As a Contributing Editor for The Big Thrill, a monthly Webzine, I have the honor and pleasure with chatting and interviewing a variety of authors from one of my favorite genres—Suspense/Thriller/Mystery.

This month I chatted with Jamie Freveletti about her anticipated new thriller, THE NINTH DAY.

Selena Robins: What was the most interesting fact you stumbled upon while researching THE NINTH DAY?

Jamie Freveletti: I actually learned a couple of fascinating facts while researching this novel. The most interesting fact I can’t reveal here, as it would be a spoiler, but it involves the rotting marijuana plants and the disease they cause. The one I can reveal involves the fact that the cartels in Mexico have increased their grip on the country to an extent that seemed almost impossible just a few years before. Cartel kingpins live in lavish estates and operate with impunity. We’ve probably all heard about the beheadings and escalating violence in Ciudad Juarez, but the fact that these cartels actually control entire cities was new to me. In one instance they blockaded a key intersection, causing gridlock, and then gunned down rivals on the other side, safe in the knowledge that no ambulance or police officer would be able to respond. Very scary stuff.

Selena: Why do you think readers will connect with your main protagonist, Emma Caldridge?

Jamie: This is my third novel and Emma Caldridge has figured in all three. The first two have been award winners and I think readers are beginning to root for Emma as a hero. She’s a determined woman and a scientist, but she isn’t harsh or damaged. I think the combination is appealing and a bit different.

Selena: You’re an ultra marathon runner, congratulations on achieving these challenges. Does running help with the creative process, if so, how?

Jamie: My protagonist, Emma Caldridge is an Ultra runner. I’m a distance runner, (for me that’s fifteen miles or below). I’ve crewed for an ultra runner on many occasions and the premise for my first, Running from the Devil, came from a near disaster at a 100 mile race in Colorado. I love running! It gives me an hour or more of uninterrupted thinking. I often work our plot points or action scenes while running. Exercise offsets the many hours that I spend in front of a computer.

Selena: How did you make the transition from attorney to best selling author?

Jamie: Slowly! I started writing during a particularly stressful trial as a way to unwind and wrote one manuscript that is “on the shelf” Even after I got my first deal I was hesitant to give up my “day” job. However, this year, when the Estate of Robert Ludlum asked me to write a novel in their Covert One series, I realized that I no longer had the time to manage both careers and now I write full time.

Selena: You’re writing for the Estate of Robert Ludlum’s Covert One series. When is that novel scheduled to release and how is it to write for his Estate?

Jamie: The Covert One novel is scheduled to release in fall 2012. It’s been a lot of fun to write for this series. Ludlum was one of the best, and it’s no surprise to me that his characters are imbued with a nice mixture of interesting skills and make for an engrossing thriller novel. I’ve enjoyed every minute of it, and it will be wonderful seeing my name on the cover next to his!

“One of the Top Thriller Writers Working Today” –Steve Berry, New York Times Bestselling author of The Jefferson Key.

Emma stumbles across human traffickers and is caught and brought to the marijuana fields of Ciudad Juarez. Here the plants are dying from a disease that is eating away not only at them, but it is also being transmitted to humans, though no one can determine how or why. The cartel leader believes that the disease is caused by the massive amounts of herbicide that the US dusting planes dump on the marijuana fields almost daily in an attempt to kill the plants. The leader decides to send the tainted plants into the States along the drug route. Once transmitted to humans the disease kills in nine days. Emma needs to solve the puzzle and stop the shipment or she, and everyone else who comes in contact with it, will die on The Ninth Day.

Jamie Freveletti is the internationally bestselling author of thrillers Running from the Devil, Running Dark and her third, The Ninth Day will launch in October 2011. In January, 2011 the Estate of Robert Ludlum asked her to write the next in his Covert One series which is slated for Fall 2012. Her books have won multiple awards and have been translated into three languages.

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Thank you, Jamie and thank you visitors. Until next time  .  .  .  .