faq
I’ve been in a million writers’ groups and have served on six nonprofit boards, but I’d rather talk about writing novels and songs. Or basketball. Or rock & roll. Or travel. Or pretty much anything.
Q: Who are some of your favorite authors?
A: I have a gazillion good friends who write brilliant books! Authors whose novels I tend to reread include Jane Austen, Meg Cabot, Georgette Heyer, Eloisa James, and Jo Beverley. I read a LOT of Regency romance, in significant part because it’s not at all like my own writing, so it doesn’t mess with my writer’s head. So, yes, of course I love the Bridgerton series on Netflix. (Benedict 4Evah!) But as a YA author, I also adore shows like Derry Girls.
My favorite (nonfiction) book for dealing with life and crazy people is The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz. My favorite (nonfiction) book about writing is Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott.
Q: What books did you like as a kid?
A: Anything I could get my hands on that didn’t involve animals. (Alas, I grew up terrified of animals, thanks to a dachshund with sharp teeth and a fear of pesky boys.) My mom bought Nancy Drew for me and Hardy Boys for one of my brothers – and he and I would promptly trade! I loved classics, adventure stories, and science fiction (still do), and I read everything Louisa May Alcott, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Jane Austen, and Hermann Hesse ever wrote.
Q: Did you always want to be a writer? And songwriter?
A: No. I wanted to do a million different things in my life – and actually still do – but they usually involved movement, as opposed to parking my butt in a chair for long stretches at a time. (I still hate to park my butt in a chair.) But I always loved books and reading (along with playing sports and building forts in the woods), wrote for the school newspaper in junior high, and in high school I wrote a lot of poetry and was co-editor of the yearbook. I still wrote poetry in college, but I started writing fiction almost on a lark only after I’d been practicing law for 15 years.
Songwriting (and playing music) was more of a surprise in my life. Although I grew up loving music of all kinds, and had the obligatory four years of piano lessons, my life revolved around sports. But then book 4 of my Bennet Sisters YA series featured a teen heroine who was learning to play guitar, and in real life I was taking my kids to various music lessons, so I signed up for guitar lessons. A few years later, a friend talked (badgered) me into joining a band run by Twin Town Guitars in Minneapolis, and I was off to the races.
Q: How do you write your stories? And your songs?
A: Books: my process changed after COVID. I used to write first drafts on my AlphaSmart, a keyboard that’s light and unbreakable and easy to take anywhere, so I took it to a neighborhood ice cream parlor called Sebastian Joe’s, which has triple-berry scones to die for, a cozy fire in the winter, and enough chatter to keep my creative juices flowing. I now haven’t written at Sebastian Joe’s since 2020, and my AlphaSmart doesn’t like my new laptop (or vice versa), so I write on my laptop now, at home. When it’s revision time, I hole up in my office on the third floor of our house in complete silence (no music, no nothing). But I WOULD like to get back to Sebastian Joe’s!
Songs: Since I’m a writer of words, I usually start with lyrics. I’m part of the Singer/Songwriter Songwriting Challenge on Facebook, and we get 20 song prompts each year: 10 in the winter, 10 in the summer. The prompt is usually a word. I often take that word and go for a long walk, thinking about lyrics and (on good days) coming up with melodies. When I come home, I usually have 30-50 voice memos with lines or phrases or words and sometimes melodies. And then I come up with the music. I love the move Music and Lyrics with Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore: inspiring!
Q: Where do you get your ideas for your novels? Do you outline them?
A: Every novel (or series) is different. My Bennet Sisters YA series is obviously based on my love of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. I’m currently working on a YA series about a high school for psychics, and the series heroine is a girl who lives for sports. In fact, in almost all of my novels, SOMEONE is an athlete of some kind, often but not always the heroine.
I’m a seat-of-the-pants writer and don’t do anything resembling an outline or even character sketches. When I start a new book, I usually know the title of the book, the names of the main two (or more) characters, and (hopefully!) the basic conflict that propels the story. I don’t know much else, including the ending, and it’s sometimes a wild ride for me to get to “The End.”
Q: What are your favorite sports?
A: Basketball! Followed by every other sport except running. (Because life is too short to run.) Besides basketball, I spend most of my sportsy hours on rollerblading, downhill skiing, waterskiing, hiking, softball, walking (a LOT), golf, and tennis – unless I’m lured to play a different sport, and I’m easily lured.
Q: Favorite bands and/or musicians?
A: I love classic rock! Three longtime fave bands/artists are the Eagles, Juanes, and Rodney Crowell. (Which is hilarious, really, because I wouldn’t label any of them classic rock.) And I ADORE Joan Jett. During my college years, I listened nonstop to local bands in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, and I still catch the current bands those guys are playing in when I can. In Minneapolis my big faves are The Melismatics, the Belfast Cowboys, and St. Dominic’s Trio, but I love a LOT of Minnesota bands, including Semisonic, Soul Asylum, and Trailer Trash. I thank my mom for Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, and Billie Holiday. I thank my kidlets and the YA books I write for Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, and lots and lots of Latinx music.
Q: What’s your next adventure?
A: My upcoming second album is my biggest adventure at the moment. I had a trip to Belfast, London, Liverpool, and Paris in April, my annual Broadway-heavy trip to New York City in June, and songwriting camp (with Beth Nielsen Chapman) in Nashville in July. I had just started swordfighting before COVID hit, and I hope to try that again, along with boxing, but a major scooter crash in late 2022 still affects what I can do with my right arm. (Being able to play guitar again was my main goal after the crash.) I’m doing French, Norwegian, Italian, and Spanish on Duolingo. (I’m mostly fluent in Spanish and am REALLY good at ordering crêpes and wine in French.) So much to do, so little time!