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Showing posts from 2012

[Interview_4] Jonathan Taylor

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Jonathan Taylor is a Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at De Montfort University in Leicester. He is also the author of books that include the memoir, Take Me Home: Parkinson’s, My Father, Myself (Granta, 2007) and the academic books, Science and Omniscience in Nineteenth-Century Literature (Sussex Academic Press, 2007); Mastery and Slavery in Victorian Writing (Palgrave-Macmillan, 2003); and, Figures of Heresy: Radical Theology in English and American Writing, 1800-2000 (Sussex Academic Press, 2005) (co-edited with Dr. Andrew Dix). In this interview, Jonathan Taylor talks about his debut novel, Entertaining Strangers (Salt, 2012): How long did it take you to write the novel? It took me a while to write the novel: I started it in 2007, shortly after the publication of my memoir, Take Me Home: Parkinson’s, My Father, Myself (Granta Books, 2007), and finished it four or so years later. In fact, its origins lie further back, in that the starting-point was an episod

[Interview] Marissa Monteilh

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Marissa Monteilh is a former model, television news reporter, and commercial actress. She is a regular contributor to the literary blog, Novel Spaces , and is a member of the all female group of touring writers, Atlanta's GA Peach Authors . Her books include May December Souls (William Morrow & Company, 2002), Make Me Hot (Dafina Books, 2008), Dr Feelgood (Dafina, 2007) and The Six-Letter Word (4D Publishing, 2012). In this interview, Marissa Monteilh talks about her concerns as a writer: When did you start writing? I did not plan to be a published writer. I sat down to write my life story in 1998, and honestly, it was so boring that I added in a whole lot of fiction. Before I knew it, I had an 80,000 word rough draft. I did a lot of research on the craft of writing and finished the story, shopping it around to publishers for about one year. Once I self-published my title May December Souls (at the suggestion of a well-known author) in 1998 and it was in bo

[Interview] Electa Rome Parks

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Electa Rome Parks writes contemporary and erotic fiction. Her books include The Stalker Chronicles (Kensington/Urban Books, 2012); True Confessions (Kensington/Urban Books, 2010); Diary of a Stalker (Kensington/Urban Books, 2009); and These Are My Confessions (HarperCollins/Avon Red, 2007). In this interview, Electa Rome Parks talks about her concerns as a writer: When did you start writing? I have been writing for as long as I can remember; writing and reading have always defined who and what I am as a person. Writing is the love affair of my life. From a professional standpoint, I started writing and penned my first novel, The Ties That Bind in 2001. For me, becoming a published writer was a natural progression. Friends and family who knew me back in the day, they can all testify to the fact that I was always writing something (a short story, a poem, a play) or had my head buried in a book, usually mystery or supernatural. Being a quiet, shy child, writing was a mean

[Interview] Lauri Kubuitsile

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Lauri Kubuitsile writes romances novels; crime fiction; books and stories for children and teenagers; and, literary fiction. She was shortlisted for the 2011 Caine Prize for African Writing and has won awards that include the PanAfrican prize for children’s literature, The Golden Baobab Prize and the Orange/Botswerere Botswana Artists Award . Her books include the collection of short stories, In the Spirit of McPhineas Lata and Other Stories (HopeRoad, 2011); and the novels, Signed, Hopelessly in Love (August 2011) Tafelberg, 2011) and Mr Not Quite Good Enough (Sapphire Press, 2011). In this interview, Lauri Kubuitsile talks about her concerns as a writer: When did you start writing? I started writing 8 years ago, just when I was turning 40. I actually became a published author almost by accident. My books in my Kate Gomolemo Mystery Series were actually all first published in a small newspaper I owned in Botswana. We were changing format and wanted to see what we

[Interview] Catherine Czerkawska

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Catherine Czerkawska is a poet, a novelist and a playwright. Her books include The Amber Heart (Amazon Kindle, 2012), Bird of Passage (Amazon Kindle, 2012) and The Curiosity Cabinet (Amazon Kindle, 2011) In this interview, Catherine Czerkawska talks about her concerns as a writer: When did you start writing? When I was very young I wrote poems, stories and fan fiction before fan fiction was ever invented – stories about The Beatles , especially John Lennon . I found some of them a little while ago in a box of old papers. They weren’t too bad, considering how young I was. I think I probably wanted to be a published writer from the start. But it’s so long ago that it’s quite hard to remember. I submitted poetry and stories to all kinds of magazines and when I was still in my teens, I began to get personal letters instead of standard rejections. By the time I was at Edinburgh University, I’d had various poems published. My first biggish sale was a short story called "

[Interview] Jean Holloway

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Jean Holloway lives in Kennesaw, GA. Her books include Ace of Hearts (PHE Ink, 2009)) which is also available as an audiobook ; Black Jack (PHE Ink, 2009); Deuces Wild (PHE Ink, 2010) and Full House (PHE Ink, 2011). In this interview, Jean Holloway talks about her concerns as a writer: When did you start writing? It all began when my sister, Lori, commented, ‘You read so much, I bet you could write book,’ and I answered, ‘I bet I can!’ and began writing Ace of Hearts in long-hand in 1980. I completed the manuscript in 1982. I was 30 years old and the mother of six. I never considered the possibility of becoming a published writer, in fact, if someone had told me I would become a published author at the age of 57, I wouldn’t have believed them. Lori pushed me into this career when she bought me a ticket to the National Book Club Conference in Atlanta and instructed me to print copies of my manuscript and give them to anyone who wouldn’t throw them back. That’s wher

[Interview] Jennifer McBride

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Jennifer McBride has written and published books that include Touching the Trees (2011); Cape of Leaves (2012); Basement Daisies (2012) and Child Less Parent (2012). In this interview, she talks about her concerns as a writer: When did you start writing? I began writing a few years after I began to read. My first "produced" work was in 2nd grade. I was around seven or eight years old and I wrote a play that my teacher allowed me to make into a classroom production. At around the same time, I wrote a story that my uncle read aloud to a large family reunion. I was hooked after that. What made you decide you wanted to be a published writer? I resisted the urge to be published because I thought it was too difficult to achieve but once self-publishing became an option, I explored this avenue and found that I really enjoyed being involved in every aspect of the publishing process. I majored in writing in college, but didn't do much with that for almost 15 ye