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Read some interviews from past editions:
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Zelda Benjamin
April, 2008
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Shirley Marks
December, 2007
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Donna Wright
December, 2007
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Carolyn Brown
August, 2007
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Roni Denholtz
June, 2007
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Tara Randel
April, 2007
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Sydell Voeller
February, 2007
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Sheila Robins
December, 2006
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Ann Holt
October, 2006
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Cynthia Danielewski
July, 2006
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Jane McBride Choate
March, 2006
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Kathryn Meyer Griffith
January, 2006
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Mel Taylor
November, 2005
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Kathleen Fuller
September, 2005
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Tracey J. Lyons
July, 2005
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Ludima Gus Burton
May, 2005
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Holly Jacobs
March, 2005
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Sandra D. Bricker
January, 2005
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Kathryn Quick
November, 2004
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Cheri Jetton
September, 2004
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Heather S. Webber
July, 2004
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Karl Fieldhouse
May, 2004
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Shelley Galloway
March, 2004
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Ilsa Mayr
January, 2004
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Kathy Carmichael
November, 2003
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Joani Ascher
May, 2003
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Patricia DeGroot
March, 2003
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Nancy J. Parra
January, 2003
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Barbara Meyers
November, 2002
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Christine Bush
September, 2002
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Debby Mayne
July, 2002
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Jean C. Gordon
May, 2002
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Charles E. Friend
March, 2002
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Norma Seely
January, 2002
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Glen Ebisch
November, 2001
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Gina Cresse
September, 2001
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John Paxson
July, 2001
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Terri Alcock
May, 2001
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Clifford Blair
March, 2001
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Amanda Harte
January, 2001
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Kent Conwell
November, 2000
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Carolyn Brown
September, 2000
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Annette Mahon
July, 2000
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Marjorie McGinley
May, 2000
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Jack Lewis
March, 2000
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Amanda Harte
January, 2000
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Joyce and Jim Lavene
November, 1999
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Return to the current Author! Author! interview:
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S.J. Stewart
April, 2008
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Author! Author!: July, 2003
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Click on images to learn more about these books.
An Interview with
Dorothy P.
O’Neill |
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You used to write romances. Why did you switch to mysteries?
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That’s a frequently asked question. I like to reply by saying since I was already a grandmother when I was writing romances, I decided I was getting too old for romance but still young enough for murder. But the truth is, I never actually stopped writing about romance. Readers of my Liz Rooney mystery series know there’s a strong thread of romance running through the clues and the corpses.
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How long have you been writing?
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Since I was seven. The idea of becoming a writer was planted in my mind by my second grade teacher who submitted one of my class compositions to the monthy school magazine. One look at my writing and name in print and I was on my way to what every writer knows is like an addiction.
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Do you ever use actual people as characters in your books?
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There’s a disclaimer in the front of every published fiction about that. It says that all characters are fictitious and resemblances to actual persons, living or dead are purely coincidental. However, if there is a way to create certain characters without drawing from real life, I’d love to know about it. Most writers would agree that every prominent character on the pages of a book has some traits and foibles of an actual person. I make sure the parallels between my book characters and their real-life counterparts are not too obvious.
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How do you name your characters?
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Sometimes a perfect name will just pop into my head, but I usually have to work on them. I have a book of names relating to the nation origin, which is great for naming ethnic characters. Sometimes I look in the phone book. It’s essential to give a character first and last names that fit. A hard-boiled police detected named Percy Flowers wouldn’t be believable.
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Do you follow a daily writing schedule?
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No. But I always write something every day. Sometimes I get to work early in the morning and go full blast all day and into the night. Other days I put in much less time. I’d say my average writing day is about five hours.
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Where do you get your ideas for your plots?
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Ideas are everywhere. I’ve found them in my childhood memories and in the daily newspapers, in a doctor’s waiting room, in airports, on planes or trains, in restaurants, in a cemetery—just to name a few sources. Even a germ of an idea picked up someplace can fuse with the imagination and lo! The plot thickens.
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What advice would you offer aspiring writers?
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Don’t let rejections discourage you. Have faith in the talent you know you have. Keep sending your work out and keep writing.
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Look for Dorothy's next thriller, Ultimate Doom, the latest installment in the
Liz Rooney Mystery Series, coming to Avalon Books in October, 2003.
See a preview in our Upcoming Releases.
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