Blog Archives
Christmas and Thrillers
Kristina Rienzi Author Interview
Winter Road follows Amelia who’s heading home for Christmas and must deal with her family, her new love and her dangerous ex-fiance. What was the inspiration for the setup to this exciting novel?
I wish I knew what specifically inspired me to write Winter Road. It was a story that came to me and then told itself, almost in a blink. If all my stories did that, I’d be a much more prolific writer! What I remember most is driving home from work in late fall, thinking about the upcoming holidays, and the title popped in my head out of nowhere. Looking back, it was a little bit of Elizabeth Gilbert’s Big Magic (a perfect book for creatives). Winter Road began to slowly unfold in front of my eyes from that moment on. Instead of driving on the Garden State Parkway in massive traffic, I was suddenly the only car on a rural-snow covered road heading home for the holidays. A foreboding hung over me as I pictured a woman escaping her big city life, running from a relationship gone wrong and into the arms of a family in crisis. The pieces cemented together in my mind creating an explosive holiday celebration. It, oddly, allowed me to marry two of my favorite things: Christmas and thrillers.
Amelia was a strong female lead that never really wilted under pressure. What were some driving ideals behind her character development?
Amelia’s primary value is family, which she lost along the way by getting wrapped up in an all-consuming relationship and blossoming career. When the person she was expected to be collided with who she really was, her world began to unravel and life became clear. She lost her independence and was under the thumb of a man she thought she wanted, but didn’t. Going home was the only way for her to reconnect with her true self and to be reminded of her strong, familial roots, and find herself again.
I enjoyed how you were able to create an aura of danger around Jake and his intentions. What were some influences that guided his relationship with Amelia?
Sociopathology comes to mind! Jake, oddly, couldn’t love anyone because his capacity to love was limited – not only from his past, but from his psychological challenges. Therefore, he was all about ownership. Possession. And it defined him – what he had and who he controlled. When the core of his identity was under siege, his only option was to retaliate with deadly force.
What is the next novel that you are working on and when will it be available?
I’m currently writing a paranormal thriller, Unleash the Wicked. It follows a former Manhattan socialite who’s forced to move back to her mysterious hometown where she faces her tragic past and, unwittingly, unleashes a deadly curse. With an 11 month old, it’s anyone’s guess when it will be published, but I’m hoping before my daughter goes to school!
Author Links: GoodReads | Twitter | Facebook | Website
![Winter Road: A Novella by [Kristina Rienzi]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51q8Ada4HwL.jpg)
HOLIDAY ROAD
On the heels of a bad breakup, Amelia Montgomery heads home for the holidays. Her hometown is a far cry from the metropolis where she lives now, but not nearly far enough away from Jake Grayson.
TERROR ROAD
Amelia’s family festivities turn terrifying when a distraught Jake shows up uninvited on the Montgomery’s doorstep. Jake will not stop until he possesses Amelia; one way or another, she will be his.
DEADLY ROAD
In a chilling nightmare, one man’s obsession is so evil, it’s deadly. Amelia must fight for her life, and the lives of those she loves most, in the only place she’s ever called home…WINTER ROAD.
Winter Road
Winter Road by Kristina Rienzi is the story of a domestic violence case gone wrong. Many other great stories come to mind, of burning beds, and tortured wives alongside this entry into a modern tradition of terror. This would be a darkly delightful read on a snowy night alongside the ghostly tales often reserved for the holidays. Following a bad breakup, Amelia Montgomery heads home for Christmas dinner, alone. Her family is unaware she has left her fiancé Jake Grayson, and it seems Jake will not let her go that easily either.
A modern gothic tale in some ways, Kristina Rienzi’s novella contains the isolation and double meanings famed in that literary genre, yet updated by including a family who is present and supports our leading female. That is except for one terrifying man who has murder on his mind.
Jake arrives uninvited after braving slippery roads and seething with revenge. Two problems hit Amelia full-force; her family does not know how dangerous Jake can be, and her former lover, Billy, has stopped by to spread holiday cheer and catch up on old times. If Jake was dangerous before, seeing his fiancé with another man fortifies his rage.
The story takes place in an idyllic Currier and Yves version of a woman travelling home for the holidays. She is the very essence of a loving and warm woman, raised in the fresh air of the countryside and well-rounded after making a career for herself in the city. Jake, is quite the opposite and with more than a glint of the monied and slick psychopath. Two different versions of the north-west from New England calm, to big-city smooth.
There is a sinking feeling through the first few chapters that the alcohol people are imbibing will not smooth the edges here. There seems to be a sinister tool at work here, as we have the distinct feeling that one of these characters may have drank their last.
Amy, Amelia, Mel – all the men in her life, brother, boyfriend and fiancé have different feelings for the leading woman. She is strong and fixed in the reader’s mind as much of the story is told from her point of view, so hearing the others describe her back to us is fascinating. In no version is she weak, yet we see a softer side, the malleable side, the desired side; things that as a main protagonist she could not relay. This is done in very few, well-written words.
While the final chapter rounds out the aftermath and takes the reader full circle, the story is truly found in the bitter cold of night, a gunshot breaking the silence, and a family looking on through terror and pain. This is where the four stars of five are found, and the weakness being in the passages of exposition in a story that otherwise does very well in showing us the monsters from the men. A classic tale of bravery in the face of fear.
Pages: 137 | ASIN: B019O48SR4
LITERARY TITAN 