Thanks to Thomma Grindstaff for being our first interviewee! Here are her answers to five questions:
1) How long have you been writing and when did you first start?
I wrote my first story at age three. It was about a family of bunny rabbits, and I illustrated it. Ha! I wrote a great deal as a young person, but I was usually too shy to show anybody my stories.
In 2001, I decided I wanted to write seriously, working toward eventual publication. I've been writing ever since and have several projects in various stages of completion.
2) Where do you get your ideas? (Readers always ask this question.)
For me, ideas start with characters. I imagine a character or characters in an interesting situation. I ask myself: What sort of story will develop from the goals of a particular character, or from the interactions between characters? As the characters start coming alive for me, their story does, too.
3) What is your favorite genre?
I love any genre, as long as the story is good and the characters are compelling, whether romance, sci-fi, thriller, fantasy, horror, mystery, literary fiction, mainstream, and I'm fond of what's lately been called "book club fiction" -- a hybrid of literary and mainstream.
4) What is the name of your latest book and where can readers find it?
My debut novel Mirror Blue, a literary love story, was released in May by Black Lyon Publishing. It can be purchased online from Black Lyon, or from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, Powells, or Target. Bookstores in the U.S. can order Mirror Blue. I have purchase links on my web site (http://www.thommalyngrindstaff.com).
Mirror Blue is the second novel I wrote, but I revised it several times since to turn it into the book it is today. That's part of my process -- to write a novel, then give it some time on the shelf while working on other projects so I can come back to it with fresh eyes.
5) If you had to give one great book recommendation, what would it be?
Oh, this is a toughie. There are so many wonderful books. But one of the most incredible books I've ever read is Victor Hugo's Les Miserables. I read the unabridged version -- all fifteen-hundred pages or so. I cried multiple times throughout the story, and I don't think I stopped crying at all during the last hundred pages.
And I hope this isn't a cheat (you asked for only one great book, *grin!*), but I'll give a shout-out to a modern book, the novel I'm currently reading: Afternoons With Emily by Rose MacMurray. It's a novel about a young woman's friendship with the poet Emily Dickinson, and I'm finding it nothing less than spellbinding.
1) How long have you been writing and when did you first start?
I wrote my first story at age three. It was about a family of bunny rabbits, and I illustrated it. Ha! I wrote a great deal as a young person, but I was usually too shy to show anybody my stories.
In 2001, I decided I wanted to write seriously, working toward eventual publication. I've been writing ever since and have several projects in various stages of completion.
2) Where do you get your ideas? (Readers always ask this question.)
For me, ideas start with characters. I imagine a character or characters in an interesting situation. I ask myself: What sort of story will develop from the goals of a particular character, or from the interactions between characters? As the characters start coming alive for me, their story does, too.
3) What is your favorite genre?
I love any genre, as long as the story is good and the characters are compelling, whether romance, sci-fi, thriller, fantasy, horror, mystery, literary fiction, mainstream, and I'm fond of what's lately been called "book club fiction" -- a hybrid of literary and mainstream.
4) What is the name of your latest book and where can readers find it?
My debut novel Mirror Blue, a literary love story, was released in May by Black Lyon Publishing. It can be purchased online from Black Lyon, or from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, Powells, or Target. Bookstores in the U.S. can order Mirror Blue. I have purchase links on my web site (http://www.thommalyngrindstaff.com).
Mirror Blue is the second novel I wrote, but I revised it several times since to turn it into the book it is today. That's part of my process -- to write a novel, then give it some time on the shelf while working on other projects so I can come back to it with fresh eyes.
5) If you had to give one great book recommendation, what would it be?
Oh, this is a toughie. There are so many wonderful books. But one of the most incredible books I've ever read is Victor Hugo's Les Miserables. I read the unabridged version -- all fifteen-hundred pages or so. I cried multiple times throughout the story, and I don't think I stopped crying at all during the last hundred pages.
And I hope this isn't a cheat (you asked for only one great book, *grin!*), but I'll give a shout-out to a modern book, the novel I'm currently reading: Afternoons With Emily by Rose MacMurray. It's a novel about a young woman's friendship with the poet Emily Dickinson, and I'm finding it nothing less than spellbinding.