INTERVIEW WITH AN AUTHOR
I recently read that to publisize their books, Authors should interview themselves about their work. It sounded a little funny to me, but I did it anyway and here is the result.
When did realize that you wanted to be an author?
I think I was born with the urge to tell stories. I can remember my mother recounting a story about me scaring all my cousins (we were about four) with a tale of the noise the leaves landing on a tin roof really being monster feet. When they ran inside screaming, I did too. I guess you could say I scared myself!
How long does it take for you to write one of your books?
That depends on how much time I can cut out of my regular work to write (I am my husband’s office manager and I also do a lot of work for a couple of non-profit groups). Sadly, of late it has also depended on how long I can sit in a very comfortable office chair without my back beginning to hurt.
How do you balance your work schedule when you’re busy writing?
I tend to block out time. When I have a work deadline, sometimes I will write after everyone else has gone to bed.
What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
I tend to write the way producers shoot movies. That is, if a scene is just insisting that I write it, I stop where I am and write that scene. This sometimes means I will write chapter 7 before I write chapter 2, or write a scene from a completely different book. In that way the computer is a godsend, because I can go back to that scene when I get ready to put it in a book.
How do you come up with ideas for your books?
This is probably going to sound insane, but I feel the characters themselves write the story. I always start out with an outline, but I usually find myself changing the outline as the story unfolds. Often, I will pick up on something from TV, a movie or even a book I’m reading. For instance I might think, what would happen if Lucinda (MC in To Love & Honor) was confronted with a situation like that?
When did you write your first book?
I was in my twenties. I was working at a government agency and we had an hour lunch. I couldn’t go anywhere because I didn’t drive, so I would take my own floppy discs in the back and use the word processor there. Unfortunately, I had no hard copies because I didn’t want to print my private stuff using paper that didn’t belong to me. I still have the set of 8″ floppies done on a Wang word processor. If I could ever find anyone who could download them into word on a thumb drive, I might be able to write it. It was a science fiction reminiscent of the style used by the late Edgar Rice Burroughs.
What are your hobbies when you’re not writing?
I paint, I read a lot, I watch TV, I work crossword & jigsaw puzzles on my mini I-Pad.
What do your family and close friends think of your writing?
I’m not sure to tell the truth. They support me, but their opinions are not reliable because they are my family and friends!
What was one of the most interesting things that you learned about yourself when you published your first book?
That you are never too old to begin a new career (I’m in my 60s)
How many books have you written? Which one is your favorite?
In fiction there are currently 5 Handfasting books (I’m working on No 6), One book in the St. Antoni series and one book in the Magi Series. In non-fiction I have a series of pamphlets (The Modern Artist’s Handbook) detailing things from introducing the internet, taxes and licenses, how to put on an art show, How to frame your art without breaking your bank account, how to make money at arts & craft shows, etc.
My favorite book is always the one I’m currently working on.
What do you think makes a good story?
Interesting characters and a good plot. Also, if your character is supposed to be an expert on something, do your research! I once dropped a cozy mystery series about a veterinarian because the author claimed a horse could win the Kentucky Derby multiple times!
Where do you like to kick back and write your books?
If I’m writing a scene in my head, I can be anywhere, but the most common places are the shower and in the truck. I do find when I’m writing in my head the best place is my car because I can put on the right musc (for fight scenes I prefer a really fast paced song with heavy drums). If I’m putting the book on paper, then in the office on the computer. Preferably alone so I don’t get distracted by my family (this is why I sometimes write after my husband and son have gone to bed).
Tell us about your Series (book)
The Handfasting Seriestakes place in the far future when mankind has colonized the stars. Humans meet many different races and cultures once they get out into space. In each book, I’ve tried to disclose a little more about the Confederation and the races who inhabit it. I’ve had the series percolating around in my psyche for at least 20 years. In Lucinda’s book To Love and Honor, we learn more about the Trellyans and about their society and about the Thieves Guild and how it actually works.The first 3 books in this series were about the O’Teague sisters, Genevieve, Katherine and Drusilla. The next six will concern the children introduced in the first three books, Jayla, Lucinda, Juliette, Violet, Roderick and Rupert.
To Love & Honor is the 5th book in the handfasing series. Lucinda was introduced as one of the children adopted by Lady Katherine in A Year & A Day.
Lucinda was a “designer child”. Given genius level intelligence in an embryonic Thieves Guild lab, she learned survival in a harsh world. At twelve, she was rescued and adopted into a loving family. As an adult Lucinda chose to fight her former masters by joining the police force. She works hard to earn her place among Vensoog’s law enforcement community.
On her first assignment, compassion impels her to protect an alien mother and daughter fleeing off-planet bounty hunters. To ensure their safety, she must defeat a deadly Soturi warrior in hand-to-hand combat. Then she rescues a ‘designer child’ who is a younger double for herself from a sex trafficking ring. To solve this case and rescue the other children trapped by those same criminals, she must capture a vicious Thieves Guild assassin. But even with the help of the best private eye on Vensoog, these are tough cases for a rookie cop. It’s available everywhere in e-book format and in paperback on Amazon and on my website.
The Magi Seriesis almost pure sword and sorcery with just a touch of technology. It is my tribute to Andre Norton’s Witch World Series. The people arrive on the planet Rulari in the usual way through a Portal, but once there they discover that the laws of physics and science don’t apply there in the same way they applied on earth. Rulari is cris-crossed by Ley lines enabling its inhabitants to use powers similiar to magic.
Spell of the Magi, the first book in the series takes place after the human refugees have been on Rulari for approximately three hundred years. Rebecca was born to the Magi in a land where that meant slavery or death. All her life she has hidden from the Shan’s Proctors who control the enslaved Magi. To keep her family safe from them, she will risk anything, tell any lie, even trick an innocent man into a forbidden marriage. She never expected to fall in love with that man, but it happened. Now she and Andre must defy the Proctors with nothing but his skill with a blade and her untried magic.
The St. Antoni Serieshas almost no magic or esp. It originally began as a western back when women writers were discovering a whole new genre of romance and women readers found out that if properly presented, Gunman, Ranchers, farmers and other pioneer men were, strong, kind and made wonderful heroes. I used three sisters as the heroines but instead of presenting them in three separate books, I wrote three separate but connected stories. I also kept most of that original plot which transmuted quite well from a western to a steam-punk novel of a parallel world reached through a portal.
Warriors of St. Antoni, the first book in this series, tells the story of a rancher/mine owner who is is ambushed and crippled. He thinks he needs strong men to defend his ranch and mine from a predatory neighbor. His only assets are his three marriagable daughters so he arranges marriages for them. Sisters Bethany, Jeanne and Iris, make choices to survive on the harsh new world of St. Antoni. Bethany marries a mercenary warrior to shield her family from a predatory neighbor. To her surprise, the marriage of convenience turns into a love match, but Bethany and Alec must learn to trust as well as love each other. Iris chooses an arranged marriage with a beloved old friend, but did Carlos marry her for love, or to please her father? Jeanne and Samuel, the son of her family’s greatest enemy, run away to a distant city to build a new life, but discover you can’t run away from who you are.
What are you currently working on?
I’m currently working on Uncharted Trails. This will be the 6th book in the handfasting series. The lead female is Juliette, Lady Katherine’s First Daughter. As a First Daughter, she is third in line to rule Veiled Isle. It’s written as a straight adventure story about a group of explorers searching for the ruins of an ancient city built by one of the elder races in the Confederation universe. It is also about Juliette’s journey to adulthood. The trek forces her to come to terms with her labratory designed genes and to develop the self-confidence she needs to become the leader she is destined to be.
The secondary female lead is a young Trellyan woman named Eloyoni who was taken in a raid while waiting for her bridegroom and forced to marry one of the outlaws who took her. Suddenly she is offfered a way out of her captivity, but by now she is carrying Ladru’s child. We first heard about Eloyoni in To Love & Honor when her mother Ispone and her sister Sesuna come to Vensoog in search of her.
Who do you write your books for?
I write my stories primarily for myself. I’ve always devoured books, and with that type of appetite, eventually you run out of books to read, so I’ve been forced to invent my own stories. It’s only since the changes to the publishing industry that I’ve been able to share these stories with others in the form of e-books or paperbacks.
Is there a central message in your book (series)
Yes. Family, either the one you choose or the one you are born with is important because you can count on them.
If you have to choose, what would you say is the single mos timportant idea you’re sharing in your book that is really going to add value to a reader’s?
If you have a dream, follow it. Don’t let age or other obstacles get in your way.
If you could compare your books with any books we might already be familiar with, which book would it be and why?
The Magi Seriesas I said earlier, I wrote as a tribute to one of my favorite fantasy authors, Andre Norton and her Witch World Series. I hope her readers will also read this one and enjoy it.
For the Handfasting Series, I did take some inspiration from Jayne Ann Krenz’s Sci Fi series on the world of Harmony but I also pulled inspiration from Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonflight series.
For the Warriors of St. AntoniI drew chiefly for inspiration from a couple of male western writers, Zane Grey and Louis L’Amour.
Tell us about the central characters in the book you’re working on.
For Uncharted Trails,the central character is Juliette the First Daughter of Lady Katherine and Lord Zack. She is young (she hasn’t yet been given her first Match List so she is considered underage). She was created in an embryonic lab at the request of a thieves guild lt. who wanted a girl who could infilterate forbidden places to steal items for him. As a result, she isn’t fully human, her genes being a blend of human, elf and trelyan. The male lead is Isiah Jordan whose twin brother is a member of the exploratory team searching for the ancient ruins.
Tell us your most rewarding experience since publishing your work?
Finding out someone who doesn’t usually read science fiction actually liked my work because it was more about family than about space opera.
If someone wrote a book about your life, what would the title be?
Don’t let the bastards get you down. (the family motto)
How would you describe your writing style?
I am the omnicent narrator. I often switch POVs, although I do try and make it obvious when I’m switching.
Who influenced your writing the most?
Many other writers, first and formost will probably be Edgar Rice Burroughs, Zane Grey and Georgette Heyer
Are your characters pure fiction, or did you draw from people you know?
Certain aspects of each charactor might be taken from friends or acquaintences. However as I write, the charactor him/herself tells me about that charactor. I suppose this is why I find it difficult to write about them unless I’ve seen their face (Usually done by creating a cover).
Are you more of a character artist or a plot driven writer?
You know I don’t actually know which I am. I don’t think a plot is much good without strong charactors to hold it up.
Who should buy this book
Readers who enjoy a good strong female main charactor balanced by an equally strong male lead, and who like a good adventure where good triumphs over evil.
Where can readers find your books?
Everywhere! Click here for more about Gail’s books
