Did you always want to be a writer? If not what did you want to be?
Yes, even as a young woman. You see, writing always came easy to me and poetry writing. I started a novel when I was in my twenties but my children were young and I could not focus. But I always had the urge inside me. Felt a need to do it. Then I took a writing class and wrote a short story and the story took on a life of its own and wrote itself. I was hooked. But it was much later that I attempted to write a book. I had to write in my position at work and never had trouble with it.
Originally, I wanted to be a pathologist. Cure cancer, save the world. Grandiose thoughts but the course work was too daunting.
What can we expect from you in the future? ie More books of the same genre? Books of a different genre?
My second novel, Sunspots, explores the emotional arc of a young woman who loses her spouse after just two years. My third novel will weave the goddess realm into our reality. I think of myself as writer of magical realism with themes that circle around the empowerment of women. I am not a genre writer. Can’t really be pigeonholed. Maybe a crossover between romance and women’s fiction.
Have you ever suffered from a "writer's block"? What did you do to get past the "block"?
My biggest obstacle to writing is…writing. Once I start I’m good. My third novel has a learning curve about Greek mythology and I am a little stuck because I think I should become an expert. It is a departure from my other two novels so it’s a little scary. When I write, I have to get inside the story, have it be a part of me so I am thinking about it all the time. Have a thought just pop into my head. I’m not there yet with my third novel. It is more of a chore right now. And I’ve been very distracted because my publisher closed and I had to learn how to be a publisher. I am also shopping my second novel, so my creative juices are on hold.
But I don’t listen to music or anything. The story grabs me while I’m away from the computer and then I have to write down what came to me and that gets me to the computer and to write. I also rewrite all the time. Comb back through before I move on. Sometimes it’s necessary because if I stay away too long from the writing, I forget what I wrote and repeat myself
Do you gift books to readers to do reviews?
Yes, I am happy to do so.
Are there any hidden messages or morals contained in your books?
Oh yes. I am on a mission to send the message of female empowerment but in the real world. Not make believe women who fight zombies and the like. But real situations that we deal with as women. Walking with Elephants suggests a paradigm shift from the religious patriarchies that have subjugated women for centuries to a matriarchy, like societies in nature. Elephants, for one, where the herd is all females and their young. It really upsets me how in the states right now the presidential candidates are using women’s reproductive rights as a platform to run for office. Quite frightening. And I don’t like how the modern woman has chosen to behave more like a horny male. Wish women would take back our gender and be more sedate, feminine, as well as powerful. Don’t get me wrong, I am not a prude, but society has gone overboard. Movies today think nothing of portraying a woman as an aggressive, foul-mouthed slut. Think of the movie Horrible Bosses.
Have you ever based characters on people you know or based events on things that have happened to you?
Everything I write is from personal experience that has been massaged and tweaked. The well-spring is my subconscious and conscious mind and the fun is changing it enough so it works with the story.
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