Historical Fiction
Date Published: March 11, 2021
Publisher: Giverny Books
A young WWI veteran searches for his French Impressionist father through encounters with Claude Monet and some of that movement’s key figures.
Interview
What is the hardest part of writing your books?
"Monet & Oscar" took on a life of its own, and I just kept typing as fast as I could to catch up. The outline I started with kept evolving as the story wrote itself. This was great fun from the author's perspective but terrible from a timeline perspective, as my editor pointed out. The story needed to align with historical and logical facts. This meant that I needed to rewrite several chapters to make them align with an acceptable timeline. Once I had that sorted out, I got back to let the story go where it wanted to go.
What songs are most played on your Ipod?
That depends upon what I'm doing at the time. When I write, I listen to classical music with no commercial interruptions. When I'm driving or working in my garden, I listen to various modern folk artists, primarily women, who have a story to tell. The instrumental and vocal qualities and the lyrics are a welcome added attraction.
Do you have critique partners or beta readers?
I'm really not that far along in my writing career for such partners. I prefer to limit comments on my writing to a few professional editors. If I get a lot of other opinions involved, it will only confuse my writing process. Everyone has their own idea, and their comments will be valuable from their perspective, but I don't want to confuse my writing with many other opinions that I will be compelled to consider.
What book are you reading now?
I mostly read non-fiction as I'm constantly researching my next book. Currently, I read "Monet by Himself" edited by Richard Kendall, "Everyday Monet" by Aileen Bordman, and "The Judgment of Paris" by Ross King. With that said, I just recently finished three historical novels about artists who were Monet's contemporaries. These were written by authors I joined in a webinar on "French artists in fiction: "Four Lives, Four Authors." The books were “Loving Modigliani” by Linda Lappin, “L’Origine” by Lilianne Milgrom, and “Victorine” by Drema Drudge. It was terrific reading books that dealt with the same artistic subjective matter and the same time frame as my book.
How did you start your writing career?
I started my first neighborhood newspaper when I was six years old. It lasted only one summer and cost only a penny. Until I was twelve, I started working on school newspapers, a career that lasted through graduate school. My professional career included publishing books, newsletters, magazines, and websites. The short answer is writing has been my passion and my dream for as long as I can remember.
Tell us about your next release.
The readers of "Monet & Oscar" I've heard from liked the characters and would like to learn more about them. I'm planning to revisit Giverny France and the characters I wrote about for these readers and my own curiosity. There will be a new twist that should make the story fresh and entertaining for existing and new readers and me.
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