Gail: I honestly don’t think I have a genre. An idea occurs to me and if I’m lucky, that
idea sustains itself long enough to become a book. And that book is whatever
genre it turns out to be, and is usually a mix of several, most likely
paranormal suspense or thriller, usually with some romance, a good bit of humor
(I hope), and occasionally a tad bit of horror though there has been one I
myself consider pure Southern Gothic Horror. There’s even been a paranormal
romantic fantasy.
Jude: It’s mystery for me. I do
write romance, but even then there’s always a mystery component. I cut my teeth on Rex Stout and Agatha
Christie mysteries and the habit’s never lef tme.
2. Did you choose your genre or did it choose you?
Gail: See answer to No. 2. I most definitely don’t choose my genre(s).
Jude: It chose me, no question about that, drew me
in and hooked me good.
3. Is there any genre you’d like to try? Or is there one you wouldn’t?
Gail: I’ve never consciously picked any genre, I
just follow along down whatever path the story and characters take. That being said, I can’t imagine any story
leading me along a pure sci-fi genre path because I don’t have the expertise or
knowledge to write pure sci-fi.
Jude: One I definitely would not
try is fantasy where you have to create an entire world as well as all the
characters that inhabit it. I have
tremendous admiration for those who can do that, but it’s just not a place
where I’d excel.
4. What fiction do you read for pleasure?
Gail: The older I get, the more I value humor, so I
prefer light reads such as cozy mysteries or romantic/paranormal suspense with
lots of humor thrown in.
Jude. Mystery all the way; I read romantic suspense
to but my very favorite read is a really good who-dunnit.
5. Tell me a bit about yourself and how long you’ve been writing.
Gail: I’m a retired paralegal who lived in a law
office for forty-one years, during which time my husband and I raised three
kids and I raised quite a few attorneys on the side. We’re lucky in that our kids didn’t run away
from home when they were old enough and live very near us, which means we have
a very active role in our grandchildren’s lives; in fact, we’re Grandparent Day
Care. Our grandson is 12 and our granddaughter is almost 6. After retirement two years ago, I enjoyed
staying home and doing nothing so much I was afraid my brain would turn to
mush, so I started substitute teaching in my grandchildren’s school system. A
good day in a classroom is like nothing else. And of course, the same can be
said for a bad day in a classroom, lol.
Jude: As you know I’m also a publisher, having
gravitated to that after years of writing, publishing, then getting involved in
marketing for myself and a bunch of other authors, and finally taking the leap
into publishing. I love what I do but I
confess that there’s a lot less time for reading and writing for my own
pleasure than I used to have. But in
place of that I get a lot of pleasure out of seeing our BWL books enjoyed by
more and more readers and I get to bask in the glow of the great reviews our
authors receive, so that’s a pretty special tradeoff for the time I don’t have
anymore.
6. Which of your characters is your favorite?
Gail: I don’t have one, or at least, I don’t have
the same favorite all the time, it depends on my mood at the time anyone’s
asking. It’s rather like picking a
favorite child. Sometimes you might like
one of your kids more than you like the others, but you still can’t honestly
say you love one more or that one’s
your favorite.
Jude: Kelly McWinter has been with me so long and
is so much a part of the 12 years I spent in Texas Texas
7. Are there villains in your books and how were they created?
Gail: Of course there’re villains in my books!
Every hero/heroine has to have an adversary.
But I can’t tell you how they’re created except to say they’re created
just like all my characters are. They
just get up and start walking and talking and I transcribe what they say. If they didn’t, I wouldn’t have a book.
Jude: Oh of course there are
villains in my books. You can’t have a mystery without a villain. Usually it’s a murderer but sometimes it’s a
particularly nasty thief or a character everyone loves to hate – usually the
boyfriend of a very nice gal you wish had more sense.
8. What are you working on now?
Gail: I’m not actively working on anything at the
moment. I have a couple of ideas I’ve
scribbled some on, and both of them lean heavy toward humor, but I’m a slow
writer, always have been. Ideas have to
sit on the back eye of the stove and simmer.
If they come to a boil, then a book gets finished and if that happens,
the actual writing time’s pretty short, usually no more than six months. But there’s never any guarantee they’ll come
to a boil and if they don’t, then there’s no book.
Jude: I wish I could say I was “actively” working, but I am trying to get the 6th Kelly McWinter PI novel, Deadly Ghosts, ready for 2019. It’s a very slow process with a lot of other stuff interfering, but I am trying.
Jude: I wish I could say I was “actively” working, but I am trying to get the 6th Kelly McWinter PI novel, Deadly Ghosts, ready for 2019. It’s a very slow process with a lot of other stuff interfering, but I am trying.
9. What’s your latest release and how did the idea arrive?
Gail: Jude Pittman and I just published a re-work
and expansion of Sisters of Prophecy,
which is a true genre hybrid of paranormal/suspense/romance. For years, Jude wanted to write a novel
starring a family ancestor, Ursula Shipman, known to history as Mother Shipman,
a lady famous for making a great many prophecies. As previously noted, paranormal’s kinda my
thing, and mixing genres is definitely my thing, so she asked me to co-write
the story with her, and Sisters of
Prophecy is the final product.
Jude: Gail answered
that one just fine. Loved working with
her on Sisters and loved the end result, what a fun book to write and to read.
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