When did you first know that you wanted to be a writer?
I was hit first with the bug to be a writer in junior high, but it was more of a desire to pose as a writer, a pretty common affliction. It seemed like a cool thing to be. I wrote some things, but mostly I produced a lot of unfinished stories. Half-filled pages sat in my typewriter and piled up on my desk. The fascination with the work of writing hit me after I'd matured a bit. I was in my twenties when I finally realized that the writing was more important than being a writer.
Can you tell us a little bit about your road to publishing?
I'm a slush pile writer. I finished my first novel, Everybody's Daughter, and began sending it out to publishers. I got about a dozen rejections over three years before it was bought by a young editor at Houghton Mifflin. The novel was my first published work.
Tell us a little bit about either your latest or upcoming release. If you could only tell your readers one thing about the story that had to convince us to buy the book, what would it be?
My latest release is actually a reissue of an earlier book, but it's out in paperback for the first time. Here's what I'd say about it: Because Come in from the Cold is set in the sixties, political turmoil, drugs, sex, and rock and roll are part of the story, but they take a back seat to first love, family, and hope.
What, or who, has been the greatest inspiration for your stories?
The characters I create. They all haunt me, long after I've finished a story. I go on to a new project because something one of them said or longed for seems worthy of exploration and its own novel.
Let’s hear about your family, who I’m sure are thrilled to have a published author among them!
My husband and I have four grown children. Two of the kids live in Minneapolis, Minnesota, one in Madison Wisconsin, and one in Waterloo, Ontario. When they were growing up our lives pretty much whirled around their activities, which were centered on music and theater. They all write, are great readers, and keep me laughing. They also all think I'm the best writer in the world.
Now for some fun facts. What’s your greatest comfort food?
Peanut butter toast.
What are the first three things you do when you wake up in the morning?
Look at the clock, fumble for and put on my glasses, look at the clock again.
If I came to your house and looked in your closet/attic/basement, what’s the one thing that would surprise me the most?
Multiple copies of the movie The Silence of the Lambs (VHS, DVD, Special edition). I love that movie, and the kids always made sure I had the newest format.
Everyone asks the question about “if you could be a tree, which tree would you be?” so I want to know: If you could be a color, which color would it be, and why?
Gray, the color of a nice piece of pre-Cambrian basalt. I love rocks.
Who is your favorite cartoon character?
Joanie, in Doonesbury.
Which cartoon character is most like you?
Joanie, in Doonesbury.
If you could beam yourself to anywhere in the world (“Beam me up, Scotty!”), during any time in history, where and when would it be—and why?
I would love to be a ghost in the corner of my grandmother's childhood home in Minneapolis, sometime during the first decade of the twentieth century. She and her three siblings (two sisters, one brother) fascinate me. My grandmother and one of her sisters were friends with Maud Hart Lovelace, the author of the Betsy Tacy books, my favorite childhood books. I didn't know my grandmother or her siblings, but because I've been studying the era as I write an historical novel based in part on their lives, I'd sell my soul to be a witness to their lives.
So what’s your favorite type of music to listen to? Favorite musical artists? Do you listen to music while you’re writing?
I roam over the musical landscape. Many of my books were written while certain music pervaded my life and office. Come in from the Cold was influenced by a great Joni Mitchell CD, Night Ride Home. In fact, the title of the novel was taken from a wonderful track of the same name on that album. While writing Too Big a Storm I listened to a lot of blues and roots music. When I was writing Just Like That I listened constantly to The Waifs, an Australian group. Bob Dylan once said The Waifs were the best live performers he'd ever seen. Check them out (http://www.waifs.com/).
Do you have any favorite T.V. shows? Movies you watch over and over again? What was the last movie you saw at the theater?
The only TV I watch with regularity is Project Runway. My daughters got me hooked this last year. Also, thanks to the kids, I tune in fairly frequently to The Daily Show. And in spite of the fact I own multiple copies of The Silence of the Lambs, I don't watch any movie over and over. That's not a habit I have. The last movie I saw in the theater was Hancock.
You have the chance to give one piece of advice to your teen readers. What would it be?
Please don't read a novel's last page first.
One last question. What stories can we look forward to from you in the future?
I'm juggling three projects right now: a contemporary YA, an historical YA, and a contemporary adult novel. I need to focus, I guess, and get something done. Nothing has a firm pub date now.
Again, thanks so much for joining us at http://www.teensreadtoo.com/!
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