Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I refuse to admit how long ago I decided to write novels, but it was a LONG time ago. I took several detours along the way, serving at US embassies around the world, earning a D.Phil. at Oxford, teaching senior military officers at the Naval War College in Newport, RI (USA), and building my dream house with a view of the water (I needed a place to write, didn’t I?). When I’m not writing or reading JD Robb books (yet again), I’m is active in several writing groups and runs a charitable non-profit foundation.
I’ve written six books so far, but Home Waters is the first I’ve let “out in the world.”
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My contemporary novel, Home Waters, was inspired by my obsession with the ocean, particularly Narragansett Bay where I live. I know I’m not alone in being inspired by the ocean; I look out at the water and feel like a knot inside of me relaxes and lets go. In Home Waters, the setting affects the main characters in concrete ways.
The other thing that inspired me was the answer I came up with when I asked myself,
what if? In this case, what if a scientist discovered a serious threat to the waters on
which he lived and then, while trying to deal with that, a family crisis explodes in his lap?
We all have families and work we care about; how do we cope when they both reach crisis point at the same time?
I’m inspired by books that are fun and I try to keep that in mind in my own writing. If I want a lecture, I read non-fiction. If I read a novel, I want to be entertained.
BTW, I hope to use my love of baseball in a book one day soon.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Is it unusual that I have to be able to see a body of water in order to write?
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Since I’m a voracious reader and have been my whole life, too many to count. But that’s a bit vague.
• Years ago I read a series of novels by Nora Roberts set on Chesapeake Bay and I was completely enthralled.
• My story is different in virtually every specific, but it does have something in common with those Chesapeake Bay books (in addition to the type of setting).
In both:
o The characters care deeply about family, but also have serious careers they work hard at and that matter to them.
o They struggle to balance the two and it isn’t easy.
That’s pretty much the task I give my characters in Home Waters: how do you balance work and family when both need you desperately? I have to confess, my characters surprised me by figuring out smarter solutions that I, as the author, started out with. Things us ordinary people can help make a reality.
What are you working on now?
I’m working on the second book in the Narragansett Bay series. A supporting character in Home Waters is the focus of book two.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Countdown deal on Amazon with promotion on Awesome Gang
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t expect instant success. This novel-writing thing is challenging and there is a lot to learn. Be persistent; you’ll get there.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Lisa Cron’s book, Story Genius. She shows you how our brains crave story (and what about stories our brains are looking for).
What are you reading now?
JD Robb, Origin in Death and Michael Lewis, The Undoing Project. I just finished Lisa Garner’s Before She Disappeared (highly recommend).
What’s next for you as a writer?
Finish book two in this series. Get the word out on Home Waters.
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?
JD Robb’s Survivor in Death; Nora Robert’s Chesapeake Blue; Abraham Verghese’s Cutting for Stone; and Deborah Cramer’s Great Waters.
Author Websites and Profiles
Elizabeth Devlin Website
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