Ask the Author: Darlene Quinn

“Ask me a question.” Darlene Quinn

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Darlene Quinn I don't have any real mysteries, but several challenges with a severely deaf daughter and an enabling father

I did explore how to overcome the influence of an enabling father in Conflicting Webs. Although I did not use my daughters handicap I was able to save the daughter in my fiction.
Darlene Quinn I read a wide variety of genres. My goal is to try new authors (ones I have not read previously) for every other book. I always have a hardback at my bedside, but get though a great many more audio books which I listen to on my 3 mile morning walks and at times when I am doing mindless tasks . However, for my bedtime enjoyment, I prefer to read page-turning stories with bit sized chapters. I also like to feel l am learning something about aspects of our world that I am not familiar (an insiders perspective). My most favorite style for reading and writing is that of a thriller--where the reader knows more than any given character within the story.
Darlene Quinn I actually got the idea for the backdrop of my newest novel, Conflicting Webs (May 2015) which I am now editing, while researching Unpredictable Webs (May 2013) and interviewing a target group from the Fans of Marshall Fields as well as two vice presidents at Macy's, housed in the Marshall Fields building in Chicago. Having been on the management team of the Bullocks Wilshire Stores on the West Coast, I was not unaware of business organizations giving back to the communities in which they serve, however, I was literally blown away by the vast amount of support to the Arts; Education; Environment; HIV, Women’s issues; American Heart Association; Domestic violence . . . .. of a large department store conglomerate.
Since large corporations are often vilified, I thought it would be interesting to place one of my characters in the corporate giving sector (background not the story) . Conflicting Webs has far more conflicts than I at first imagined and introduces Lindsay, a precocious four year old who has captured my heart, as well as Bill Boyd, a dynamic new character--a good Samaritan who just happened upon a horrific accident. Bill is unlikely to disappear from the Web Series.
Darlene Quinn Although I had no idea I would be writing a series, the characters from my first novel had other ideas. I write fact-tion: Character driven novels set in the actual landscape of retail; fashion; & up-scale department stores from the mid-eighties to the present time. While the back grounds in my novels are authentic based on my experience as a management team member of a major West Coast Division of Federated Department Stores (now Macy's Inc with 800 department stores and 40 Bloomingdale's stores) and extensive research, I never let the facts get in the way of page-turning suspense.
Darlene Quinn
Follow your passion. Write the kind of book you'd like to read. Join other writers. Attend a writer's conference for a crash course and join a local writers' group. Listen to critique group members. If they point out a problem, they are usually right. If they tell you how to fix it, they are usually wrong. Treat critique groups as a salad bar. Select only what works for you.
Darlene Quinn
Follow your passion. Write the kind of book you'd like to read. Join other writers. Attend a writer's conference for a crash course and join a local writers' group. Listen to critique group members. If they point out a problem, they are usually right. If they tell you how to fix it, they are usually wrong. Treat critique groups as a salad bar. Select only what works for you.
Darlene Quinn I write the type of book I most like to read and have had the opportunity to meet a world of inspiring individuals and share my passion.
Darlene Quinn Fortunately I have never experienced writer's block. While I know it feels real to many writers, I believe it is either an excuse or a fear of writing badly. We never hear about mechanics block, secretaries block, etc.? This so called writers block, I believe comes from the fear that the next book won't be as good as the one before (the goal is always that it be even better). While you might think that the more accolades an author receives, the higher their confidence level might rise. However, that often works in reverse. As the bar keep being raised the more intimidated some authors may become. Fear is the inhibitor. To become successful, a writer must allow themselves to write poorly.
Ernest Hemingway“The first draft of anything is shit.”

― Ernest Hemingway

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