It is a Great Pleasure and an honor to Interview author Jane Baskin. Thank you Jane for your time. I wish you much success.
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http://foreverkindayoung.blogspot.com
~~~Author Interview~~~
What inspires you to write?
I can't help it. I have been writing yarns and stories, since I was a child. When I sat down to write JANE OF THE JUNGLE, it was just because I got a new computer, and I wanted to see how it worked. I wrote the opening paragraph, and then I must have opened a channel to the infinite, because out it came. I wrote most of it in stolen hours at Starbucks. I would just open the computer, pick up where I left off, and then it would flow. One day in Starbucks, I looked at what I had written and exclaimed out loud, in front of everyone, "Where do I get this sh*t?" After the appropriate apologies to the startled cafe' goers, I explained that I was writing a yarn, but had no idea how. Of course, there was a bit of editing to do later on.
Who is your favorite author?
Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I first read Cien Anos(One Hundred Years Of Solitude), when I was about twenty-eight, living on Martha's Vineyard Island, off the coast of Massachusetts. I was thunderstruck by magic realism, and also by his ability to weave profundity through a rollicking yarn. If I have copied him in my style of writing, it is the highest form of flattery. Magic realism is the fusion of poetry and prose, it's the writer's way to 'show, not tell.'
Did you enjoy reading as a child?
My mother told me that I was a word hound. She said, she and my dad used to put the newspaper on the floor for me, so that I could crawl all over it, and pick out words I knew. I don't know at exactly what age I was reading, but I do know I read Aesop's Fables and Winnie The Pooh myself, when I was very young. Books were not only doors to another world for me. As I grew, they became comfort, fantasy, escape and teachers. In high school, I read my father's Oxford Shakespeare to relax, after getting picked on in school.
How important is a book cover?
Well, it won't make me buy a book, but it will make me look, so I would say that's pretty important. I designed my own cover for JANE OF THE JUNGLE, and then the editors changed it. I don't know why I let them. I like my original design way better, and they used the wrong kind of guns, by the way.
Do you have current work in progress?
My current work is a sequel to "JANE OF THE JUNGLE." It was planned as a series from very early on, so I have a bunch of ideas in my head. I even had a very powerful dream one night, that told a sub-story of the plot. I haven't started writing yet, but my head is ready. I won't write the ideas down though, because I want it to flow forth the way "JANE OF THE JUNGLE" did.
It is an honor and with Great pleasure to Interview author Eve Paludan. Thank you for your time. I wish you much Success.
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http://evepaludan.com
~~~Author Interview~~~
What inspires you to write?
My preferred inspiration is dreams. I got the seed of an idea from a weather video, but I pre-wrote almost my entire novel, Letters From David, in my sleep. I dreamed the beginning, then the end, then each chapter in order, and that's the way I wrote the book. First, last, middle. It seemed like every chapter channeled into my dreams, which I then typed madly, when I awoke each morning. I saw actual handwritten letters in my dreams that ended up in a book. It was a strange experience. I loved it and would like to repeat it.
Secondly, I will read someone else's book, and a seed of inspiration is planted for my own work. "THE MAN WHO FELL FROM THE SKY" was inspired by 'The Body Departed' by J.R. Rain. A broad theme in his book, what happens when we die, but we have unfinished business? This is a strong theme in many stories and movies, but his is the most well-done book I ever read in this vein. He took the topic to the upper ranges of human emotion. Our books are very different, but I was so emotionally moved by what he wrote that I knew I wanted to write a book that would push the envelope with reader's emotions, as he had. I am deeply inspired by emotion in other people's books.
The third type of inspiration is from my visual observation of people, places, or things. Everything from artwork, to overheard conversations, to the way a place looks or smells is tucked away in my little nugget factory of sensory details.
Who is your favorite author?
That's kind of like asking which one of my kids is my favorite. It's top secret, because I currently edit for numerous fiction authors, including authors of bestselling vampire novels, as well as authors of many romance novels. I also have many author friends. I shouldn't tell you the name of my current favorite author. I would like to share the name of an author whose work I have read, more than anyone else. I don't know him and have never edited his books, but I am a reader for life of this talented and prolific writer, James Patterson.
Did you enjoy reading as a child?
I remember that dad used to read me chapters of 'Winnie The Pooh' and 'Christopher Robin'(not the Disney versions), and he made sure that our house was well stocked with amazing classics such as: The Velveteen Rabbit; with Little Golden Books; Babar; Dr. Seuss; and even a lavishly illustrated art novae edition of Beauty and the Beast, with color plates.
As soon as I learned to read silently on my own, I devoured books at quite a clip. Especially in summer, I read up to ten books a week, which was the checkout limit at the public library. My dad used to love to spend three to five hours a week in the library and we did that for years in Maryland, where I spent my first eleven years, and later in Arizona. Those library trips are among my happiest memories. For years, I wrote and kept my own book reviews on index cards, filed alphabetically by title in a wooden file box. I had hundreds of them. Yes, I loved to read as a child. I wore out many flashlights under the covers.
How important is a book cover?
A book cover is so important, that I believe if you don't have a good one, your book will fail with readers. It imbues the concept of your novel, every time the reader opens the book. The title carries equal weight with the cover graphics. Even the font of your title can set a tone. Books are as much visual as they are literal, in my opinion.
Do you have current work in progress?
I am currently at work on a sequel, The Man Who Rose from The Sea(Angel detectives Case #2) and Ghost Fire, a contracted mystery novella for a popular new series called The Ghost Files, and an un-named sexy vampire trilogy that's set in west Los Angeles.
It is with Great Pleasure and an honor to Interview author Holly Robinson. Thank you Holly for your time. I wish you much Success.
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http://www.authorhollyrobinson.com
~~~Author Interview~~~
What inspires you to write?
Everything from cheesy reality TV shows to a quiet dinner with friends that can provoke some small thought will gradually blossom into an entire planet populated with people, whose lives are endlessly fascinating to me. I end up having movies playing in my head, so that writing often feels like dictation, when I do the first draft. Of course there are the awful and stubborn second, third, and fourth drafts, where I toss out as much as I keep.
Describe your perfect comfort zone while writing.
I write in the 18th century barn behind my house, in an office with the original pegged beams, and rough pine floors. French doors open onto a screened-in porch, where I like to write in nice weather. The porch overlooks a ninety year old perennial garden that I gradually been trying to bring back to life, since buying this house six years ago. I typically get dressed to take the kids to school, then slip back into flannel pants and a t-shirt to write, and I always have a thermos of tea next to my computer to keep me going.
Who is your favorite author?
That would be impossible to say. I have widely varied interests. Lately, I've been alternating nonfiction with gritty mysteries. For example, I love Susan Orlean's books, The Orchid Thief was especially brilliant, and I'm a big fan of Elizabeth George's mysteries.
How important is a book cover?
I think that, especially in this day of online book marketing, the importance of a book cover can't be overemphasized. A book cover invites readers into your world.
Do you have current work in progress?
Yes, I am currently revising my third novel, The Wishing Well, which I recently sold to Penguin. It will be published in spring of 2013.
