|
Laurraine:
When did you realize you were interested in writing?
Beth:
When I was eight years old, I knew I could do it. I couldn't, of course, but the feeling was very, very strong even at that age.
Laurraine:
What inspired you to become a writer?
Beth:
A book I read one day. There was a scene in it with two sisters traveling by train to Hollywood to be with their parents in, I think, the 1940s. One of the sisters was complaining that the horsehair seat covers were making her butt itch. I sat there laughing, and I remember as if it were yesterday. I had this wild flash of realization that the author who wrote that was having fun. It was an entirely new concept to me, that writers had fun and that would show up in their books; but I somehow knew she was having fun writing that scene. That began my process of learning how to put novels together so they'd be fun to read, and I've never stopped trying to learn more.
Laurraine:
Was your writing influenced by your reading?
Beth:
Oh, absolutely. I always loved mainstream novels, I've read a lot of them along the years from the time when I was a very young kid, and I finally set out to write one of my own.
Laurraine:
What authors do you feel influenced you most?
Beth:
Well, John O'Hara first, then later on, James Michener, Tom Clancy, Jacqueline Suzanne, Judith Krantz, Jacqueline Diamond, and, strangely enough, a book I read when I was twelve years old by Norman Vincent Peale about positive thinking.
Laurraine:
How long did it take before you were published?
Beth:
Eight years from the time I seriously began to try to write one. I did it all the hard way, got married young, raised my kids, started working, went to college, and then started working on getting published in full-length novels. I've always been a maverick and done things the hard way. That's probably never going to change.
Laurraine:
Are you a full-time writer?
Beth:
Yes, I am now.
Laurraine:
If not, what do you do to make ends meet?
Beth:
Trust me, most authors do a lot of things to make ends meet. It's rare that an author makes enough money to actually live decently on.
Laurraine:
If you were not a writer, what profession do you think you would like to do?
Beth:
I can't think of anything I'd rather do, but in my next life I'm going to be a Broadway singer and dancer who also writes novels.
Laurraine:
What profession do you feel you would hate?
Beth:
Anything to do with food because I've done that and I did hate it.
Laurraine:
How did you become interested in writing mysteries?
Beth:
It was the challenge of it. I'd done romance and mainstream and realized along the way that my books, always standalones, always had either mystery or suspense as an integral part of the plot. They always will.
Laurraine:
Do you write outside the mystery field?
Beth:
Yes, I've written one Harlequin Superromance and several mainstream novels.
Laurraine:
What types of writing that you haven't done are you interesting in doing?
Beth:
A paranormal mystery or suspense. I'm working on my first one right now, trying to work the kinks out so it'll seem...well...real, but haunting....
Laurraine:
Do ideas for books just come to you?
Beth:
Yes, they pop in, in the middle of conversations, while I'm watching a movie, while I'm sitting doing nothing, while I'm dreaming-most often then, while I'm asleep. I wake up, the dream stays with me, and I know I've just dreamed a scene in a book I have to write.
Laurraine:
Do you do a lot of research before you write?
Beth:
Yes, because there's so much to learn about anything before you can write with authority and not keep having to stop and research something else. I generally get it all done and in folders before I start. Things do pop up later, but when I start a book I'm generally pretty prepared for it.
Laurraine:
What kind of things inspire your writing?
Beth:
Weird things sometimes. One book, yet to be written, came to me while I was talking with a friend and was inspired by a remark she made. When I wrote NIGHT SOUNDS, which is being re-released at Amber Quill later on this year, I constantly played jazz. I play a lot of music, never with words though, because that disturbs my concentration. Smooth jazz, sometimes new-age, soothing music, sometimes classical. It all depends on the tone I want to keep with the book I'm writing.
Laurraine:
Do you pattern your characters after people you know? Yourself?
Beth:
I don't consciously pattern my characters after myself, although I have found myself remembering things and somehow they've found their way into a scene, but I have never consciously taken any one person and patterned any character after him or her, except in SECOND GENERATION, which has several famous political figures who are real, but the situations and conversations are imaginary. Most are composites of many people I've seen or wished I'd seen. The writer's imagination is always composed of fragments from a person's past as well as visions of the future.
Laurraine:
Do you enjoy reading?
Beth:
Yes, if it's a very good book. I read a lot when I can. When I'm working on a book, I don't read anyone else's, though. Not only do I definitely not want to be influenced by anything anyone else has written, but also, it fragments my thinking. When I work on a book, the intense focus I need to do this takes all my time and energy.
Laurraine:
What kind of books do you enjoy reading?
Beth:
Books where the characters leap off the pages right away and make me care what happens to them. Books with a lot of good dialogue. Books with strong, meaty plots.
Laurraine:
Who are (some of) your favourite authors?
Beth:
Steve Booth, Scott Turow; Tom Clancy; Lev Raphael; Earl Merkel; James Michener -- I've re-read all of his books several times; Alex Hailey --I've re-read some of his books, particularly ROOTS; and I've always loved Judith Krantz's books, the generational sagas so popular in the eighties. She was probably my main inspiration for SECOND GENERATION. I wanted to see if I could do it. Again, it was the challenge. I'm constantly challenging myself.
Laurraine:
Where do you see your writing headed in the next ten years?
Beth:
I'll be writing big mainstream standalone novels based on either mystery or suspense.
Laurraine:
Do you follow a routine when you write?
Beth:
I used to when I was working and writing at the same time. Life's a little more relaxed now, and I actually have some time to live like a civilian once in a while.
Laurraine:
What are your feelings toward the publishing industry?
Beth:
I wish it was more like it used to be fifteen years ago.
Laurraine:
Do you feel that the author must take more responsibility than in the past to market his own books?
Beth:
Yes. In most cases today, it's entirely up to the author. There's very little promo help from most publishers today, except for their heavy hitters.
Laurraine:
Do you resent having to do this?
Beth:
I don't resent *doing* it because I like my fans, but I resent *having* to do it.
Laurraine:
What are your feelings toward reviewers?
Beth:
I've never had a problem with a reviewer except in one case, where one refused to accept that a crime could be solved the way I had solved it in one of my books, even after I offered to show her the WALL STREET JOURNAL article the crime-solving technique came from. But I finally realized that reviewers are people just like me. We all have our personal hot buttons and priorities to contend with.
Laurraine:
Do you feel that criticism can be useful in improving your writing?
Beth:
It has been, many, many times. The whole idea is to become better and better, and how can we become better if nobody ever shows us a better way to do things? It might not always be pleasant; but it can be helpful, as long as it's valid and not based on only what type of book the person doing the criticizing really likes or dislikes. I review books occasionally and I edit occasionally, but I never work with a genre I don't like because that often does affect one's judgment and perception of the book.
Laurraine:
What's your opinion on the direction of the publishing industry, especially the influence of e-publishing?
Beth:
I think e-publishing will one day be very popular but not until there are readers everyone can use and appreciate and load easily. Trying to figure out the different formats and readers and downloading is a bit too daunting for some who aren't used to that way of reading, and many shy away from it because of that. As for the direction of the rest of the industry, it's hard to be crazy about a situation where you're working for people in another country who mainly, as huge conglomerate owners, think of you as a commodity and not as an artist. But that's today's reality; we have to face it and go along with it and do our best.
Laurraine:
What works of yours should we look forward to seeing in the near future?
Beth:
MURDER ONLINE and NIGHT SOUNDS will both be re-released by Amber Quill sometime later this year (2003). My next original book out will be THE SCOUTMASTER'S WIFE, a murder mystery that takes place in a small Alaskan fishing village. I have several other books in different stages of completion; and it's anybody's guess which one I'll work on next, although I do have a couple in mind. I have to be totally fascinated with what I'm writing. Right now THE SCOUTMASTER'S WIFE has me completely hooked, and I'm waiting myself to see what happens.
|
