Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
In halcyon days BC (before children), I wrote a humor column for several Midwest newspapers. With the arrival of Child #4, I veered toward the dark side (an HR career). Following a daring daytime escape to England, I’ve lived in a medieval castle, a hobbit house, and a Scottish isle with my prince-of-a-guy and the World’s Most Spoiled AussieDog. Considering all my days are now Saturdays, I’m is amazed this is my sixth book.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is “Please Don’t Ask For Extra Glasses”, book two in the series, Your Camels Are Here. Travel is my kryptonite, and every year until the Year Which Shall Not Be Named, I visited India for a month of traveling with my two friends from our days as roommates at the University of Chicago.
After our travel adventures the year before in which none of us technically died — although there were times it seemed like an attractive option — my two long-suffering travel companions, Jaya and Janine, actually agreed to another India trip. This time, we chose Rajasthan as a destination, mostly in hopes it would be as far as possible from people who might remember us from last year.
We crash a wedding our first night, fall victim to an ancient curse, get shanghaied by the world’s most adorable kidnapper, ride camels across a desert and elephants up a mountain — and eat our way across Rajasthan in the process.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Since the clock says 1:30AM and I’ve just gotten up, I admit that I love writing at night. When my children were small, it was the time when I had gotten some sleep, but things were still quiet enough for me to think. I’m not sure I have any rituals, but whenever I get stuck, my dog is always willing to step out to the garden for a bit of ball fetching. She’s all about taking it for the team!
What authors, or books have influenced you?
My first English Lit professor at the University of Chicago, Frank Kinahan, asked me if I was drunk when I wrote a paper on Ode To A Nightingale and misspelled it ‘Nightengale’ the whole way through. I bought a dictionary and Chicago Manual of Style, took every class he taught for the next four years, and went to Ireland because he wanted me to double-check the pace of a ping-pong ball that floats down the river in Ulysses. (Joyce nailed it.) Other than that, I’m omnivorous when it comes to books by anyone except Charles I-get-paid-by-the-word-so-I’ll-use-way-too-many-of-them Dickens.
What are you working on now?
I’m finishing up Open Fare, the fifth and final book in my urban fantasy series, Null City. Following that, I’ll be working on a humorous novel about an American mom who moves into a castle in the North of England.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’ve been fortunate to meet so many wonderful people through my blog, so I always start there to spread the news about new projects.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
You probably don’t need the word “that”. You almost certainly don’t need “said” tags. Romantic triangles are bad, and cliffhangers are the devil’s work.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“If you have any young friends who aspire to become writers, the second greatest favor you can do them is to present them with copies of The Elements of Style. The first greatest, of course, is to shoot them now, while they’re happy.”― Dorothy Parker
But if the whole death thing is a bit extreme and you’ve already memorized Elements of Style, my only other advice is to show your work to as many people you’re NOT related to as are willing to read it. And then pay attention to their suggestions but don’t necessarily believe them.
What are you reading now?
I always wonder if I should say something intellectual here like “Oh, I’m just rereading Sartre’s Being and Nothingness because I get new insights every time…” But there is a good chance that people who know me will read this and I don’t want to be responsible for their medical issues if they’re laughing that hard.
I’m also a book reviewer, so even though I’m trying to cut back in order to finish up current writing projects, I have a teetering TBR pile threatening to bury me. Next up is The Lumbermill by Laya Smith and Raven’s Shade, Book 5 in Shawna Reppert’s Ravensblood (urban fantasy) series.
What’s next for you as a writer?
In addition to my blog, I have the next book in our India humorous travel series, plus a novel about an American mother who moves into a castle in the north of England,
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Other than my copy of “Good Omens” by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett (which is actually held together by a rubber band), I really don’t like to re-read many books. So I’d take Omens and the rest as blank pages, so I could write the stories I’d want to read.
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