Valerie Hansen Guest Post: Castle Television Show
September 20, 2011 | 
Author Novel Reaction is excited to welcome author Valerie Hansen to talk about one of my favorite television shows, Castle.
Valerie Hansen’s basic nature is to enjoy every day to the fullest – and try to not take herself too seriously. J.
She married her high school sweetheart and they raised two great kids before leaving California to pursue their dreams of a rural lifestyle on an old, eighty acre farm in the Arkansas Ozarks.
So far, Valerie has nearly 50 books to her credit. Besides doing extensive research, she has plenty of interesting experiences to draw upon. Ready? Veterinary assistant, teacher’s aide, volunteer fire department dispatcher, Emergency Medical Technician, bank worker, professional artist, store clerk, bookkeeper, 4-H leader, Sunday school teacher, gospel singer/songwriter, winning quiz show contestant, dog trainer, college extension-class instructor, and antique restorer. She’s built dulcimers and a psaltery, laid bricks and tile, designed stained-glass windows, roofed a house, decorated store windows for the holidays, helped pour cement, raised fancy guinea pigs and finches, driven a long-haul moving van, and was once the proud owner of twenty-three Newfoundland dogs at one time. Don’t try that at home!
Although she writes for all three Love Inspired lines, her main focus is on mystery and suspense. NIGHTWATCH, Oct. 2011, is the first book in her very own series, “The Defenders”, with THREAT OF DARKNESS to follow in June 2012.
Having worked with other authors on continuity series books for Love Inspired Romance, Suspense and Historical, I also realize how hard it must be for the various screenwriters to coordinate their work. That, folks, is what authors’ nightmares are made of. Most people don’t wake up in the middle of the night wondering if they remembered to add a clue at just the right time or if they’ve accidentally portrayed someone as driving the wrong color car. Trust me. This happens.
Perhaps it’s because Castle is a fiction writer that I identify with him so much. Our minds often work in ways that can seem foreign to those who don’t have make-believe characters running around in their heads all the time. You see, I do. After writing almost 50 novels I no longer pine for my previous heroes but I still face a mild separation anxiety when I finish each book. Yeah, you have to be a little nuts to do what I do, but nobody wants to read about folks who are too normal. No worries about that with me!
For those of you who don’t follow Lee Lofland’s “Castle” blog about police procedures, I recommend you take a peek there, too. Lee points out technical errors that are interesting to detail-phobes like me. As with all fiction, a certain amount of leeway is necessary to develop a plot but I’m always on the lookout for things that don’t fit with my own notions of how a crime would be solved. Yes, that’s secondary to the character relationships but I do love a good puzzle. Maybe that’s why my editors steered me into writing a lot of mystery/suspense. It’s a good fit.
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As you all know by now, if you’re as big a fan as I am, the first new show aired last night and I didn’t miss the plotting by far. (this blog was written before I knew when the debut was)
What totally blew my mind was the very last scene, Kate’s last words. “I remember everything.”
WOW! That was a surprise but in view of that I think she was terribly cruel to poor Castle. Oh, well, if they fell into each other’s arms the show would be over. Guess I’ll have to go with Rick’s sentiments and agree that this kind of relationship will do – for now.
Talk to y’all later.
Val
I can’t believe I missed the season premiere!! I love watching Castle and catching the police bloopers and reading Lee’s blog the next day to confirm them. LOL I loved reading about you, Valerie. You sound like a woman after my own heart with all the home repair jobs etc. And the books, as always, sound wonderful.
I hope we didn’t spoil it for you, Sandra. Actually, much of the show was so predictable that we probably didn’t. You’ll still enjoy watching the character interaction, which is one of my fave parts.
That, and the action, although this time I wanted to step up behind Kate and tighten her finger on the trigger. Two other series finales were more to my liking than Castle’s. On the Mentalist, Patrick Jane shot Red John dead, then calmly sat down and finished his tea waiting for the police. And on Rizzoli and Isles, Jane Rizzoli stabbed the villain with a vengeance to save her own life and that of her friend. Maybe it’s just me but I like to see the good guys win big, not just barely escape.
See you next week, Lee!
Val
I just caught up on last night’s premiere on Hulu and I loved how it played out. It’s funny, I didn’t believe her when she said she didn’t remember anything but then I forgot about that as I got lulled into the story so the end caught me completely by surprise. Audible gasp!
Can’t wait to see what happens next. It’s kind of fun to see Kate go head to head with the new boss.
My hubby is a former fire chief and every time a character challenges their chief he cringes. The last time was during the Castle season premier and I asked him what he’d do. He said Kate would probably be fired for insubordination! He also wondered why her gun was in the new chief’s desk when she’d been gone for 3 months. Good questions. I am soooo glad I don’t have to write a story that keeps going for YEARS the way a TV series has to.
Just saw your note about two places to comment.
Don’t watch much tv now, so I mentioned A&E’s old mystery series, such as Miss Marple.
I loved the old Miss Marples. Still like Poirot, too.
David Suchet won me over to Poirot but only in small doses.
He’s such a method actor that I understand he stays in character even when they break for lunch. Have you seen him play a terrorist in films? That part really plays up his acting talent. My husband didn’t even recognize him.
I have to admit my new favorite is the BBC’s contemporary Sherlock, I am SOOO excited for the new season to start this fall!
I finally saw the Castle season premier, was interested to see the way the characters have changed so much from the first season. I was a little disappointed that the great interactions between Castle and Beckett seemed to be missing from this first episode but with everything that has happened I can understand why it hasn’t happened. Hopefully some of that will come back further into this season.
I have been a fan of Castle since the beginning, as my review of the series back in April, 2010 (http://www.notreadyforgrannypanties.com/2010/04/castle-abc.html) testifies.
The idea of a very rich writer is too funny. And I love the relationship between the characters. And, having a teen daughter, I love Castle’s relationship with his daughter.
I
Castle is about the only tv show I watch. My son had told me about it and you can watch it online.
I own every book of Valerie’s except Nightwatch but still have to read most of them.
My blog is dedicated to authors and reviews and I will be posting Valerie’s books there sometime today.
I enjoy series and have read all but the Texas Rangers Series. Valerie is excellent with the details in the books of the other authors which I really appreciate. She catches the smallest of details in her part of the series.
This sounds really good! Please count me in for the giveaway! Love the blog by the way so I’m a new follower!
Margaret
singitm@hotmail.com
I am a HUGE Castle fan, and it’s really nice to hear from other people who love the show, too! Thanks for a great guest post, Valerie