Avalon Books - Author! Author!


	Read some interviews from past editions:
		Elisabeth Rose October, 2008
		Sherry Lynn Ferguson August, 2008
		S.J. Stewart June, 2008
		Zelda Benjamin April, 2008
		Shirley Marks December, 2007
		Donna Wright December, 2007
		Carolyn Brown August, 2007
		Roni Denholtz June, 2007
		Tara Randel April, 2007
		Sydell Voeller February, 2007
		Sheila Robins December, 2006
		Ann Holt October, 2006
		Cynthia Danielewski July, 2006
		Jane McBride Choate March, 2006
		Kathryn Meyer Griffith January, 2006
		Mel Taylor November, 2005
		Kathleen Fuller September, 2005
		Tracey J. Lyons July, 2005
		Ludima Gus Burton May, 2005
		Holly Jacobs March, 2005
		Sandra D. Bricker January, 2005
		Kathryn Quick November, 2004
		Cheri Jetton September, 2004
		Heather S. Webber July, 2004
		Karl Fieldhouse May, 2004
		Shelley Galloway March, 2004
		Ilsa Mayr January, 2004
		Kathy Carmichael November, 2003
		Dorothy P. O'Neill July, 2003
		Joani Ascher May, 2003
		Patricia DeGroot March, 2003
		Nancy J. Parra January, 2003
		Barbara Meyers November, 2002
		Christine Bush September, 2002
		Debby Mayne July, 2002
		Jean C. Gordon May, 2002
		Charles E. Friend March, 2002
		Norma Seely January, 2002
		Glen Ebisch November, 2001
		Gina Cresse September, 2001
		John Paxson July, 2001
		Clifford Blair March, 2001
		Amanda Harte January, 2001
		Kent Conwell November, 2000
		Carolyn Brown September, 2000
		Annette Mahon July, 2000
		Marjorie McGinley May, 2000
		Jack Lewis March, 2000
		Amanda Harte January, 2000
		Joyce and Jim Lavene November, 1999
	Return to the current Author! Author! interview:
		Sue Gibson December, 2008


Author! Author!: May, 2001
An Interview with Terri Alcock		Click on images to learn more about these books.

How did you get started writing mysteries?
	I have always wanted to write, since I was quite young, but in the beginning I concentrated on short stories rather than full-length novels, with little success. Then I got the bright idea of writing the kind of story that I myself would like to read. Since I enjoy reading mysteries, I decided to try my hand at writing one. I found it both challenging and fun.
What is the hardest part of writing a story?
	For me, developing the characters is the hard part. Once I figure out who they are, the story tells itself. The characters have to be believable or the story won’t work.
Your first book was set on the West Coast of Canada. Is this also the locale of your new book?
	Yes, in my new book, the story takes place in Victoria, where the two main characters, Sam and Gabby, live, as well as in Vancouver and Point Roberts. Point Roberts is an interesting place, as it is a small American peninsula surrounded on three sides by water and on the fourth by Canada. It is completely separated from the rest of the US. I once read, in a book on writing, that you should write about what you know. I grew up in Vancouver and spent many summers at Point Roberts, so it is an area I am very familiar with.
Why did you decide to make your amateur sleuth a woman?
	As a woman, I enjoy reading about feisty, independent women, and I feel they make good role models for young women. In the past, there has been a shortage of women heroes, especially in the mystery genre, though I believe this is changing.
Tell us a little about your latest book.
	Held for Ransom is a Samantha Hope mystery, set, for the most part, in Vancouver. Sam’s roommate Gabby goes away to France for a year, leaving Sam at loose ends. Her partner, Bill Henry, is on his honeymoon and away from the city as well. Sam, though she has promised everyone that she’ll stay away from the sleuthing business and out of trouble, finds out accidentally that her father is being threatened by someone from his past and becomes embroiled in his problem. She strikes up a friendship with a cop she met in In Too Deep, and they work together to solve the mystery.
Are there any other Sam and Gabby mysteries in the offing?
	I’m working right now on another in the series, this one set in France, where Gabby has gone on an exchange for a year. I thought it might be fun to write about another country, and since France is one where I have spent quite a lot of time, it seemed like a good choice.
Have you written in any other genres?
	I wrote a romance, Happily Ever After, which was published by Avalon, under the name of Janet Avery.
Tell us a little about your family.
	I have three adult children, who live in British Columbia and New York. I recently became a grandmother when my son and daughter-in-law had their first child. In fact, the dedication in my latest book is to my new grandson Alec. My husband Dominique is head gardener at a golf course and a great supporter of my writing.
What do you like to do when you are not writing?
	We live on the West Coast of Vancouver Island, near the ocean, so we enjoy walking the trails and beaches nearby with our two Old English sheepdogs. I enjoy reading, especially all kinds of fiction and also biographies. I am interested in family history and spend a considerable amount of time researching my family’s roots. And, when the weather cooperates, I like to garden.
Speaking of dogs, there are sheepdogs in your books. Are they modeled after your own dogs?
	Absolutely. Sheepdogs are the clowns of the dog world, and mine provide me with all kinds of real life situations that I have been able to use in my books. I can’t imagine writing a story that does not include pets. They are so much a part of all our lives.
Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?
	People have asked me how I find time to write. If writing is what you want to do, you have to make it a priority. Writing is a skill, and it can be learned. But it requires practice. Write something every day, even if it’s only a journal. The more you write, the better you will get at it. And don’t wait until you can write the perfect novel before you start. Start where you are, and learn as you go along, as you would with any other skill or activity. It can be a fun, challenging and rewarding pastime or career.