Category: Interviews

Interview with Loretta Chase, best selling author (part 2)

Q.  When did you begin to write seriously? LC & Puccini May 2011

A.  As soon as I learned to write.  As a small child, I used to tell stories.  Some people called these lies.  Truth—lies—all the same to me.  But I remember I couldn’t wait to learn to read & write.  As soon as I had the alphabet and some vocabulary under my belt—Look!  See!  Go!—I was writing.  It did not stop.  Journals, letters, poetry, and interminable Great American Novel.  But the GAN never got finished, probably because I did not know how to write a story.  I didn’t get my head wrapped around story structure until I started writing scripts for corporate video.  One of my producers(the man I eventually married) got me to admit I wanted to become a novelist (like Charles Dickens!).  As part of his cunning Get Rich Slow Scheme, he persuaded or tricked or taunted me—I’m still not quite sure what happened—to work up the nerve to write a book for publication.

Q. How long after that were you published?

A. Contrary to all the laws of publishing, the first novel I wrote from beginning to end was accepted by the first publisher I sent it to.  Un-agented.  Over the transom.  Those were the days. Continue reading “Interview with Loretta Chase, best selling author (part 2)”

Interview with best selling author, Loretta Chase (part 1)

LOretta.IMG_0823 Seems like I’ve been chasing Loretta around forever for an interview, but it turns out that she’s just been busy writing and traveling.  I am delighted that we re-connected and she has shared this wonderful look into her writing process and experiences.

 Q.  Where do you write? Do you have a special room, shed, barn, special space for your writing? 

A. I have a room set aside.  It’s about ¼ the size I need.  I dream of a barn, to be converted into a studio, with miles of bookshelves and a vast wall space for my historical maps.

Q.  Do you have any special rituals when you sit down to write? 

A.  A cup of tea or coffee.  Then I panic.  Then I run out of the room & find something else to do.  Then I return, maybe write something, panic, and so on.  My work area is always in chaos, and putting things away provides a superior method of procrastinating.

Q.  What is your mode of writing? 

A.  Years ago it was longhand.  Now I work mainly at the computer, occasionally reverting to longhand when writing in bed, imagining I’m Marcel Proust or Edith Sitwell .  This tends to happen when my brain needs to get unstuck. Continue reading “Interview with best selling author, Loretta Chase (part 1)”

Don’t Miss My Interview with author, Loretta Chase

IMG_1910Thursday, May 29th begins my exciting and refreshing interview with best selling author, Loretta Chase.

LC.      “My career at Clark University was not short. After earning a B.A. in only twice the usual time, I stayed on to work in clerical, administrative, and part-time teaching posts. There were other real jobs along the way: stints with jewelry and clothing retailers, and a Dickensian six-month experience as a meter maid.

 But my main business in life was writing. This is why I majored in English instead of something useful that would lead to a real job with an actual salary. English majors must read mountains of books and write reams of papers. If only they would have paid me for being an English major, my life would have been perfect…….”   (courtesy of her web site)
  Coming Soon!  Loretta’s newest book  Released June 24th

Interview with Lee Goldberg, best selling author (Part two)

Lee with Janet Evanovich
Lee with Janet Evanovich

Lee Goldberg: ‘ I am an ex-Navy SEAL, freelance Sexual Surrogate and a professional Pierce Brosnan impersonator.  Okay, that’s not true. But I want this biography to be really exciting, so pay attention. If things bog down, I’ve been instructed to add a car chase or some explicit sex.Here’s the real story. I writes books and television shows. My mother wanted me to be a doctor, and my grandfather wanted me to go into the family furniture business. Instead, I put himself through UCLA as a freelance journalist.’

The Interview with Lee  (part 2)

Q. and the all important: What does the process of going from “no book” to “finished book” look like?

A. That’s such a broad question, it would take a book to answer it. But in simple terms for me, it looks like a 400 page manuscript printed out on my desk…and lots of empty diet coke cans in my recycle bin. Continue reading “Interview with Lee Goldberg, best selling author (Part two)”

Interview with best selling Author, Lee Goldberg (part 1)

Goldberg.1photo-3     I first met Lee while publishing my interview with Janet Evanovich.  He recently co-wrote The Chase with Janet.  His two careers, novelist and TV writer, merged when he wrote the eight books in the Diagnosis Murder series of original novels, based on the hit CBS TV mystery that he also wrote and produced. He followed that up by writing fifteen bestselling novels based on Monk, another TV show that he worked on. So I was delighted when Lee agreed to be interviewed.

Q. Where do you write? Do you have a special room, shed, barn, special space for your writing? (please upload a photo/s of your shed, room, closet, barn….)

A. I have an office in my house where I write surrounded by books and James Bond posters (I alternate the posters every month or so). But I can, and do, write just about anywhere.

Q. Do you have any special rituals when you sit down to write? (a neat work space, sharpened #2 pencils, legal pad, cup of tea, glass of brandy, favorite pajamas, etc.) Continue reading “Interview with best selling Author, Lee Goldberg (part 1)”

Don’t Miss my Interview with Lee Goldberg, Author/TV Producer

leestanding400Tuesday, April 8th I will post my interview with Author/TV Producer Lee Goldberg.  He is the author of the wildly popular television series “Monk” .  In addition he has written dozens of novels.

‘Goldberg broke into television with a freelance script sale to Spenser: For Hire. Since then, his TV writing & producing credits have covered a wide variety of genres, including sci-fi (seaQuest), cop shows (Hunter, The Glades), martial arts (Martial Law), whodunits (Diagnosis Murder, Nero Wolfe), the occult (She-Wolf of London), kid’s shows (R.L. Stine’s The Nightmare Room), T&A (Baywatch, She Spies), comedy (Monk) clip shows (The Best TV Shows That Never Were) and total crap (The Highwayman, The New Adventures of Flipper).’  (excerpt from his bio)

This is a funny and talented guy.  Don’t Miss this two part Interview!

Continue reading “Don’t Miss my Interview with Lee Goldberg, Author/TV Producer”

Part 2 of Interview with author, Sherryl Woods

Part 2 of my time with Sherryl Woods.  COMING SOON!!  August, 2014  Swan Point, A Sweet Magnolia Novel

Q. What makes a writer great?

A. For me what makes any writer great is the ability to tell a story that resonates with readers and touches them in some way. A book that can make a reader laugh or cry or even close the book with a deep sigh of satisfaction is the absolute best. I always aim for that. If I hit the mark even sometimes, it’s a wonderful feeling.

Q. and the all important: What does the process of going from “no book” to “finished book” look like? 

View out my window of the Bay and Miami
View out my window of the Bay and Miami

A. Once I know which series a book will be in and which character will “star”, I always start out mulling for a few days, jotting down a few notes about key plot points, motivations, conflicts and so on. I am mostly a right-brain writer, so I don’t make a list of details about character descriptions or history. Once I understand the basics of the story I want to tell, I start writing scenes for a synopsis.
Continue reading “Part 2 of Interview with author, Sherryl Woods”

Interview with best selling author, Sherryl Woods

   I think I have read every book Sherryl has written….  Author, Sherryl Woods           spanning two or three decades.  It is such a pleasure to have this opportunity to interview her; hearing about her rituals, her work space and what keeps her writing over the years.

Q. Where do you write? Do you have a special room, shed, barn, special space for your writing?

A. I have two spaces for writing, since I split my life between two states. In Florida, I have an official office in a condo separate from the one in which I live. I actually walk to work…across a parking garage, which isn’t exactly scenic, but gets me there under the “shortest distance” theory. My view includes a tiny glimpse of the ocean, a slightly better view of Biscayne Bay and a snippet of the Miami skyline. That said, I rarely look up from my computer long enough to see any of it!
Continue reading “Interview with best selling author, Sherryl Woods”

Coming Tuesday! My Interview with author, Sherryl Woods

Author, Sherryl Woods
Author, Sherryl Woods

After decades of enjoying Sherryl’s writing, Pinch me!...I’m interviewing her.  Don’t miss this coming week (Tues. and Thurs.) and my two part chat with this prolific author.

About Sherryl Woods:   With her roots firmly planted in the South, Sherryl Woods has written many of her more than 100 books in that distinctive setting, whether her home state of Virginia, her adopted state, Florida, or her much-adored South Carolina. She’s also especially partial to small towns wherever they may be. In Amazing Gracie, as in her later Trinity Harbor series, Woods creates a fictional version of the town where she spends summers on the shores of the Potomac River. “This town just lends itself to fascinating characters and a charming locale,” she says.

A member of Novelists Inc., Sisters in Crime and Romance Writers of America, Sherryl divides her time between her childhood summer home overlooking the Potomac River in Colonial Beach, Virginia, and her oceanfront home with its lighthouse view, in Key Biscayne, Florida. “Wherever I am, if there’s no water in sight, I get a little antsy,” she says.…

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DON’T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS featuring INTERVIEWS with  best-selling AUTHORS!

In addition to my twice weekly blog I also feature an interview with another author once a month. So come along with me; we shall sneak into these writers’ special places, be a fly on the wall and watch them create!      Dean Koontz just granted me an interview and will be featured here this spring!

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Interview with Janet Evanovich, best selling author

Janet2011Bio1My interview with Janet had to be short and sweet….she is so busy writing she could only answer a few of my questions!  A good place to be, we’ll all agree.  And, hey, I’ll take what I can get!  Thanks Janet! 

Q. Where do you write? Do you have a special room, shed, barn, special space for your writing?

A. My office is upstairs and has a beautiful view of the water. It’s just my bird, Ida, my dog, Ollie, the computer and me.

Q. Do you have any special rituals when you sit down to write? (a neat work space, sharpened #2 pencils, legal pad, cup of tea, glass of brandy, favorite pajamas, etc.)

A. I keep my work space pretty neat. I head upstairs with my cup of coffee at about 6 a.m. every morning and get to work.

Q. Do you have a set time each day to write or do you write only when you are feeling creative? Continue reading “Interview with Janet Evanovich, best selling author”