Ask the Author: Gregory Stout
Answered Questions (9)
Gregory Stout
It really wouldn't take much, really. Suppose something of mine went missing, an heirloom watch, or a photo of a family member taken many years in the past. Who would take that watch, or that photo? What's in the photo besides the actual subject? What is the significance of the engraving on the inside of the watch? Start asking questions, find out who had access to the missing item, and you're off on an adventure.
Gregory Stout
I think I would go back to the Los Angeles of the 1940's as it is represented in the fiction of Raymond Chandler. I would set myself up as a private investigator work through mysteries just like Philip Marlowe.
Gregory Stout
I wake up one fine spring morning feeling healthy, happy and well-rested. Then I discover that during the night I have become 30 years younger and I am back in the work force.
Gregory Stout
Down the River to the Sea, by Walter Mosley
Basket Case, by Carl Hiassen
Swallowing Stones, by Joyce McDonald
Only to Sleep, by Lawrence Osborne
The Left Behind, by Robert Wuthnow
Basket Case, by Carl Hiassen
Swallowing Stones, by Joyce McDonald
Only to Sleep, by Lawrence Osborne
The Left Behind, by Robert Wuthnow
Gregory Stout
I guess it would be when someone you have just met says, "I read your book. I thought it was really good." It makes the hard work seem worthwhile.
Gregory Stout
Writer's block for me comes in two flavors: (1) I don't know where this story is going, and (2) I know what I want to say but I haven't figured out how to say it yet. In the first instance, I just have to walk away. Generally the next step on the path will come to me first thing in the morning when my head is clear. This sometimes takes a few days to work. In the second, I move ahead in the story and write whatever comes after the point where I am stuck. Then, later, I can circle back and bridge the gap.
Gregory Stout
I think there are two kinds of books an author can write. One is a book you want to write; the other is a book you MUST write, because it is a story or a topic that is supremely important to you. Begin by writing that story, and never, NEVER give up.
Gregory Stout
I am working on a detective novel I am calling Lost Little Girl.
Gregory Stout
My most recent book is a YA novel called Gideon's Ghost. The story line is drawn from a week I spend with my grandparents when I was 14 years old. Pretty much all the events that take place in the book happened in real life at the time of my visit (except, of course, for the ghost--I had to invent that plot element).
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