Writing is a Labor of Love for Satellite Beach Author Roxanne St. Claire
A little more than a decade ago Roxanne St. Claire read a book by author Susan Elizabeth Phillips. When she was done she made a life-altering decision. “I thought to myself, I have to make somebody feel the way I felt after reading this book. So in August of 1999 I started writing a book. I never told anyone I was writing it and continued working.” After seven years as senior Vice President for communications giant Hill & Knowlton, St. Claire spent most of the 1990’s running a successful marketing consulting business.
Her first literary effort had yet to be published. But that didn’t deter St. Claire. She continued honing her craft and two years later left her successful PR career to pursue writing full time “In my heart, I knew I didn’t want to write about target audiences, strategic objectives or public relations tactics anymore.” St. Claire tells readers on her website. “I wanted to write about love and danger and a cast of characters who existed only in my mind. I wanted it so much that I did the one thing that all aspiring novelists are told not to do: I quit my day job.”
Two years later her strategy paid off. In January of 2002 she was notified that Simon and Schuster Pocket Books wanted to buy one of her manuscripts “Once I started, I never looked back. I didn’t make a lot of money and had to change my taste from Bloomingdale’s to Wal Mart, but it’s such a joy to tell stories and so satisfying to give people that feeling I first had when I decided I had to do this.”
Since then St. Claire has published 24 books, including eight in her popular “Bullet Catcher” series. “For years I said I would never do a series, but my publisher was pressuring me to consider it because of their popularity. When I was researching a book with a bodyguard character I heard the term bullet catcher for the first time-that’s what bodyguards are, it resonated with me and that’s how the series was born.” Make Her Pay, the final installment in the series, was published last year.
St. Claire believes eighteen years in the PR business has served her well as an author. “Being in PR I learned how to write on a deadline. These days I have deadlines for every book. It’s in my contract. You don’t miss deadlines in this business. It’s so competitive you have to stay sharp. This is a job. This is an ongoing, constant process, I’ll be revising one book and proofing galleys while working on my next book.” St. Claire writes two novels a year and the first book in her new series from Grand Central Publishing “The Guardian Angelinos” involving a family of street smart crime fighters based in Boston will be out this fall.
St. Claire specializes in romantic suspense, meaning her novels always have a dual story line with an element of danger intertwined with passion. “I start to write and something happens. It’s the magic of the keyboard. It’s so much fun to have my characters come to life and watch where they take me.”
Her characters become real to her readers as well. “I’ve had people write to me and ask-why did Lucy do this? Or why did someone else do that? I’m amazed at how invested people become in these characters. I love that.”
St. Claire lives with her husband of twenty years Rick Frisiello and their two children aged 16 and 12 in Satellite Beach. Since she began Rick has read every word she’s written, “and he always says the same thing after reading every book-It’s the best thing you ever wrote.”
Books by Roxanne St. Claire
Bullet Catchers Series (In Order Of Appearance)
Kill Me Twice
Thrill Me To Death
“You Can Count On Me” (Novella in I’ll Be Home For Christmas)
Take Me Tonight
“Reason To Believe” (Novella in What You Can’t See)
First You Run
Then You Hide
Now You Die
Hunt Her DownMake Her Pay
A NASCAR Holiday: “Tis The Silly Season”
Killer Curves
French Twist
Tropical Getaway
Hit Reply By Rocki St. Claire-“This is my favorite book. It’s not romantic suspense but rather the in the chick lit genre.”
His Style Of Seduction
The CEO’s Scandalous Affair
Thunderstruck
The Intern Affair
The Sins Of His Past
The Highest Bidder
Like A Hurricane
The Fire Still Burns
When The Earth Moves
Awards
Roxanne St. Claire’s novels have been selected for the Doubleday and Rhapsody Book Club, have been translated into dozens of languages and routinely spend time on the Walden Books Bestseller List, including two consecutive weeks at number one.
2007 RITA™ Award for “Tis the Silly Season”
2009 Reader’s Choice Award
2008 National Reader’s Choice Award
2007 Daphne du Maurier Award
2006 Maggie Award
2007 HOLT Medallion
2006 Booksellers Best
2007 Bookbuyers Best
2007 Borders Top Pick
Colorado Award of Excellence (multiple)
Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence (multiple)
Aspen Gold (multiple)
For more information visit www.roxannestclaire.com
