Meet A. R. Torre, our January BingeBooks Book Club author

Rainy weather, a comfy chair and Cuban coffee - A.R. Torre details the essential ingredients for writing characters that readers "love to hate" 

Ahead of our live Book Club chat with A. R. Torre on Tuesday January 24, 2023 (watch again at our Book Club page) we asked Alessandra to tell us a bit more about herself and her writing ...

BingeBooks: Where and when do you like to write?

A. R. Torre: My favorite place to write is in our backyard. I’m pretty sure the environment isn’t the best for writing - the #1 rule of word production is No Distractions! - but we have lots of palm trees that sway in the breeze and provide a soothing soundtrack. I have a comfy chair that is in our cabana and I like to prop my feet up on a beanbag and write there, especially when the weather is nice and I can enjoy the fresh air.

BB: Is there anything - furnishings, art, equipment, etc - you always like to have around you when you write?

ART: My ideal additions are rainy weather (or my sound machine, set to “downpour”, an ice cold Dr Pepper, my heating pad, a comfortable chair, and some sort of noise. Either weather or music. 

BB: Who are your influences? What are you reading right now? What book would you recommend for a great winter vacation read?

ART: Right now I’m writing a female serial killer series and I’m reading the Darkly Dreaming Dexter  series of books by Jeff Lindsay, which are putting me in a fantastic mindset.

I’m not sure I’d recommend that as a winter read though… The Farm by Joanne Ramos is a book I really enjoyed that I feel is undiscovered, so I’d recommend that one. 

BB: Have any of your characters ever surprised you? How?

ART: Well, my characters consistently bully me into writing storylines that I didn’t expect of them. So that is a constant more than a surprise. But I will say that I’m often surprised at how much readers dislike a lot of my characters. They always mention how they “love to hate” characters that I find delightfully interesting. Maybe I just like flaws too much. 

BB: Cat or Dog?

ART: Dog, dog, dog, dog. Cats are like four animals down the list. They are too smart for me.

BB: Tea or Coffee?

ART: Coffee, but only if it’s Cuban coffee and with lots of sugar. Oh, and whipped cream. 

BB: Tell us in one sentence why readers love your latest book  A Familiar Stranger.

ART: A wife and mother begins to live a double life… one that will eventually end in a murder. 

BB: Tell us why you love writing - in general, and in your specific genres

ART: I love being a control freak in my characters’ lives, and making them miserable (and sometimes dead) in the process.