MB: Hello,Victoria. I really appreciate this opportunity to interview you. For most of your career, you've been a top-notch technical writer. What prompted you to make the switch to fiction?

VG: I've always written fiction. When the opportunity came for me to be able to do technical writing, I jumped on it. Obviously technical writing is much more stringent, but there is still an art to communicating ideas.

MB: How old were you when you started writing? When you made your first sale?

VG: I've been writing since elementary school. In the third grade, my teacher "published" my first work, "The Teacher Book" about a third grade field trip. She ran off mimeograph copies and helped me cut the pages in half and staple them together. My first sales were actually jokes, which sold for $1 each. This was years ago - before the Internet. I would send in jokes, and they would send me a dollar bill back for each one they accepted.

MB: Did you take any writing classes when you were just starting out?

VG: I took some creative writing courses in college, and I have joined various writing groups over the years, which I think is very helpful as long as you have thick skin. For almost a year I was a member of Chris Rogers' "Master Writing Class." This was the best of both worlds - a first class teacher plus other writers critiquing my work.

MB: Every author I've met so far also an avid reader. What genres do you enjoy?

VG: I literally read everything. I purposely switch between classics, non-fiction, romance, mystery, mainstream, and so on. I am in a bookclub, which exposes me to many titles I might not have otherwise read, and I have a lot of friends who read so we swap recommendations.

MB: How much time of your day is devoted to writing? Do you write every day?

VG: Unfortunately, I have to be in the mood to write. Being in front of a computer 8 hours a day to pay the bills sometimes makes it hard to sit there again and be creative. So when I'm "in the zone" I write as much as I can. When I'm not, I do research for projects I'm working on or read.

MB: Is there anyone you credit with helping you get into writing?

VG: In second grade, a librarian handed me Little House in the Big Woods; Mrs. McNulty. I've been reading and writing ever since.

MB: Can you tell me about your writing methods? For example: do you write from the beginning of the story to the end, write scenes in random order, or have a development cycle of some sort?

VG: I like to have a general outline, and then I write the scenes that I am "feeling" that day. Definitely not in order. There are too many fun surprises that happen as I write for me to follow a stringent, detailed outline. A fellow writer, Scott D. Parker, has developed a method where he uses sticky notes to storyboard his scenes. I'm anxious to try this out. When I'm "stuck" I like to golf. It totally clears my mind of everything except trying to get that stupid ball in the hole. Then the next time I sit down to write, it seems like the easiest thing in the world.

MB: What tools do you use when you research a story?

VG: The library, the Internet, and people. I'm working on a story right now that is a modern romance, but part of the story involves flashbacks to two people who fell in love in the 40's. My mother-in-law has been my best research tool for this!

MB: Tell me about your work with Child Advocates, Inc. Do you find your experiences there seeping into your stories?

VG: Child Advocates is without a doubt the most rewarding experience of my life. I have been volunteering for six years now. It is absolutely heart breaking to see the lives that some people and their children live. But there are many happy endings where the child is adopted by a relative or foster parent, and you know that their life has changed for the better. It is sometimes shocking to see the difference in a child after they have been removed from an abusive situation and put into one where they are loved and cared for. Someday I would love to write a story that centers around the type of work that Child Advocates does to raise awareness, but my instinct is to protect, protect, protect so it would be hard to open up those situations and emotions.

MB: What do you consider your strongest writing skill? Your weakest?

VG: I consider my strongest writing skill my dialog, simply because I find that the easiest to write. Traditionally, my weakest is point of view.

MB: What do you think is the most important thing for writers who want to continue to improve?

VG: Feedback. That's why I think writer's groups are so valuable if you get a good group of people who will give you honest criticism. Friends and family think they are helping when they give you a good review to encourage you, and I guess they are, but find people who aren't afraid to tell you if a scene isn't working for them, or if they think your dialog is hokey, or if they think your hero is an idiot. Then take all of it (good, bad, and ugly) with a grain of salt.

MB: Let's talk about about THE WIZARD'S DAUGHTER, your latest release, from Stargazer Press. Where did you get the idea for the story? Was it character-first or an idea-first story? How long did it take you to develop the story? Was it fully developed before you started writing, or did it 'come to you' as you wrote it?

VG: The title came to me first. Traditionally, wizards are loners so the idea of a wizard with a daughter appealed to me. I had a general outline, but the story developed itself as I wrote. I entered the first three chapters and a synopsis into a local writer's guild contest and won first place. After that, I decided I'd better finish it.

MB: Are you planning any more stories with these characters? Are you working on any other stories?

VG: Yes - I would like to write more with these characters. I thought I wrapped up the story pretty well, but everyone wants to know what happens with Adrian and Phaedra next, and I just adore Rufus. I would like to see what happens with him myself! I wrote a few short stories to give myself the sense of completion (sold one to TRUE LOVE magazine, which appeared in their October issue) and I've got some other things started. Time is always the issue. Trying to work and promote The Wizard's Daughter takes up most of it.

MB: Do you have any advice for the aspiring writers in our audience?

VG: Be true to yourself. Don't take criticism personally. Write on.

MB: If you had it to do all over again, would you do anything differently?

VG: No. I've made mistakes, but I've learned from them and so I move on. There's no telling what I would mess up if I went back and tried to do it all again!

MB: Thanks again for this opportunity.

VG: Thank you! I'd like to leave you with a quote from the pastor of my church, which I wrote down many years ago: "It's never too late to be who you might have been."