Time to answer reader questions again!

Julia asks: Will you ever visit Ontario Canada anytime soon? Also will we get to learn about Chai’s history anytime soon?

Answer: Hi, Julia. No, I’m sorry—I don’t foresee much travel in the coming few years, especially out of country given the mess our politics are in here. I’m staying local. It’s very expensive for me to travel, and it takes a toll on my health, especially with my level of food allergies and the histamine intolerance to deal with. As for Chai’s history, given I’ve had to put the Fly By Night series on indefinite hiatus, I’m sorry, but I doubt I’ll get to his history for at least several years.

Patricia asks: Will the Maggie comic ever be available as an ebook?

Answer: No, I don’t plan on ever releasing the comic in any format.

Susan asks: Who is your favorite character to write?

Answer: That changes depending on the day, but my favorite characters at this time are Maudlin from Bewitching Bedlam, Kerris from Whisper Hollow, and Fury from Fury Rising. And I always love writing Camille’s books. I care about all my characters but those four are my top favorites.

Laurie asks: What’s your favorite series to write?

Answer: It varies depending on the book I’m writing. I absolutely LOVE writing Whisper Hollow. I’m loving playing in the Bewitching Bedlam and Fury Unbound worlds, too.

Jennifer asks: How did you meet your female characters in your Chintz ‘n China series?

Answer: Honestly, they just came out as I wrote. I hadn’t had any plan of what I was going to write when I first began that series and was just writing for fun, given the harsh year I’d come out of and the fact that I needed to write something different than the nonfiction. I didn’t want to write on any of the novels I’d tucked away in the closet, so I just sat down and started to write and there they were.

Anna asks: What makes you decide to end a series?

Answer: Each series has a natural ending, I believe. Otherworld is coming to that point. But honestly, for the series I’ve ended: a big one is when the books no longer sell enough to make it worth my time to write is a major factor—I simply can’t spend my time writing books that don’t pay the bills. Another factor comes into play when I lose interest or burn out on a series. The Chintz ‘n China series was fun for awhile, but I’m not a cozy mystery writer by heart and I struggled to rein myself into the genre format. The Bath and Body series was hard to write for me—I don’t really enjoy writing non-paranormal fiction and I knew that three books were all I’d be able to manage.

Maureen asks: What was your job before being a writer? What did you study in college?

Answer: I’ve wanted to write since I was three, so I’ve always been a writer. As to what I studied—I majored in drama—directing and stage management. Before I sold my first book and started on the professional path of my career, I held several jobs. Waitress, admin assistant at a community action council, data entry clerk, data entry lead, microfiche tech, transcriptionist for a program in the Washington State Archives. In 1992, I quit my job and moved into a converted school bus and read tarot for a living. I met Samwise later that year, and I moved in with him. I read tarot to bring in money while focusing full time on my writing. Finally, in 1996, I sold my first book, but continued to read tarot until my husband found a job that could easily support both of us and we moved to the Seattle area. But I didn’t make my full-time living as a writer till 2007 when Otherworld took off. As I’ve told people—writing the mysteries and nonfiction let me buy groceries. Writing Otherworld allowed me to actually buy a house.

 

MARCH 9th, 2017: PLEASE NOTE: our site is undergoing some behind-the-scenes changes for the next week or so, and comments are off on the blog because they won’t stick. And the contact form may not work either. If you want to reach me, please email my assistant Jenn at: gevassistant2 AT gmail DOT com. Or, feel free to join our FACEBOOK discussion group

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Answering Reader Questions
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