fuonlyknew

On writing: 

How did you do research for your book?

     Initially research began with reading and more reading. I read the full catalogs of all the Russian Greats. I think I might be the only person on the planet who’s actually read all three volumes of Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. Then I moved to reading books on Russian history by folks like Robert Massey. Also, whatever I could find on Russian culture. I hit the internet when I needed to expand searches for information. Then I jumped on an airplane to Russia. Today, I’m writing two sequels, so I still read things like Patriot, the memoir by Alexei Navalny, prior to his death in prison as Putin’s opposition. I’ll be dedicating my next book, We Were Lost, to Navalny.

 Which was the hardest character to write? 

     I think trying to get Sergei right as the main protagonist was hardest. Especially with him coming from such a vastly different background than those living in the Western world.

As the easiest? 

     I think Ivan was the easiest in this novel. He was a quiet commando who didn’t talk much. He’ll be harder to define and more complicated in the sequels.

In your book you make a reference to….how did you come up with this idea?

     Actually, the idea of the book came from watching a documentary about Putin. I began to wonder what our world would be like if we had leaders who defined it differently. I didn’t know if I was up to the task of writing something like The Russian Orphan. It took me ten years, but today, I have a completed novel.

        What made you write a book about…?

     Like many Americans, I was beyond disgusted with American politics and media. So, I decided to create a character who was thrown into the political area as a patriot because of his country’s turmoil. Sergei Radkov is a solution driven guy who doesn’t miss a whole lot in the form of under currents in his nation and speaks truth to corruption.

       Where do you get inspiration for your stories?

     Anywhere. The first novel I ever wrote was called Tatesville. I didn’t publish it, but I wrote it in a couple of composition books by hand while in a hospital. My son was in a coma in PICU after a seizure. I heard a nurse’s shoes squeak as she was talking to a visitor across the hall. They were both saying they grew up near a town that I was familiar with. I changed the town’s name to Tatesville, add a little Peyton Place, and there you have it. A novel about southern American towns in the 1970’s and 80’s.

       There are many books out there about…What makes yours different? 

     Honestly, I don’t know of any books exactly like mine. Most novels about Russia that I’ve read are more in the spy genre. But who knows? Maybe there are some and they haven’t come across my reading list.

       What advice would you give budding writers? 

     I explain as best I can about the hardships of a novelist. However, I try to tell them what little I know about other writing markets. Everybody thinks they can write the all-American novel. If it’s in your soul to do so, then you must. It will take more dedication than you’ve given any other task in your life.

        Your book is set in Russia. Have you ever been there?

     Since I was still working full time as a licensed pharmacist, I could only go to do research for a month. I had to make it count and planned my itinerary very tightly. After more than forty years of service, I retired from pharmacy on Jan 1 of 2025.

        If you could put yourself as a character in your book, who would you be?  

    Well, who wouldn’t want to be the lovely Dr. Selena Frederick, a physician that the world can’t get enough of. Unfortunately, most of us don’t have her skill set, her charisma, nor her beauty. Most of us are frogs, and many of us have warts. Ribbit.

        Do you have another profession besides writing? 

     Yes, a licensed pharmacist working fulltime.

        How long have you been writing?

     Before I knew the alphabet. I loved to make up stories when I was very young. I was writing all sorts of stuff at a very young age. Singing a silly song was my way of processing my life experience.

        Do you ever get writer’s block? 

     Never.

       What helps you overcome it? 

     I think having so many diverse activities keep me away from writer’s block. It’s not unusual for me to wake up in the middle of the night from a deep sleep. Sometimes I’ll jot down a poem or write down the bones of a scene that I want in my current work, or even a future novel. Solutions literally come to me in my sleep.

       What is your next project? 

     I’ll write the next two sequels for the trilogy of World Changers. Then I’m going to recreate some old writings like Tatesville.  I have a few children’s books that I hope to bring to market. As well, I’m working on historical novels about my family’s experience in America since 1640. That’s probably a ten-year project.

       What genre do you write and why?

     As you can see, I have no genre. I write what is put into my head or laid upon my heart. Folks can call it what they like.

       What is the last great book you’ve read?

      Actually, I’m reading Patriot by Navalny for the second time. I’m in love with the guy.

       On rituals: Do you snack while writing? Favorite snack?

      When I immerse in writing, I like to close the world off. I once sat in a chair and didn’t move for 36 hours. My favorite snack is food. I barely notice it.

       Where do you write? 

     Usually, one of several places. On the balcony of my condo at Myrtle Beach. At the pier or on the beach in Ocean Isle, NC where my partner lives. I’ve made friends down on the pier with a dolphin named Beautiful, because that’s the only word I can speak when she comes by. But my favorite place is to go somewhere far away and shut the rest o

f the world down. No phone. No internet. No problems. Just create. I’m considering a few months in Zanzibar to finish We Were Lost.

       Do you write every day? 

     No, But I try.

       What is writing schedule? 

     Before I retired from pharmacy last week, I wrote mainly in the morning and worked at night as a pharmacist.

        Is there a specific ritualistic thing you do during your writing time? In today’s tech savvy world, most writers use a computer or laptop. Have you ever written parts of your book on paper? 

     I write a lot of bones on paper. I keep a writing pad beside the bed. Then I start plugging it into my MAC. Then, I’ve written complete novels by hand, but that was before such things as home computers. I actually ended up putting Tatesville in my home computer and printed it out on a dot matrix printer.

        If you’re a mom writer, how do you balance your time?

     I have been a mom writer and full-time pharmacist. I wrote at night when the kids went to bed.

 Fun stuff:

        If you could go back in time, where would you go?

     That’s a fun and fanciful thought. I’ll have to think about that one.

        Favorite travel spot? 

      Anywhere with a beach. I love traveling the world and have found many great places. I love Edinburgh, Scotland. Anywhere in England is fantastic but I love London for all of the museums. Soon I’ll be going to Mongolia on the Russian border for research since Russia isn’t available to me. After all, I did knock off Putin in the second chapter. I hope to spend a few months in Africa soon, so stay tuned.

        Favorite dessert? 

     Put chocolate in it. I’ll like it.

        If you were stuck on a deserted island, which 3 books would you want with you? 

     Oh, man that’s cruel. But if you’re going to allow me three in my despair, let’s see. Definitely on of the Russian classics. One of the British classics. Then something like The Elephant’s Child by Kipling. Look I didn’t tell my parents what I wanted for Christmas until Christmas Eve when I was six years old. It was the new age of this thing called television and I was enchanted with all those boxes with those huge pretty bows on the Christmas commercials. All I wanted was a big box with a bow. My mom kept saying, “you’re not getting a box with a bow for Christmas.”
So on Christmas Eve, I decided I wanted a Chatty Cathy, a tea set, a table and chairs, and one of those new baker’s ovens. Just three books? Can you just put three good ones in a big box with a pretty bow?

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       What’s the funniest thing that ever happened to you? 

     When I was pregnant with my first child my husband and I had gone out to eat with some friends at what was known in the south as a “fish camp”. So here goes Ms. Pregnant, having to pee. The bathroom was really a converted closet. The sink was outside of the toilet area. I literally had to back into the toilet area with my big stomach to sit on the toilet and close the door. I came out, and priss back to my table on the other side of the establishment. I looked up after sitting down and wondered why everybody in the whole place was laughing at me. Then I saw it. Yep, I had gotten the toilet paper stuck in my underwear and unrolled a Mega size Charmin on my way back to the table.

        The scariest? 

     The night my husband and I had to  do CPR on our son.

        The strangest?

      Many of those. Probably need to just put those in a big box and wrap them with a big bow as well.

        What’s the most courageous thing you’ve ever done? 

     Not sure. But whatever it was, I’m sure I’d never talk about it. Just the way I was raised.

        Any hobbies? 

      Always writing. Counting the stars over the ocean. Wrapping Christmas presents with big bows. I mean, I make ridiculous art scenes on a package. Move over emerging TV.

        Name a quirky thing you like to do.

     Watch birds in the bird feeders at my partner’s house. Exciting right?

        If there is one thing you want readers to remember about you, what would it be?

     I would want them to believe that I tried to find the tenderest fiber of human threads that bind us all together. That’s memorable.