Your
education as a writer started in Journalism then went on to graduate work at
the Minnesota State University, the Iowa Summer Writing Festival, and The LoftWriting Center. How have those different experiences helped you forge your
voice?
Before studying creative writing, I already
had a degree in journalism and had excelled in legal writing in getting my law
degree. But I had to retrain myself when I endeavored to write creatively.
Those other forms of writing focused on being direct, declarative and brief.
Legal writing, especially, focused on tapping the intellectual and analytical
centers of the brain. Creative writing, on the other hand, is all about
emotion. I had to create a place in my head where I could let my creative side
flourish. For example, as a legal writer I never used contractions. As a
creative writer, I had to retrain myself that contractions were not only
allowed, but essential. In retraining my brain, I found myself drawn to
narrative voices that were as far from the formalistic writing of my past as I
could find. Those voices inspired me to try to create an equally distinct
narrative voice in my own work.
How
has your career as an attorney impacted you as a writer?
As a writer of mysteries, my background as a
criminal defense attorney is very important. I spend my days dissecting police
investigations. I have to be as knowledgeable in investigative techniques as
the police in order to do my job well. This dovetails well with my writing. I
believe that readers are very sophisticated in ways police procedures and
writers need to stay ahead of that curve.
Your
first novel, The Life We Bury, has been wildly successful, both in
critical acclaim and commercial popularity. How did that early success impact
you writing your second book?
I had my second novel, The Guise of Another,
already written before The Life We Bury hit the bookstore shelves. All of my
books have a slightly different feel to them because I want each story to stand
on its own. That’s one of the reasons I have characters that cross from one
novel to another, as opposed to a series. With that said, one of the lessons
that I learned from the success of The Life We Bury is the importance of depth.
I see the mystery aspect of the story as pulling the reader forward and the
personal journey of the characters as pulling the reader deeper into the story.
Readers enjoy the twists and turns of the mystery, but the part of the story
that stays with them is the depth of the characters and their relationships.
Check back April 15th for Part II
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