Interview with Claire Matturro
Q: Is there a certain area where you do all your writing?
A.. When I told my husband that I was going to quit my teaching job and write a book, he built me a den on the side of our house. It is a very quiet room, with a window right over my ancient computer, and the window looks out into the woods. I’ve done all my writing in this room.
Q: What do you find most difficult about writing?
A.. For me, the creative process is fun. The hard part is the mechanical part, or maybe one would call it the physical side of writing: the typing, the spell-checking, and the sitting down in a chair in front of a keyboard aspect of writing.
Q: And what is your favorite part about writing?
A.. Making stuff up based upon little snippets of real life. That is, overhearing a conversation between two people and spinning out a whole imagined life for them and adding action to their talk. Just making up stories is a lot of fun too, regardless of the inspiration.
Q: You have four novels out, all based on the character Lilly. She is lawyer and you were a lawyer. Was she based off you in any way?
A. Not really, though we do share a vegetarian diet and a wry humor and a somewhat cynical outlook.. Lilly is more of a composite of other lawyers I have known. Some of Lilly’s better character traits are based upon a couple of my former law partners too.
Q: Is there going to be a 5th novel about Lilly?
A.. It’s really hard to say at this point, but if there is, it will not be anytime soon.
Q: On the other hand, would you want to write a novel with a new character as the heroine?
A.. I’m actually doing some nonfiction writing of late, and re-doing a pre-Lilly manuscript with a strong female lead who is a librarian. Librarians always seem to know how to figure things out and find information that it seems a natural profession for an amateur sleuth.
Q: I read that you graduated from law school, and then worked as a lawyer for a decade. When did you decide you wanted to start writing?
A. Actually, I decided I wanted to write when I was still in grade school, but it took me a long time to make the leap. Pesky thing about earning my living held me back for decades.
Q: Do you have a favorite book or author of your own?
A. My answer on that tends to change with the seasons except for a few really basic books, which I consider fundamental: Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer and To Kill a Mockingbird, each of which I reread every decade. As for a favorite author, it’d be a tie between Barbara Kingsolver, Wendell Berry, and Anne Lamont. But, you know, ask me in a month and I might have discovered or rediscovered somebody new.
Q: What do you like to do with your down time?
A. Garden and photography. Especially, taking photographs of what I find in and around my garden.
Q: Where would be or is your favorite place to travel?
I hope to go to Italy someday, but I have not gotten there yet. I love the Pacific Northwest as a place to visit, and hope to see many more of the National Parks in this country.
