Everyone loves a success story, and doubly so when the bearer of good news is, himself, a good egg. Author, Gregg Hurwitz, visited with us nearly two years ago, and now he’s back with news of his latest suspense novel, released this month from St. Martin’s Press, and a preview of his upcoming project that’s a new take on an old nemesis.

We’d like to thank him for taking the time, once again, to be part of our “5 Minutes Alone” interview series.

AuthorScoop: Back in the summer of 2009, we talked about TRUST NO ONE. That one seemed to have gone over very well with fans and critics alike. Was it a milestone book for you?

Gregg: Very much so. It was the first in my transition away from action-intensive books toward Hitchcockian suspense, which really characterizes my last three and especially YOU’RE NEXT. These stories are about the ways that intense pressure effects individuals and the relationships they fight to maintain when the world starts coming apart.

AuthorScoop: Tell us about your latest release.

Gregg: I was inspired to write YOU’RE NEXT by a scene that forced its way into my head one night when I couldn’t sleep. A four-year-old boy is dropped off at an unknown playground by his father and told to get out of the station wagon. His father seems nervous and the boy notices a drop of blood on his father’s sleeve. He gets out and plays on the playground, and as morning turns to afternoon, it slowly dawns on him that he’s been abandoned. That was the only thing I knew about the book, but I wanted to figure out what happened to that kid once he grew up, and what reason was behind his father’s abandoning him there. I was fascinated by that boy, thinking about what he would be like as a man. When we next see Mike Wingate, he’s an adult with a wife and daughter of his own. Mysterious figures emerge who seem to know something about Mike’s past, and begin to threaten his family, very indirectly at first, and then with increasing brashness. And the book is really about the lengths one man will go to to protect his family–when it goes beyond protecting what he has built, and all that is left is protecting who he loves.

AuthorScoop: Has discovering your groove for well-received thriller fiction changed the way you read?

Gregg: I don’t think so. I am a writer because of how much I’ve always loved reading. I know some writers say they can’t read when they’re writing their books, but that seems like hell to me — I can’t imagine going for a stretch of time without a book in my hand or on the night stand. I still love nothing more than losing myself in a good plot and when I do, I marvel like a reader, not a writer.

AuthorScoop: With your reputation secured by praise from the likes of David Baldacci and the notoriously grumpy Kirkus reviewers, what advice would you give aspiring novelists?

Gregg: Don’t write drafts of sixteen novels. Write sixteen drafts of one novel.

AuthorScoop: A little birdie told AuthorScoop that you’ve only just announced your next project. Will you do it again here for our readers?

Gregg: I’ve just announced my new comic book project. Ladies and gentlemen…meet the Penguin.

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YOU’RE NEXT will be easily spotted on the shelf at your local bookstore, or if you can’t wait that long, Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble.com, and Indiebound will be happy to get you reading in no time.

And keep tabs on Gregg Hurwitz day in and day out (really, he doesn’t seem to mind) on FaceBook, Twitter, and in more depth and Technicolor at his website, gregghurwitz.net.

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TJ Forrester’s debut novel, MIRACLES, INC., has enjoyed a warm critical reception for its unique setup and effective - ahem - execution, and his current personal adventure is of the stuff that will keep fans checking in for updates. AuthorScoop was lucking enough to draw a few minutes of his time to learn a bit about both.

We’d like to thank him for taking the time to be part of our “5 Minutes Alone” interview series.

AuthorScoop: What was your very first publication credit?

TJ: My first publication was a short story titled “The Glove.” The story was published in UpDare?, then reprinted in the Storyteller, where it was nominated for the Pushcart Prize.

AuthorScoop: Tell us about your latest release.

TJ: My latest release is my first release (Miracles, Inc. / Simon & Schuster / Feb. 1, 2011), and it’s a novel about Vernon Oliver, a young man who wants to make a better life for his lover. When his employer, the mysterious Miriam Mackenzie, asks him to lead a scam faith healing business, he quickly accepts. His climb to the top is swift and so his fall, a plunge that takes him straight to death row. It is there, in a Florida prison, that he writes his story.

AuthorScoop: Aside from your own hard work, who (or what) else do you feel has contributed to your success?

TJ: Stubbornness, I suppose, is one of my best assets. It kept me writing, even when an early mentor did his best to convince me I had no chance at becoming a professional.

These days my stubbornness keeps me hiking. I’m attempting to walk the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to New York, where I will turn right and hopefully walk onto the set of the Colbert Report as a guest author. I’m 1,000 miles into my hike, still no word from the show, but I’m not about to give up. If anyone is interesting in following along, I blog this adventure on my personal website.

AuthorScoop: At what time of day or night do you do your best writing?

TJ: I do my best writing after I wake. Sometimes I split up my sleep, so I wake more times a day.

AuthorScoop: Finally, what advice would you give to new or unpublished writers?

TJ: A. Read good writing.

B. Write every day.

C. Never give up.

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Get thee to a bookstore or a computer, charge card in hand, to get your copy of MIRACLES, INC and find out more about TJ Forrester and his walking feet (and feat) on his website and blog.

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Authors, Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke, first put their heads together in collaboration on their debut novel, I’LL HAVE WHAT SHE’S HAVING. Now they’re back with a brand new release, THE D WORD, so we’ve hit them up for one more joint effort to bring us a little bit more on how it all came to be.

We’d like to thank them for taking the time to be part of our “5 Minutes Alone” interview series.

AuthorScoop: What was your very first publication credit?

Liz & Lisa: I’LL HAVE WHAT SHE’S HAVING is our first novel. It all started in college when we said, “Hey maybe we should write a book.” And it may have taken ten years, but we wrote it! (Note: never give up!)

IHWSH is the story of sisters Kate and Kelly who lead very different lives (Kate cannot find a lasting relationship to save her life and Kelly isn’t sure her so-called lasting relationship is the right thing) yet they’re both searching for the same thing - a happy ending. Through a series of hardships and self-doubt, they realize they were looking for happiness in all of the wrong places. It’s a novel for anyone who ever let their insecurities get the best of them. And we’re excited to announce that it’s being re-released on June 14th as an e-book with a brand spankin’ new cover along with our new book The D Word.

AuthorScoop: Tell us about your latest release.

Liz & Lisa: THE D WORD is the story of Jordan Daniels and Elle Ryan who thought their lives would become less complicated when they walked away from their respective relationships one year ago. But instead they find themselves vying for a relationship with the same divorced man. You’ll walk in the shoes of Jordan and Elle as they discover that sometimes you’re not that different from the person who makes you feel the most insecure. We’re humbled that author Laura Dave calls it sassy, smart and highly enjoyable and author Amy Hatvany calls “thoughtful and witty.”

THE D WORD was published as an e-book on June 14th!

AuthorScoop: Aside from your own hard work, who (or what) else do you feel has contributed to your success?

Liz & Lisa: Believing in ourselves, taking rejection in stride (not always easy to do!) and relying on the expertise of successful authors who’ve been gracious enough to give us advice.

AuthorScoop: At what time of day or night do you do your best writing?

Liz & Lisa: Lisa does her best writing in the wee hours of the morning before her four-month-old baby wakes up. The house is silent, the coffee pot is all hers and no one cares if she’s in her pajamas.

Liz does her best writing late at night after her kids have gone to bed. The house is silent, the desk where she writes is all hers (it’s located in what she calls the grand central station of her house) and no one cares if she’s in her pajamas.

AuthorScoop: Finally, what advice would you give to new or unpublished writers?

Liz & Lisa: To build relationships with published authors you admire. Who can give you invaluable information not only on how they found success, but also on their take on the publishing world.

Also, don’t let the rejection get you down.  Take the criticism and look at your WIP objectively-try to benefit from it!  But at the same time, always stay true to yourself and your vision.

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Liz and Lisa keep the chick-lit world up-to-date on their adventures at chicklitisnotdead.com (where you’ll find handy links to their two books) and in short little nibbles on Twitter.

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Jael McHenry’s debut springs onto the shelves and critique pages and AuthorScoop is quite pleased to have snagged a few moments right at the launch to hear a bit about how, THE KITCHEN DAUGHTER, came to be.

We’d like to thank her for taking the time to be part of our “5 Minutes Alone” interview series.

AuthorScoop: What was your very first publication credit?

Jael: In high school, I went to a writing conference at a nearby college, and I had a poem in the conference handout – it was just a photocopied series of pages, and I don’t remember if they included something from everyone who attended, but I do remember two things about the poem: it was about a deaf woman in an airport, and it definitely rhymed.

AuthorScoop: Tell us about your latest release.

Jael: The Kitchen Daughter is my debut novel. It’s about a young woman who discovers that she can invoke ghosts by cooking from dead people’s recipes. The main character, Ginny, has lived with her protective parents all her life, but when they’re killed in an accident, she seeks comfort in cooking from family recipes. She finds that making her grandmother’s bread soup brings that grandmother’s spirit into the kitchen, and the ghost gives her a warning that she needs to figure out. Complicating things are her undiagnosed Asperger’s syndrome, and her bossy sister Amanda, who doesn’t think Ginny is capable of living on her own and making her own choices.

AuthorScoop: Aside from your own hard work, who (or what) else do you feel has contributed to your success?

Jael: There are so many people who have been absolutely essential, whose advice and support and help I wouldn’t be here without. One is my incredible agent Elisabeth Weed. I can’t emphasize enough what a difference a smart, enthusiastic, dedicated agent makes. I’m so lucky to have her.

AuthorScoop: At what time of day or night do you do your best writing?

Jael: Of necessity most of my writing takes place on evenings and weekends, and it’s usually around 9 or 10 at night that I hit my stride.

AuthorScoop: Finally, what advice would you give to new or unpublished writers?

Jael: Never give up, but don’t mistake repetition for perseverance. I’ve been working steadily for more than 10 years to get a book published – but I didn’t just send the same query for the same book over and over again, which I think is what some people think when they hear “keep trying.” I wrote other books that didn’t make it to publication and I’m actually glad they didn’t. This book is so much better and I know so much more about publishing than I did back in the day. So don’t be impatient – if things don’t happen right away there’s probably a reason. Learn and grow and write what you love. When everything finally comes together, it’s magic.

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THE KITCHEN DAUGHTER is available now, so hit the bookstore or follow the links to get your copy today. And for more on Jael McHenry, visit her lovely website.

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Author PM Terrell has got a lot of experience writing thrillers and now she’s taken what she knows and joined forces with an expert collaborator, T. Randy Stevens, to bring her fans her twelfth novel, THE BANKER’S GREED. It’s just rolled off the presses, and we’ve snagged 5 Minutes of her time to chart her path through the publishing industry thus far.

We’d like to thank her for taking the time to be part of our “5 Minutes Alone” interview series.

AuthorScoop: What was your very first publication credit?

PM Terrell: It was in 1984, and the first book I ever had published had the exciting title “Creating the Perfect Database.” It wasn’t exactly the kind of book you’d want to read in bed, or you’d be asleep within five minutes. I remember approaching my editor at Dow Jones about writing suspense/thrillers and his deer-in-the-headlights expression as he told me he didn’t know anything about publishing fiction. It would take me nearly sixteen more years to get my first suspense/thriller published.

AuthorScoop: Tell us about your latest release.

PM Terrell: The Banker’s Greed, my 12th book, is my first collaboration with another author. T. Randy Stevens is the CEO and Chairman of the Board of First Farmers Bank; and if I’m going to write a book entitled “The Banker’s Greed” it works out really well to have a banker help co-author it.

The book begins when the daughter of a powerful and influential banker is kidnapped. She knows her survival could depend on her ability to remember every detail, and when she manages to escape, she provides that information to the FBI. But all the clues lead to one man - her father. Now she’s the prosecution’s star witness - but could she be sending an innocent man to prison? And if her father didn’t orchestrate her kidnapping, who did? And why?

Besides being a fast-paced suspense with lots of twists and turns, it poses the question: would you testify against your parent? Could you?

AuthorScoop: Aside from your own hard work, who (or what) else do you feel has contributed to your success?

PM Terrell: Persistence. And dedicated fans who have kept me writing through their encouraging words and feedback. Writing is a solitary experience, and you have to find it in yourself to keep going even when the path seems daunting. But when I think about what I’d do if I wasn’t writing, my mind goes blank. So I keep moving onward, and sometimes just staying in the game makes all the difference.

AuthorScoop: At what time of day or night do you do your best writing?

PM Terrell: I dream every scene before I write it. So the best time for me  to get started is first thing in the morning, while the dream is fresh in my mind. Once I get going, I might not move from my chair for 10 or 12 hours. And it will feel like the blink of an eye. I write six days a week, week in and week out.

AuthorScoop: Finally, what advice would you give to new or unpublished writers?

PM Terrell: Hone your craft. Learn the technical aspect to writing as well as the creative. Listen to critics and don’t allow your ego to become intertwined with your writing. Make your writing the best it can be. When you get rejections - and you will - just keep putting one foot in front of the other. Believe in yourself, or no one else will.

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THE BANKER’S GREED is just a few keystrokes away, and here’s a handy link to get you started. Learn more about PM Terrell at her website, and find her on Facebook and Twitter, as well.

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AMERICAN ROSE: A NATION LAID BARE - THE LIFE AND TIMES OF GYPSY ROSE LEE, by Karen Abbott, has already impressed us enough to write a rare AuthorScoop review of it. Now we’ve been so bold as to snag her, mid-tour, to tell us more about her path through journalism and her critically acclaimed, New York Times bestselling, SIN IN THE SECOND CITY, to the feet of the erstwhile most popular woman in America and forever most accomplished burlesque performer in history.

We’d like to thank her for taking the time to be part of our “5 Minutes Alone” interview series.

AuthorScoop: What was your very first publication credit?

Karen: It was in 1994, back in college, and I was interning for a free weekly called the Main Line Welcomat, which served a certain stretch of suburban Philadelphia. I had a column called—wait for it—”Main Line Jailbait.” I was 21 at the time so it didn’t technically apply, but my job (and I say that loosely) was to chronicle college life in this uber wealthy, privileged milieu; I came from a neighboring blue collar town and was a bit of an anomaly, to say the least. Anyway, my first column was about my quixotic quest for the perfect fake ID. I branched out from there, but obviously I didn’t get into journalism because I thought I had anything profound to say…

AuthorScoop: Tell us about your latest release.

Karen: My grandmother is 92 years old—just eight years younger than Gypsy, who would’ve turned 100 on January 8—and she always told me stories about growing up during the Great Depression. She once relayed a tale about a cousin who claims to have seen Gypsy Rose Lee perform around 1935. The cousin said that Gypsy took a full fifteen minutes to peel off a single glove, and that she was so damn good at it he gladly would’ve given her fifteen more. So this story got me thinking, who was Gypsy Rose Lee? Who could possibly take the simple act of peeling off a glove and make it so riveting that one might be compelled to watch this for a full half-hour?

So I began researching, and I came across a series of articles from the year 1940 about Gypsy in Life magazine. One said called her “the most private public woman of her time.” I thought that was interesting—here’s someone who was primarily known for (literally) exposing herself, and yet she was considered intensely private. Another article expanded on that theme, saying that she was “the only woman in the world with a public body and a private mind, both equally exciting.” Another claimed that she was the “most popular woman in the world, even outpolling Eleanor Roosevelt.” Wow, I thought—pretty impressive. And then I came upon a telegram from Eleanor Roosevelt herself to Gypsy Rose Lee that read, “May your bare ass always be shining.” That was the clincher; I had to write about this woman. I spent three years researching American Rose, research that included connecting with Gypsy’s sister, the late actress June Havoc (I was the last person to interview her) and Gypsy’s son, and also spending countless hours immersed in Gypsy’s expansive archives at the New York Public Library. I became obsessed with figuring out the person behind the persona.

AuthorScoop: Aside from your own hard work, who (or what) else do you feel has contributed to your success?

Karen: Honestly, luck. Sure, you have to write a good book and be tenacious as hell, but you also have to connect with the right agent and the right editor on the right day. I know too many talented writers with brilliant manuscripts who should be published by now but aren’t, and I have to think that luck is the missing ingredient.

I’m also extremely fortunate to have the best writing group on the planet. They’re novelists and they really encourage me to focus on storytelling in my nonfiction. If I get too showoff-y with my research, they’ll write things like “zzzzzzzz” and “information dump!” in the margins, and I know I’ve veered off track and am losing narrative momentum.

AuthorScoop: At what time of day or night do you do your best writing?

Karen: I’m a chronic insomniac and night owl, and I love writing at night when I’m rid of all my usual distractions–the ping of email, the phone ringing, my parrots squawking. It’s a nightly effort to coax myself to sleep, but when I get there—if I’m lucky—I can sometimes dream parts of my book. A chapter outline might flesh itself out, or an anecdote might run through my head written in an different way than I’d imagined. This sort of subconscious editing doesn’t happen too often, but I’m trying to learn how to control it.

AuthorScoop: Finally, what advice would you give to new or unpublished writers?

Karen: This sounds obvious, but write. Just sit your ass in the chair and do it. Which is easier than it sounds, of course. My writing group has a motto, of sorts: we hate writing, but we love having written.

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AMERICAN ROSE is available now in hardback, electronic, and audiobook versions. However you get it, do get it.  Your local bookstore should be able to put in in your hands today, or there’s always Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble on the web.

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Author Jen K. Blom’s debut novel, will lead mid-grade readers right out of winter with charm and insight into POSSUM SUMMER. Warm with message, it speaks to all a story can and should be to kindle a kid’s love of reading.

We’d like to thank Ms. Blom for taking the time to be part of our “5 Minutes Alone” interview series.

AuthorScoop: What was your very first publication credit?

Jen: My first pub is my debut, POSSUM SUMMER (Holiday House, March 2011)

AuthorScoop: Tell us about your latest release.

Jen: Well, the short version is it’s about a girl, her decision to adopt a possum against her military father’s orders, and how she deals with trying to raise him and set him free. The long version involves snakes, dogs, possums, falling in ponds, getting caught, discovering your teachers are actually pretty cool, and eating. A lot of eating.

AuthorScoop: Aside from your own hard work, who (or what) else do you feel has contributed to your success?

Jen: Writing friends, definitely. And my husband. He read POSSUM SUMMER in the bath and stayed in until he finished it. It was the first time I’d managed that feat.

AuthorScoop: At what time of day or night do you do your best writing?

Jen: Whenever my little girl (10 mos, at present) is sleeping! Time to write gets more and more precious as she grows!

AuthorScoop: Finally, what advice would you give to new or unpublished writers?

Jen: Never ever give up. Make sure your query shines. And write the book that you would like to read. It’s a certainty at some point others will want to read it too.

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POSSUM SUMMER awaits, and here’s how to get it. Find out more about Jen at her website, blog, and what she might be contemplating at any given moment on Twitter.

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In 2008, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Dr. Yvonne Thornton about her wonderful memoir, THE DITCHDIGGER’S DAUGHTERS. It’s wonderful to learn that Dr. Thornton is back in the memoir-writing business with SOMETHING TO PROVE. The bookshelf is a finer place for it.

We’d like to thank her for taking the time to be part of our “5 Minutes Alone” interview series.

AuthorScoop: What was your very first publication credit?

Dr. Thornton: A scientific paper in 1973 when I was a fourth-year medical student at Columbia P&S doing a research elective at The Rockefeller University Hospital in New York City entitled, Pharmacology of Cyanate, II. Effects on the endocrine system.  Journal of  Pharmacology and  Experimental Therapeutics 1973, 186:667-675.  My co-authors were Joseph Graziano and Anthony Cerami. My first non-medical publication credit was the national bestseller, “The Ditchdigger’s Daughters” in 1995. The story was published in 19 languages and made into an award-winning movie.

AuthorScoop: Tell us about your latest release.

Dr. Thornton: Dr. Thornton has written a new memoir as a sequel to The Ditchdigger’s Daughters.  It was released in December, and is entitled, “SOMETHING TO PROVE”.  The memoir chronicles of Dr. Thornton’s life as a wife, mother and a full-time practicing obstetrician in an academic medical center. SOMETHING TO PROVE picks up where the bestselling memoir, “The Ditchdigger’s Daughters” left off in which Dr. Thornton tells the story of her amazing father who moved his wife and daughters from the tenements in Harlem to a small house in New Jersey that he built with his own hands from materials bought on a ditchdigger’s salary.  Donald Thornton cherished a mighty dream – that all of his daughters would become medical doctors, respected professionals in white coats and “scripperscraps” (stethoscopes) – a designation he believed would shield them from the pernicious specter of prejudice. In this sequel, Dr. Thornton reveals how she ascended to the top of her field as a physician by drawing on her father’s teachings. Despite bias and setbacks, she became the first African-American woman in the United States to be Board-certified in the obstetrical sub-specialty of maternal-fetal medicine. Dismissed and shunned by her peers for entering the male-dominated world of academic medicine, Dr. Thornton relied on her father’s life lessons, which taught her to be strong and rise above adversity. Through intelligence, determination, and hard work, Dr. Yvonne Thornton overcame the odds to reach the pinnacle of her profession.

AuthorScoop: Aside from your own hard work, who (or what) else do you feel has contributed to your success?

Dr. Thornton: My husband.

AuthorScoop: At what time of day or night do you do your best writing?

Dr. Thornton: Late at night and the weekends after my hospital obligations and family obligations are completed.

AuthorScoop: Finally, what advice would you give to new or unpublished writers?

Dr. Thornton: Never give up, Never, Never, give up!! You need to be your own champion.

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SOMETHING TO PROVE is available now and there’s much more to learn of (and about) Dr. Yvonne Thornton here at Wikipedia and on her blog, Paging Dr. Thornton, and hear her on NPR’s, The Root.

Alice Loweecey knows a thing or two about being a nun and then being something else. Lucky for us, that something else is a writer, and lucky for her readers her protagonist protégée, Giulia Falcone, shed the veil for the slueth’s hat. Ms. Loweecey’s debut novel, FORCE OF HABIT, has launched to applause and now we get a look behind the scenes.

We’d like to thank her for taking the time to be part of our “5 Minutes Alone” interview series.

AuthorScoop: What was your very first publication credit?

Alice: A short story in a local newspaper when I was 16. There was a photo prompt, something like a drive-in movie screen with a man’s silhouette superimposed on it. My story was one of three chosen. I remember that it was a cliché teenager offering: chock-full of angst and drama and pathos. I fervently hope that the microfiche for that issue has been lost.

AuthorScoop: Tell us about your latest release.

Alice: Force of Habit is an ex-nun Private Investigator mystery.

Giulia Falcone is convinced she’s going to Hell. First, because she left the convent. Second, her new job with a private investigator has her sneaking around and lying. Adjusting to life in the outside world isn’t easy. Makeup, dating, and sex are all new to her. And despite a crush on her boss Frank Driscoll—a foul-mouthed, soft-hearted ex-cop—Giulia is sure he’d never fall for an ex-nun.

Her first case involves drop-dead handsome Blake Parker, a man with immense wealth and an ego to match. He and his fiancée are getting disturbing “gifts” with messages based on biblical verses. When Giulia is drawn into the stalker’s twisted game, salacious photos of her appear, threatening her job and her friendship with Frank. No one imagines—least of all naïve Giulia—the danger ahead, when following the clues turns into a fight for her life.

AuthorScoop: Aside from your own hard work, who (or what) else do you feel has contributed to your success?

Alice: The Absolute Write Water Cooler, without a doubt. Five years ago, when I had a first novel I thought was All That, I got a contract offer from Publish America. Because I worked in direct marketing at the time, something about the supposedly personal letter seemed too boilerplate. I did some searching, and found the truth about this notorious vanity printer on AW. I was smart enough to stay around AW, and there I learned a ton about the mechanics of writing—and made some terrific writer friends. My road to publication would’ve been much longer without the knowledge and support I found there.

AuthorScoop: At what time of day or night do you do your best writing?

Alice: Late in the evening. Alas, I have to get up at 6:20 am for the Day Job. I’ve rewired my brain to write when the sun is up—mornings and afternoons. But it’s grumpy, and still prefers to create in darkness. Appropriate, I suppose, since I write some dark stuff!

AuthorScoop: Finally, what advice would you give to new or unpublished writers?

Alice: To everyone reading this who has a novel gathering dust in a drawer (or on a hard drive) and can’t bring themselves to take the step into the world of trying to get published… and to everyone staring at their umpteenth agent rejection: Never give up! Never surrender! I had a lot of setbacks on the road to my book deal. A lot. Head-exploding setbacks: 185 passes for 3 books over 4 years, among other things. But I started on this path with one goal: To see my name on a shelf in a brick-and-mortar bookstore. I wasn’t going to stop till that happened. I’m certainly not going to stop now that it is happening. My next goal is to see a total stranger reading my book. After that, well, I’ll think of something very soon.

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Don’t miss FORCE OF HABIT. Snag it at your local bookseller or click at Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble to get yours. And find out more about what’s happening with Alice at AliceLoweecey.net.

Last week, I had the pleasure of reviewing author and editor Mark Garvey’s Stylized: A Slightly Obsessive History of Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style (if you missed it, check it out here). Today, we present an exclusive interview with Garvey, discussing his motivations and process in putting together this excellent history of, and homage to, Strunk and White’s “little book.”

AuthorScoop: For those who haven’t yet read “Stylized”, tell us a bit about your introduction to “The Elements of Style” and the impact it had on you and your writing.

Mark: I first became aware of The Elements of Style in high school (in the late 1970s), when it was a required text for several of our English classes. The book really hit home with me in college, when I began writing for my own pleasure, and I was becoming interested in how other writers had approached writing’s basic questions. What I found in Elements was a slim, succinct guide that laid out some useful, fundamental principles for writers in a memorable and enjoyable way. It covered the more mechanical concerns (punctuation and such) but it also expounded a philosophy of writing that seemed eminently sensible and attractive to me, a philosophy that stressed the values of simplicity, concision, and clarity and that pointed the book’s writing reader toward the discovery, the blossoming, of his own voice on the page. Elements gave me confidence in the idea that if I managed to internalize the fundamentals of grammar, spelling, word usage, and such, and if I absorbed the book’s lessons about clarity and brevity and naturalness, my own voice as a writer would eventually develop.I think that’s the promise Elements holds out to every writer.

AuthorScoop: When you first conceptualized the book, how close was your original vision to what it would eventually become?

Mark: The final shape of Stylized actually ended up being fairly close to the original conception. I had several goals in mind for the book when I began: to unearth new biographical detail on both authors, particularly as it related to The Elements of Style; to tell the story of the book’s history and influence; to include the thoughts of some of my favorite writers on Elements; and to weave in my own ideas about the reasons for the book’s long success. I think I got pretty close to reaching those broader goals. Now, as to whether my prose itself matches my initial vision—does it ever? Doesn’t it always seem to the writer that, given just one more week, just one more edit, the prose will really start to sing? But we do the best we can. One thing I’ve learned from working with writers in my longish career in publishing, and in my own writing, is that a deadline is a writer’s best friend. It keeps us productive and, I hope, keeps things from getting too precious and overdone.

AuthorScoop: I really enjoyed the quotes from various writers sprinkled throughout “Stylized”. Had you already collected them by the time you began work in earnest, or was it a process of discovery for you as you wrote?

Mark: I’m glad to hear you enjoyed the writers’ quotes. I think they add a nice dimension to the book, and I feel very fortunate that so many great writers wanted to participate. As for the timing, I conducted most of the interviews with the writers early on, as I was doing the other parts of my research, so when it came down to the actual writing, the interviews were available as part of my raw materials, and I was able to place them into the structure in a way that fit with my overall plan. But certainly, talking to the writers was a process of discovery for me. They contributed an interestingly nuanced range of opinions about Elements and about the style-related questions I posed. I still love hearing from writers about how they get their work done.

AuthorScoop: In your rather intriguing blog entry on Joyce’s “Ulysses”, you note that you don’t read a lot of fiction. In terms of the distinction between quality non-fiction and quality fiction (the quest for clear and concise prose in non-fiction versus a more elastic, “voice”-centric approach in fiction) do you think “The Elements of Style” serves one discipline better than the other?

Mark: I think Elements is commonly thought to be of more use to nonfiction writers than to fiction writers. I suppose there’s something to that, but much of the book’s advice, particularly the Strunk-heavy sections in the first four chapters—those chapters concerning things such as punctuation, word usage, and organization—are as pertinent to fiction writers as to anyone else. Fiction isn’t exempt from the necessity to pay attention to those elements. White’s essay in Chapter 5, “An Approach to Style,” does perhaps seem more directed at nonfiction writers, but to my way of thinking it would be the rare fiction writer who couldn’t find something of value in that chapter, too. Certainly there are books that are of more substantial help on the techniques of fiction writing, and I would expect would-be fiction writers to look to those books for advice that’s more specific to their work.

AuthorScoop: Considering the rapid evolution of language, the rise of experimentation in literature and the influx of slang into the mainstream over the past 50 years, do you think The Elements of Style can continue to hold its influence and intellectual authority for another half-century?

Mark: I think as long as Elements undergoes reasonable updating at reasonable intervals, particularly in the chapter called “Words and Expressions Commonly Misused,” as it did during White’s lifetime (he made changes and adjustments over three editions and countless printings), it should remain a standard. I don’t see its core premises being debunked any time soon. As New Yorker writer Alec Wilkinson says in Stylized, “Show me something better. Show me a better model. Lack of clarity? Slovenliness? Sloppiness? Show me something better.”

AuthorScoop: The history of “Elements”, particularly White’s determination in extending and expanding its influence, is really a very touching illustration of carrying forward the torch — not only for the benefit of future generations, but also as a way of honoring the past. Do you feel that your book has some of that to it?

Mark: I hope so. That’s a nice way to think about it. I know I undertook the project as a labor of love. Stylized is an homage to a book that has meant a lot to me and to countless other writers. Of course, neither E. B. White nor William Strunk Jr. needs me to keep the Elements legacy alive. Their work speaks for itself, and to far more readers than I will ever reach. I just wanted to tell the book’s story and express my enthusiasm for its message.

Simon Elegant profiles “China’s literary bad boy”, Han Han. (TIME)

William J. Quirk parses F. Scott Fitzgerald’s tax returns for insights into the author’s lifestyle. (The American Scholar)

Suzanne Munshower makes a passionate case for the preservation of the physical book. (Guardian Books Blog)

Morgan Von Ancken looks at some of the tougher adaptations Hollywood has undertaken. (Lit Drift)

Ron Hogan explores Victor Lodato’s tale of two dust jackets. (GalleyCat)

Catie Disabato chats it up with Jonathan Zittrain, author of The Future of the Internet and How to Stop It. (The Rumpus)

Natalia O’Hara looks at the life and (phenomenal) work of Amos Oz. (Prague Post)

R.I.P. Theodore R. Sizer, educator and author. (Washington Post)

R.I.P. Lenore Kandel, counterculture poet. (San Francisco Chronicle)

On this day in 1939, prolific western writer Zane Grey died. (Today in Literature)

Masha Hamilton is a journalist and fiction author, and her fourth novel, 31 HOURS, is released from Unbridled Books today. Ms. Hamilton is known for her coverage of the world’s hotspots and for her poetic style, and this chillingly timely topic sits at bold juxtaposition to her lyricism.

We’d like to thank her for taking the time out to be part of our “5 Minutes Alone” interview series.

AuthorScoop: What was your very first publication credit?

Masha: I was one of those who always knew I needed to write. In elementary school, I had a poem in a national anthology, submitted by my teacher, and at the same time, (although this isn’t really a publication credit), I was producing bi-monthly editions of a family newspaper, full of news of the most local kind! I think some of those still survive somewhere.

AuthorScoop: Tell us about your latest release.

Masha: 31 HOURS is my fourth novel. I wrote the first draft in one intense month sequestered at Blue Mountain Center, a nurturing artists’ retreat, in a tiny room overlooking the calm and non-judgmental Blue Mountain Lake. The location allowed me, in the writing, to touch on my deepest fears as a mother, as an American and a New Yorker. (Then, of course, I needed many more months of revision to truly get it ready.) The novel takes place in and around the subway system. The edgy poetry of the subway is the foundation for the story, which is about missed connections, about the search for religious or spiritual guidance, and about mothering a young adult in this chaotic world. It asks the reader to suspend easy judgments, so it’s a demanding book in that way. It’s also a story that takes place with a ticking clock in the background – as the novel opens, there are just 31 hours left to change the course of not just one young man’s life, but the lives of many.

AuthorScoop: Aside from your own hard work, who else do you feel has contributed to your success?

Masha: The support of my family has been crucial. My agent, Marly Rusoff, is the very best in the business in every way. The wise editing eyes of Unbridled’s Fred Ramey, ditto. The entire Unbridled Books team daily goes out on a limb for their books. For a writer, that’s an enormous gift – bigger than I can ever truly thank them for.

AuthorScoop: At what time of day or night do you do your best writing?

Masha: When my kids were very little, I got up at 4 a.m. so I could write before my day dissolved into fish sticks and wet wipes. I still usually do my best work in the morning, but sometimes I find myself  working into the night as well.

AuthorScoop: Finally, what advice would you give to new or unpublished writers?

Masha: Probably the same advice I keep trying to give myself: keep writing, no matter what, and write into your deepest issues, the ones you care most about, the subjects that scare you or that seem forbidden or risky. Then love the revision process as if it were your best friend, which it probably is. If you need support during the long lonely process of writing, reach out for it – either by going to workshops or by diving into poetry or hiking in the woods or near water, something that grounds you and connects you again to both yourself and the world around you.

31 HOURS is available now in bookstores and is available, just for the clicking and credit card, at Amazon.com.

Masha Hamilton discusses her upcoming release from Unbridled Books, 31 HOURS, in an AuthorScoop exclusive…

As a veteran of the Australian Army Intelligence Corp, JJ Cooper knows a thing or two about interrogation. His years of insight and experience, coupled with a damn fine writing style, have landed him a two-book deal with Random House Australia, with his debut thriller, The Interrogator, slated for release this summer.

We’d like to thank him for taking the time to be part of our “5 Minutes Alone” interview series.

AuthorScoop: What was your very first publication credit?

JJ: Apart from a few interrogation reports, briefs and papers produced and delivered in my previous life, my debut novel will be my first ‘official’ publication credit.

AuthorScoop: Tell us about your latest release.

JJ: The Interrogator will be released on the 3rd of August 2009. I’m fortunate to have secured a two-book deal with Random House Australia with my second thriller scheduled for release in 2010. Here’s a short synopsis of my debut:

After Jay Ryan, the Australian Army’s most experienced interrogator, ends up on the other side of the table facing a sadistic superior officer, he embarks on a white-knuckle flight from everything and everyone he trusts, pursued by foes who were once friends and with his one clear ally, his father, missing. Enter Sarah Evans, a secret agent assigned to make sure he comes to no harm - or so Jay thinks …

Jay is an interrogator with a dark past and a tortured soul; he’s also the keeper of secrets Israeli spies will kill to get their hands upon. Renowned for his skills, he is used to commanding a certain level of respect amongst his peers. Then one day Jay is drugged, tortured, tattooed and accused of rape. He is forced to reveal information that could further destabilise fragile Middle East relations and plunge the entire region into war. They are secrets he has struggled to keep hidden for four years.

The Interrogator is a story of betrayal and nightmarish conspiracy firmly rooted in the highest levels of government across international alliances. The story rockets toward a shattering finale that will leave the survivors changed forever. Thriller fans will enjoy the colourful characters, twisting, turning plots and fast action. The authentic military details give the story a chillingly real context, drawing the reader into Jay’s world and not letting us go until the very end.

AuthorScoop: Aside from your own hard work, who else do you feel has contributed to your success?

JJ: For me, any publication is a team effort. From family members who support and encourage, to literary agents, editors, publicists and the entire writing community. Without the right guidance/influence/assistance etc, you’d be hard-pressed making a go at it.  I believe the more involved you are within writing communities (online or local writing groups), the better chance you have of avoiding publishing pitfalls and making more informed decisions on the path you choose for publication.

I’ve also had some invaluable advice from thriller writers across the globe as part of the International Thriller Writers Debut Author Program. I’ve met some wonderful and very talented authors who have guided me along the journey. For international bestselling authors such as Lee Child, Lisa Unger and Jeff Abbott to give up their time to read and provide comments of my book has been a surreal experience.

AuthorScoop: At what time of day or night do you do your best writing?

JJ: With three young kids and a full-time job, my writing time is limited to evenings. Maybe a couple of hours of a night.

AuthorScoop: Finally, what advice would you give to new or unpublished writers?

JJ: Stay determined. Start with goals that lead to your dreams and believe that you can do it. If you believe you will never be published – you won’t. Beliefs drive thinking, actions and results. Accept constructive criticism and use it to improve.

I’ve exceeded all expectations to arrive at where I am. Even if I didn’t sell a single copy of my novel, I’d walk away happy.

The Interrogator is now available for pre-order at Random House Australia.

Kelly Meding is urban fantasy/paranormal author and blogger from Maryland. Her debut novel, Three Days to Dead, will be released this October from Bantam Dell.

We’d like to thank her for taking the time to be part of our “5 Minutes Alone” interview series.

AuthorScoop: What was your very first publication credit?

Kelly: My first and (for now) only publication credit is my debut novel, THREE DAYS TO DEAD, which will be followed by the second in the series in Spring 2010.  I suppose I’m proof that you don’t have to build up a resume of short story sales, or have some sort of industry recognition in order to sign with a good agent and be published by one of the big houses.  The closest thing I had to a credit before this novel was an article in my sixth-grade newspaper (ah, memories).

AuthorScoop: Tell us about your latest release.

Kelly: My first novel, THREE DAYS TO DEAD, releases October 27 from Dell.  It’s the first in an urban fantasy series that has a little bit of everything–vampires, shape-shifters, trolls, goblins, gargoyles, gremlins, and assorted fey.  My heroine, Evangeline Stone, was one of best paranormal bounty hunters in the city, until she wakes up in a morgue, in someone else’s body, with no idea how she died or why she was brought back. She discovers she only has three days to solve her own murder and recover her lost memories–memories that hold the key to stopping a devastating alliance between vampires and goblins.

So far, it’s received some fantastic buzz, as well as positive (and humbling) advance blurbs from some of the best authors writing in the urban fantasy/paranormal romance genres today, including Patricia Briggs, Jeaniene Frost, Gena Showalter, and Jackie Kessler.

AuthorScoop: Aside from your own hard work, who else do you feel has contributed to your success?

Kelly: It may sound a bit cliche, but my parents have been a huge factor.  They always encouraged my sister and me to follow our dreams, and to do what we truly wanted with our lives.  I know they worried, as parents do, but they always supported me. I also need to give props to a screenwriter named Kris Young.  He taught one of my college screenwriting courses eight years ago, and he was the first professional writer who came to me and told me I had talent.  I took the praise to heart and it has definitely fueled me on this long, strange journey toward publication.

And it’s impossible to not give some amount of credit to the AbsoluteWrite WaterCooler. I found a wealth of information on those forums, and being a member has certainly helped me be a better, more disciplined writer.

AuthorScoop: At what time of day or night do you do your best writing?

Kelly: Usually any time after noon. I can rarely get my brain up and working before then, no matter how much coffee I consume.  So mornings are spent piddling around the internet. I used to be a big night owl and do the bulk of my writing after nine o’clock and into the wee hours.  Lately I can’t stay up much past 11:30, so I write earlier.  I think working in retail the last seven years, with its ever-changing schedule, has prevented me from setting an actual writing schedule–which works perfectly for me.  It allows me to fit in blocks of writing time whenever I can, so I don’t fall into what I call “routine traps”–traps that can turn into excuses and procrastination techniques, if circumstances don’t allow the routine to be kept.

AuthorScoop: Finally, what advice would you give to new or unpublished writers?

Kelly: My advice is threefold.  First, if you’re writing toward professional publication, don’t treat your books like they are your children.  Books are not children.  We don’t buy and sell children, but we do buy and sell product. The moment you decide you want to sell your book, you have to think of it as a product.  And in order to put the best possible product out there, you have to recognize that revisions will be necessary.  Your words are never perfect; always strive to improve.

Second, not all novels will sell.  Especially not all first novels.  Don’t hang all of your hopes and dreams on one novel.  While you’re editing and querying your first, start writing your second.  And then your third.  It took me seven novels before I made my first sale, and every single novel I trunked made me a better writer.

And third, don’t write to the current trends.  What’s hot now isn’t what’s going to be hot next year, or the year after that.  Write the kind of book you’d want to read, instead of what you think will sell best.  You’re going to be spending a lot of time with this manuscript if it sells, so make sure it’s something you really enjoy.

Three Days to Dead is now available for pre-order at Amazon.com.

Natasha Bennett is a short story author and novelist based in Victoria, British Columbia. Her debut novel, War of the Soulites (Lyrical Press), is slated for release in May.

AuthorScoop would like to thank her for taking the time to be part of our “5 Minutes Alone” interview series.

AuthorScoop: What was your very first publication credit?

Natasha: I submitted a flash fiction story to the website MicroHorror.com, who accepted it right away. I didn’t get any money out of it, but I was thrilled. A few months later I earned my first five dollars submitting a story to Fear and Trembling. I still have that framed somewhere.

AuthorScoop: Tell us about your latest release.

Natasha: War of the Soulites is a dark science fiction novel and the first in a trilogy. In my novel, Earth is unified under a corrupt government, and shortly afterwards the planet is almost destroyed by a race of mysterious aliens called the Soulites. The main focus of the novel is on a ship named the Vigilant, which is crippled during the attack and lost in hostile territory. What makes the book unique is that some members of the Vigilant are corrupt, some try to murder each other, and others are slaves. Somehow, the crew have to work together against impossible odds.

AuthorScoop: Aside from your own hard work, who else do you feel has contributed to your success?

Natasha: There are a lot of people I have to thank. My mom edited my book from start to finish. My brother Campbell pointed out a few technical flaws, and my fiancee James was my sounding board for ideas. The good people of Lyrical Press took a chance on me and published my book. When I told about a hundred people I planned to write a book, not one of them said it was a stupid idea. Instead I got a lot of encouragement. There’s too many people for me to thank.

AuthorScoop: At what time of day or night do you do your best writing?

Natasha: It’s difficult to say, because I’m always on the move. A typical day for me will be jotting some notes on the bus while going to work. Later at night I’ll move those notes to my laptop. The weekends are usually spent promoting my book, so I try to fit time in whenever I can.

AuthorScoop: Finally, what advice would you give to new or unpublished writers?

Natasha: A lot of writers say to never give up, and that is certainly the best advice I can think of. It took me five years to bring War of the Soulites from concept to publication. Along the way I met many writers who were too eager to sell their work, and ended up being involved in contracts they hated. So my advice is, research your publisher. Make sure the genre is right for them, and that the people you are working for have a good reputation. Otherwise you might regret it.

Christina Meldrum’s debut novel, MADAPPLE, was acclaimed all over the place, as you’ll see below.  It also happened to be one of my favorite reads of the last several years.  Ms. Meldrum and I spoke about it in a podcast interview this past summer and she’s returned to round out what we know of her here on AuthorScoop.

We’d like to thank her for taking the time to be part of our “5 Minutes Alone” interview series.

AuthorScoop: What was your very first publication credit?

Christina: My first publication was during law school when I wrote a few legal articles.  But MADAPPLE was my first piece of published fiction.

AuthorScoop: Tell us about your latest release.

Christina: My novel MADAPPLE was released in May 2008.  A “crossover” book intended for older teens and adults, it is part literary mystery, part psychological thriller.  The story takes place in rural Maine and tells the story of Aslaug, a sixteen year old girl who knows far more about botany and mythology than she does about the modern world.  When Aslaug’s mother dies a mysterious death, Aslaug finds family she never knew she had and becomes embroiled in a web of family secrets.  When Aslaug’s aunt and cousin also die mysterious deaths, the reader is forced to ask whether Aslaug is the innocent she would have the reader believe or a calculated killer.

MADAPPLE was well-received critically.  It received starred reviews from Booklist, Kirkus Reviews, Library Journal and Publishers Weekly.  It also was a finalist for the inaugural William C. Morris Award and was a Booklist Editors’ Choice pick for 2008.  The American Library Association named MADAPPLE as a “Best Book for Young Readers for 2009,” and both Booklist and Kirkus Reviews included MADAPPLE on their 2008 “best” lists.

AuthorScoop: Aside from your own hard work, who else do you feel has contributed to your success?

Christina: There have been so many people.  My family has been instrumental.  My husband supported my writing for years, long before there was any indication I ever would be published.  My children love that I am a writer and have always been supportive and encouraging.  I have a sister, Amy Laughlin, who also is a writer, and she is a never-ending source of wisdom and support.  My mother and other siblings have been readers for me as well as fantastic sources of information and encouragement.  I have many talented close friends, some who are writers, some who are fantastic readers and editors, and some who have great insight into human psychology.  I have relied on all of them at times.  In addition, Michelle Frey, my editor at Knopf, is a wonderful editor.  I have learned a lot from her, and she made MADAPPLE into a far better book.  Also, my literary agent Laura Rennert has been a huge support for years.  I am leaving out many people, including former teachers and colleagues.  This list goes on!

AuthorScoop: At what time of day or night do you do your best writing?

Christina: Because I have children, I work mainly when they are at school.  By necessity, that is when I do my best writing!  It is not necessarily when I do my best thinking, however.  I actually seem to do some of my best thinking while I am asleep.  (I’m not sure whether that’s a good thing!)  Often I wake in the morning and find my brain has solved some issue related to my writing while I slept.  Because I am not able to write at that time, I usually scribble notes to myself and then return to those notes later, when my children are at school.

When I am in the editing stage, my writing schedule changes somewhat.  I tend to work throughout the day, making notes to myself when my children are home and sometimes working late into the night.  It seems I am using a different part of my brain then, and the inspiration comes in spurts.

AuthorScoop: Finally, what advice would you give to new or unpublished writers?

Christina: I think the best advice I ever received as a writer was:  write what you love.  So often writers are told to write what they know, but I think this can be very limiting, depending on one’s life experience.  When you write what you love, the world is open to you.  In writing MADAPPLE, I wrote about subjects that fascinate me.  I didn’t know all I needed to know about these subjects when I began the book, but I learned through research—research I found interesting.  I think a writer is better able to make material fascinating for readers if she herself finds the material fascinating.

Christopher Johnson, MD is a leading pediatric intensivist, based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, but practicing in pediatric intensive care units all across America.  So far, he’s put out two excellent guides for parents, simplifying the critical knowledge they need to get the best care for their children, in both routine care and in life or death situations.  I’ve done podcast interviews with Dr. Johnson about both his books, YOUR CRITICALLY ILL CHILD: LIFE AND DEATH CHOICES PARENTS MUST FACE and HOW TO TALK TO YOUR CHILD’S DOCTOR and found that the information therein is fascinating to anyone with an interest in why and how doctors do what they do.

We’d like to thank him for taking the time to be part of our “5 Minutes Alone” interview series.

AuthorScoop: What was your very first publication credit?

Chris: Before I started writing for general readers I was a medical researcher and professor at Mayo Medical School. Over a couple of decades I wrote sixty or so scientific papers and textbook chapters, mostly about an infection of the heart called infective endocarditis. My first one of those came out in 1980, and I still remember how excited I was to see my name in print. Now I suppose that paper is gathering dust on medical library shelves along with all the other ones I wrote. In spite of that, though, I enjoyed writing them and I think I did advance our understanding of that disorder just a smidge.

AuthorScoop: Tell us about your latest release.

Chris: My latest book, my second (the third is in preparation), is called How To Talk To Your Child’s Doctor. My reason for writing it was my observation, after thirty years of practicing pediatrics, that most parents have no idea how doctors think, how we conceptualize problems and then go about solving them. Because parents don’t know how we do that, they can easily get frustrated and confused. The fact is, we physicians live in our own mental universe when it comes to framing and answering questions. As I point out in the book, this has good aspects and bad aspects, but generally there are good reasons for proceeding the way that we do.

One particular thing I stress is that most parents don’t know that about ninety percent of all diagnoses are made through what we call the history: what the symptoms are, when they started, what you did for them and if that helped. Medical diagnosis is largely a matter of good detective work, and all good detectives, before they do anything else, try to get the sequence of events straight. Of course we use lots of fancy tests, scans, and whatnot, but the history is the most important thing. A wrong history sends us down all sorts of useless and potentially dangerous pathways. More than a few parents become annoyed at what can seem to them to be a string of pesky questions, but I wanted to show them why we ask them in the precise form that we do.

I also have a couple of chapters that are sort of anthropological in nature, like a field guide to doctors observed in their native habitat. I explain how we got to be this way and how some of the common annoying traits most physicians have to one degree or another (even me!) came to be. These are things like arrogance, a controlling nature, defensiveness, and a feeling of entitlement. I have a chapter with my own taxonomy cataloging about ten varieties of difficult doctors (e.g. poor listeners, judgmental, poor examiners, a bunch of others) with suggestions about how to handle these folks to get the best care for your child.

The book’s guiding notion is that the encounter between parents and their child’s physician ought to be a conversation between equals, with both sides contributing useful and important parts. What I wanted to give parents was a sort of users’ guide to physicians by explaining how we think. No conversation goes very far if the two participants speak (and think) using different languages.

AuthorScoop: Aside from your own hard work, who else do you feel has contributed to your success?

Chris: I had some excellent teachers early in my career who taught me how to write grant proposals. That was great training because, when you’re writing grants, you’re explaining things to people who don’t know the ins and outs of what you’re doing. One of these teachers was a Nobel Prize winner and in fifteen minutes he could explain what he did to anybody in very understandable terms. The other thing that has helped me a great deal is that little of my premedical training was in the sciences. This was not uncommon thirty-five years ago when I went off to medical school. Of course I took some chemistry, biology and the like, but mainly I studied religion, history, and philosophy, with a strong dose of literature. I also went to graduate school in history for a time. These days medical school admissions committees don’t like that sort of background very much, although they deny this — I know because I spent four years on the Mayo Medical School admissions committee and I was always arguing the point. I’d have serious difficulties getting into medical school if I applied today. I think my own particular background conditioned me to regard medicine as at least as much an art as a science. That has had a huge impact on my career, and on my life generally.

AuthorScoop: At what time of day or night do you do your best writing?

Chris: I practice pediatric intensive care, which means I spend my days (and nights) in a pediatric intensive care unit. There is an ebb and flow to the work there, and I mostly write when I’m there and waiting for something to happen, not happen, or whatever. My job is much like that of a fireman, waiting around the firehouse for the bell to ring. I mostly write between the fire calls. Often I have no time to do that, but over the course of the year or so it takes me to write a book I find the time, especially during the nights.

AuthorScoop: Finally, what advice would you give to new or unpublished writers?

Chris: I write nonfiction, although my agent just sent out to publishers a novel I wrote (a paranormal medical mystery) and we’ll see how that goes. A nonfiction writer these days does need some kind of a platform of expertise in their subject. It’s not entirely fair, but there it is. So if you want to write nonfiction you need to acquire some expertise or team up with somebody who has it. As far as the actual writing goes, my other bit of advice is to read closely the work of accomplished essay writers. The essay form forces you to make your argument quickly and cogently and not ramble. I learned some of my best tricks, however, from humor writers. Study how they get punch to their sentences with unexpected turns of phrase and surprising and apt word usage.

Terri Cheney is a writer and memoirist best known, at the moment, for her tremendous book, MANIC: A MEMOIR.  I spoke with her last year in a podcast for PsychJourney and a Harper Collins interview with Terri was featured on our Afternoon Viewing segment recently.  She’s graciously agreed to expand what we know of her in this AuthorScoop exclusive.

We’d like to thank her for taking the time to be part of our “5 Minutes Alone” interview series.

AuthorScoop: What was your very first publication credit?

Terri: I had a poem published in the local newspaper, The Daily Report, when I was about 10 years old.  It was a very bad poem, I think, but my father was over the moon about it.  Thirty-seven years lapsed before my next credit.  In 2007, I submitted an essay about bipolar dating to the New York Times “Modern Love” column.  I was astonished when it was accepted for publication, and especially pleased that it ran the week before my first book, Manic: A Memoir, was released in 2008.  I’d made sure to mention my book in the essay, of course, so the publicity was terrific.

AuthorScoop: Tell us about your latest release.

Terri: Manic is about the disintegration of the careful facade I lived behind for most of my adult life.  On the outside, I looked very successful — I was an entertainment litigator, representing the likes of Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones, and motion picture studios.  In truth, however, I struggled with a raging case of bipolar disorder.  When I was manic, I was extremely productive, creative and energetic.  But when depression inevitably hit, I fell apart.  I couldn’t move, I couldn’t think.  If I absolutely had to go into the office, I hid out under my desk.  I told no one about my illness — not my friends, my family, my coworkers, no one.

Then in 1999, I was hospitalized after several suicide attempts.  After a few weeks went by, I realized that none of the patients (including me) were getting better, because we simply couldn’t express what was going on inside us.  There were clinical words, but they weren’t enough.  So I decided to write my own story, from the inside out:  to tell what bipolar disorder truly felt like, from the little hairs on my arms that quiver in mania, to the crushing weight of my body in depression.  I wrote disjointed pieces in my writing groups for the next 7 years.  By 2007, they finally coalesced into Manic.

After Manic’s surprising success, I received many emails, the most compelling of which were from parents of bipolar children, desperately seeking more info, answers, advice.  They moved me so deeply that I decided my next book, which I am hard at work on now, will be a childhood memoir about growing up bipolar.

AuthorScoop: Aside from your own hard work, who else do you feel has contributed to your success?

Terri: My father was instrumental in instilling the love of words in me.  When I was a little girl, he would read to me every morning (at ungodly early hours!).  He always loved to hear what I had written, and having a captive, spellbound audience is a surefire way to keep writing.  Also, I had a sixth grade teacher (thank you, Mrs. Martin, wherever you are) who set me free from classes to simply read and write whatever I liked.  Her faith in my talent stayed with me the rest of my life.

AuthorScoop: At what time of day or night do you do your best writing?

Terri: If possible, I like to go out of the house to write, in the morning or early afternoon.  I have a few favorite cafes around town, where I order a latte and a bite to eat, and they let me scribble away for hours.  I write on an old-fashioned legal pad, then later transcribe what I’ve written into the computer.  I feel this gives me two bites at the apple for editing.

AuthorScoop: Finally, what advice would you give to new or unpublished writers?

Terri: First, get in a writing group or class.  My two weekly groups have been essential to me.  They give me the discipline which I’m sure I would otherwise lack, to keep churning out pages week after week.  Also, it’s invaluable for me to get feedback, to realize that what I’m writing is not so far from the universal human experience — that other people can relate to it. Second, don’t let the daunting prospects of publication get in the way of your writing.  If you’re a true writer, you must write and you will write.  Worry about agents and publishers and polished manuscripts later, after you’ve written the very best book that you can.

Jessica Brody (link contains audio) is a writer and film producer developing a novel series that’s earning worldwide attention - THE FIDELITY FILES and its upcoming sequel, LOVE UNDERCOVER.  She also happens to be a very nice person and a good interviewee.

We’d like to thank her for taking the time to be part of our “5 Minutes Alone” interview series.

AuthorScoop: What was your very first publication credit?

Jessica: Hmmm, let’s see. Official or unofficial? Because if it’s unofficial, then it would have to be the second grade. My teacher let us all “publish” our own books. We made the binding out of cardboard, rubber cement, wall paper samples and black electrical tape. It was probably the most memorable day of my life. I remember sifting through the book of wall paper samples, totally stressing out because I HAD to pick the perfect one. Anything less than that simply wouldn’t do for my masterpiece, which was creatively titled, “The Kitty and the Puppy.” When I go back and read it now, I realize not only did it lack an inspired title, but also most of a plot. Although there were some good twists and turns throughout. Ones I’m sure the reader didn’t see coming!

Officially though, my first publication credit would have to have been in 12th grade when I won my high school’s short story competition and it was published in our literary magazine. That was pretty amazing. I was still in my existential phase then. Trying to emulate the masters. I’m still not sure what my story was supposed to mean. And neither did anyone else. I think that’s why it won.

AuthorScoop: Tell us about your latest release.

Jessica: My latest release is also my first release! It’s called THE FIDELITY FILES and it came out in June of 2008. It’s a rather scandalous subject matter: infidelity. And the main character is kind of like a private investigator. Women will hire her to test whether or not their husbands and boyfriends will cheat on them. She calls herself a “fidelity inspector.” But while she’s out there exposing cheaters and changing relationships for the better, her own love life is a mess. Or more accurately, non-existent. She hasn’t had a date in two
years, something she says is due to the high demands of her “investment banking career”—a cover she uses to keep her friends and family in the dark about what she really does. Because honestly, can someone who sees nothing but failed marriages, ever really find love for herself? The sequel is called LOVE UNDER COVER and it comes out in the Fall of this year.

AuthorScoop: Aside from your own hard work, who else do you feel has contributed to your success?

Jessica: Oh, gosh. So many people! I could just copy and paste my book’s acknowledgement section here but it was four pages and I won’t put you through that! I believe that everyone you meet in life ultimately leads you to where you are today so I don’t think I would be here without any of them. But I strongly believe that a huge contributor to my success was poverty. It’s not a person, but sometimes it feels like one, doesn’t it? I had been writing at nights for three years while I still had my other corporate job. I was making plenty of money in that job. I was comfortable, had a nice apartment, nice clothes, mani/pedis once a week, etc. And yet, I didn’t sell my novel until I had been “self-employed” for a good year and a half after that, surviving on peanut butter and jelly in a downgraded apartment, dressed in tee-shirts, sweat pants and chipped nails. Because with plenty of money comes the inherent lack of “need.” The lack of “I have to sell this book or I will starve.” And for me, that was a HUGE motivator. Sometimes you have to stare failure right in the face, see it right in front you before enough incentive kicks in. Because when you don’t absolutely, positively HAVE to do something, you’ll have a very hard time doing it. Or as the Zen saying goes, “Jump first and the net will appear.” But I think I would amend that and say, “Jump first and the net will appear…but always
when you’re two inches from smashing head first into the ground.”

AuthorScoop: At what time of day or night do you do your best writing?

Jessica: I don’t really have a specific time of day that I write best. I do my best writing the moment I shut off my e-mail. It’s the hardest thing in the world to do. As a writer, I’m very driven by “news”. Good news, bad news, whatever, just tell me something. Writing is a lonely business and any contact with the outside world, especially pertaining to your books, is like a life line when you’re floating in an empty sea. And so I manage to do a lot of procrastinating while I wait around for the news (all in the name of research of course!) But the moment I shut off my e-mail program and force myself to just write, that’s when it happens. And then if I’m lucky, four hours will pass in a flash and I’ll hear myself saying, “Oh, that’s right. I have an e-mail address.”

AuthorScoop: Finally, what advice would you give to new or unpublished writers?

Jessica: Yes, I have one big one. Take criticism. Believe in your work and stand behind it, but don’t be afraid to make changes. Try to be as objective as possible when it comes to your writing (I know how impossible that sounds) but it will only help you in the long run. Use rejections to evolve yourself as a writer, not just to line your waste basket. When someone rejects your work and offers a reason, don’t just blow it off and claim that they “didn’t get it” or that they clearly didn’t read it closely enough, dissect it and try to figure out if what they’re saying makes sense and if it will inevitably help your work. I re-wrote The Fidelity Files about five times before I even got an agent. All because of criticism I received. And in the end, I finally landed my agent because I offered to rewrite it once more based on some feedback that she gave me in my rejection letter. And she signed me 100 pages into the rewrite. There a lot of people in this industry—agents, editors, other writers, etc.—who know what they’re talking about and know what it takes to make a book work. After all, that’s what they get paid for! Listen to them with open ears and grateful hearts. There’s a fine balance between staying true to your art and being open for suggestions, try to stay somewhere in the middle. If they “didn’t get it,” chances are, readers won’t get it either. And you won’t be there to explain it to them in the middle of Barnes and Noble.