Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Meredith Lee is the pen name for Austin-based writers Dixie Lee Evatt and Sue Meredith Cleveland.
DIXIE LEE EVATT, Writer and Word-Wrangler
A former political writer for the Austin American- Statesman, Dixie later taught writing at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communication at Syracuse University. While there she published a book, along with colleagues, on the communication practices of small organizations, Thinking Big. Staying Small. When she teamed up with Sue to write fiction, they sold a screenplay treatment to a Hollywood producer. Although the movie was never made, they used the seed money to found ThirtyNineStars, their publishing company. They also produced a second screenplay based on the life of a Waco schoolteacher who was imprisoned in World War I because of his German heritage and his work with early radio broadcasting. That screenplay, Wireless, was a finalist for the Chesterfield Writer’s Film Project in 2003.
SUE MEREDITH CLEVELAND, Author and Artist
Sue is an award-winning artist who has worked in multiple media including oil, watercolor and fiber. Her earliest publications include articles advocating childbirth education and humanizing hospital care. Shrouded, a mystery Sue collaborated on with Dixie, was a finalist in the 2017 Writers’ League of Texas Manuscript Contest. One Slip Over the Line, Sue’s work-in-progress Young Adult novel, was a 2015 finalist in the Cynthia Leitich Smith Writing Mentor Award. Sue’s essays, literary memoir pieces, and short stories have been featured in award-winning literary journals, magazines, and blogs. Wireless, a screenplay she collaborated on with Dixie, was a semi-finalist for the 2003 Chesterfield Writer’s Film Project. Sue has written two pre-published Middle Grade novels: A Shadow Over Silver and Blue Water Over Dark Secrets.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
SHROUDED: A Crispin Leads Mystery
If memory serves, the inspiration for Shrouded came one day on the front porch when a fly landed too close to Dixie’s gin and tonic. Sue grabbed a 1962 Life magazine from a pile destined for recycle, rolled it up, and tried to shoo the fly away. She missed the fly but hit the gin. While cleaning up the mess the ladies noticed the magazine cover featuring the lead story: “Scientists Close in on The Secret of Life.” Well, a gin or two later and the rest is history.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
We write with four hands.
How do you write as a team? It’s the question we are asked all the time. It’s a good one but not exactly an easy one to answer. Team, the notion of two horses hitched to a single sled, pulling in unison through the rough, uncharted paths of imagination, character, plot and dialogue, happens occasionally but it is the exception rather than the rule. What is more likely to occur is less like synchronized playing and more like a give and take. Less like a duet and more like badminton.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Amy Gentry, Cara Black, Richard Wright, Robert McKee, Michael Noll, Bill Bryson, Maya Angelou, Terry Tempest Williams and many more.
What are you working on now?
We are revising the sequel to SHROUDED: A Crispin Leads Mystery. Our aim is to release DIGGING UP THE DEAD: A Crispin Leads Mystery in late summer of 2018.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
The journey to publication is the best way to promote your book. What do we mean by that? Think of it this way. You write for years, all the while supporting and cheering on other writers you met at conferences and in critique groups. When you launch your book, the kindness you extended to others comes back threefold.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Study. Read. Research. Write. Throw away half of what you write. Rewrite.
Celebrate each little success with champagne.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Keep writing.
What are you reading now?
Circling the Sun by Paula McLain.
What’s next for you as a writer?
1. Talking to groups about creativity and writing with a co-author.
2. Releasing Digging up the Dead: A Crispin Leads Mystery.
3. Working on a secret project. Details to follow in the winter of 2018.
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?
1. Boatbuilding: A Complete Handbook of Wooden Boat Construction by Howard Chapelle. Islands are lovely but Sue. would want to get to her husband and puppies on the mainland.
2. Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders. We’d have time to study the structure.
3. Surviving on a Desert Island. We have no idea if this book exists, but it would be useful.
Author Websites and Profiles
Meredith Lee Website
Meredith Lee Amazon Profile
Meredith Lee’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile