Friday - Who She Was Before - Gail Roughton #MFRWauthor

1.      What were you in your life before you became a writer? Did this influence your writing?

To a certain extent, I think every writer is born a writer. It’s something that’s just there, the urge (and hopefully the ability) to make something that lives only in your imagination come to life for others through your words, and I say this because without that urge (and hopefully ability) writing in the sense of telling a story’s just not possible. That being said, of course there’s that day-to-day thing of making a living. In my case, I worked as a paralegal for forty-one years and yes ma’am, that’s had a huge impact on my writing, both in technique and subject matter. I’m also a country girl raised in the small town Deep South, which has definitely had a major impact on my writing. I’m also a wife, mother, and grandmother, and since everyone’s life is their own novel, that’s also a great source of material.   

2.       Are you genre specific or general? Why? I don't mean genres like romance, mystery, fantasy etc. There are many subgenres of the above.

I’m all over the place. I never set out to write a specific anything. A story occurs to me and I tell it, and it’s whatever genre or subgenre it turns out to be. In general, if I have one thread that does recur in my work, it’s a paranormal slant.  Sometimes a little, sometimes a whole lot; sometimes humorous, sometimes anything but. 

3.      Did your reading choices have anything to do with your choice of a genre or genres?

Undoubtedly. I’ve always been an eclectic reader, and my preferences have changed over the years. I’ve always loved romantic suspense and thrillers, I’ve always preferred novels with a paranormal element. I used to be quite a horror fan, but with age I’ve grown away from that. Life’s sometimes horrible enough, just watch the news. In the last few years, I’ve preferred to read lighter suspense, especially the ones with humor. I read for entertainment, and in fact, I write for the same reason. Entertainment. My own. So my hope is in entertaining myself, I manage to entertain readers, too. 

4.      What's your latest release?

Let me think, it’s been a while, actually. I’ve just retired and my last two years in a law office were rather—well, brutal, and didn’t leave me much mental stamina for writing.  But my actual last release was the fourth War-N-Wit, Inc. novel, MeanStreet, LLC.  That’s a light, paranormal romantic suspense series with lots of humor in it (that is, I hope it’s got lots of humor in it, that’s what I’ve been told anyway.) I tend to throw a lot of genre elements into one book. 

5.      What are you working on now?

Right now I’m working (and have been working) on the second novel in the Southern Justice series (Country Justice being the first novel in that series), titled Black Turkey Walk. Those particular books are small town suspense/thriller novels which are very dear to my heart. As I’ve always said of the first book, I know the places of Country Justice because I live there, and I know the characters of Country Justice because I’m part of them and they’re part of me. I also write occasionally with friend and fellow writer Jude Pittman and she asked me a few months ago to collaborate on a book she’s working on, the fourth of her A Murder State of Mind series titled Deadly Lights featuring private investigator Kelly McWinter. There was one plot line in there just screaming the name of one of the characters from my Southern Justice series, a character readers know as T-bone. It wasn’t planned, it just happened. So T-bone’s making a guest appearance. 

6.      Where can we find you?

I’m at Books We Love, Ltd. and available on Amazon. Readers can also visit on Facebook and at my blogs, Writin' With Southern Stylin'! and Flowers on the Fence.