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Interview with Diane Chamberlain
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Interview with Diane Chamberlain

Q: What gave you the inspiration and drive to start writing?
A. My Dad was a school principal who brought home books for us every week. I read so much that I began narrating my own life in my head. “Diane reluctantly got out of bed, dragged herself to the bathroom and brushed her teeth.” I had an unstoppable imagination and began writing my own little books when I was twelve and I haven’t stopped since.

Q: What part of writing would you say is the most difficult?
A. For me, the hardest part is fitting the pieces of the plot puzzle together. My stories are always so complex that I often write myself into a corner. That first draft, as I figure out how to make what happens engrossing and believable yet at the same time surprising, is my biggest challenge.

Q: You used to run a private psychotherapy clinic. What did you most enjoy about going to work every day there?
A. I worked primarily with teenagers and they were a joy. As a teen myself, I spent a few years in therapy and I felt a kinship with my clients. I loved knowing that I was able to help them the way I’d been helped.

Q: How do your degrees in social work tie in with your novels?
A. Being a social worker gave me insight into what makes people tick. More than anything, though, as a social worker I was a witness to how strong and resilient people can be in the face of crisis and trauma. I borrow those characteristics to use in my novels. I like my characters to ultimately triumph over their problems, but that’s only possible if they have something tough to overcome.

Q: Your first book, Private Relations, won a RITA award for Best Single Title Contemporary Novel. How did you celebrate that achievement?
A. That was such a high for me! Private Relations was not a typical book to win the RITA and I was shocked and thrilled. While sitting at the table waiting for the winners to be announced, I’d taken off my shoes and I was so surprised when my name was called that I forgot to put them back on. I went up on stage and received the RITA from Jude Devereau in bare feet. (There’s a picture on the Gallery page of my website). The RWA conference was held in San Francisco, so my then-husband and I celebrated with a trip down the coast to Big Sur, one of my favorite places.

Q: What do you hope readers take away from your books?
A. More than anything, I hope they will be entertained. I love hearing that someone stayed up all night to finish one of my books. If they feel inspired and touched by my characters, that’s a bonus.

Q: You have been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, which can make typing extremely difficult. I’ve read you sometimes rely on voice recognition to get your writing onto paper. How amazing is it to be able to use this technology?
A. I’m very fortunate that I rarely have to use voice recognition now. The medications for RA have improved to the extent that I can usually type all day long without a problem. I’m glad, though, to know that technology still exists and of course I have it installed on my computer. I did write two books using voice recognition entirely. It’s both wonderful and annoying, because it makes a lot of mistakes as it tries to make sense of what you say. One of my favorite voice recognition mistakes is this: I said “The feeling was quick and unbidden, but welcome nonetheless,” and the voice recognition program typed “Panasonic’s business decisions upset its chicken’s contraceptives.” You can see the problem!

Q: I just received your latest book, The Lies We Told. Just from the synopsis I am already hooked. Where did the plot idea revolving around the two sisters lives come from?
A. I usually start with a situation in mind, and that was the case with The Lies We Told. The situation was that a woman is presumed dead and while her husband and sister grieve for her, they develop a very close relationship, ultimately falling in love, not knowing that their sister and wife is still alive. With that basic idea in mind, I then came up with the storyline that would create those circumstances. In this case, I made all three characters doctors working with a relief agency after a hurricane.

Q: How do you enjoy your ‘me-time?’
A. We have an oceanfront condominium on the North Carolina coast. Although we rent it out during the summer, we enjoy it off and on the rest of the year. I feel rejuvenated when I go there. I love spending time on the beach with my dogs. Just being near the water lifts me up.

Q: What would be your best advice for aspiring writers?
A. Don’t give up, but make sure your writing is the very best it can be before you try to get an agent or a publisher. I think too many writers these days rush their work to publication before it’s ready and then wonder why it’s rejected. I write five drafts of my book before my editor sees it, and another draft after she and I discuss revisions. Get feedback from trusted, honest readers to help you hone your story and polish your work.

Q: What would be your dream vacation?
A. A month in a villa in Tuscany with a group of friends, all of whom love to cook! I’d have my work-in-progress with me, of course. I’m happiest when I have a project, even on vacation.

May 26, 2010
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Interview with Michael Baron
Chick Lit Authors

Interview with Michael Baron

Q: When did you realize you wanted to be a writer?

I’ve been making up stories since I was a little kid, but I think the moment I realized I really wanted to do this was when I was thirteen and decided to write a novel. It was a dreadful, mawkish love story, but I found the experience extremely satisfying. From that point forward, writing became very important to me.

Q: You write both fiction and non-fiction. Why did you decide to write both?

Well, I actually didn’t decide to write fiction professionally for a long time. I wrote a novel right out of college, tried to get it published, and collected enough rejections to heat the house for a week. After that, I walked away from fiction for a long time – walked away from book-length writing completely for a period. I got on with my day job and then a nonfiction writing opportunity presented itself. This turned into a rather steady career. A couple of years ago, though, I realized that I really missed writing fiction. I felt that there were all kinds of things I wanted to say, especially about relationships between people, that I couldn’t ever address in my nonfiction. Fortunately, my fiction writing skills had been quietly improving in the background all these years. My first published novel, When You Went Away is just a tiny bit better than that novel I wrote in college (which will never come out of the trunk).

Q: What do you want readers to take about from your books?

What I’m hoping they get is some level of reflection. Each of my novels have come about because I wanted to do two things: I wanted to explore how people connect with one another and I wanted to ruminate on a particular thing. In When You Went Away, it was parenthood. In Crossing the Bridge it was family, specifically brothers. These are obviously tremendously common experiences, and I’m hoping the novels give people a reason to think about their own lives.

Q: I am about to start reading your third novel, The Journey Home. Where did the inspiration for these characters come from?

The inspiration for The Journey Home was particularly strong: my mother and father’s romance. They had been married for more than fifty years when my father died (I was born after they’d been married quite a while and I’m last in the birth order – more on that in another novel) and they were the most important people in each other’s lives for every one of those years. One of the important viewpoint characters in the novel is an elderly woman whose husband died five years earlier and who has decided to live in her head so she can re-live the time they had together. Some of this is the direct result of conversations I had with my mother after my father passed.

Q: What is your favorite part of the writing process?

I love creating and learning about the characters. I spend a great deal of time thinking about them and getting to know them. My goal is to be so familiar with them that I don’t have to think about how they would react when I’m in the middle of a scene, that it all just comes naturally to me. I also love writing dialogue. I have a tremendous amount of fun playing out the conversations in my head. One day, I’d like to write entire novella in dialogue.

Q: I read that you were previously a teacher. How were you able to break into the writing industry?

Lucky break, really. Someone needed a co-author for a book and I happened to have the right skillset for the job. I connected with that person’s agent and things have been very steady since.

Q: I also read you worked in retail (as have I). Do you have any customer horror or hilarious tales?

(You know, I really don’t have a great one. It was a while ago, and I think I blocked a lot of it out. Probably best if we just skipped this question.)

Q: If you were stranded on an island and had to have on celebrity with you, who would choose and why?

That’s a huge challenge for me. If you were going to spend a huge amount of time with another person, you’d want that person to be genuinely interesting rather than simply a personality. I admire many celebrities for their craft, but I’m not sure they’d be all that much fun to hang out with once we got past the starstruck stage. I’d probably say Bruce Springsteen because I not only love his work, but I admire his passion and the causes he supports. I would imagine we’d have a number of fascinating conversations, though I doubt I’d be able to hold up my end of them.

Q: What is your best advice for aspiring writers?

Write what you love and write it as passionately and honestly as you possibly can. Also, never do it because you think you’re going to be a star. If that happens, great, but it’s unlikely to happen if this is your only reason for doing it.

Q: Where would be your dream vacation?

It would be a week each in all of the dining capitals of the world. And since we’re taking “dream,” I’d get to eat like a true gourmand and not gain a single pound.

April 28, 2010
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Interview with Wendy Watson
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Interview with Wendy Watson

Q: What made you start writing your cozy mysteries?
I actually started writing romances, but somehow my love stories always had a dead body in the middle of them. Eventually I realized my subconscious was telling me something: I’m a mystery writer, whether I like it or not. (Thankfully, I *do* like it.)
Q: Why did you choose this genre to write about?
I’ve always enjoyed reading mysteries of all sorts (hard-boiled, suspense, procedurals, etc.) because of the puzzle at the heart of the story. Cozies appeal to me the most because of the emotional element and the opportunity for humor. I get my dead body, but I also get a little romance and a whole lot of laughing. Turns out there’s a natural fit between my voice and the genre. Works out well.
Q: How long did it take you to write I Scream, You Scream?
I sold I SCREAM on proposal, so I had a tight deadline. I ended up writing it, from start to finish, in about six months.
Q: What would you say is the hardest part about writing a mystery?
Satisfying mysteries (I think) give you enough clues that, when you find out who the killer is, you’re smacking yourself in the forehead: “of course!” But, at the same time, you don’t want the readers to actually guess the killer until the big reveal. Walking that line between impossible and obvious is tough.
Q: You not only write, but you teach college constitutional law. What do you love about teaching?
Well, it’s never boring. I love those moments when my students get something, when the light bulb goes on. It’s pretty cool: you can usually see the precise moment when everything clicks into place. Those moments more than make up for the hassles and drama that tend to follow college kids wherever they go.
Q: I read you have a passion for ice cream- me too! (Who doesn’t?) What is your favorite flavor?
My favorites vary. Since it’s spring, I’m in the mood for fruit flavors (coconut, cherry, peach, raspberry). In the fall and winter I go for more exotic flavors. One of my favorites is a Thai chili made by the good people at Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams in Columbus, OH: it’s a peanut butter ice cream with a coconut base and a hint of cayenne. It’s decadent.
Q: Can you tell us more about Cozy the Cat?
Isn’t he great? My friend Sonny Strait is a cartoonist, and he drew Cozy for me. I write cozy mysteries, but I have a bit of an edge. Cozies with claws, if you will. So I asked Sonny to draw me a cat (the universal cozy mystery icon) but a little ragged around the edges. A street cat. And Cozy was born.
Q: What’s your favorite reality TV show?
I watch the competition shows (American Idol, America’s Next Top Model, Top Chef, Project Runway …), but my favorite reality show is also one of the oldest: COPS. It’s like the very best people-watching in the world, delivered to your living room in 30 minute increments. Can’t beat that with a stick.
Q: What would be your advice to aspiring writers?
Writers write. It’s that simple. If you want to be a writer, you have to keep doing it. Maybe the manuscript you’re writing won’t sell, and maybe the next one won’t either. Maybe you’ll write a dozen manuscripts before you sell. Each one will be better than the last, each one will teach you something, so the process isn’t wasted effort. You have to be o.k. with a lot of frustration, a lot of criticism, and a lot of failure … and you have to take joy in the actual process of writing.
Q: Where do you think would be your favorite place to travel?
Wow. I’ve rarely been outside the U.S., so I wouldn’t cross anything off my list. But I would love to travel to Great Britain. My family is Welsh, and I have a friend who lives up near the Scottish border. I want to see Stonehenge and the Giant’s Causeway in Ireland … so if I had the funds and the time, Mr. Wendy and I would take a good two weeks in the British Isles.

April 22, 2010
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Best-Selling Author Jodi Picoult
Chick Lit Authors

Best-Selling Author Jodi Picoult

Jodi Picoult is a best-selling author with 17 titles published. Picoult studied creative writing at Princeton, and excelled quickly, having two short stories published in Seventeen magazine while still a student. After graduating, she went on to work as a technical writer for a Wall Street brokerage firm, as a copywriter at an ad agency, as an editor at a textbook publisher, and as an 8th grade English teacher. She also received her Master’s degree in education before having her first child and writing her first novel.
Picoult’s seventeen titles are: Songs of the Humpback Whale, Harvesting the Heart, Picture Perfect, Mercy, The Pact, Keeping Faith, Plain Truth, Salem Falls, Perfect Match, Second Glance, My Sister’s Keeper, Vanishing Acts, The Tenth Circle, Nineteen Minutes, Change of Heart, Handle With Care, and her latest- House Rules. Jodi Picoult currently lives in Hanover, New Hampshire with her husband and their three children.

April 22, 2010
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Interview with Karen White
Chick Lit Authors

Interview with Karen White

Q: I read that you aspired to be a writer after reading Gone With the Wind. What about that novel made you want to write?
It completely took me to another world where I wasn’t aware of time passing around me until I’d turned the last page. I lived in London at the time and I remember leaving for the Tube in the morning to go to school and instead going to the roof of our building of flats and staying there all day and doing nothing but reading. I continued to read late into the night until it was done. I _became_ Scarlet O’Hara and I fell in love with Rhett Butler. I laughed, I cried–I actually lived that story. And it left me with the feeling that I wanted to somehow recreate that feeling, which is probably what prompted me to write my first book.
Q: Why did you choose a business degree over pursing writing?
Because my father paid for my college education. 🙂 I have a bachelor’s in management with a concentration in marketing, and I will never regret having that degree. Marketing a book is a lot like marketing shampoo, and everything I learned in business school applies to my writer’s life, too.
Q: How were you able to get break into the writing industry?
I entered my first book into a writer’s contest in which the finalist judges were top New York literary agents. I didn’t really expect to win, but I did and the finalist judge offered to represent me. She sold my first book to the second publisher she sent it to and is still my agent ten years later!
Q: You will have 13 books published by the end of the year. How do you keep finding fresh ideas for plots and characters?
Oh my gosh, you’re right! How did that happen?? Seriously, I’m never at a loss for story ideas. Mostly I owe that to my two teenagers who force me to disappear into the “happy place” in my head quite often which is where I find my inspirations. I also find cool tidbits everywhere. For instance, today in a news flash on AOL I read the story about a woman who found a key and a note about locating the treasure box the key went to inside an antique rocking chair she was restoring. I just might have to put that in my next Tradd Street mystery book!
Q: Do you have a favorite book you have written? One that maybe you enjoyed writing just a bit more than the others, or enjoyed the research more?
Even though picking a favorite book is a lot like picking a favorite child (and for the record, the answer to that is my dog), I have to admit that I love The House on Tradd street and its sequels. I think it’s because I simply love the characters, and because they’re in four books, I get to keep them around me for a very long time. As for research, I absolutely LOVED researching ON FOLLY BEACH (my May 2010 book). Half of the book takes place during 1942 and I just love WWII history. I had way more fun with that than I probably should have. But I’m a history geek, so it couldn’t be helped.
Q: Is there a certain area that you need to be at to get your writing done?
Not really–I think that comes from having children around since I wrote my first book. I just learned to type wherever I was. I still do that and bring my laptop everywhere. I recently discovered that being on an airplane, with all of the ambient noise of the plane’s engines, is very conducive to writing!
Q: Would you say you have any bad habits, either personally or professionally?
Of course! I wouldn’t be human otherwise. What’s ironic is that my bad habits in both of my lives (writing and non-writing) are polar opposites. In my personal life, I’m extremely organized and efficient–almost to the point of being overbearing and dictatorial. In my writing life, I take a very haphazard approach and don’t outline or plan or anything–I just sit down and spit it out.
Q: What are some of your favorite genres to read?
I read it all! I love general fiction, some mystery, some espionage, southern fiction, historical romance, and memoirs.
Q: Where would you love to travel to?
I’ve always traveled. As a matter of fact, I just got back from Costa Rica and this summer we’re going to England, Scotland and France. I’ve been to Egypt, most western European countries, and several South American countries (I lived in Venezuela for 2 years when I was younger). After reading MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA years ago I decided I’d like to travel to Japan. Would also like to go to Australia, although the long plane trip is a big turn off for me. There’s only so much sitting still I can manage!
Q: What would be your best advice for aspiring writers?
To borrow from Nike: JUST DO IT! Talking about it, or thinking about why you don’t have time to do it will not get a book written. Sitting down in front of your computer or note pad is the only thing that will write the book.

April 17, 2010
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