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Best-selling Kennesaw writer Iris Johansen so enjoyed collaborating with her son, Roy, on a novel ("Silent Thunder," St. Martin's Press, $24.95) that they're already at work on a second book.

But first comes a joint book tour, kicking off July 8 at the Margaret Mitchell House —- the same day "Silent Thunder" hits stores.

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Johansen dislikes public speaking, so she may leave most of the talking at the Margaret Mitchell House to her son. But she took time recently to speak with the AJC about writing, working with family and the return of some fan favorites:

Q: You wrote "Silent Thunder" with your son. He's in L.A., and you're in Atlanta. Logistically, how did the writing process work?

A: "We're on the phone a lot . . . We both write by the seat of our pants, so that was even more difficult, because we couldn't outline.

"The only thing that I asked was, 'Let me do the first pages so I can get into the characters.' Because that's very, very important to me. I've got to get a grasp on the characters before I even start to write. And he said OK.

"So I did those. I turned the book over to him for a while. . . . We would send things back and forth to each other, and we would edit each other's work and talk about each other's work . . . His characters are a little bit quirkier than mine, which is good because it adds a little fresh note."

Q: Did being family make it easier or harder?

A: "To begin with, we were tiptoeing around each other, and saying, 'This is really wonderful, but . . .' But toward the end we were saying, 'No, that doesn't work for me. Let's do it some other way.' We're very close, and that helped. It was only the book that was important in those given times."

Q: You worked for Eastern Airlines?

A: "Yes, I managed to close their office in Houston. [Laughs.] So they said, 'Well, we'll get rid of her and send her to Atlanta.' And the company went downhill there, too."

Q: But you were set up by then.

A: "I was set up by then. Actually, I started writing here in Atlanta . . . All the while I started writing my romances, I was working for Eastern Airlines.

"You know, it's an insecure life, writing, and I had kids to support. I'd go in at 5 in the morning and I'd write, and when I got home at night, I'd clean up the stuff and then I'd write some more, and in the meantime, I was taking care of the kids and taking care of business."

Q: You're prolific —- you basically do two books a year. Do you still keep those kinds of hours?

A: "I write a lot. I start working about 8 in the morning, and I end at noon or 1 —- sometimes I go back to clean up later in the afternoon. And sometimes, when you're really into something, it's 10 or 12 hours a day just because you can't let it go. I write every day, because I think that's the professional thing to do."

Q: Are there certain things you like to have around you when you write?

A: "No. I have my iPod going all the time. I like music. Other than that, I'm not temperamental."

Q: What sort of music?

A: "Oh, everything. I like show tunes a lot. It depends on my mood. . . . Let's see, what did I have on today? I had on 'Legally Blonde.' "

Q: The musical?

A: "Yes. You should see it. It's great fun . . . It's a rush."

Q: What do you like to do when you're away from writing?

A: "Well, I have season tickets to both theater groups here in town, Theatre of the Stars and the Broadway touring series. Other than that, it's usually fairly quiet get-togethers and going out to dinner. I'm pretty boring. I go out of town two or three times a year. I sometimes go up to New York to combine business with pleasure."

Q: Do you have favorite places and things to do in Atlanta?

A: "Oh, I go shopping. Love shopping. Mainly because I'm really cocooned a lot of the time, and once you're in the malls, you're walking around and you're seeing people; you're people-watching. That's great fun."

Q: No favorite restaurants?

A: "I like Italian. Provino's has my number with their garlic rolls. Other than that I'm a complete plebeian as far as food is concerned. I like [TGI] Fridays as well as I do any of the fancier Argentinian restaurants."

Q: Did you dream of being a writer when you were young?

A: "I'd write things. I was the most tremendous reader in the entire world. I love to read. And I think that just sort of gets in your bones. I worked so hard raising the kids and working for the airlines, and I suddenly realized when they reached their teen years that this wasn't going to be all my life, so I decided to dive in and just start writing again."

Q: Did you sell your very first manuscript?

A: "Actually, I was very fortunate. I sent in one book, and it was refused, and I sent in the next book, and they took it and then they took everything else I had on the back shelf."

Q: You're working on another book with your son. What else is in the works?

A: "[In] October they're bringing out 'Dark Summer.' I love dogs, and I manage to bring all my dogs into it —- not my dogs, but it's got a plotline in it that concerns dogs. And then they're bringing out the paperback of 'Quicksand' the same time.

"And Bantam is bringing out a historical, which I haven't written in a long time. People have been asking for this one, so that will be out at the end of the year."

Q: Does that go back to some of your past characters?

A: "It goes back to 'Lion's Bride.' I think they're reissuing 'Lion's Bride' right before that, and this will be the hard cover. It's called 'The Treasure.'

"And after that there's a book coming out in the spring in hardcover. Let's see, what did we call that? Sorry. What I call it and what we end up with is not always the same. Ah, "Dead" something . . .

"And following that there will be another Eve [Duncan] book. I've got a good idea for an Eve book. She's tremendously popular, but she's difficult to do. So I have to space her out."

Q: Difficult in what way?

A: "They're always heavily emotional books because of Eve's background . . . When you're doing a series character, you always have to be fresh for it. I would never do a series character unless I had a very fresh plot to work on. I think that's the only way to serve the reader."

Q: Do you hear from your fans?

A: "Oh yes. I have a Web site, and I get many, many e-mails. And if they don't like something I'm doing, I hear about it. And if they do like it, they're over the moon."

Q: Do you ever find yourself taking it personally?

A: "No, no. If you have a Web site, you should expect it. And if you have a career, you should expect it.

"It's a big world out there. Some people will love what you do; some people won't love what you do; some people will just shrug their shoulders. If you manage to strike a note here and there, that's a big kick."