Thanks to Laurie Boris, author of The Joke's on Me, Drawing Breath and the newly released Don't Tell Anyone. Laurie likes cats, REM and coffee with amaretto (mmm), can rustle up a pretty good lentil soup and once fancied being Lois Lane. Read on to find out more...
What is your day
job or are you lucky enough to write for a living?
I’m lucky enough to do both. I work a few days a week,
keeping a local community college’s website up to date, and the rest of the
time I’m writing and editing.
What books have
you written so far?
I’ve published two contemporary novels, The Joke’s on Me, about a stand-up comic
who loses everything but her sense of humour in a mudslide, and Drawing Breath, about the complex
relationship between an art teacher and his student. Besides that, I’ve written
several more that await either editing or the wood chipper, depending.
What works in
progress do you have?
I’m just about to publish another contemporary novel, Don’t Tell Anyone, about a family with
too many secrets. After that, I have a few more story ideas begging for my
attention.
How long did it take
you to write your book/s?
Some take months, others take years. I wrote the first
(very rough) draft of Don’t Tell Anyone
as a NaNoWriMo project in thirty days, but I’ve been fleshing it out and editing
for almost two years.
Do you write
linear, or jump back and forth? Do you plan or write by the seat of your pants?
It depends on the story. One book began when I saw the
last scene in my head, so I started there. Others lead off with a situation and
proceeded linearly. Generally I don’t plan. I prefer to let the characters tell
me how the story unfolds.
Why do you write?
Because I’m very crabby when I don’t. It’s like a release
valve. Also, I love the feeling of disappearing into a universe of characters. Makes
the bad stuff go away for a while.
How long have you
been writing?
I’ve been writing for over thirty years, and writing
novels for almost twenty years.
What/who inspired
you to write and still inspires you?
I was initially inspired to write by a high school
English teacher, who tasked us with keeping a journal as an assignment. I’d
thought writing had to be all highbrow, snooty stuff, but with that I realised everything
is material for fiction; even watching the sun set or reliving a silly
childhood memory. Being around creative people, like my husband’s friend with
cystic fibrosis, who kept pursuing his creative passions despite his illness,
inspired me to try to write a novel. As I finished the first and wrote more, my
mother-in-law was a huge inspiration. She kept nagging me to finish the next
book because she “needed something good to read”. Sometimes I can still smell
her perfume in my writing room.
What do you think
is the ideal recipe for a good novel or story?
I don’t know that there’s an ideal recipe (my lentil soup
recipe is pretty good, by the way), but I don’t think you can go too far wrong
by starting with a strong character who wants something desperately.
Have you ever
based a character on someone from real life? And did you tell them?
I’ve sometimes used non-virtual people as armatures for
characters. And I’ve had people in my life SWEAR that such-and-such character
was based on them. Not so.
Fave things:
animal? food? drink? film? colour? band? song? place? item of clothing?
Cats. Chocolate. Coffee with amaretto. Casablanca. Purple. REM. Michael
Franti’s ‘Say Hey’ (this week, anyway). Nantucket Island. A variety of plushy
sweatshirts.
When you were a
kid, what did you want to do/who did you want to be when you grew up?
I wanted to play second base for the New York Mets. Next I
wanted to be Lois Lane. And a marine biologist. Then I saw Jaws. I decided to stick with Lois Lane.
Would you say that
your dreams have come true or are you still working on them?
I’m still working on them, although some are coming true.
I wanted to make a living by writing and publishing novels. Well, a few of
those words have come true, but not the entire sentence as yet.
You’re walking in
the forest and you bump into an alien librarian from Mars. He wants five book
recommendations from you…
I imagine he’s already read Men are from Mars..., so maybe he needs a good map of the solar
system to find Venus.
Who is your
favourite character from any book and why?
Jo from Little
Women. I adore her. She’s creative, tough and bold; not girly-girly, but
loves her family and her sisters. She’s everything I wanted to be.
Who is your hero/heroine?
He’d hate it, but my friend who inspired Daniel in Drawing Breath. Despite his cystic
fibrosis, Bill lived for his passions, gave of himself whenever he was asked,
and never – in public, anyway – talked about himself in terms of limits. Not
until the week he died.
Which book do you
wish you had written?
So hard to choose! Okay, I wish I’d written about a
certain boy wizard, you know, for my retirement. Seriously, I’d love to have
written Ian McEwan’s Amsterdam; it’s
such a perfect little jewel. And Anna
Karenina. Lolita. Joyce Carol Oates’ Middle
Age, Blonde, Black Water or Zombie.
Anne Tyler’s Dinner at the Homesick
Restaurant and The Accidental Tourist.
Which three
authors would you like to take to the pub?
Dorothy Parker, TC Boyle and Oscar Wilde – should make
for an interesting evening. We’ll see if we can ‘out-snark’ each other.
Are you published
or self-published? What is your experience?
My first book, The
Joke’s on Me, was published by a small press, 4RV LLC, in 2011. I
self-published Drawing Breath, my
second book, and plan to self-publish the next one. What I liked about working
with a small press is the personal attention and the dedicated team that helped
with developmental editing, copyediting and proofreading. My publisher, Vivian
Zabel, works tirelessly on behalf of her authors, taking our titles to trade
shows and events. What I like about self-publishing is the complete freedom and
artistic control, but with that comes the responsibility of putting out a
quality product. I’m learning so much about marketing and promotion. I don’t
always get it right, but I can change course quickly; something that might not
be as easily done under the aegis of a publisher.
How do you find
the marketing experience?
It’s tough. The formula so many ‘experts’ recommend – reaching
the right people at the right time with the right product and the right price
point – seems to be constantly shifting. I still find that word of mouth is the
best advertising. Many people who have read my books did so because a friend
recommended them. That’s how I normally pick up a book, too.
What advice would
you give other writers just starting out?
If writing is in your heart, if you can’t imagine doing
anything else, then give it your all and do not quit. Keep growing and
learning. Read omnivorously. Seek constructive criticism. Ask a lot of
questions. Know that you might suck at it for a while, and that learning your
chops and finding your voice could take time.
Do you have a
blog? What do you blog about?
I blog about writing, books and popular culture on my
personal blog, and I’m a regular contributor to Indies Unlimited, where I write
about pretty much everything related to writing, publishing and marketing for
the indie author.
What other hobbies
do you have?
I enjoy watching baseball, I’m a voracious reader and I
love to cook. Something about chopping onions is like meditation.
What would you
like to achieve in the next five years?
Write about seven or eight more books, and publish them
to rave reviews and fabulous sales. Help my editing clients achieve their
dreams. Find a new place to live that does not require so much time and effort.
If you won the
Lotto or a major publishing contract, what would you do with that dosh?
After taking care of the creeping debt and the
necessities we’ve been putting off to buy silly things like food, I would love
to be able to buy more books to support my fellow authors. And go to the movies
once in a while. And maybe hire someone to clean up after me.
Complete one of
these stories in 100 words or less…
There was once a wee worm called Fred;
He lived with a panda named Ed.
Ed ate some bad clover
And, sadly, fell over
And squished his poor, wee friend’s head.
What question do
you wish I’d asked and, of course, what is the answer?
What does your
writing space look like?
Horribly messy, and full of baseball hero bobble-head
dolls and stuffed Opus penguins. This is why I need to win the Lotto. Or get
therapy.
Links:
The Joke’s on Me
Drawing Breath
