Ask the Author: Elena Santangelo
Answered Questions (6)
Elena Santangelo
Isn't one of the joys of reading that we get to travel to different fictional worlds in every book? I don't want to go to one specific world and stay there indefinitely. Only until the story plays itself out. Then I want to get onto the next book and the next world.
Elena Santangelo
I've never had a summer reading list, just like I've never made a list of people I intend to befriend. With books, as with people, we chance to meet (at the library or a bookstore or at my Sisters in Crime chapter's book swap). Though I'm a bit more wanton with books. If they sound like we might get along, I'll take them home immediately. With people, I'm a more cautious.
Elena Santangelo
It depends how you define couple. Romantic couple? Probably Agatha Christie's Tommy and Tuppence Beresford, because as a sleuthing couple, they're equals and just fun. But if you open the field to other kinds of couples, I'd have a problem deciding. I like twosomes who play off each other, like Poirot and Hastings in their earliest stories. Mr. Quin and Mr. Satterthwhite. Couples where the story depends on both characters, not simply where one supports the protagonist. I think that's why I use strong 2nd characters in my own mysteries (Pat and Miss Maggie, Gen and Sara).
Elena Santangelo
First, keep writing, no matter what, and make it the best writing possible. Don't be lazy about errors, whether in grammar, spelling, research, or style, or in making your book look and sound professional. Second, network with other writers and readers. Joining Sisters in Crime and helping to start our local chapter was the best thing that ever happened to my writing. Go to conferences and meet other writers. That's the best way to learn the business.
Elena Santangelo
Self-employment. It's also the worst thing.
Elena Santangelo
I walk away from it. Literally. Sitting in front of PC screen doesn't work. I go for walks, or do a 100-piece jigsaw puzzle, both of which seem to help me sort out where the writing took a wrong turn. It's rarely a matter of what comes next, but what happened in the last paragraph or last chapter that brought me to a dead end. And lots of good REM sleep helps. The worse the dreams, the better my brain works. Agatha Christie said she did her best writing while doing dishes. Writing doesn't happen while you're putting down words. That's only the end result.
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