What are your top 10 favorite books/authors?
The
Bronte sisters, Beatrix Potter, Katherine Paterson, Wallace Stegner, Ian
McEwan, Aldous Huxley, Kevin Henkes, Louise Penny, Sue Grafton, Sara Paretsky,
Rosamund Pilcher… I could go on and on. So many favorites and don’t even get me
started on the books!
What book do you think everyone should read?
The Inner Work of Racial Justice: Healing Ourselves and
Transforming Our Communities Through Mindfulness (Rhonda Magee). Truly a book for this moment in our history and
so nurturing to mind, body and spirit.
How long have you been writing?
Over 50 years.
Do the characters all come to you at the same time or do some of them come to you as you write? Mostly as I write.
It depends on the book. For my YA historical novel, Song of the Spirit, I researched for almost a year before writing Wind Flower’s story. Other books, I research as needed, mostly information pertaining to setting or characters’ occupations about which I am not familiar.
Do you see writing as a career?
Yes, I am retiring from full-time teaching this year in order to make writing my full-time job.
Lots of possibilities!
Do you read yourself and if so what is your favorite genre?
Yes, I read and love many genres
especially mysteries, “women’s fiction, and biographies.
Do you prefer to write in silence or with noise? Why?
Silence. I can become easily distracted with lots of noise.
Do you write one book at a time or do you have several going at a time?
Usually one, but at the moment I am juggling three manuscripts. Can’t retire from teaching soon enough!
Pen or type writer or computer?
Pen and/or computer. Depends where I am.
Tell us about a favorite character from a book.
Oh gee, there are so many. I love Ricky Steele for her independent spirit, doggedness, resilience and generosity. I’m also very fond of Roger Demaris (Roger and Bess mysteries). He possesses a grounded warmth and a remarkable capacity for growth and change. Then there’s Ben Morgan Senior from the Morgan’s Run books—I admire him for his deep love of family, his kindness and his strength. His brother Richard (patriarch in Morgan’s Fire) is not too shabby either!
I love writing for many of the same reasons I love reading. Watching stories unfold is an amazing privilege. Yes, it was the right decision and has brought me so much joy.
Yoga, meditation, breakfast, walk the dog, then write, if time allows (usually for 2-3 hours). Much more time for writing in retirement.
Advice they would give new authors?
Just do it. Write, write, write, revise, revise, revise, proof, proof, proof and put your best book out there!
One that keeps you turning those pages, rooting for memorable,
lovable, sometimes zany characters, and laughing, crying and everything in
between. The setting is also a critical part of my stories too.
Do you do the chapters first?
I make a rough outline, then I begin, adding a mini outline at the end of
each day that maps out where I’ll go the next (so important for me!).
Time, or lack of it sometimes.
A little bit of both!
How long on average does it take you to write a book?
Romances 1-2 months, mysteries, 3-6
months.
Do you believe in writer’s block?
No. Who has time for writer’s block? Yikes, not me!
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