Interview with:Linda M. Faulkner [lindamfaulkner]
WRITING
 | What did you first read? How did you begin to write? Who were the first to read what you wrote? I don't recall what I first read but I know it was before I went to kindergarten. My mother was an avid reader and, like most little girls, I wanted to be like her. I fell in love with the printed word and began writing stories in grade school. In fifth grade I created crossword puzzles and Mr. Calen, my teacher, passed them around to the other kids each Friday and I received extra credit for creating and the kids who solved the puzzles got extra credit too! My seventh grade teacher, Pat Goldman (with whom I'm still in touch) was the first person to encourage me to submit my stories for publication. |
| What is your favorite genre? Can you provide a link to a site where we can read some of your work or learn something about it? I don't have a single favorite genre--either to read or write. My novels are usually mysteries or romantic suspenses. I also write a lot of non-fiction: magazine articles, a monthly newspaper column, BUSINESS SENSE, and a lot of continuing education texts in the insurance industry. My reading preferences tend to gravitate toward particular writers and their voices rather than specific genres. I love mysteries, romantic suspense, most women's fiction, and anything with a humourous twist. My web site includes the first chapter of my most recent release, SECOND TIME AROUND, which is a mystery; it also contains links to some of my non-fiction: www.lindamfaulkner.com. |
| What is your creative process like? What happens before sitting down to write? My creative process revolves around a central idea that generally grabs me by surprise. From there, I what-if and the characters tend to grow from that. In this pre-writing stage, I take lots of notes as ideas come at me and I do most of my research. Unfortunately, I generally need assistance with my plots from about the half-way point of my mental outline. Plotting is something I'm always working on. |
| What type of reading inspires you to write? Anything that evokes a strong emotional response from me. |
| What voice do you find most to your liking: first person or third person? Again, this depends on the skill of the writer. Personally, I believe my writing is stronger when I write in the first person. |
| What well known writers do you admire most? I'll provide an abbreviated list: Ed McBain/Evan Hunter, Rex Stout, Janet Evanovich, Lawrence Block, Linda Fairstein, Jayne Ann Krentz, Joseph Finder, Linda Howard, Sue Grafton, Patricia Cornwell, Brenda Novak, Eileen Dreyer, Jennifer Cruisie, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, John D. MacDonald, Dell Shannon/Elizabeth Linington... |
| What is required for a character to be believable? How do you create yours? In order for a character to be believable, s/he has to be strong but flawed. I must either identify with, or understand, her/him. When I create my characters, I choose a couple of personality traits and have a detailed background about some aspect of their life. The background and the basic personality traits determine the future growth of the character, along with his/her experiences both before the story begins and as I write it. I don't consider myself the creator of my characters: I provide them with a skeleton and they flesh themselves out as I write. |
| Are you equally good at telling stories orally? Absolutely not. If I write it down and then tell it the way I wrote it, as in a public speech or presentation, then I'm fine. But to tell a story off-the-cuff? God, no! I can't keep myself on-track; conversationally, it's too easy to to run off on tangents. |
| Deep down inside, who do you write for? Myself. Of course, I want my writing to appeal to my readers and make a difference to them. I surely don't want them to lose a couple hours of their life reading something they wind up detesting. I figure that if I really like what I write, someone else will too. |
| Does reader feed-back help you? Defintely. I'm a great believer in Constructive Criticism. I'm not perfect and neither are my communication skills. I generally run my finished works past a critique partner or writing buddy for the express purpose of obtaining an objective opinion. The opinions of other people tend to do one of two things: reinforce my perspective about what I wrote or offer insight about how to make it better. Either way, I benefit. |
| Do you believe you have already found "your voice" or is that something one is always searching for? I've been told, from my earliest days of writing, that I have a distinctive "voice." I don't believe "voice" is something a writer searches for so much as it's something s/he develops. Like a personality. As a child grows, her personality develops based on her experiences and relationships. A writer's voice develops much the same way. Some writers, unfortunately, have a difficult time allowing their voices to develop for a variety of reasons. I suspect a lot of that has to do with writing for other people rather than themselves. |
| Do you write on a computer? Do you print frequently? Do you correct on paper? What is your process? Virtually all of my pre-writing and research takes place with pen and paper. Once I commit those ideas and information in that fashion, I transfer it onto the computer in various formats. Then, when I start writing a scene or an article, I use the computer. As I plot new scenes or work out thorny situations, I revert back to paper and pen. The cycle repeats itself until I'm through. I always perform my final edits by hand. I'll print the entire manuscript or article out on paper after I do a round of computer edits, and do the last round or two by hand. |
| What are you working on now? I'm working on three different projects. The first is a sequel to SECOND TIME AROUND, titled, TWO-TIMED. It continues the story of Timmie Campbell, who finds a dead body on the first page of this novel, as she did in the first. Timmie finds herself trying to exonerate a friend who is considered a suspect in the murder while forging a relationship with the sister she didn't know she had. My second project is a romantic suspense titled DEATH BENEFITS. Lianne Brennan's husband was killed in a fiery explosion four years ago. Or was he? I'm actively writing both these books. My third project is a mystery series and I'm in the planning, pre-writing, and research stage. |
| What do you recommend I do with all those things I wrote years ago but have never been able to bring myself to show anyone? It all depends. If you want another opinion about your work, join a writer's group and find yourself a critique partner you can trust. If you know your stuff is good, then fine-tune it and start sending it out to agents, publishers, or both. If you know your stuff needs work, then get to it! Writers write. It's that simple. |
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[lindamfaulkner]
Linda M. Faulkner
Missoula-Montana-USA
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