full-time Police Officer who enjoys crime scene investigation above all else. She also owns a business that deals with helping people get the awareness out for the causes they care most about. She is a mother of two and her husband is also in law enforcement. She is very much into photography and carries her Nikon Digital SLR with her almost everywhere, just in case. She also has two Shiloh Shepherd dogs and loves to play catch with them.

You can find out more about Stacy and her books at her Amazon Author's Page

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