?? Questions and Answers ??

These are some of the questions that I'm often asked, usually by my critique partners.

Q. Who designed your web site?

A. I did. I used Front Page to set it up. As I've told many folks, the hardest part about designing a web site is deciding what content to include. That took me days. The actual design took me four or five hours. Once you design the template (the banner, footer, and basic layout) that's half the battle.

Q. Do you have a blog?

A. Yep. I finally bowed to pressure and started one. It's right here. I only post a couple of times a week. I also participate in a group blog, Mavens of the Pen, which I started with some writing friends. I post a topic every week and we chat about it. Stop by and comment.

Q. What do your initials stand for?

A. I'm not telling. Like many of my characters, I have some secrets around my name.

Q. Where do you get the ideas for your stories?

A. I daydream a lot.

Once, while sitting at a stop light, I saw someone who looked familiar, and that got me to thinking, "Hmm, what would happen if an old boyfriend appeared in a woman's life, out of nowhere, decades after the fact?"

Then I took that idea and played with it, remembering some of the truly odd people I've known, some of whom served in 'advisory' capacities in Nam. One idea led to another and before I knew it, I was writing I Know You're Out There... Somewhere.

The opening scene in Your Saving Grace comes from personal experience. I was in a bar once when I witnessed a beating. Unlike Hannah, I didn't have to testify, but I'll never forget it as long as I live.

I know someone who was stalked because he laid someone off (Reason to Believe), I'm an ex-hippy war protester (If Not For You), I worked at a resort during two summers of college (The Boys of Summer), I grew up in a small town (Brilliant Disguise)... you get the idea. Pieces of my past show up all throughout my books.

 Q. Where do you find the names for your characters?

A. Men's names are pretty easy. I've found that I prefer men's names with more consonants than vowels.

Women's names are a bit trickier; I usually have a plot and the hero's name in mind before I come up with the heroine. I try pairing them together ("Jack and Odetta"; "Hannah and Jude") to see how they sound.

Q. The titles of your books always have a rock and roll theme. Why?

A. I like R&R.  I listen to it while I write. And I love dropping clues in the text as to the artist. The name of the artist is usually in chapter 1 or chapter 2.

Q. Why did you decide to become a writer?

A. I've always been a writer. My first professional job was as a proofreader, which led to copyediting, which led to technical writing, where I've been ever since.

Q. What kind of technical writing?

A. I mainly document complex software systems and the underlying code that implements them. Programmers take my documentation and the accompanying software and then customize the product for their particular use. It's pretty arcane stuff.

Q. Where do your settings come from?

A. I've lived just about every place I've described. I've lived in many locations around the world, but I've spent the most time in Pittsburgh, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa. Those are the places that are the most vivid for me and hence show up in my books (because they're easy to write about). I occasionally toss in places where I've traveled (Lie to Me, The Right Thing to Do).

Q. How often do you write?

A. I write every day. I do something every day. I either re-work a scene, hash out a plot detail, work on blurbs, work on my web  site, or write a chapter. I don't set a goal or anything except to 'make progress every day', of some kind. Sometimes it's just to write a query letter, or prep a manuscript for an agent, or research a tricky plot point. But I do something on my writing career every day. I never put down the pen.

Q. Do you have a critique partner?

A. I have several, actually. I'm in two online critique groups and one 'in person' critique group. I find that the more people who read my words, the better, because I always get different perspectives. But that also means that I often have two manuscripts being worked on at a time, and it can get confusing.

Q. How many drafts do you do of a book?

A. That depends on what you call a 'draft'. I usually write a book in one pass -- it takes about six weeks from beginning to end, sometimes longer depending on the research. For example, Forgiveness took eight weeks because I made some trips to Northfield to see for myself where Jesse James was shot (fun trips). I just about always have the complete plot in my head. I'll play with it as I go along, and sometimes the characters take a right turn or I'll look at it and think 'hmm, I need some back story to explain his motivation there', but usually I have a good idea of the structure in mind when I first sit down to type.

I finish what I call a 'good first draft'. Then I go back and look for all of the stuff that I always goof up on: are my days in the right sequence, do my characters act consistently, do I use too many adverbs, compound sentences, or verbal tags? I weed out as much as I can then I let the book sit and I move on to the next one.

There's always a 'next one'. I'll either pick up a draft to edit, start a rewrite, or do research.

About 3-6 months after doing the draft, I'll look at the draft again. By now I've got 'fresh eyes' and can usually spot the obvious problems. I'll fix what I find then I'll put it into critique, sometimes in two groups at a time. It takes, usually, about 2 months for a critique. Then I let it sit again for a month or so before I try to start marketing it.

So I guess that's three drafts of a book. I tweak some after that, but usually by the time it's gone through my two edits and my critique partners, it's as good as I think I can get it. Of course, I may come back and slash at it again, depending on the feedback I get.