Saturday, October 29, 2022

T. Greenwood

T. Greenwood is the author of more than a dozen novels with more than a quarter-million copies sold. A two-time winner of the San Diego Book Award and LAMBDA Literary Award finalist, she has received grants from the Sherwood Anderson Foundation, the Christopher Isherwood Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Maryland State Arts Council. Five of her novels have been Indie Next Picks and her twelfth novel, Rust & Stardust, was a LibraryReads selection. Her novels have been translated into five languages. She lives with her family in San Diego, California, where she teaches creative writing, studies photography, and continues to write.

Greenwood's new novel is Such a Pretty Girl.

My Q&A with the author:

How much work does your title do to take readers into the story?

This novel is very much about the commodification of beauty, and so the title - which my editor recommended - captures that. It's also about the sexualization of young actresses in the 1970s: think Brooke Shields, Jodie Foster, Tatum O'Neal. The 1970s were a time when there seemed to be no protections in place for girls in this industry, and it was with horror that I poured over articles written about these young women. But what I really wanted to explore was the complicity of those people closest to these actresses - in Ryan's case, her mother. I wanted to examine how one's moral compass begins to lose direction when ambition is involved.

What's in a name?

In the 1970s, my parents used to watch a soap opera called "Ryan's Hope." I remember my mom loving that name, and thinking it would be a pretty name for a girl. So when I named my main character -- because it is set in the 1970s - that was the name that first came to mind. I always need to have my main character's name nailed down before I can start a project, and this name came to me very quickly.

How surprised would your teenage reader self be by your new novel?

I might argue that I am always writing for my teenage self. I would have loved to read a book like Such a Pretty Girl as a teenager. I don't think I have read any other stories that explore the sort of environment girls/women of my generation grew up in. Just looking at the ads of the time is shocking. Love's Baby Soft (which is fictionalized in this story) touted, "Innocence: It's Sexier Than You Think." This was the sort of message all of us were given as little girls.

Do you find it harder to write beginnings or endings? Which do you change more?

Beginnings are hard, because there are simply so many options. I always compare it to shopping for a meal. Anything is possible when you walk into a grocery store. But the second you start making your selections, the possibilities narrow. If you choose salmon, you're not going to wind up with lasagna. You have to make sure you are gathering the right ingredients though - or else whatever you make might simply not be edible. (Seriously, salmon lasagna?) Those ingredients, if well-selected, and properly cooked, will, in the end, only make one thing. And in a novel, I believe there should only be one possible ending.

Do you see much of yourself in your characters? Do they have any connection to your personality, or are they a world apart?

I think every character has some facet of myself but amplified. Ryan is very different from me in most ways, but there are things about her (especially her anxiety) which are drawn from my own experience. Even Fiona, who is pretty despicable, has traits of mine, though exaggerated.

What non-literary inspirations have influenced your writing?

For this book, films. I adore 1970s films, and this is part of the reason I wanted to write about an actress in this period. I always say that if I were to go back to school again, this time I'd study film history and photography. A little Easter egg in this book is that photographer Diane Arbus lived (and died) at Westbeth; she is referenced in the novel. There are also a lot of references to popular films at that time.
Visit T. Greenwood's website.

My Book, The Movie: Rust and Stardust.

The Page 69 Test: Rust and Stardust.

The Page 69 Test: Keeping Lucy.

My Book, The Movie: Keeping Lucy.

--Marshal Zeringue

Thursday, October 27, 2022

Meredith Ireland

Meredith Ireland was born in Korea and adopted by a New York librarian. Her love of books started early and although she pursued both pre-med at Rollins College and law at the University of Miami, stories were her fate. She currently resides with her two children, and Bob, a carnival goldfish, who’s likely a person. Ireland writes young adult books, some of which you may like. She is the author of The Jasmine Project and Everyone Hates Kelsie Miller.

My Q&A with the author:

How much work does your title do to take readers into the story?

Everyone Hates Kelsie Miller is the perfect introduction to the main character Kelsie. She has been ghosted by her friends and her academic rival is the only one speaking to her. I’d first named it The Breakups, which I still like but would’ve worked better if Eric, her nemesis, had a POV.

What's in a name?

For some reason the name Kelsie Miller came to me immediately. When writing for teens you need a name that a twelve to twenty-year-old could be called. I liked that it was simple and yet distinct. The story starts in Saratoga Springs, New York, where I lived for a number of years. I like showcasing Upstate New York and how it can be both rural and cosmopolitan at the same time.

How surprised would your teenage reader self be by your novel?

My teen self would see a lot of herself in Kelsie. I also attended a magnet school in New York City and felt the pressure to “be something.” I wanted to convey the unique stress and competition of that environment with the fun of a road trip to a college campus.

Do you find it harder to write beginnings or endings? Which do you change more?

Beginnings are harder! My chapter ones must be rewritten and tweaked a hundred times. For Kelsie, I wanted to convey her loneliness and where better than standing alone at what’s supposed to be a fun house party. With a rom-com you want a meet cute, but these characters know each other already so I found that by having them physically fall into each other, that would be akin to a meet cute where they’re introduced to the reader.

Do you see much of yourself in your characters? Do they have any connection to your personality, or are they a world apart?

I definitely see myself in my characters. The reason I wrote Kelsie was to deal with the sudden death of my childhood best friend. Maybe the greatest thing about fiction is getting second chances we didn’t in life. I was able to create a falling out and a character learning that what’s most important is being there for her best friend. I still wanted to make it a romcom though, with the emphasis on it being funny, so for better or worse, Kelsie has my sense of humor.

What non-literary inspirations have influenced your writing?

Movies! In Kelsie, her dad wants to be a screenwriter so I got to incorporate Say Anything into the book. Family also plays a strong role in my work as I am adopted and never saw stories like mine growing up. Like me, Kelsie is a transnational adoptee and discusses it. I also draw from life experience of having been pre-med when I created Eric’s character and then friends and loved ones as I built their interests and personalities from art to football.
Visit Meredith Ireland's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

Tuesday, October 25, 2022

Jessica Vitalis

Jessica Vitalis is the author of The Wolf’s Curse. She is a full-time writer with a previous career in business and an MBA from Columbia Business School. An American expat, she now lives in Canada with her husband and two daughters.

Vitalis's new novel is The Rabbit's Gift.

My Q&A with the author:

How much work does your title do to take readers into the story?

Because The Rabbit’s Gift is a companion novel to The Wolf’s Curse and the stories take place in the same magical world but examine very different themes (The Wolf’s Curse is a twist on Grim Reaper mythology while The Rabbit’s Gift features a French spin on stork mythology), I knew the title before I started writing. And it does give the readers a good introduction to the story in the sense that the book takes place in a country where human babies are grown in cabbage-like plants and delivered by rabbits.

That said, the title might lull reader into thinking that the “gift” part of the title refers to a human baby, but the truth is more complicated than that. The story is told in dual points of view; on one side, we have a scrawny rabbit named Quincy, who is determined to prove himself to his starving warren. The other point of view is a young girl by the name of Fleurine, who longs for a sister to help shoulder the burden of her maman’s impossible expectations. When Fleurine catches Quincy stealing some of her precious gardening supplies, she follows him back to the top-secret warren, setting off a string of events that could prove catastrophic for rabbits and humans alike.

What's in a name?

Naming characters is one of my favorite parts of the writing process! Quincy Rabbit was chosen at random, simply because Quincy felt like the perfect name for a scrawny, know-it-all rabbit. A name that was chosen more intentionally was a side character named Elodie, a takeoff of the more traditional Melody, and the perfect name for someone with my character’s musicality. The most precious name in The Rabbit’s Gift, however, is Fleurine. When I first called my then 91-year-old grandmother to tell her that after 13 years of writing, I’d finally landed a two-book deal, she asked when the second book would publish. When I told her that it was scheduled for the fall of 2022, she said she reckoned she could stick around long enough to see through my dreams of becoming a published author. Fleurine is named in her honor (although the spelling is slightly different). Although I lost my grandmother just one month before The Rabbit’s Gift publishes, I was able to show her an advanced reader copy, which is a memory I’ll always treasure.

How surprised would your teenage reader self be by your new novel?

My teenage self would be shocked by my novel. I’d always had a passion for reading and writing, but it never occurred to me writing books was something I could do professionally. Even though I studied business in college, I took a lot of writing classes, but I always stuck to nonfiction, believing that I wasn’t creative enough to write fiction! The fact that I now not only write fiction, but fantasy, would blow my teenage mind.

Do you find it harder to write beginnings or endings? Which do you change more?

They are both hard, but if I had to pick one, I’d say I struggle more with story beginnings. I almost always write my first act two or three times before I find the story I’m trying to tell, and The Rabbit’s Gift was no exception. Because The Wolf’s Curse was told by an omniscient narrator, I initially thought I’d have to take the same approach with Rabbit. When that didn’t work, I tried telling a story I now only vaguely remember—something about a kid sneaking into a farm to learn how to grow babies, I think? It wasn’t until I stumbled across the idea of writing in dual points of view with each character thinking that they were the hero of the story that the opening of The Rabbit’s Gift really came together.
Visit Jessica Vitalis's website.

The Page 69 Test: The Wolf's Curse.

The Page 69 Test: The Rabbit's Gift.

--Marshal Zeringue

Sunday, October 23, 2022

Briana Una McGuckin

photo credit: Stephanie Layne
Briana Una McGuckin lives in a charmingly strange old house in Connecticut. She has an MFA in Creative Writing from Western Connecticut State University and an MLS from Long Island University. Among other places, her work appears in the Bram Stoker Award–nominated horror anthology Not All Monsters, the modern Gothic horror anthology In Somnio, and The Lost Librarian’s Grave anthology. McGuckin has spastic diplegic cerebral palsy, a perhaps concerningly large collection of perfume oils, and a fascination with all things Victorian.

Her debut novel, On Good Authority, is a kinky, below-stairs Victorian, Romantic Suspense/Gothic Romance.

My Q&A with the author:
How much work does your title do to take readers into the story?

The working title was Morality Play, which was a little more literal than where I ended up. At the center of the whole story is a game that Marian and Valentine play as children, trapped in this Victorian workhouse; it’s like cops and robbers, but they’re acting out their respective parents’ arrests, trying to reconcile ideas of right and wrong, of justice, with the unfair reality of their situation.

This struggle over right and wrong follows Marian into adulthood, where she must serve as lady’s maid in a house with a terrible master who tries to take advantage of her—and also confront her own dark, kinky desire for adult Valentine, when he’s hired as footman in the house.

I think On Good Authority is a pretty opaque title—even misleading, because we use the phrase for when we have reason to believe information is true. But I mean the phrase in the way that the philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre meant On Being and Nothingness: straightforwardly. This book is about what good authority looks like—especially in consensual BDSM--and, necessarily, what bad authority looks like too.

What's in a name?

I have to talk about Valentine Hobbs, the footman love interest, here. A few agents, and others, assumed Valentine was a girl, going by the name. But no, Valentine is a given name for men, too—more popular in earlier centuries than now, of course. I just thought, if I was going to write a good, kinky man—a respectful, consent-minded Dominant—wouldn’t it be perfect if he was called Valentine? The idea of a gentleman named Valentine, who looks proper but is wielding a riding crop… I couldn’t get it out of my mind.

How surprised would your teenage reader self be by your novel?

I don’t think she’d be surprised by any of the content. We’d been blending sensual romance and philosophical ideas even in our fanfiction, back then. But she’d be stunned to know that we finally finished something. In her day, we thought first drafts had to be perfect, and abandoned them at about fifty percent of the way through when we could see that perfection was impossible.

Do you find it harder to write beginnings or endings? Which do you change more?

I have a very hard time starting a story if I can’t see a satisfying ending to echo the beginning. With On Good Authority, I had a specific twist in mind that locked beginning and end together for me. What changed most was what was in the middle, to accommodate that twist. Of course this means I can’t talk specifics…

Do you see much of yourself in your characters? Do they have any connection to your personality, or are they a world apart?

There is a bit of Valentine Hobbs in me—a part I would be too shy to show anybody, except in fiction—but I am mostly Marian-like in my daily life. I understand her desires, especially her desperation to prove herself to be a good person. I know what it’s like to have those inclinations taken advantage of, too.

What non-literary inspirations have influenced your writing?

Music, always. For this book it was a lot of Depeche Mode. And perfume oils. I often wear perfume oil to set the tone or scene for whatever I’m writing for the day. …To get the sense of the book, I’d recommend Depeche Mode’s “Dream On,” played in the dining room of an old Victorian manor, with all the windows open, with the smell and sounds of a summer thunderstorm breezing in.
Visit Briana Una McGuckin's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

Thursday, October 20, 2022

Jason Mosberg

Jason Mosberg lives in Los Angeles where he works as a novelist, screenwriter, and TV creator.

His new novel is My Dirty California.

My Q&A with the author:

How much work does your title do to take readers into the story?

Titles are important, and the reality is that sometimes writers never come up with the perfect title for their book or short story or play or movie. I have found that for about half of my projects I come up with a title that I love, and the other half, no matter how long I think and no matter how many people I ask, I never quite come up with a great title. I'm curious if other writers agree, but I think once you're done writing a project and you don't have a title and you get into that stage of brainstorming titles and running lists of possibilities by people, you never end up with a great one.

My Dirty California was a title I came up with early on in the writing process. My agent and editor and the other folks at Simon & Schuster all loved the title and we never discussed alternatives. It has a nice ring to it, and the word dirty plays against how people often think of California. "My Dirty California" is the name of a video log website that serves as the connective tissue between the four storylines in the book. Marty, a drifter living in Los Angeles, is the creator of this website. When he gets murdered, he leaves behind thousands of entries. His brother uses the video log as clues to solve the murder. And the three other intersecting storylines are also connected to the website "My Dirty California." So not only does it have a nice ring to it, but it's also central to the plot.

I've written my next novel, and unfortunately I haven't come up with a great title. And based on previous experience, I guess I probably never will...

How surprised would your teenage reader self be by your novel?

My teenage self would be surprised that I wrote a novel at all. English was my worst subject in high school and I studied mathematics in college.

Do you see much of yourself in your characters? Do they have any connection to your personality, or are they a world apart?

There are pieces of me in all of the main characters in My Dirty California. For friends and family who know me, it's easiest to see some of myself in Jody, the thirty something white guy from Pennsylvania who moves to California and is somewhat obsessive. (I'm obsessive about writing and soccer and silly things, while Jody is obsessive about solving the murder of his brother.) But there's part of me in the other main characters too, even if it's harder to see. Though I'm not a woman, my brain sometimes gets stuck wondering if we're living in a simulation just like Penelope. I almost never put any part of myself into side characters and I almost always put at least some portion of myself into main characters. I'm fascinated by the great novelist Jennifer Egan who says she doesn't put any of herself into any of her characters.

What non-literary inspirations have influenced your writing?

My writing has been just as influenced by film and TV as it has been by other books. I think this is true for many authors these days because of the golden age of television. But it's especially true for me because I put in my 10,000 hours writing screenplays and television pilots before I ever tried to write a book. Outside of storytelling, what has influenced my writing the most is living in California. My Dirty California is very much a love letter to the state where I've lived, traveled, walked, hiked, biked, and surfed. I've met thousands of people here. I've experienced triumph and heartbreak here. I've lived most of my adult life here.
Visit Jason Mosberg's website.

My Book, The Movie: My Dirty California.

--Marshal Zeringue

Monday, October 17, 2022

Danielle Binks

photo credit: Janis House Photography
Danielle Binks is an author and literary agent from Melbourne, Australia. The Year the Maps Changed was her debut novel and has been shortlisted for the Prime Minister’s Literary Award and was a Children’s Book Council of Australia Notable Book. She has since written her first young adult novel, The Monster of Her Age, and has edited and contributed to Begin, End, Begin, an anthology of new Australian young adult writing, which won an Australian Book Industry Award.

My Q&A with the author:
How much work does your title do to take readers into the story?

My original title was Operation Safe Haven which in 1999 was the official name given to the Australian Government's plan of flying in refugees of the Kosovo War, and housing them at eight different 'safe haven' locations around the country. In America, it was called Operation Provide Refuge. The second-half of my book very much focuses on the Kosovo War, and a young girl whose world is expanded and turned upside down when she befriends a pregnant refugee woman who is part of 'Operation Safe Haven' and comes to her small Australian town ... but my publisher correctly pointed out that the book is also about this young girl - Winifred 'Fred' - and the changing landscape of her family (her mother who died when she was young, the new partner her father now has - and the young son she brings into the equation and their family home), at the same time that she learns exactly how often the map of the world changes, and not even the ground beneath our feet is exactly rock-solid. It was my publisher who said 'Operation Safe Haven' makes it sound like a middle-grade mystery, but The Year the Maps Changed hints at the turmoil and bigger conflicts - both internal and external - within, and I am forever grateful for her poetic mind that came up with that title.

What's in a name?

My protagonist is the 11-going-on-12 year-old Winifred 'Fred' who is also sometimes called 'Winnie' by her family. I called her Winifred in part deference to my paternal grandmother whose name was Winsome. I couldn't quite bring myself to name her fully after my grandmother, but her having the nickname 'Winnie' is a little wink-wink for my family especially. I think names have power, and the various nicknames Fred has is something she actually muses on at one point, in this excerpt: I was named after my nan — Pop’s wife — who I never met. Fred is Pop’s nickname for me, Freddo is Luca’s, and Winnie was Mom’s. I once asked Pop why they couldn’t stick to one name for me, and he said he didn’t know, but maybe they all wanted to have little pieces of me, all to themselves. Lately I’d been wondering what piece Mom took with her when she died, and I’d been thinking about the Winnie I would have been if she hadn’t.

How surprised would your teenage reader self be by your new novel?

I think she'd be surprised that we chose to write about our hometown, and an event from 1999 and our own childhood - heavily fictionalised, but still, inspired by real events. I think she'd worry that people would find our hometown boring, but I'd like to assure her that what Stephen King once said is true; "The stories we hear in our childhood are the ones we remember all our lives." And I'd break it to her that 1999 was a very long time ago now, and for kid's today it's very much historical fiction about an important time in world politics that is sometimes overlooked or forgotten - but that is maybe more relevant than ever to examine, because something else Stepehn King once said is also true; “Life is like a wheel. Sooner or later, it always come around to where you started again.”

Do you find it harder to write beginnings or endings? Which do you change more?

Oh, I find endings harder to produce because by then I've got so much more on the line (all those thousands of words!) and I don't want it to all be for nought on a wasted opportunity by sticking my landing. But I stress and labour over my beginnings more. In fact, I can't begin writing a new thing until I love my opening line. I hinge an entire project on my having the perfect opening line; one that I love and can quote in my sleep like poetry. To this day, the opening line/s to The Year the Maps Changed is one I'm proudest of (Maps lie. Or at least, they don’t always tell the truth. They’re like us humans that way.); it ended up being a book that took me five-years to write (a lot of that was procrastination) but the opening line was what I wrote on Day 1 of Five Years and it never changed, it was very much my North Star and guiding light. I often thought; "Well I have to finish this manuscript, because I can't waste that opening!"

Do you see much of yourself in your characters? Do they have any connection to your personality, or are they a world apart?

Fred is the same age I was in 1999. We live in the same part of the country; on Victoria, Australia's - Mornington Peninsula. And I guess in a way, we both lived through Operation Safe Haven when refugees of the Kosovo War came to our back door. I took the bare bones of my childhood history as the story, and there's a fair chunk of myself in Fred for that reason ... but I always say I gave her my worst attributes (she's stubborn, can be selfish, sometimes lacks empathy) but I made it so that Fred learns at a much faster rate and overcomes herself, she learns and grows much better and faster than I did at her age.

What non-literary inspirations have influenced your writing?

Oh, movies. It took me a while to realise that Middle Grade was my sweet-spot for writing, but then I look back at the movies that really imprinted upon me and I can see their inspiration in The Year the Maps Changed - it's a lot of Stand By Me (which is also Stephen King's influence on me), The Goonies is in there somewhat, Now and Then was a life-changing movie for me ... it's all there; we are a product of the things we love and what influenced us, and that's the movies for me.
Visit Danielle Binks's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

Friday, October 14, 2022

Virginia Hartman

Virginia Hartman is the author of the novel The Marsh Queen. She was born in Florida to parents from Ohio, so she has a hybrid southern/northern sensibility. She holds an MFA from American University and teaches creative writing at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. Her undergrad degree was in film, and she worked in that industry for several years before going back to school for her writing degree. Hartman's stories have been shortlisted for the New Letters prize, the Tennessee Williams Festival Prize, and the Dana Awards.

My Q&A with the author:

How much work does your title do to take readers into the story?

“The Marsh Queen” is the name of a fairy story told to Loni Murrow, the protagonist, by her father when she was a girl. In it, the fairy queen of the marsh is a being who can travel between the world of the living and the world of the dead. Loni believed it with all her might when she was younger, especially after her father died in the swamp. As an adult, she thinks she has put fairy stories behind her, but the richness of this one resonates into the present for her in surprising ways.

What's in a name?

I had fun naming the characters for this book. Loni is named after her two grandmothers—the haughty Lorna Hodgkins and the backwoods herbalist Mae Murrow. She is affectionately known as “Loni Mae” to her dad, but after he dies, she doesn’t like anyone to call her that. Her name represents the two parts of her, and also much of the tension within the story.

How surprised would your teenage reader self be by your new novel?

I think my teenage self would say, Virginia, you wrote this? Well, good on you! I told everyone when I was twelve that I was going to be a writer, but by the time I was sixteen, my head had been turned by high school theatre, and I was sure there was stage performance in my future. Little did I know it would come in handy when I finally went back to what I should have been doing all along, and discovered that a large part of book promotion involves reading your work aloud in front of an audience.

Do you see much of yourself in your characters? Do they have any connection to your personality, or are they a world apart?

Ah, heck. They’re all me. Not literally. But, well, I’m a quilter when I’m not writing. And while it’s nice to take a break from words sometimes and assemble a bunch of colorful scraps, the task is not really that different from constructing a novel. All these characters have a scrap of something I feel or have felt—even the unattractive characters. Even the ones you might call the bad guys. I’m sometimes surprised at the fictional elements that bubble up from a memory, a passing phrase, a particular smell, or sometimes a swatch of color I see in my peripheral vision.

Do you find it harder to write beginnings or endings? Which do you change more?

Endings. Harder by a mile. But I change the beginnings more. I have a friend, the writer Sarah Sorkin, who was in my MFA program, and for years we have called each other at least once a week to hold each other accountable to our writing projects. She always reads my drafts and she is a stickler about endings. I am so grateful for that. For me, the ending has to have a certain “snap” to it. Not in the tie-everything-up-in-a-bow sense, but in the sense of “Ah, this makes sense and is satisfying.” Beginnings get more rewrites, though, because you don’t know what the story is about when you start. As the story evolves, as you redraft and discover all the connections, you have a better idea of what must go into the first pages of a novel. I rewrite and rewrite and rewrite.

What non-literary inspirations have influenced your writing?

Water, science, horticulture, canoeing, zoology, people’s different conceptions of the world, natural and otherwise, throughout the centuries. I learned so much about herbology while I was writing this novel. I counted lying on my couch reading herb lore as writing. Same with ornithology. Tramping through the woods with binoculars—it was great fun, but it also counted as research. I find the smell of a forest or a swamp inspiring, and I hope readers can smell it with me, go there with me, know it in their bones.
Visit Virginia Hartman's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

Wednesday, October 12, 2022

Christine Wells

Christine Wells writes historical fiction featuring strong, fascinating women. From early childhood, she drank in her father’s tales about the real kings and queens behind popular nursery rhymes and she has been a keen student of history ever since. She began her first novel while working as a corporate lawyer, and has gone on to write about periods ranging from Georgian England to post World War II France. Wells is passionate about helping other writers learn the craft and business of writing fiction and enjoys mentoring and teaching workshops whenever her schedule permits. She loves dogs, running, the beach and fossicking for antiques and lives with her family in Brisbane, Australia.

Wells's latest novel is One Woman’s War.

My Q&A with the author:

How much work does your title do to take readers into the story?

As a title, One Woman’s War is generic almost deliberately. We wanted the reader to know that it’s a story about a woman’s experiences during war. It’s the subtitle that makes it specific: A Novel of the Real Miss Moneypenny. I felt that using “Miss Moneypenny” in the main title would have made it seem as if I were writing from the point of view of the Bond Moneypenny character, not the real person who inspired the character, and that is quite a different style of book. Also, I wanted to make it clear that the book was set in active wartime, not during the Cold War, as the Bond novels are. So hopefully you get the impression that this is the real story behind Bond, but with a female-centric focus.

What's in a name?

The name of my main protagonist has to feel right to me before I can begin to write. By that, I mean the name has to suit the person’s character. I wouldn’t call a man who hunts and fishes “Shirley” or “Cyril”, for example, unless the character was playing against type. Names must be appropriate to the historical period and country I’m writing about, as well. No “Dakota’s” in 1920’s London! But naming characters wasn’t a problem for me in One Woman’s War because almost all of the people in it were real people and I had no choice about their names. Unfortunately that meant there was a Jean and a Joan, but thankfully they were never in the same scene together.

How surprised would your teenage reader self be by your new novel?

Not too surprised, actually! I have always loved reading about World War II and particularly about spies. I’m also drawn to British eccentricity and wit, so I think my teenage self would not bat an eyelid at my having written One Woman’s War. Some say I was born forty, and I suppose that might be true!

Do you find it harder to write beginnings or endings? Which do you change more?

Usually I find beginnings easier but for One Woman’s War, I knew the ending because I was following a real event which had a very strong narrative structure in itself: Operation Mincemeat. Where to begin was a more difficult choice. I wanted to show Paddy’s “take charge” attitude from the start and the British evacuation of Bordeaux in 1940, which Fleming oversaw, was the perfect vehicle for that.

Do you see much of yourself in your characters? Do they have any connection to your personality, or are they a world apart?

Many of my characters are the way I would like to be, I think. More outspoken, courageous, sometimes even outrageous, a little bit larger than life (as the real people I write about often were).

What non-literary inspirations have influenced your writing?

I write about real people from history, so I don’t have to look very far for inspiration. Luckily there is no shortage of clever, strong women to feature in my novels. Women like Catherine Dior, who worked in the French resistance, or Noor Inayat Khan who was a wireless operator in occupied France during World War II, or a female writer of the eighteenth century who campaigned for women’s child custody rights, just to name a few. I also like to immerse myself in the historical period I’m writing in, so I watch a lot of movies and read novels, poetry, and plays that were released at or shortly before the time I’m writing about. These give another dimension to the more formal research I’m carrying out and often give clues to small details of everyday living that you can’t find in history books.
Visit Christine Wells's website.

My Book, The Movie: One Woman's War.

--Marshal Zeringue

Monday, October 10, 2022

Marcie R. Rendon

Marcie Rendon is an enrolled member of the White Earth Nation, a Pinckley Prize-winning author, playwright, poet, freelance writer, and a community arts activist. Rendon was awarded the McKnight Distinguished Artist Award for 2020. She is a speaker on Native issues, leadership, and writing. Her second novel in her Cash Blackbear mystery series, Girl Gone Missing, was nominated for the Sue Grafton Memorial Award. Rendon was recognized as a 50 over 50 Change-maker by Minneapolis AARP and Pollen in 2018.

Her new novel is Sinister Graves, the third Cash Blackbear mystery.

My Q&A with the author:

How much work does your title do to take readers into the story?

Sinister Graves grew in my imagination on a long drive through the northwest states with no towns or gas stations in sight. I stopped at a graveled pull-off near a postage-stamp-sized grassy field. I discovered it was a family grave site, pre-Spanish flu era, where a mother and father were buried long after five children were buried there. Each child had only lived a mere 2 years. I looked up and down the vast mountain and imagined a mother who suffered from post-partum depression. And in that isolated rural place, who would have questioned, who would have lived close enough, at that time in history, to even question the untimely demise of so many two year olds in one family? Graveyards in general don’t scare me, but this one contained Sinister Graves.

What's in a name?

Cash Blackbear got her nickname Cash when as a young teen in foster care, she worked the fields with the men. When they asked her why she worked with them instead of in the house with the women, she would reply, “I need the cash.” By the end of the first summer, Renee Blackbear was known from then on as Cash. For the other characters in Sinister Graves I did a google search for obscure Scandinavian names because I have many readers from the Red River Valley, and while they love recognizing towns and roads from where they live, the communities are small enough that I can’t risk naming a murderer after a living (or past living) person from the area.

How surprised would your teenage reader self be by your novel?

My teenage self would be thrilled that I found a way to tell these stories. I love to read and have been a voracious reader since I learned to read. I grew up in the rural north and the county Bookmobile was my lifeline to the world. My teenage self would be so pleased to see the stories of her region and people brought to life in the pages of a novel. Now my grandchildren, on the other hand, read Sinister Graves, shook their heads and said, “Really Grandma, Really?” and “I’ll never look at a church in the country in the same way ever again.”

Do you find it harder to write beginnings or endings? Which do you change more?

Cash Blackbear, in Sinister Graves, sets out to solve the murder of a woman who washes into town with the spring flood – nothing Cash can’t handle. But when Cash, searching for the identity of the dead woman, discovers small graves in a rural churchyard, things get harder for her to understand and cope with. As the story progressed it became imperative to reach into the depth of Cash’s being in order to finish the story, move it to completion in a way that would continue to honor her strength and resiliency.

Do you see much of yourself in your characters? Do they have any connection to your personality, or are they a world apart?

Other Native American women have told me that I am telling their story. They see themselves in Cash Blackbear. Non-Native women admire Cash, and many have said to me, “I wish my younger self had been more like Cash.” Cash is not me; I am not Cash. But I do believe Cash is an embodiment of the resilience and compassion of many women who have lived an unhappy childhood who have persevered with determination to make a different life for themselves and for others.

What non-literary inspirations have influenced your writing?

I love visual art and the creation of beauty. My hope is that my writing is written with beauty and creates a visual story in the reader’s mind. I am also inspired by nature and the natural world around us that sustains us as humans. I am easily influenced by the human experience around me; always silently observing, always eavesdropping and always creating stories in my head for my own amusement.
Visit Marcie R. Rendon's website.

The Page 69 Test: Sinister Graves.

--Marshal Zeringue

Thursday, October 6, 2022

Ted Fox

Ted Fox is the author of the jokebook You Know Who’s Awesome? (Not You.) and once solved the New York Times crossword puzzle forty-six days in a row (not a joke). He lives in Indiana with his wife, their two kids, and two German short-haired pointers who are frankly baffled there aren’t more dogs in his books. The recipient of a prestigious “No. 1 Dad” keychain, Fox was widely recognized as having the best swaddling technique of anyone in the family when his kids were babies. And not just the immediate family―grandparents, aunts, uncles, everybody.

Fox's new novel, his first, is Schooled.

My Q&A with the author:

How much work does your title do to take readers into the story?

The working title of Schooled was for a long time Dad for President. Given that an election for president of an elementary school parent board is at the heart of the story, that may have been a more direct nod to the plot. But as we went through the editorial process, there was a concern Dad for President might sound to readers like a picture book. I thought that was a good point, and we batted around some alternatives, through which Schooled emerged relatively quickly as the winner. Given that the book is about a lot more than the election—namely, figuring out who you want to be in addition to being a parent—I think the title we went with actually does quite a bit of work.

How surprised would your teenage reader self be by your new novel?

Teenaged Ted would be surprised I’d written a novel, period—pleasantly for sure, but surprised nonetheless. I always loved creative writing and took courses in it in both high school and college, but I spent most of my teens and the early part of my 20s focused on a career in sports broadcasting. It wasn’t until I met the woman I’d eventually marry and she encouraged me to try writing books that I decided to pursue the path that ultimately led to Schooled. In the 16 years in between, there was a joke book that was published and a bunch of narrative nonfiction and YA that wasn’t. But the one constant from the days I dreamed of being an anchor on ESPN to my present-day incarnation as a novelist has been the humor. Making people laugh is both a joy and a challenge, and it’s certainly my hope that Schooled is up to that task.

Do you find it harder to write beginnings or endings? Which do you change more?

Can I say “C, all of the above”? The beginning is tough because if it falls flat, you’re going to lose people, and they may never make it to the end. It’s like you’re just getting started with a potential reader (or editor), and it’s already weirdly high-stakes. The beginning of Schooled definitely went through more revisions than the end—although my agent did suggest I add what became the epilogue after reading the completed draft—while the way I wanted to end the story just sort of revealed itself to me as I was writing. I think that can happen as you get to know your characters on a deeper and deeper level. And yet I wouldn’t necessarily say that part was easier because there’s nothing worse than really liking a book and being let down by its ending. I guess I might say I find the actual opening lines of a book the most difficult to write, but landing on the broader concept and substance of how you’ll end it to be the bigger challenge.

Do you see much of yourself in your characters? Do they have any connection to your personality, or are they a world apart?

My main character, Jack Parker, is a stay-at-home dad to two young kids. While I’ve always had a job, I have worked mostly remotely and part-time and been home with our two kids since they were born. As you’d guess, these similarities between Jack and me are not a coincidence. Jack’s desire to be home with his children as well as his experience of the day-to-day grind of parenting—waking up too early, debating the merits of screen time, being interrupted while trying to do something luxurious like go to the bathroom—are all things that are very familiar to me. So, too, is his commitment to supporting his wife’s career. That said, Jack’s path to becoming a stay-at-home dad was a little more … eventful than my own. And despite his insecurities that surface throughout the book, I’d say he is an overall less-anxious person than I am. I’m a little jealous of that.

What non-literary inspirations have influenced your writing?

Lots of TV shows and movies have influenced my sense of humor, but none more than Seinfeld (which explains why I literally thanked my DVD set in the acknowledgments). Social issues like gender equality and voting rights are also very important to me, and I try to give voice to those values in a way that is thoughtful without being preachy.
Visit Ted Fox's website.

The Page 69 Test: Schooled.

--Marshal Zeringue

Monday, October 3, 2022

M. Rickert

Before earning her MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts, M. Rickert worked as a kindergarten teacher, coffee shop barista, Disneyland balloon vendor, and personnel assistant in Sequoia National Park. She has published the short story collections Map of Dreams, Holiday, and You Have Never Been Here. Her first novel, The Memory Garden, won the Locus award. Her second novel was The Shipbuilder of Bellfairie. She is the winner of the Crawford Award, World Fantasy Award, and Shirley Jackson Award. She has also lost several awards for which she was nominated, including the Nebula, Bram Stoker, International Horror Guild, Sturgeon, and British Science Fiction Award. She currently lives in Cedarburg, Wisconsin.

Rickert's new novella is Lucky Girl.

My Q&A with the author:

How much work does your title do to take readers into the story?

I kept going back and forth between the subtitles, A Krampus Story and A Christmas Story. I worried that if I landed on Christmas, readers might expect something along the lines of an inspirational memoir whereas using Krampus in the title immediately clarifies that it is fiction. Some readers are disappointed that the Krampus are not more present than they are. There's a similar issue with my use of the word, "horror" as a descriptor. Some readers expect that word to come with blood, but the kind of horror I write is always more shadows than blood. Still, I can't imagine what else I would have called it.

What's in a name?

The main character, Roanoke, is named after the Virginia settlement that became a sort of historical mystery. This is meant as an indication of her parent's personalities, but also hopefully lends an air of dislocation to the character, herself. She goes by the name, Ro, however, which is a tougher sound, and reflects the way she has sought to build her own identity after her family's tragedy.

How surprised would your teenage reader self be by your new novel?

Teenage me would be thrilled to look up from writing her strange stories about teachers who murder (sent in to a local newspaper for a writing contest for which they got several complaints) and the girl whose cute imaginary friend followed her into high school before revealing a very dark side, to find a copy of this novella, a token from the future and an incentive to not give up on her dreams of being a writer. In fact, since these sort of things usually arrive with an erasure of the memory, let's assume that's exactly what did happen.

Do you find it harder to write beginnings or endings? Which do you change more?

I don't usually get ideas for stories but, rather, feelings or the sense of a voice which often arrives with a first line or paragraph. The first line of Lucky Girl, particularly "I have to tell you I stole it" was something I heard years ago at a Christmas gift exchange, and knew right away that it would be part of a story. The ending always has a lot of work to do, and I suppose I find more difficult. I have this theory that my muse offers me fool's gold first to see if I fall for it. That would be an ending that technically works but lands kind of flat. It can be a bit of a struggle to recognize when that is happening and then abandon it in search for something better. I like an ending that lands with some resolve as well as some sense of an opening, something that lingers like smoke after the last word.
Learn more about Lucky Girl.

--Marshal Zeringue