Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
My mother-tongue is English, though my parents were refugees from Germany, and I now live in Israel. Now that I am retired from paid employment, I am an almost full-time writer, after having had to earn my living as a free-lance translator/editor for many years. I have published three books to date and am currently working on my fourth. It is relatively easy for me to write the first draft, but then the editing and rewriting takes a long time. I find that my brain is constantly working on the book, even when I’m not at my computer, and suddenly an idea for a character or plot development will pop into my mind out of nowhere. My main problem is to remember it and incorporate it when I get back to my desk. I now live in Israel, where most of my family resides, though I do have relatives all over the world. I am married to a wonderful man and have three grown-up children and eight grandchildren, some of them pretty grown-up, too. I’m addicted to classical music and find it helps me to concentrate when I’m writing, painting, cooking and making love.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Time Out of Joint, the Fate of a Family was inspired by the files of family correspondence and documents that my father brought out of Germany when he left in 1938. The files lay untouched for many years, until I came across them after my parents came to live in Israel, and I embarked on a project of learning German in order to be able to read and understand all that material. It was a worthwhile undertaking, revealing a whole world to me that I had not previously been able to access.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
A page a day, at the least, sometimes more, at the initial stage. Then edit, edit, and edit again until I’m finally satisfied. I am reluctant to ask friends to read the ms as this is time-consuming and tastes differ, but I would really like to have someone I could trust to read the book before I publish it.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Pretty much every book I’ve ever read. I’m a great fan of Virginia Woolf, but I don’t write like she does. I don’t go for horror, fantasy, or romance books, and although I’ve enjoyed H.G. Wells, I don’t really like sci-fi. My favorite author really is P.G.Wodehouse (Jeeves books), as his writing is stunning and funny, to boot.
What are you working on now?
I’m on another editing jag of my next book, which is about English people retiring to France without really knowing what they’re letting themselves into.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Awesomegang, of course, and various other similar sites, as well as Facebook. I’m not on Twitter, so can’t go down that route.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Keep at it, and don’t give up, no matter what people say.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Show don’t tell. Write about what you know. All the usual cliches.
What are you reading now?
‘A Second Daniel’ by Neal Roberts. I recognized the title as a quote from ‘The Merchant of Venice,’ and was intrigued. It’s about Elizabethan England, and the author seems to know about the period.
What’s next for you as a writer?
Once I’ve published my book about English expats in France I think I’ll be writing about the period I spent with my family some twenty years ago in the Mid-West of the USA. I have some kind of preliminary version in my computer, but I know I’ll still have to do a lot of work on it.
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?
All the P,G, Wodehouse books I can get my hands on. Laughter is the best medicine, they say, and I hope to keep myself alive long enough to be rescued if I just keep on laughing.
Author Websites and Profiles
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson Website
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson Amazon Profile
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