Cara Reinard Interview - The Den ~ JeanBookNerd

Photo Content from Cara Reinard

Cara Reinard is an author of domestic suspense including, SWEET WATER (2021), which hit #1 on the Amazon Kindle bestseller list. INTO THE SOUND will be published in January 2022.

Cara graduated from the business school at Gannon University and is currently pursuing her MFA in creative writing at Lindenwood University. She is employed in the pharmaceutical industry and lives north of Pittsburgh with her husband, two children and Bernese mountain dog.

When/how did you realize you had a creative dream or calling to fulfill?

For as long as I can remember, I’ve written stories. From the time I was a small child, I would illustrate them, include page numbers, and graphics. Most kids outgrow this phase. I guess I just never did.

Beyond your own work (of course), what is your all-time favorite book and why? And what is your favorite book outside of your genre?

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. I feel as though she created the genre, “domestic suspense”, which has exploded ever since its release. That book made me want to create other books like it. THE DEN will be my fifth domestic suspense novel since Gone Girl came out in 2012.

11/22/03 by Stephen King. You won’t catch me reading much science fiction, but the idea of a time traveler who stops the Kennedy assassination, and the butterfly effect of what happens next, had me hooked from page one. Stephen King is a master storyteller, and that book was a divergence from his norm, but it was so very good.

Tell us your most rewarding experience since being published.

I was invited to be on an author panel at Thrillerfest in New York City this past summer where I met some of my favorite authors, including R.L. Stine who was the keynote speaker.

What was the single worst distraction that kept you from writing this book?

My MFA writing classes. I enrolled in the MFA program at Lindenwood University after I got my first traditional book deal. I never dreamed I’d have to write two more books before the program ended! I had homework and I had book deadline work at the same time. It was madness.
So to answer your question, what got in way of my writing—writing!

Can you tell us when you started THE DEN, how that came about?

The idea for THE DEN started in my MFA class. I was taking a YA course on story beginnings and we had to draft our own first chapter of a YA novel and send it out to the class to be workshopped. I had just finished the season finale for the show “Shameless”, and thought—what if Frank Gallagher had money, but it was all locked up until he died? I wrote the beginning of my YA story with four siblings who were vying for a way to off their terrible father in order to earn their inheritance, and the class and the teacher loved it. At the same time, my publisher was interested in my next book proposal, and when I mentioned this story assignment and class reaction to my agent, she said, “Can you make a proposal for the adult version of that?” And so…THE DEN was born.

What was the most surprising thing you learned in creating your characters?
They’re all pretty bad people. You can’t have someone pining for their parent’s death, even if that parent is awful, and still paint the character as a good person. I’m sure I’ll get a lot of—those characters were “unlikable”, but boy were they fun to write!

Meet the Characters
CHRISTIAN FOX — Eldest Fox sibling and heir to Fox Wealth Management. The favored child, Christian rarely makes mistakes, but is quick to point out everyone else’s. When suspicion surrounds his father’s health condition, he’s quick to point the finger at everyone else too.

VALERIE FOX — Second eldest Fox sibling cast permanently in the shadow of her older brother. Valerie is recently divorced, fighting her own battles at home with her tween daughter, and disgusted by how her siblings act when they learn their father’s death comes with a jackpot.

JEREMY FOX — Strives to keep up with his older sibling, but fails at every turn. Is deemed not worthy enough to join the family business, but strives to succeed. A learning disability and his own addictions threaten to derail him, but no one guns for his undoing more than his older brother, Christian.

LUCINDA FOX — The youngest by many years, this sibling was a rebel since the day she was born, fleeing Pennsylvania for New York to pursue a career in entertainment. She comes back once a year for the charity event to benefit her mother, and is horrified to be pulled back into the Fox’s web when her father takes a turn for the worst. When Lucinda learns his death could solve all her monetary problems, that horror turns to intrigue.

MARIAN VEGA — The housekeeper and childhood nanny of the Foxes who still tends to their matriarch, Simone. Simone Fox suffers from Alzheimer’s disease, but remembers things of value in bits and pieces. Marian has seen and heard too much in her time working for the Foxes, and now she’s paying the ultimate price when Stefan Fox, the patriarch of the Fox family, succumbs to a suspicious illness.

ELI VEGA — Marian’s lawyer son who grew up on the Fox property, but didn’t like any of them very much. As the Help’s son, he was afforded all the luxuries of the Fox children, but was never made to feel like one of them. Now he’s sucked back into their fold as his mother is made to retell stories better left sealed.

What is the first thing you think of when you wake up in the morning?

Coffee. Write. Coffee. Write. Repeat. I often get in a few words before my family and the dogs wakes up.

What is your most memorable travel experience?

We travel a lot, and love to include our two children. This past summer we visited Seattle and Lopez island. My family absolutely loved the San Juan islands, and I’ll never forget their faces when we went whale watching and a pod of Orcas breached the water. Those moments are magic. I’m fortunate to have a husband and children who enjoy embarking on new adventures as much as I do.

If you had to go back in time and change one thing, if you HAD to, even if you had “no regrets” what would it be?

I would’ve moved to a big city like Manhattan or L.A. straight out of college. I’ve been to both cities this year, and they infuse with me with so much creative energy when I’m there, it makes me sorry I didn’t at least try to “make it” when I was younger. I was too broke and scared to venture off on my own with no lifeline in my twenties. But if I had to do it all again…

Most horrifying dream you have ever had?

Unfortunately, I suffer from night terrors. It might be an occupational hazard of writing and reading thrillers, but usually my dreams involve the threat to my own bitter end.

First Heartbreak?

My first car, a 1994 Ford Tempo—it broke every damn day after I purchased it. I spent more money on that ugly, horrible car than I care to mention. A true heart breaker and depletion of my beer fund in college!

A family estate is to die for in a gripping novel of psychological suspense by the author of Into the Sound.

Nothing brings the four Fox siblings together like their detestable father’s heart attack—and a hefty inheritance to be divided equally. At his deathbed is his oldest daughter, Valerie; her irresponsible sister, Lucy; and their two embattled brothers, Christian and Jeremy. Even the former housekeeper, Marisol, who’s been with the family for forty years, is on watch. All Valerie hopes for is an amicable reunion, despite the damages of the past.

By punishing means, Stefan Fox raised his children to be competitors. The cruel lessons now serve them well in a game of life and death. When it comes to the family fortune, the rules are simple: fewer siblings means a bigger share.

After a suspicious accident, Valerie knows the worst is yet to come—and confiding in the wrong person could be the most dangerous thing she’s ever done.

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