Sandra Brown's Backstory

CHILL FACTOR is a fast-paced story of adventure and suspense.

Doesn't it follow that after writing White Hot, where everyone and everything was sweltering, I'd write a story where the temperature hovers around zero degrees? It made a weird kind of sense to my subconscious, I suppose, although the weather wasn't the basis of the story behind the book.

CHILL FACTOR is set in the mountainous region of western North Carolina. It was in this wilderness that federal agents finally apprehended Eric Rudolph, the man who bombed Atlanta's Centennial Olympic Park. For years he had escaped capture by hiding in this area.

Being familiar with that part of the country, I understood how the sparsely populated, mountainous terrain would provide good cover for someone who wanted to remain elusive - like a serial killer, for instance.

In CHILL FACTOR, Lilly Martin is stranded in her mountain cabin with Ben Tierney, a man suspected of being. . .you guessed it.

They're marooned during the worst blizzard of record (here's where the weather became a significant factor), without hope of a timely rescue, totally dependent on each other for their survival.

Tierney is a threat to Lilly on several levels. (I'll let you think about that for a while.) Even if she withstands the storm, even if she escapes Tierney, she may not survive her so-called rescuers. Among them are a tough FBI agent, the high school football coach whose personal life wouldn't hold up under close scrutiny, and Lilly's short-tempered ex-husband who is the local chief of police. All are desperate to reach her and Tierney. But not everyone is desperate to rescue them.

I think you'll agree that the final scenes of this book are some of the most exciting I've ever written. Expect high-stakes action along with several shocking revelations.

Now, a sidebar: Sometimes truth comes a little too close to fiction.

I spent almost the entire month of February in this area of North Carolina, cozily holed up in a house on the crest of a mountain. I was there specifically to finish the final draft of CHILL FACTOR. For days, my husband and I were the only two people on the mountain - because of an ice storm.

The peak was enshrouded in fog. The narrow, winding road down into town was icy and unnavigable. We stockpiled our firewood in case of a power outage. We filled a bath tub with water in the likely event we couldn't get water from the reservoir. We made sure we had lanterns, flashlights and candles handy.

In short, we were doing everything that Lilly and Tierney were doing in the book. Our circumstances were eerily similar. It began to creep me out. One night, as darkness fell and wind-driven sleet pecked at the windowpanes, I looked askance at my husband, and after thirty-seven years together, I asked myself what I really knew about this man, this stranger.

I said, "You haven't killed anybody lately, have you?"

He thought I was joking.

Find out more about Sandra Brown's novels, including CHILL FACTOR at her website.

Comments

[Belinda Johnson]

I LOVEDDD IT !!! (And everything else that you write)

Will there be something forth coming with Marilee & Scott(maybe with Lily & Tierney update? (please);)

A Faithful Fan & Reader
Belinda

[Dianna Strube]

I finished Chill Factor it was awesome Sandra Brown is by far my favorite author

[Dianna Strube]

I finished Chill Factor it was awesome Sandra Brown is by far my favorite author