Ask the Author: Lee Martin
Answered Questions (13)
Lee Martin
Last November, the United States had a presidential election. Donald Trump won.
Lee Martin
I'd go to Maycomb, Alabama, and I'd sit in the balcony with the black citizens, and Jem, and Scout, and Dill, and I'd be there to rise with them to pay my respects to Atticus Finch when he left the courtroom.
Lee Martin
Elizabeth Strout's "Anything Is Possible," Richard Ford's "Between Them," Dani Shapiro's "Hourglass: Time, Memory, Marriage."
Lee Martin
If I tell you that, I'll never be able to write it! :) That said, I am kind of curious about certain family stories that I've just heard bits and pieces about over the years: my mother's one romance before she married my father, my aunt going to Omaha, Nebraska, to have a child out of wedlock.
Lee Martin
Sorry I missed seeing this question for so long. Are you referring to "Late One Night"? That book came from the true story of a mother and some of her children who died in a tragic trailer fire out in the country not far from where I was raised in southeastern Illinois. I just started doing a lot of "what-iffing" to create the plot of the novel. Glad you enjoyed it!
Lee Martin
Perhaps, Jay and Daisy from "The Great Gatsby" because I'm a romantic at heart.
Lee Martin
Hi, Anthony. I often ask students to start by telling a lie and then to write about why they wish it were true. That writing usually leads them to a very honest exploration of something that really matters to them but is too sensitive to write about without that little trick of make-believe. I hope this helps!
Lee Martin
I don't think so, Brenda. What do you think the family connections might be?
Lee Martin
Getting to spend my days doing what I love, which is working with language and story.
Lee Martin
Read the way a writer must read with an eye on how something gets made. Figure out the artistic choices that a writer makes and the effects they create. Practice, practice, practice. Be patient. Be forgiving of your shortcomings. Stay in love with the process without worrying about the result. The journey will take you where you're meant to be.
Lee Martin
I've been writing a number of essays, but I'm about to get back to a novel that I started last summer.
Lee Martin
I write to figure out the mysteries and complexities of human beings. Writing is a regular habit of work that doesn't rely so much on inspiration as it does on being receptive to the world around me.
Lee Martin
I get a lot of ideas for my books from the local news from my home area in southeastern Illinois. My last novel, "Break the Skin," was based on a murder from that area.
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more