Book Club discussion

Lets start off with some general questions for the authors in the house.

1. What inspired you to pen your first novel?


2. Who or what has influenced your writing, and in what way?


3. How has your environment/upbringing influenced your writing?


4. What genre are you most comfortable writing?


5. How did you come up with the title for your book(s)?


Thanks all,

John
John Cicero

1. What inspired you to pen your first novel?

A sense that I was a writer and there was only one way to find out whether I was right. So I wrote a mystery called THE WRONG END OF THE RAINBOW, and it was terrible. I fooled around with a couple of other books and sent one off to an agent and two weeks later I had a three-book contract with Dutton, and that turned into a six-book contract.

2. Who or what has influenced your writing, and in what way?

Chandler in terms of form (I write mysteries and thrillers) and a thousand good writers, usually "literary," in terms of style, although Chandler had an impact there, too. After my first six books came out, I taught a university-level class on writing the novel, and I learned an enormous amount from my students, who did things they didn't know were impossible or forbidden by the "rules" of writing. Really loosened me up.

3. How has your environment/upbringing influenced your writing?

As a setting rather than a mindset. The first six books were set in LA, where I grew up, and the current series is set in Bangkok, where I have lived half-time since 1981. The cities have a lot in common, although they appear so dissimilar.


4. What genre are you most comfortable writing?

Mysteries and thrillers, which are very different things. The central question of a mystery has to do with a puzzle: whodunit? With a thriller, the central question is situational: How do you get out of it?

5. How did you come up with the title for your book(s)?

Desperation. Most of the time, my publisher overrides my initial choice and makes me suggest several alternatives. For my upcoming book, THE QUEEN OF PATPONG, they hated my title and I hated theirs, and we went onto Huffington Post, where I wrote a piece and we asked readers to vote. Their title won in a walk.

1. What inspired you to pen your first novel?

*Me inspiró varias cosas, algunas películas me dieron un poco de información, y a partir de ahí empecé a escribirla (solo llevo 2 capitulos)


2. Who or what has influenced your writing, and in what way?

*Me está influyendo mi propia experiencia, mi propia realidad pero también la forma de escribir de vari@s autor@s

3. How has your environment/upbringing influenced your writing?

* mmm la verdad creo que no lo sé, puede que sí.

4. What genre are you most comfortable writing?

*Género fantástico, actual, juvenil... también me gustan los vampiros pero en la novela en la que estoy trabajando no tiene nada de ciencia-ficción.

5. How did you come up with the title for your book(s)?

* Como dije antes, no tengo la novela muy avanzada así que no tengo ningún título pensado. Sólo tengo 1 nombre pero es provisional, para llamarla de alguna manera.

I speak in spanish because I can't write perfectly in english

^^

1. What inspired you to pen your first novel?
The voices pinging around in my head, and my love of myth and legend.

2. Who or what has influenced your writing, and in what way?
I would say the short stories of authors like Ray Bradbury and Harlan Ellison had the most influence on my writing, because they illustrate the dramatic impact writing can have on a reader.


3. How has your environment/upbringing influenced your writing?
I'm not sure, but the fact I read too many comic books as a child may have influenced my thinking.


4. What genre are you most comfortable writing?
Fantasy. I love the paranormal, supernatural, etc. I'm probably equally comfortable in horror and sci-fi.


5. How did you come up with the title for your book(s)?
The same voices that whisper my stories tend to give me the titles as well; they're nice that way.

1. What inspired you to pen your first novel?
A challenge from an on-line group, to write a paragraph with a 'hook'. Everyone wanted to know what happened next, and so did I, so I wrote it.


2. Who or what has influenced your writing, and in what way?
A long list - authors who make me say, "I wish I could write like that." Authors who make me say, "How can he be a best seller--I write better than that." And of course, my crit groups, and other writers at conferences who are so generous with their time. Hate to name names for fear of leaving someone out, but Sandra McDonald was my first mentor; Roxanne St. Claire offered much encouragement, the late Barbara Parker was generous with her time and expertise. And the team of PJ Parrish, whose initial critique of the first draft of one novel helped steer it toward its current form as Nowhere to Hide.

3. I've had a "normal" dull upbringing. I come from a happy, stable family. I didn't start writing until much later in life, so I draw on life experience and blend people I know, things they do, and places I've been into my books.

4. I like mystery and single-title romance. I'm all for characters and relationships

5. Titles. I hate coming up with them. They're the last thing I do, and I wish someone else would do it for me. Why did I call a book "What's in a Name?" Because I had to write something on the line that said "Title" when I submitted it.

Terry
Terry's Place
Romance with a Twist--of Mystery

1. What inspired you to pen your first novel?
I went to college thinking I'd major in Criminal Psychology. After taking some lit and writing classes, I fell in love with creative writing. So, I flipped flopped my major and minors. I'm still a huge crime and psychology buff, but I rather research and use it for plot and character development.

2. Who or what has influenced your writing, and in what way?
Besides my first creative writing instructor, author Flannery O'Connor is the biggest influence and motivator of my writing. I feel a deep connection with her work. For me, she sets the highest standard.

3. How has your environment/upbringing influenced your writing?
It's given me all the baggage, cynicism, emotions, attitude and general spite I need to create everything on the page. It also gave me my pen name. I've learned to look at the ups and downs as a great big treasure box. I kind of feel sorry for those who had normal, average upbringings :)

4. What genre are you most comfortable writing?
Historical fiction and horror. That seems strange, but most of my historical fiction includes horror, so it's not that big of a leap.

5. How did you come up with the title for your book(s)?
Dandelions in the Garden . This is a play on the symbolism in the book. The use of flowers and connection to various characters is important. Also, the importance of gardens during this historical period is significant. Some symbolized symmetry and balance, however, my characters are anything but...they are weeds that corrupt the social ranking. The Hidden Will of the Dragon (bk. 2) is the sequel. The characters discover a hidden letter from Vlad Tepes to his son in a painting. Vlad Tepes is Dracula, which also means Son of the Dragon. Lastly, The Secret of A Spicy Jalapeno. In short, it's a horror story about a farmer who creates an organic fertilizer so he can help decrease crime, prison overflow population and produce something useful, which ends up being jalapenos.

I put a lot of thought into my titles. I detest vague one-word titles. If it's one-word, it better be original and good.


Charlie Courtland
Dandelions in the Garden
The Hidden Will of the Dragon

Sawyer wrote: "1. What inspired you to pen your first novel?

*Me inspiró varias cosas, algunas películas me dieron un poco de información, y a partir de ahí empecé a escribirla (solo llevo 2 capitulos)


2. Who ..."

Ooh, I actually understood all of that. Hooray! :)

A. F. wrote: "1. What inspired you to pen your first novel?
The voices pinging around in my head, and my love of myth and legend.

2. Who or what has influenced your writing, and in what way?
I would say th..."

... and I thought I was the only one hearing those voices... lol

1. What inspired you to pen your first novel? I have been a Phantom of the Opera fan since reading Gaston Leroux's novel more than 30 years ago. I had a rather unexpected response to the 2004 film production that had me asking all kinds of "what if" questions ... which I could only answer by writing my own story. In The Eye of The Beholder: A Novel of The Phantom of the Opera

2. Who or what has influenced your writing, and in what way? I am hard pressed to name any one author.

3. How has your environment/upbringing influenced your writing? With the exception of my upcoming memoir, You Had to Be There: Three Years of Mayhem and Bad Decisions in the Portland Music Business, it's hard to say that it has. My essays are on a variety of topics, so perhaps one could say that the current political environment has made me more thoughtful/contemplative about certain matters.

4. What genre are you most comfortable writing? Non-fiction, most definitely. I blame my background as a journalist.

5. How did you come up with the title for your book(s)? The title for my novel came out of the Confucian saying, "all things have beauty for those with eyes to see." I had been struggling with the title for a while.
Les Pensees Dangereuses came from the concept that ideas can be considered dangerous (or, as they said in V for Vendetta, bulletproof). Sui Generis, which is Latin for "one of a kind," seemed like an excellent title for a compendium of one-off works.

Thank you for this opportunity to answer your questions.

These are fun to read! You all have such interesting stories. I'm not really an "author" (I'm not published) but I'll answer anyway.

1. What inspired you to pen your first novel?

I started writing my first novel when I was 12 and finished it when I was 13. I wrote the entire thing by hand––not fun. It was about talking cats with magical powers, and there was an evil king after them, and a forest full of angry animals that were plotting to destroy all of humanity. It was very strange and illogical and I'm not sure where on earth I got the idea. I think I just wanted to write about cats because they're such fascinating creatures. :)


2. Who or what has influenced your writing, and in what way?

I can't remember what first got me writing. I know that I always loved stories––whether it was my parents reading them to me when I was a kid, or whether I was drawing picture books with crayons, or making them up out loud. I think I was about 9 when I first got the idea into my head that I wanted to write "chapter books"––although I'd usually only get through a first chapter and then give up. When I was in fourth grade I had the most amazing teacher who really encouraged creativity, especially in writing. Then when I was in fifth grade she started a writing club that met during lunch, and she encouraged me to join. When I started sharing my work with other kids, they all seemed really impressed and so did my teacher. She was the first person who asked me if I'd ever thought about publishing; she told me about literary magazines for younger writers, things like Stone Soup and Cricket. So that was when I realized that writing was something I could really pursue, and that's about where the passion started. I also have a passion for reading––just reading in general has influenced me. Good books inspire me to do better, and bad books give me that feeling like, "I know I can do better than this!" I also listen to a lot of music, which inspires me to write.


3. How has your environment/upbringing influenced your writing?

I live in a huge family and I go to a huge school. So I tend to feel like I'm not all that important, but writing makes me feel like I have something special and it's what makes me … me. :) Also, we didn't have cable TV until I was 12, so most of my entertainment as a kid came from reading and playing with my toys (my Barbies, Beanie Babies, and Playmobile all had pretty epic adventures!).


4. What genre are you most comfortable writing?

I'm not picky about genre. I write mostly urban fantasy and sci-fi, and some realistic fiction. I think I'm comfortable with anything as long as I have great characters that I really like.


5. How did you come up with the title for your book(s)?

I'm not sure. Usually I just find a random word or symbol that seems to fit and it just clicks. I got the title for one of my books, Walking Shadow, from the Macbeth quote: "Life's but a walking shadow ..."