Interview With Author Vanessa A. Ryan
Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I live in Southern California, where I am also an actor and a visual artist. At one point in my acting career, I did some standup comedy so my novels often reflect my love of humor even for serious subjects. I have written and published eight novels published. Two of them are published in Denmark. The others were published in the U.S. I write mystery and thriller novels.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest novel is The Trouble with Murder, A Hetty Carson Mystery. It’s a new series with a female private detective. I wanted to have a female private detective based in Los Angeles, but not in the trendiest part of L.A., and I chose the Garment District. It’s gritty and it suits the element of noir that I wanted in the novel. I wanted to make the detective a less-than-perfect character.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I’m not sure this qualifies as an unusual writing habit, but all of my three cats insist on having lap time with me while I’m typing on my keyboard. Generally, they take turns, but I have had all three on my lap at the same time.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
So many authors have influenced me. It would be impossible to list them all. But here’s a short list: I love Jane Austen, Agatha Christie, Stuart Palmer, G. K. Chesterton, Mary Roberts Rhinehart, Patricia Wentworth, Elizabeth Daly, Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, Ernest Hemmingway, Ross MacDonald, Dorothy B. Hughes, Cornell Woolrich, James M. Cain, Barbara Michaels, Graham Greene, Georgette Heyer, Patricia Highsmith, Darwin Teilhet, Hildegard Tolman Teilhet, Earl Derr Biggers, Lewis Carroll, Louisa May Alcott, and Eric Ambler.
What are you working on now?
I’m working on a mystery thriller that takes place in Cuba. I once visited Cuba when they opened it up to Americans for travel. While the plot and the characters are fictitious, I’m incorporating what I learned about Cuba and its people from my visit there.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m still learning what works and what doesn’t work.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Keep writing. That seems trite, but what else can you do? The more you write, the better you’ll get at it.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
The best advice I received was not to overload the first chapter of a novel with background information about the plot and/or the characters. That makes for tedious reading.
What are you reading now?
I’m reading Sanditon, by Jane Austen. I’ve had the book for some time. I even took it on a vacation to the U.K., but with all the sightseeing I did, I didn’t have time to read it. Then I watched it on Masterpiece Theater and loved it. So I’m reading it now.
What’s next for you as a writer?
I want to write more novels, either as stand-alone books or in a series. I have also written some screenplays, and I would like to see those produced.
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?
Wow. Only 3 or 4 books? I guess I would bring the complete works of Shakespeare. There’s got to be one book that has all his plays. That would take quite a bit of time to memorize and understand each play and act them out. As for the other books, I would pick one Raymond Chandler novel–it doesn’t matter which one–they’re all great. For the last book, I would pick Alice in Wonderland because that could give me hope that I’d one day get back home.
Author Websites and Profiles
Vanessa A. Ryan Amazon Profile
Vanessa A. Ryan’s Social Media Links