This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Meg Benjamin will be awarding a $20 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.
When did you first consider yourself to be a writer?
Well, that depends on how you define writer. I was a college teacher for a lot of years and I had to write papers and books as part of my job (publish or perish, y’all). But that wasn’t exactly writing for fun. I started writing fiction in my spare time because I wanted to do something that wasn’t related to my job, and because I’d always wanted to write novels. My first novel, Venus In Blue Jeans, was published in 2009, and I think that’s when I decided I really could be considered a writer, as in a fiction writer.
What advice do you have for a new writer?
The best way to become a writer is to write every day. You don’t have to write a whole book in twenty-four hours, but you should get a routine going where you promise yourself to write a certain number of words. Don’t worry if they’re not great. You can rewrite them later. Another absolutely crucial thing is a reader. Find a critique group or a critical friend. Don’t use someone who loves you—they won’t tell you when something stinks because they love you. To me, those are the two crucial things: writing and reading.
What is the easiest part of the writing process for you?
Rewriting and editing. It’s fun to re-read what you’ve written and figure out what you need to do to make it better. First drafts are work. When you get to the second draft, though, you know where you’re going and where you mean to end up. You can concentrate on making the journey as smooth as possible.
What is your favorite part of this story?
It differs from story to story. In my cozy mysteries, I get a kick out of writing the actual murder. Do you let people see it happening or do you have them come in after the fact? How do you build up the suspense around what’s going to happen or has already happened? You get to play God a little because you know what’s going on and your reader may not.
Which character was the most fun to write about? Why?
I really like my heroine, Roxy Constantine. This is the first time I’ve used first person since it’s not common in romance writing, and I enjoyed being in Roxy’s point of view and developing her voice. She’s a big women (over six feet), who’s not as sure of herself as she should be. But she knows her jam. And as the book goes on, she figures out what she wants and how to get it.
Which character was the hardest to write about? Why?
Probably the victim, Brett Holmes. He’s a thoroughgoing asshole, but, as Roxy says several times, “even an asshole deserves to live.” I wanted to make him creepy but believable, not so over-the-top that he seems too bad to be true. I wouldn’t say he deserves what he gets, but he definitely created a situation where it’s not surprising that someone decided to whack him with a frying pan.
I rounded the last curve in the path, heading toward the parking lot. And stopped cold.
My truck, which had previously been cleanish if not immaculate, was now caked in mud. I looked like someone had taken handfuls from the nearby riverbank and thrown it full force at the truck’s sides. There were clumps on the doors, the windows, the fenders and all along the locking cover over the back. If it hadn’t been for the cover, the booth I’d left in the truck bed would have been splattered, too. I didn’t want to think about how hard that would have been to clean up.
But the pièce de résistance was the word smeared across the windshield: slut. Done in shades of grayish black. My stomach clenched tight as I stared, and my mind tried to make sense of what I was seeing.
Who? Who did this? The words kept echoing through my mind. Did people in town really think I was a slut? What had I done to make them think that?
Nothing. I took a deep breath, pulling myself together. This hadn’t been done by the citizens of Shavano, who probably had no particular opinions about my sex life, given that I didn’t have one. This was done by somebody with a grudge. And the most obvious person in that category was Brett Holmes.
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Thanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteThanks for letting me join you today!
ReplyDeleteThe book sounds like a great read.
ReplyDeleteI have enjoyed reading your interview and I am looking forward to reading The Pepper Peach Murder. Who is your favorite heroine from any of the stories that you have written so far?
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