Ask the Author: Jeannette Batz Cooperman
Answered Questions (10)
Jeannette Batz Cooperman
I'd go to the Faubourg Saint Germain, dressed exquisitely, wangle an invitation to a dinner party, drink too much champagne, say daring things, then sit cross-legged on Marcel's bed afterward and gossip about everybody there.
Jeannette Batz Cooperman
George Saunders' Lincoln in the Bardo. Everything by Adrian McKinty. Anything is Possible by Elizabeth Strout. Single We Fell by Dennis Lehane.
Jeannette Batz Cooperman
Such a great question! of course, if my life were juicier, I might not need to read and write mysteries...But a few years back, when we lived in a sweet little 1940s gingerbread house, there were some shady goings-on down the street--turned out the guy was running a call-girl ring. And in my day job as a reporter I once interviewed a dominatrix who lived in a Victorian house in the suburbs. With geranium window boxes and a dungeon in the basement. I kept wondering about the tiny signs, the process of neighbors gradually noticing and piecing things together, the possibilities for spying and blackmail or crazy outrage. The juxtapositions are interesting. Even when you're standing in the sunlight, there's darkness you can't see...
Jeannette Batz Cooperman
So many. David and Sarah in Five Smooth Stones, because their love overcame every obstacle. Gertrude and Alice, for Alice's forbearance and Gertrude's secret need. Nick and Nora for pure fun. Heloise and Abelard because they stayed friends after...oh, my.
Jeannette Batz Cooperman
Research the hell out of whatever I'm stuck on. Usually "blocked" just means I don't know what I need to say next because I haven't quite grasped what I'm doing.
Jeannette Batz Cooperman
The freedom to ask anybody any question. The mandate to explore whatever interests you. The fact that the most miserable experience can be rationalized as possible material. Okay, that's three things already. But the real best thing is having somebody connect to words you've written and carry the conversation forward. Or, with fiction, talk about your characters as though they know them.
Jeannette Batz Cooperman
Read. Write. Read about writing. Analyze what you read. (I'm terrible at this; I get too caught up in the story.) Think. Ask questions. Read some more.
Jeannette Batz Cooperman
My second mystery. That's why I need feedback!
Jeannette Batz Cooperman
By people whose psychology intrigues me; by deep questions about life that I can't answer but love to think about; by my workaday job in journalism; by everything I read.
Jeannette Batz Cooperman
When I was writing an article about the heroin epidemic, the medical examiner mentioned a rare practice called "flashblood"...and it all unfolded from there.
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