Friday, February 9, 2018

Friday's Interview featuring J. Q. Rose Genres #MFRWauthor #Mysteries #writing

1.  What's your genre or do you write in more than one? My fiction stories are mysteries. Some have paranormal elements and some not. I like to include humor in them even if the mystery is a murder.

2. Did you choose your genre or did it choose you? I chose mystery writing after reading Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series. (There’s just something about that Janet name, eh?) I realized the mystery genre could include humor and fun to entertain readers, not just death and darkness.

3.  Is there any genre you'd like to try?  Or is there one you wouldn't? I would not write historicals because of the time required to become an expert on the time period I would write about. Reading a historical where a person uses a 20th century saying in an18th century story is like scraping finger nails on a chalk board. Grrrr. Clothing, furnishings, speech and more have to be correct for the readers. I am working on a memoir.

For many years, I have been preaching to everyone to sit down and write their life stories. So I decided to take my own advice, and write about a year in my life. I’m not sure if I will have it published or just keep it for my family.

4.  What fiction do you read for pleasure? Mysteries, time travel, romance, memoirs.

5.  Tell me a bit about yourself and how long you've been writing. I started writing stories in second grade. My grandmother was my cheerleader. She encouraged me to make up stories. I also wrote poetry and have continued writing poems throughout my life. When I married and had children and worked full time, I didn’t have much time to write stories. But I always knew in my heart, I was a writer. When we sold our floral business, I began writing free-lance articles for papers and magazines. After fifteen years of doing non-fiction, I wanted to write something fun that stretched my creative muscles. So, I chose to write short stories and novels.

6.  Which of your characters is your favorite? I think Jim and Gloria Hart have been my favorites to write. They are the main characters in my newly released paranormal mystery, Terror on Sunshine Boulevard. They were created with the foundation being my own life, so Gloria could be a good friend of mine in real life. Of course, my husband and I have never dealt with mysterious murders! A lot of fictional scenes are in the book. I leave it up to the readers to decide if we actually experienced the situation within the pages. I’m not telling.

7.  Are there villains in your books and how were they created? Oh yes! A protagonist always needs an antagonist. I created some villains based on stories in the news. Others are purely imagination.

8.  What are you working on now? At this time, I am writing my memoir about the year we decided to move away from family and friends and start our own business in a different city, different state, where we knew no one. That was an important year in my life. I hope it will inspire those who are on the fence about becoming a business-owner or those who are making a decision to change their familiar lives to something completely different. We worked hard to make our business a success, and I think if readers see we did it, they may be empowered to make the big leap themselves. I am working on fictional short stories too.

9.  What's your latest release and how did the idea arrive? Terror on Sunshine Boulevard is my latest release. First published as a short story, I have embellished the story into a novel adding new characters and new situations. The setting is a Florida Senior Retirement Community where Jim and Gloria Hart spend their winters away from the harsh cold, but also away from family. We are snowbirds just like Jim and Gloria, so the idea for the story came from real life.

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1 comment:

J.Q. Rose said...

Thanks so much for hosting me this weekend! You always ask interesting questions.
JQ Rose