Renee interviews author Diane Sawyer

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author, Awards, books, creativity, inspiration, Writer

Award-winning author Diane Sawyer is a mystery writer extraordinaire! Published by Thomas and Mercer – the mystery division of Amazon – her novels include The Montauk Mystery, The Montauk Steps, The Tomoka Mystery, The Cinderella Murders, The Treasures of Montauk Cove. Her latest novel, “Trouble in Tikal,” is about to be released by Southern Yellow Pine Publishing. Who says crime doesn’t pay?

Tell me about your background. Where you grew up, where you live now, education, work experience? Share some interesting things about yourself that we should know about.
I grew up in Greenport, a tiny resort town located on the eastern tip of Long Island, 100 miles from New York City. I graduated from Greenport High (K-12, salutatorian of the class; SUNY at Albany, cum laude, (New York State Regents Scholarship) Latin major, French minor. Seton Hall University (M.A.) in French. Summer Program in French pronunciation at the Sorbonne, France. PhD in Medieval Studies, areas of specialization: French, Latin, and History, Fordham University, New York City.

What inspired you to write this book? What is the story behind the story?
I saw a classical musical production featuring the Florida Orchestra two years ago. The solo instrument was the “erhu,” often referred to as a Chinese fiddle. I had never seen nor heard nor heard of an erhu, but the program stated that many people when hearing the erhu for the first time, thought it sounded like a woman…a woman crying. By the time I left the theater, I had an idea for a story, about a musician kidnapped after a local concert. Tons of research and a desire to write a story with two heroines kept me busy creating and writing for many months.

What has been your biggest challenge or obstacle?
My biggest challenge was finding motivation for each and every character to complete his or her role in the story. In my opinion, it was worth the effort. I wanted believable characters and an emotional reaction from the readers. And on top of that, smart and capable heroines who could tell their story and win over every reader. I apparently received that and more because the FAPA (Florida Authors and Publishers Association) awarded “The Tell-Tale Treasure” first prize in all three categories: adult mystery, thriller, and suspense.

What has been your biggest “aha” moment or success?
My biggest aha moment or success was when I received that FAPA award. I was immediately inspired to do as well on my next novel.

What authors do you like to read? What books have had a strong influence on you or your writing?
I read across the board, often following the advice of friends. Most of my favorite books have a strong heroine. I once won a writing award (as an adult) for an essay/short story about Anne of Green Gables.

Do you write every single day? Any writing rituals?
Yes, I write every day. I wouldn’t say I have rituals, but I often find when walking that I think of my characters and what will they do next to get out of the jam I left them in. When I get home and to the computer, I try to advance the story to keep the momentum going. Basically, I answer the age-old question, “What happens next?” However, anything, no matter how unrelated to my story it seems to give me an idea and I try to work it in. An example: While I was writing The Tell-Tale Treasure, a competitive Chinese boat race was held here in St. Petersburg, not far from where I live. That gave me an entire scene, one of my favorites, set near USF and the former Dali Museum.

What are your interests outside of writing?
I enjoy fitness, friends, family, movies, being outdoors, travel (especially alone but with a tour group to find out everything I can about a country.)

Share some tips for other Authors or Aspiring Authors: What would you do differently? What would you do the same? Please share anything you think would be beneficial to those reading this.
If I could recommend one major thing that would help your writing, is to (helpfully) critique another author’s work. When I started writing in Florida, I took a writing class and three of us – Grace, Peggy, and I – critiqued every word the other two wrote. All three of us improved drastically and began to win writing awards. I have a critiquing partner now too. We are both happy with the results.

 
Renee Garrison is the award-winning author of The Anchor Clankers. To suggest an author interview, email her: rgarrison@bestversionmedia.com

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Renee interviews author Brad Meltzer

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author, books, creativity, Florida, writing

Photo by PLGould/Images

Today Brad Meltzer releases The Escape Artist, his first new thriller in almost three years. He’s the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Inner Circle (and its sequels, The Fifth Assassin and The President’s Shadow) which are based on the idea that George Washington’s personal spy ring still exists today. Brad has written nine other bestselling thrillers including The Tenth Justice, The First Counsel, and The Millionaires in the 20 years since his first book came out. I interviewed Brad at Book Expo America and we’ve stayed in touch.

Tell me about your background. Where you grew up, where you live now, education, work experience?
I was raised in Brooklyn and Miami, graduated from the University of Michigan and Columbia Law School. The Tenth Justice was my first published work and became an instant New York Times bestseller. Dead Even followed a year later and also hit the New York Times bestseller list, as have all eight of my novels.
I currently live in South Florida with my wife, who’s also an attorney.

What inspired you to write this book? What is the story behind the story?
For the past three years, the government has given me access to a place I never thought they’d let me sneak into. Not sure if you know about Dover Air Force Base, but it’s the mortuary for the US government’s most top-secret and high-profile cases.

On 9/11, the victims of the Pentagon attack were brought there. So were the victims of the attack on the USS Cole, the astronauts from the space shuttle Columbia, and the remains of well over fifty thousand soldiers and CIA operatives who fought in Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, and every secret location in between. Indeed, in Delaware of all places, at Dover Air Force Base, is America’s most important funeral home.

In this world where so much of the government is a mess, Dover is the one place that does it absolutely right. It is the one “no-fail mission” in the military. When a soldier’s body comes home, you don’t mess it up. And so, I’ve seen the stories of the morticians who rebuild hands (rather than giving a fake prosthesis), so that a mother can hold her son’s hand one final time…or where they spend fourteen straight hours wiring together a fallen soldier’s shattered jaw, then smoothing it over with clay and makeup, just so they could give his parents far more ease than they ever should’ve expected at their son’s funeral. And in today’s world, we need real heroes. The people here are the real deal.

What has been your most intriguing discovery in writing this book?
The book focuses on one of the most obscure jobs in the Army: The so-called “Artist In Residence.” Since World War I, the Army has assigned one person—an actual artist—who they send out in the field to, well…paint what couldn’t otherwise be seen. It’s one of the greatest traditions in our military—they call them war artists. They go, they see, they paint, cataloguing every victory and mistake, from the dead on D-day, to the injured at Mogadishu, to the sandbag pilers who were at Hurricane Katrina. In fact, when 9/11 hit, that was the only artist let inside the security perimeter. Sure, we have plenty of photographers and videographers. But what an artist does is different. Photographers take a picture. Artists…when they widen eyes and make rucksacks bigger…they tell a story.

What has been your biggest “aha” moment or success?
The Hollywood Reporter recently put me on their list of Hollywood’s 25 Most Powerful Authors. But before The Tenth Justice was published, I got 24 rejection letters for my true first novel, which still sits on my shelf, published by Kinko’s. I believe that ordinary people change the world, and it is that core belief that runs through every one of my projects.

What are your interests outside of writing?
I host “Brad Meltzer’s Lost History” on H2 and “Brad Meltzer’s Decoded” on the History Channel.

 

 

Renee Garrison is the award-winning author of The Anchor Clankers.

Make something, anything.

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artistic pieces, creativity, origami, tools

 Make something, anything. Try Origami.

 

You will learn about yourself every time you make something. (Including the simple beauty of folding paper.)

There is a three-way conversation between the seed of creativity, materials, and tools. The secret is in the software of the heart and not the hardware of the mind.

 When we make things, we are in a dialog with the world. And in some wonderful and ironic way, this process is more about hearing and less about seeing.

Excerpted from “Home: Celebrating the Spaces of Your Heart,” available soon at Apple’s iBookstore.