Rebecca Cantrell's Blog, page 9
March 9, 2010
Favorite Superhero?
My favorite superhero?
The Tick. Hands down. For those of you who aren't familiar with him, The Tick was a cartoon that ran on Saturday mornings on Fox in the 90s. Even though I was a grownup by then (I owned my own car, house, and cat), I still got up at the ungodly hour of nine (or maybe it was ten) to watch it. Later, I would have a child and never sleep in past seven for ten years and counting. But back then getting up at nine (or ten) on a weekend was a big deal.
Du...
February 9, 2010
Writing Beverage of Choice?
What is your writing beverage of choice?
My beverage of choice: Iced Soy Chai. My favorite chais are Tazo and Stash, plus whatever they use for the vanilla chai up at the Aloha Theater in Kainaliu. Sadly, they're not open all morning or I'd be up there sucking down vanilla chais with foam all day long. None of these come in chocolate caramel versions, CJ, but maybe they're better than nothing.
I used to swear by Earl Grey. I even had the London Fog, with vanilla syrup and foamy milk from time t...
January 26, 2010
Genre vs. literary?
"Tell us how you feel about genre vs. literary," says a reassuring voice with a light Viennese accent.
The lights are dim. The Persian rug on the floor is red with an elaborate pattern of what look like flowers. The chaise is oxblood leather.
The patient shifts on the chaise. "I feel fine."
"Does it make you feel denigrated when someone calls your work genre?" The doctor strokes his pointed beard.
"I'm just happy when someone calls it anything at all. It has genre elements. People die...
January 5, 2010
The Death I Never Got to Finish
What's your favorite scene your editor asked you to cut?
OK, who of us has NOT been looking forward this question? We finally get to pull out that stuff we always wanted to show. I tend to write in a skeletal form and add layers, so my edits are more of "add more" than the "delete more" variety.
But in the first version of A Trace of Smoke I wanted the murder victim to have a voice. I wanted us to know him and love him on his own terms so we could understand what Hannah lost when she lost her b...
December 22, 2009
Writing or directing?
If you couldn't write, what would your creative outlet be?
As a writer, I love telling stories with words. Taking that away would be very difficult for me. Assuming I had to do something else, I would tell stories with pictures and sounds. I would be a film director. I haven't the skills or training, so no one in the Director's Guild needs to worry, but if I'm dreaming, I might as well dream big.
Writers, by and large, labor alone. Directors have to assemble a team and call on the strengths of ...
November 24, 2009
Why I Go to Conferences
What big name author is enough to get you to a conference?
By Rebecca Cantrell
I thought I was going to be the first curmudgeon of the week, but CJ beat me to it. She's right though. I don't go to conferences hoping to meet big name authors. Not that I'm not thrilled when I do. It was wonderful finding out that Lee Child is as charming as everyone says, the James Rollins is very funny, and when I met R.L. Stine it took all my self control not to go all fan-girl on him.
But the people I spend...
November 17, 2009
The Biography I Want to Read
If you were to write a nonfiction book, what would your topic be?
As a technical writer I wrote literally thousands of nonfiction pages. I mean, I thought they were nonfiction while I was writing them, or that they would one day be nonfiction. Because I wrote about products long before the products were completely finished, this wasn't always true, but I tried very, very hard.
But they weren't about topics I would have picked on my own. Who exactly would spend their spare time writing the...
November 3, 2009
Dream Team, Perry Mason or Paul Drake?
What fictional attorney would you hire to represent you if you ever get caught?
I'd go straight for Perry Mason. He's never lost a case, and I like that track record. He's definitely gotten defendants out of tighter pinches than the one I'd be in.
It'll be stressful as I sit in jail waiting. My nerves will be shot when the trial has its share of missteps as Perry tries and fails to break the wrong witnesses. But when Paul strides in and whispers in Perry's ear, I'll know he's found that bit of ...
October 24, 2009
Mothering Fiction: How Being a Mother Made Me a Better Writer
Here's my blog post on it on the New York Times parenting blog:
Somebody had to say it: parenting is a lot of fun!
October 6, 2009
Spinning off Characters
Which character would I spin off from my series?
by Rebecca Cantrell
Finally a question that gives historical writers an unfair advantage! I can jump forward in time, so I can spin off even the children. And that's just whom I would pick.
In A TRACE OF SMOKE, Hannah comes across an orphan 5 year old boy named Anton. Anton's been raised by a prostitute. The identity of his father is in dispute. And he talks like he's an Apache brave. I've received more fan mail about him than any other...
