Skip to main content

Interviews, and the Answers I Wish I Could Give


I recently did an interview for a lovely book blog (Sapphire Realms) and it got me to thinking of all the interviews I’ve done over the years, and how non-writers often ask the same questions. That’s not a bad thing; it means that many people are interested in the same information from writers.

But I’m a very regular person, and it would be so much fun if just once I could do what I do every day, just make up the story I want to tell, give my own character the boost to make me interesting!

So, for a little fun, (caveat – this post is meant in jest only, and is not intended as a slight to any of the lovely and wonderful people who have interviewed me!) here are the…


Top Ten Questions Authors Get Asked, with the Answers I Wish I Could Give

Q - What did you do before you became a romance novelist?
A - After attaining my PhD in Comparative English Literature at the unheard of age of 21, I traveled Europe for three years, where I became comfortably fluent in French, German, Spanish and Italian. I took what I had learned and became the foreign representative for an American publishing company for another two years, and then was approached by the Canadian government to do a little work, about which I cannot speak. Then… well, then came the most exciting part of my life where I began to write.
Q - Where do you get your ideas?
A - Well my dear, there is the most adorable boutique down the road with the absolute freshest ideas, and they give me a discount when I buy them by the gross.
Q - How do you research a book?
A - I start every book by traveling extensively in the locale where I will be setting the novel. I read tombstones in the church cemetery, have tea with the local historian, and soak up the atmosphere. Then I begin!
Q - What is your daily (writing) schedule like?
A – I get up at ten, look at my computer, sigh, turn over and go back to sleep. I do finally rise at noon, go out for a fabulous lunch, come back and write for an hour or two, go out for a magnificent dinner, then it’s on to nightclubbing, and dance ‘til dawn!
Q - Who was the inspiration for (name of heroine).
A - Myself, of course, and my fabulous life! I have mined the rich fabric of my life to create a heroine who is both intelligent and wise, well-traveled, worldly, and beautiful, but with a becoming modesty.
Q - Who was the inspiration for your hero?
A - (With wink and sly smile) A lady never kisses and tells!
Q - Is writing love scenes easy or difficult?
A - Darling (said with a drawl) what do you think? With a life like I’ve had, it’s not so much fiction as recording experiences!
Q - Who is your favorite or most inspiring author?
A - Jane Austen, of course! Actually, she is my great great aunt many times over on my father’s side. I feel her blood in my veins every time I sit down to write! It’s terribly exciting. A fortune teller once told me that I am actually her reincarnation; if I could only claim as great a talent as hers! (modest sigh)
Q - What advice do you have for an aspiring author?
A – I would urge them to find a mentor. As the great Nora Roberts once said to me, “My dear, your ability to write is a given, but still, it’s an absolute pleasure and privilege to give you a few meager pointers along the way.” With her gracious help, I am the writer I am today!
Q - What new projects are you excited about?
A – I have a five book deal to write an historical romance series based on my family’s past in Colchester and Ipswich England. I will be living there for a year to do the research and soak up the atmosphere, and then I will be holed up in a cottage on the lake to write.

Attention: Every bit of the above is a bunch of nonsense, with no resemblance to my real life, and my sincere apologies to Nora Roberts for the silliness. But it was fuuun!!! For some honest answers, visit Sapphire Realms today!

Comments

  1. LOL -- great post. Loved it. Of course, you've described the writing life of everyone on this blog, I'm sure. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. *snork.

    Let me remember not to eat while reading any future posts of yours!

    ReplyDelete
  3. What? You mean it isn't true? It is for me, though. I've been flying through space with hot, sexy aliens for years! Now if I could just figure out how to land this thing....

    ReplyDelete
  4. LOL Donna! To me the best part of being a fiction writer is always having that line you wished you had in real life when you're in the heat of battle. Making it up is what we're all about! Thanks for the giggle!

    ReplyDelete
  5. My alter ego has always had a magnificent lifestyle! She travels extensively, is a bit of a daredevil (I won't speak of the time she free dived off the Victoria Falls) and never worries about money or health.

    Oh, and there is that thing of being descended from Jane Austen!!!

    Ah, the life of a fiction writer... in her own mind.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Too cute, Donna! Tons of fun to read!

    Amelia

    ReplyDelete
  7. Jenn at Sapphire Realms hasn't put up my interview yet... guess we'll have to go with my fantasy answers for now!! ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  8. So you're not really from Colchester and Ispwich. What a shame. I used to drive kids to chess lessons in Colchester.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Donna,
    This is too Funny.
    I believed everyword.
    You people are Super Women with a Big Capital SW's on your T-Shirts.
    And You Just Pull Those Men out of your Hot Dating Files.

    ReplyDelete
  10. What fun! What fun! You inspired me to create my own alternate universe interview.

    How I rose from the ashes.

    Q What parts of your books are based on your life.

    A. All of them. Before I turned my back on its empty glitz, I was a Hollywood star. After a horofic car crash, extensive plastic surgery gave me the face you see now. I learned that my face indeed had been my fortune, not my talent.

    Well meaning friends, wishing to sheild me from that very fate, had told me I was Mary Margret Daughtridge, no one special from nowhere special, and since I had total amnesia, I had no choice but to believe them.

    I began to write down the odd flashes that came to me, believing them to be imagination. My new friends, for the others quickly faded away, remarked again and again how real my stories seemed, just like I had been there.

    As my memory gradually returned, I realized the plot of every book follows a movie I once starred in.

    Visit me at www.pantsonfire.com

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hi Donna I just wanted to let you know that the interview is up and running sorry hon I was running late today. *blushes* Crazy week!

    http://sapphireromance.blogspot.com/

    Thanks so much for the interview hon it was a pleasure! :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Omgosh, what fun! I especially love the first one.

    ReplyDelete
  13. This was hysterical, Donna! Of course, I DO know Jane Austen I, like all JAFF writers, must channel her spirit to be qualified to write her characters so that we can sound precisely like she did. :)


    Hahahahaha.....

    ReplyDelete
  14. Sheila... I have family in Colchester, actually!

    diva donna... don't all romance authors just go to their little black book of past conquests for inspiration???

    Mary Margaret... I am LOLing!!!

    Sharon... don't we all wish we wrote just like the inimitable JA?

    ReplyDelete
  15. Donna~

    Great post! Sorry I missed it yesterday but I had a good laugh and I needed that with three bored kids running around the house.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment