Paulette,
Who
are your influences?
My
writing is influenced mostly by life. I have enjoyed reading Stephen King, Dean
Koontz and John Saul over the years, so I’m sure they’ve all influenced me to some degree,
whether I think so or not.
When
did you begin writing?
I’ve been writing off and on for over 40
years - boy that sounds like a long time. I've started a lot of stories, even finished a few, but let them
pile up without doing much with them. It wasn’t until 2015 I got introduced to Indie
publishing. It’s
opened up a whole new world for me.
How
do you come up with stories, characters, POV, etc?
For
most stories, I like to take ordinary situations, and add a “what if” to
it. I try to write a few “what ifs” every
day and add them to my growing list of them. It’s pretty surprising how many good
story ideas can emerge from one odd thought. As for characters, each one is a
mix of several people I know or have seen, plus some imagination thrown in to
round them out and make them real. Regarding their names, I usually give each
character a quick simple name as I start a story, and as it evolves, their name
becomes evident to me. Then I change it. You just know when you have the right
name for each person. For POV, it depends on the story. Sometimes a story isn’t suited to one POV, and needs to be
another. I’ve
frequently changed the POV after writing several pages and realizing the story
would make more sense to tell it another way.
Do
you work from an outline?
Yes
I do, I find it saves me a lot of writing time. Even though I usually veer away from it, sometimes a little and
sometimes a lot. It’s
still a good way to get started and keep moving. It’s prevented a lot of writer’s block for me.
Tell
me about your favorite scene in your novel.
I
think in Dead Serious Day, my favorite scene would be the one at the lakefront,
with all the kite flying, and the chaos that follows. I can picture that scene
so clearly, it’s
like I was there.
Tell
a little about your writing philosophy.
I
think most writers are just people who like to tell stories. It helps to have a
good imagination and maybe even some interesting life lessons to fall back on,
but mostly you have to have that deep desire to write and to tell stories. I think no matter
where a writer is, or what they are doing, story ideas seem to be everywhere,
begging to be plucked out of the air and put on paper. I think writing is
rewarding, but hard work. It’s oftentimes lonely, unproductive and
downright frustrating, but at the end of the day, if you have more words on
your screen than when you woke up that morning, it wasn’t a bad day. While your success is
dependent on your readers, writing still has to be about telling the stories
you feel need to be told, yet still be stories that others want to read. Because ultimately, you want your
readers wanting more of what you write. There is no better compliment a reader
can give you than to spend several hours immersed in one of your stories. Then
ask for more.
Have
you tried other genres?
Yes
I have and I enjoy a few others as much as mystery writing. I like writing horror, contemporary
fantasy, and YA mysteries/thrillers. I’ve written several children’s stories too, but since I don’t have the time to illustrate them as
I’d
like, I don’t
think anything will ever come of that genre for me.
Do
you have any interesting writing-related anecdotes?
Only
one, told to me by an author friend. He was talking to his agent not long ago,
worrying about some content of his upcoming piece of fiction. His agent said “I’m going to give you a really valuable
fiction writing tip: It’s
fiction! You can make shit up!"
Do
you listen to music when you write?
Not
usually, as I always want to sing along with it, and I can’t write and sing at the same time. I
do listen with headphones if I’m trying to drown out other more
distracting noise though.
I
have done many things in my life, from soldering bugles to intensive care
nursing, varied things, like doll making, pattern making, quilting and weaving.
I usually tire of every activity within five years or less. The only thing that has
remained a constant, is writing.
Thank you Paulette for taking the time for Buttonholed Book Reviews
 |
| Paullette D. Morrissey ~ Goodreads author |
Visit Paulette D. Morrissey's site
Read my review of Dead Serious Day
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