Interview With Author Patricia Harrington-Duff
Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Oh, let’s not dive into my secret stash of unpublished short stories and draft novels! You might never escape that labyrinth . . . I’m a software engineer specializing in space missions, and served as the Ground Software Lead for NASA’s DART mission through its successful asteroid impact. I love my job! Also I love writing, escape rooms, puzzles, and “borrowing” the latest book purchases from my husband and kids and starting to read from the middle, mainly to drive them crazy. I write what I like to read, often tales of adventure, misfits and magical mayhem. I live in Maryland with my husband, two college kids and an emotional support cat that needs his emotional support humans.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My debut novel is The Rookie Spellslinger. I’m not a big fan of “chosen one” plots – I prefer a main character that chooses a path and has to work to earn it. My book has themes of ADHD, teen struggles with anxiety and social acceptance, humor, and strong sister bonds. All of those were inspired by my sisters and my own wonderfully wry children.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
After a day of designing software and leading a team, I’m ready to write – curled up on sofa, caffeine in mug, Feline Editor walking all over my laptop keyboard. Nothing unusual there. My fellow writers will relate. At least, those whose living rooms are overrun with cat toys.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
As a kid, I rotated my obsessive reading between genres – alternating binges of fantasy with science fiction and mystery. Sleep optional. Early influences, in fantasy: “The Hobbit,” Pawn of Prophecy,” “Dragonsong,” later “The Lightning Thief.” In science fiction: “I, Robot,” “The Left Hand of Darkness,” “The Martian Chronicles”; more recently, “Artemis.” In mystery: the collected Sherlock Holmes stories, and pretty much anything ever written by Agatha Christie or Rex Stout; more recently, “The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle.”
What are you working on now?
My current work in progress is a different world and genre entirely – a near-future satire where fact and fiction mix like the dregs of a cocktail. It might take a liar to save the world. However, I’m also working on the outline of the sequel to Rookie Spellslinger.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m still figuring this one out. Somebody tell me.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Join a critique group! And yes, participate even with those of your peers that are presenting genres you don’t want to write or who have writing styles completely different from your own. You find out what works in your own writing (and what doesn’t) not by re-reading it 50 times, but from how others responded to your chapters. Even more, you learn from the example of others’ writing and ideas, and you take back what you liked or found useful to add as techniques to your own toolkit.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Use Save the Cat! Or more generally, choose one of the many author aids and plot organization tools – whichever speaks to you. Those tools won’t substitute for spending enough time writing, but they will help you turn a great character or scene into a complete story arc.
What are you reading now?
I often buy books by authors not familiar to me, or fairly recent releases to keep up with the current market. I’ll also buy books for unique hook or intriguing concept. Recent reads that I very much enjoyed include O’Malley’s “The Rook”, “Six of Crows”, “Truly Devious”, “A Deadly Education”, and “Four Dead Queens.” Currently, I’m reading “The Bullet That Missed” by Osman.
What’s next for you as a writer?
My focus now is on ramping up my writing schedule, and in parallel learning the project management side of self-publishing. That is a unique learning curve, independent of the act of story writing.
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?
The ones on my bookshelf with dog-eared pages and busted spines. There are plenty of books I admired and learned something useful from but didn’t feel compelled to re-read. No idea which I’d end up grabbing, it’s impossible to choose in advance. But it would be a few of the old friends that I go back to time and again.
Author Websites and Profiles
Patricia Harrington-Duff Amazon Profile
Patricia Harrington-Duff’s Social Media Links