Alafair Burke

Alafair Burke's latest novel is Never Tell (Ellie Hatcher Series #4).

From her Q & A with Lauren Katz for the Washington Independent Review of Books:

You have experience in police work, as a prosecutor, and you are a professor of criminal law at Hofstra Law School. How did you decide to start writing novels? Was it your experience in law that encouraged that decision? Or something else entirely?

Yes, it was very much my experience at the District Attorney’s Office that brought me to writing. I was reading two or three crime novels a week. At one point, I realized that I spent every day at work in an atmosphere I really didn’t see portrayed in crime fiction. Law enforcement is a separate culture, but every city’s a little different. By the time I left the D.A.’s Office in Portland, I knew the feel and the sound and the voice of that city’s courthouse and police cultures. I knew I had the material for a book. I spent years thinking about a possible story, but it wasn’t until I left the D.A.’s Office and had a summer off to study for the New York Bar Exam that I decided to start writing. It turns out that making stuff up is a lot more fun than studying for a bar exam. By the end of the summer, I passed the New York bar and had about a third of a book finished.

The sequence of events in Never Tell seemed extremely realistic. I could see why each change in the case occurred and how it led to a new conclusion. Were the events in Never Tell based on your own life experiences in the field of law? How did you get the idea?

Sometimes ideas have come from real-life cases. Other times from a character whose voice starts to dominate my imagination. In the case of Never Tell, the idea started with a desire to explore a certain privileged slice of youth culture. As a law professor, I hear stories from my students about the incredible pressures they are under to succeed. At the same time, they’ve often been raised being told that everyone is above average, nothing is ever their fault, and that there’s always a ready fix to every problem. Increasingly, the ready fix comes from prescription drugs. So I knew I wanted the next Ellie Hatcher book to pull her into the world of extremely privileged, overly precocious, underparented New York City prep school students.

I also wanted the book to be about Ellie Hatcher. That sounds like a dumb thing to say since it’s obviously an Ellie Hatcher novel and she’s the lead investigator. But I didn’t want her to be merely the investigator. I wanted the case to...[read on]

Visit Alafair Burke's website and blog.

The Page 69 Test: Dead Connection.

The Page 69 Test: Angel’s Tip.

The Page 69 Test: 212.

Writers Read: Alafair Burke.

--Marshal Zeringue

Deanna Fei

For Fiction Writers Review, Kate Levin interviewed Deanna Fei about her debut novel, A Thread of Sky. Part of the Q & A:

You noted in an earlier interview that celebrity gossip sites are rich in stories. You make a similar observation in a piece for the Huffington Post, “Why Every Writer Should Watch Jersey Shore.” Thanks to blogs and Facebook and the million reality shows on TV, it seems like a story-hungry mind has more windows than ever into the lives of other people. It seems, too, that all of these narratives, all this information, could really impinge on the mental quiet needed to write. How do you cultivate the concentration it takes to work on a novel?

It’s true that I honestly believe my gossip habit serves as a little warm-up for writing, a way to step out of my own life and into the lives of others. But you’re right: writing doesn’t happen without that final phase, the whiting-out of everything but the one story before you. And sometimes that takes a lot of tricks. I have two laptops—one that’s so old that it crashes if I do more than word processing and maybe looking up a few references on Wikipedia, and one that I use for everything else. When it’s time to write, I put my other laptop in another room and close the door. I turn my phone to silent mode and put on noise-canceling headphones. And I don’t let anyone interrupt me. Maybe it seems self-indulgent, but writing is creating a whole universe for your characters and your readers, and you have to protect the process.

The idea for A Thread of Sky grew out of a package tour of mainland China that you took with your own sisters, mom, aunt, and grandmother. In your acknowledgments, you write: “…while this book was, in part, inspired by them, it is not about them; it does not depict their histories or their personalities. I offer them my apologies for potential misunderstandings, and my lifelong admiration.” Did it complicate things that the story was rooted in a recognizably real family experience? Or did it feel like the work of creating any fictional characters?

There was a part of me that deeply regretted the fact that...[read on]

Read an excerpt from A Thread of Sky, and learn more about the book and author at Deanna Fei's website and blog.

The Page 69 Test: A Thread of Sky.

--Marshal Zeringue

Meg Donohue

Meg Donohue has an MFA from Columbia University and a BA from Dartmouth College. Born and raised in Philadelphia, she now lives in San Francisco with her husband, daughters, dog, and a weakness for salted caramel cupcakes.

Her first novel is How to Eat a Cupcake.

From Donohue's December 2011 Q & A with Johanna Burke at Publishers Weekly:

You write about the professional and personal problems involved in starting a cupcake business. How did you learn about the culture of bakeries?

I’m not a baker, but I’m a very avid cupcake eater! I came up with the idea for the book in part because I feel like I’m surrounded by cupcakes. I had a year-old daughter when I started writing and was pregnant with my second daughter, so between birthday parties and playgroups and play dates—and adult functions—there were a lot of cupcakes. From there, I started to do a little research. I had a friend whose sister is a pastry chef, so I invited her over, and we baked cupcakes and talked about the culinary scene. I quickly learned it’s a very small and incestuous world. I also learned about the hours that you have to put in to running a bakery and the number of people who would be in the kitchen and what relationship they would have to each other.

What piqued your interest about the differences in best friends Julia and Annie?

My interest, in part, came from having a nanny who was from Colombia. She had several daughters she would bring with her to play with my daughter. That helped me think about the relationship between these girls. They’re just having fun as children, but what would happen if they grew older and kept—or didn’t keep—in touch, and how would their lives be different? I’m interested in writing about friendship, and how women come together and fall apart over time. I’m more interested in that than specifically...[read on]

Learn more about the book and author at Meg Donohue's website and blog.

The Page 69 Test: How to Eat a Cupcake.

Writers Read: Meg Donohue.

My Book, The Movie: How to Eat a Cupcake.

--Marshal Zeringue

Paul Barrett

Paul M. Barrett is the author of American Islam: The Struggle for the Soul of a Religion and The Good Black: A True Story of Race in America.

His latest book is Glock: The Rise of America's Gun.

From Barrett's January 2012 Q & A at The Daily Beast:

The Glock is a relatively new gun, compared with Smith & Wesson and Colt. What set it apart?

Gaston Glock, who manufactured window fittings in a garage workshop outside Vienna, initially designed the pistol for the Austrian Army, which wanted a light, reliable, large-capacity weapon to replace its World War II–era Walther P-38. His innovative design, making heavy use of injection-molded plastic, fit all the criteria; plus it had a gentle, consistent trigger pull that turned poor shooters into accurate ones. Herr Glock then cleverly marketed these attributes to police departments in the United States.

How did Glock make the leap to the larger civilian marketplace?

Many gun owners like to use what their local cops are using. Plus, the Glock became an overnight star in the movies and television—tons of free advertising.

How did Glock score in Hollywood?

Not through paying for product placement, as many assume. Hollywood prop masters began...[read on]

Visit the official Glock: The Rise of America's Gun website.

Writers Read: Paul M. Barrett.

Read--Coffee with a Canine: Paul M. Barrett & Beau.

The Page 99 Test: Glock.

--Marshal Zeringue

Valerie Frankel

Valerie Frankel is the author of Thin Is the New Happy and such chick lit favorites as The Accidental Virgin, The Girlfriend Curse and Hex and the Single Girl. The former articles editor at Mademoiselle, Frankel has contributed to the New York Times, O, Glamour, Allure, Self, Good Housekeeping, among many other publications.

Her books include the memoir It's Hard Not to Hate You and the novel Four of a Kind.

From her Q & A with Belinda G @ Galvanize Press:

Your characters [in Four of a Kind] are thrust together on a school committee, but get to know each other through playing poker, with the high stakes of secrets. Would you say they were driven by a desire to be understood by sharing their own secrets, or by the desire to be privy to someone else's and maybe feeling a little better about their own lives?

We all know from airplane travel, that it’s often easier to spill your secrets to near strangers than to confide in your closest friend. So when the characters met for the first time, sat down and, as a lark, decided to play for secrets instead of money, the context allowed that to be possible. An objective listener can be the most helpful, which is why therapy works. The characters definitely took the opportunity to share without caring too much about the others’ reaction (later, however, as they go to know each other better, caring about each other influenced their lives tremendously). None of the characters used the experience in order to feel better about their lives, although when you realize that everyone, no matter how seemingly perfect, has her share of problems, that can be a relief.

We have an innate desire for intimate relationships, yet we are often thwarted in our attempts to be known and understood. Why do you think that is?

It’s scary to put your thoughts and feelings out there! People fear judgment, rightly so. People do judge. They can’t help it. If you express your deepest feelings and fears in order to be understood, you risk being misunderstood and rejected or humiliated in the process. The characters in Four Of a Kind took big risks to reveal themselves to each other. Each woman was so isolated in her own life, though they were in “share or die” mode. The risk was...[read on]

Visit Valerie Frankel's website and Facebook page.

My Book, The Movie: It's Hard Not to Hate You.

Writers Read: Valerie Frankel (September 2011).

--Marshal Zeringue

Shon Hopwood

Shon Hopwood is a law school student at the University of Washington School of Law who, prior to law school, served over ten years in federal prison for a string of bank robberies he committed as a young adult. While in prison, he learned the law and he wrote legal briefs for other prisoners, two of which were granted by the U.S. Supreme Court—the equivalent of winning the legal lottery. His book Law Man: My Story of Robbing Banks, Winning Supreme Court Cases, and Finding Redemption is the story of his prison term, legal successes, and the romance of his now wife while he was still incarcerated.

From his Q & A with Tim Challies:

One of my favorite themes in the book is the quiet work of Christians in the background of your life, whether that was your mother sending you books, people in your town praying for you, or fellow prisoners who were serious about studying the Bible. How do you interpret all of that, looking back on it now?

If you look back at how things unfolded, you can really see God’s design in everything. At the time, I didn’t realize the cumulative effect of what people were doing. I realize now that every little thing, from my mom sending me A Purpose Driven Life to my next-cell neighbor in prison turning from drug dealer to Christian, was all a part of God’s plan to show me his love and grace. And it made me understand that I had a choice about what my life would be like moving forward. I could keep trying to punch God away or I could hug him closer. Hence the James Weldon Johnson quote in the front of the book: “Young man, young man, your arm’s too short to box with God.”

When in prison you read a lot of law books and then prepared a petition for the Supreme Court that was accepted. Honestly, that doesn’t sound all that impressive to me, but I think that’s because I just don’t understand how unlikely it was that anyone would pay attention to that kind of a petition. Can you give me a little context or give me an analogy that helps me understand what this means?

Getting the U.S. Supreme Court to hear a case is one of the most difficult things to accomplish in the legal field. The Court receives around 8,000 petitions a year and only hears around 80 of them. So the odds are low even for attorneys. When you add in the fact that this was the second legal brief I had ever written and it was filed by an indigent prisoner, not an attorney, the odds of us winning that case were astronomical. The fact that I was able to have it happen twice while I was in prison is...[read on]

Learn more about Law Man at Shon Hopwood's website, blog, and Facebook page.

My Book, The Movie: Law Man.

The Page 99 Test: Law Man.

--Marshal Zeringue

Adam Brent Houghtaling

Adam Brent Houghtaling is the author of This Will End in Tears: The Miserabilist Guide to Music.

From his Q & A with Randy Dotinga at the Christian Science Monitor:

Q: What makes sad songs unique?

A: Sad songs are a really intimate thing. They're not something you listen to with all your friends at a dinner party or when you're hanging out at a lake house with your buddies. You're doing it by yourself.

If you're listening to a lot of sad music, it's because you're not in a great state of mind. You've just gotten your heart broken or suffered some kind of loss. It becomes intimate, but it's also comforting in a way.

Q: Can sad songs actually be good for us when we're feeling down?

A: There's this idea that listening to sad songs may drag us deeper into our despair. But it may also help us go deeper into a despair and focus on whatever the problem is that brought us to that point.

Q: Do you mean a kind of catharsis?

A: I found catharsis to be a very tricky topic, but...[read on]

--Marshal Zeringue

Margaret Dilloway

Margaret Dilloway was inspired by her Japanese mother's experiences when she wrote The Care and Handling of Roses with Thorns, and especially by a book her father had given to her mother called The American Way of Housekeeping.

From Dilloway's Q & A with Caroline Leavitt:

I adored the heroine of your new novel. She really starts off so prickly, and then gradually, she begins to unfold, much like a flower, and I ended up being totally in love with her. Where'd she come from?

I had the idea to write a book about rose breeding, so I began research. When I found out that many rose breeding hobbyists are retired scientists or engineers, the voice of Gal popped into my head. She always thinks she’s correct, she loves order, and she has a very methodical way of doing things. But, she’s extremely passionate and wants what’s best for everyone. She’s partially based on my late sister-in-law, whose lifelong struggle with kidney failure ended last Christmas. I think Gal has developed a take-no-prisoners attitude toward life because that very attitude is necessary for surviving her chronic illness.

The details, both about roses and kidney dialysis, were fascinating. Can you tell me about the research process? What surprised you?

For rose breeding, what surprised me most was the amount of chance involved. So much of it depends on luck. The breeder who helped me most, Jim Sproul, breeds many Hulthemia roses. He told me his child got a perfect specimen on the first try. Jim was the first one to get Hulthemias to the consumer market this year—they’re called the Eyeconic Lemonade and Pink Lemonade.

For the dialysis/kidney stuff, the biggest surprise came with how many times medical doctors...[read on]

Learn more about the book and author at Margaret Dilloway's website and blog.

My Book, The Movie: The Care and Handling of Roses with Thorns.

The Page 69 Test: The Care and Handling of Roses with Thorns.

--Marshal Zeringue

Kitty Pilgrim

Kitty Pilgrim worked as a CNN correspondent and news anchor for 24 years. As a New York-based reporter her normal beat included politics and economics but her assignments also have taken her around the world – Russia, China, Venezuela, Cuba, the Middle East, Korea and South Africa. Pilgrim anchored her own CNN morning show, Early Edition in 1998-1999 and was anchor for prime time broadcasts at CNN from 2001-2010. Pilgrim is the recipient of an Overseas Press Club Award, a Peabody Award, an Emmy, and New York Society of Black Journalists Award. She is a member of the prestigious Council on Foreign Relations and the Explorer’s Club of New York.

The Stolen Chalice is Pilgrim's latest novel featuring archaeologist John Sinclair.

From her Q & A at Miss Literati:

MISS LITERATI: When was the first time you realized you wanted to become a writer?

KITTY PILGRIM: I never wanted to be a “writer” per se. From early childhood I always wrote as a pastime: stories and poems, plays and riddles. No one ever suggested I become a writer. So I sort of stumbled into journalism and loved it. Even then I didn’t think of the career as being a writer, even though I wrote my reports and broadcast scripts every day. Suddenly now with my novels I have become a genuine recognized “writer” and it feels wonderful. But now I realize I have been a writer all along.

MISS LITERATI: How has your journalism career helped you become the person and writer you are today?

KITTY PILGRIM: The job of broadcast journalist consists of experiencing events and narrating them to others. I went to many places all over the world and was able to see and experience different viewpoints and cultures. That breadth of experience helps me construct internationally based thrillers like THE EXPLORER’S CODE and THE STOLEN CHALICE. When I write scenes for the book, I first “report” the location by traveling there and learning all about the place. Then when I sit down to write a scene in Egypt or Scotland or the Norwegian Arctic I can recall vividly all the details. My goal in writing these novels is to inform as well as to entertain. So my journalistic discipline of researching every detail had served me well in writing fiction. I try very hard to have all my information...[read on]

Learn more about the book and author at Kitty Pilgrim's website.

My Book, The Movie: The Stolen Chalice.

The Page 69 Test: The Stolen Chalice.

Writers Read: Kitty Pilgrim.

--Marshal Zeringue

Tracey Garvis Graves

Tracey Garvis Graves lives in a suburb of Des Moines, Iowa, with her husband, two children, and hyper dog Chloe.

In On the Island, her first novel, two people stranded on an island struggle to survive—and slowly fall in love.

From the author's Q & A at The Daily Quirk:

TDQ: On The Island deals with some rather unique subject matter. What was your inspiration for telling this story?

TGG: I remember watching the movie Castaway and wishing there had been another person on that island with Tom Hanks. If they could sell the idea that a man could have a meaningful relationship with a volleyball, why couldn’t I convince readers that true love conquers all and age is just a number?

TDQ: Did you know you wanted there to be a significant age difference between the characters from the start?

TGG: Yes, definitely. The premise rested on the challenge of taking two characters who really shouldn’t be together and creating a relationship that the reader would not only understand, but come to root for.

TDQ: It seems like it would be difficult to write from the perspective of a teenage boy – did you do any specific preparation to help you get inside T.J.’s head?

TGG: Well, I hope it’s not indicative of my maturity level, but...[read on]

Learn more about the book and author at Tracey Garvis Graves's blog and Facebook page.

My Book, The Movie: On the Island.

--Marshal Zeringue