Interview with Author Nike Chillemi

Hello Nike and welcome to Patti’s Porch. Tell us about your latest release, Perilous Shadows.

Patti, I'm thrilled to be here sitting on your porch talking with you about the third book in my series, Perilous Shadows. Like all of my novels, this romantic thriller is a sweet romance, but it also tackles complex issues and has sophisticated themes…but presents them in a tasteful manner. Just as in all of my stories, this one opens with a body. A coed from a prestigious women's college has been found dead at the local radio station where she was a summer intern. The story is well plotted and as it turns out several people had motives to killer her.

All of your novels are set in the 1940’s. What attracts you to this time period?


The fashion of the 1940s intrigues me. It's classic and chic. Some of my readers may not realize this, but I graduated college from The Fashion Institute of Technology and worked for several bridal gown manufacturers doing trades shows for a number of years. From a fashion point of view, this period fascinates me. The men were debonair. The women loved to dress up, despite shortages of rayon, nylon, wool, and leather due to WWII. Hollywood drove fashion trends. You had the great costume designer Edith Head designing for the stars and in effect, she became America's fashion designer. Many women knew how to sew and could duplicate what they saw on the silver screen.

However, there were many other things besides fashion that drew me to this time.  I'm fond of common courtesy and civility. This was the norm in the 1940s. Oh, you had your louts, but they were called a dolt or an oaf. No excuses were made for them. Most ordinary people in that time had dignity and class. Despite the great hardship and loss of life in WWII, America looked to go forward after the war. The nation was upbeat, had gumption. All this is attractive to me.

Newspaper woman and radio broadcaster are interesting professions for 1940’s characters. Is there a story behind this choice?

Well there was no TV or internet. So, radio was king. I did a lot of research on the impact of radio on American society in that time. In the 1940s newspaper reporting and radio broadcasting were exciting professions. Women were beginning to get into writing for publication. You had the emergence of women's magazines where the editors and writers were all women. Practically every newspaper had a gossip column and a fashion column written by a woman.

And that's exactly where Kiera Devane started out. As far back as Burning Hearts, book one of this series, we hear tiny snippets about Kiera doing society pieces at a newspaper in the neighboring county. Way back then I had the idea she was going to be the heroine of one of the novels in the series.

What has been the highest point in your writing journey? Lowest?


There have been several high points in my writing journey. The first was when I actually finished my first full length manuscript. It was awful. Got rejected a bunch of times. I'd say all those rejections were some low points. The next big high point was when I got my first contract, with Desert Breeze to release Burning Hearts in ebook format. Of course each contract has been a thrill. Another biggie was when Goodbye Noel won in the 2011 Grace Awards in the Mystery/Thriller/Romantic Suspense category and Burning Hearts finaled in the 2011 Grace Awards in the Romance/Historical Romance category.

What, in your opinion, is the primary element needed to create a great thriller?


There are several elements that must come together to make a great thriller. The reader may or may not know who the killer is. If the author is going to keep that a secret, it must be a well kept secret. I've been told by those who have read Perilous Shadows that the identity of the killer was a surprise. There must be great difficulty for the main characters. I like for my hero or heroine to get beaten up at least once. It's not a bad idea for the main characters to be dealing with several problems which may throw them into the path of the killer and put them at risk. In a standard murder mystery, there probably is no risk to the detective. In a thriller there should be risk.

Your blog is Nike Chillemi ~ Crime Fictionista. What does that signify?

As I mentioned before, in my life before fiction writing I worked in the bridal manufacturing industry. In that world, I'd hear the term fashionista bandied about. They'd say, "Oh, she's such a fashionista." So, I thought, why not crime fictionista? I did a little research and learned nobody had thought to use that term, so I took it as my moniker. I'm a crime fictionista all right because my passion is crime fiction. For me a good book starts out with a dead body and then the sleuth/detective character(s) with all their flaws showing must bring the killer to justice. In Perilous Shadows, what constitutes justice becomes a complicated subtheme.

Where can we purchase Perilous Shadows?


Amazon  (including Kindle) 

Barnes and Noble (including Nook)

Thank you so much for spending some time with us, Nike!





Nike Chillemi has been called a crime fictionista due to her passion for crime fiction. She was an Inspy Awards 2010 judge in the Suspense/Thriller/Mystery category and a judge in the 2011 and 2012 Carol Awards in the suspense, mystery, and romantic suspense categories. She is the founding board member of the Grace Awards and its Chairman, a reader's choice awards for excellence in Christian fiction. She writes book reviews for The Christian Pulse online magazine. BURNING HEARTS is the first book in the crime wave that is sweeping the south shore of Long Island in The Sanctuary Point series, published by Desert Breeze. GOODBYE NOEL, the second book in the series released in December, 2011 won the Grace Award 2011 in the Mystery/Romantic Suspense/Thriller category. PERILOUS SHADOWS, the third in the series released in July, 2012. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) and the Edgy Christian Fiction Lovers (Ning).