 |
| Author Robin Donovan |
-Robin Donovan
Today's Author in the Spotlight is Robin Donovan. Author of the Donna Leigh Mystery Series, stories about an owner of an ad agency. Check out her interview below!
TW: What is your writing process?
RD: I break each novel into four parts. I do not allow myself to write
anything directly connected to the ending until I begin writing the fourth segment.
I keep a notebook of people and occurrences in each chapter to ensure that I don’t
leave any gaping holes or red herrings in the plot. I allow myself some
flexibility, e.g. I got halfway through my third book and put it aside to edit
my second book. When I went back to it I realized it wasn’t good. As I was
contemplating what to do, the perfect ending occurred to me, so I went ahead and
wrote it. Once finished, I went back and edited the first half to make it fit
and it all came together beautifully. I believe having the ending, in that case, made all the difference.
TW: How difficult was it to write your story?
RD: My first novel virtually wrote itself. It was as though someone said “go”
and I did. Writing a series makes writing the rest of the books a bit more
difficult. There have to be enough similarities in characters and occurrences to
create a common thread without making the books seem formulaic, and in the case
of comedy, without using the same comedic mechanisms over and over. Although
Evanovich manages to make a car either blow up or catch fire in every Stephanie
Plum novel – and she makes it work.
TW: What are your hopes for this project?
RD: My hope is that I will start seeing more regular sales so that I can
focus less on promotion and write another in this series and possibly even
start a different series. I spend an enormous amount of time promoting my three
existing books and the fourth one is sitting in my head waiting to hit the
pages. Just last week I received a wonderful compliment from a TV writer and
author in LA. Up until that note, I was just enjoying the writing and the
speaking engagements, not to mention the written interviews, blog posts,
occasional TV and radio interviews… I was surprised at how much the validation
from a bona fide celebrity writer would mean to me. I guess I was hoping for
that without even realizing it.
TW: Do have plans of writing more books?
RD: My fourth book is starting to hatch without much prompting from me. I’m
not really sure that I have a choice in this whole thing. I want to be careful
to end this series before it does start to feel formulaic. If I feel that this
series has reached its natural end I have no idea what my next series would be.
Maybe when that time comes I will know.
TW: What is your favorite genre of books and do
you plan on venturing in those areas?
RD: Any kind of mystery is fascinating to me. Scott Turow is one of my favorites.
He creates a true mystery that holds together until the end and writes it
beautifully. I’m less inclined to enjoy a mystery that involves gore and/or
torment. For now, I’ll stick to cozy mysteries laced with humor. The comedic
element seems to come naturally from me, although I take my cozies very
seriously. I make sure they are edited extensively and that the focus is as
much on the mystery as the humor. I try to avoid the clichés of “light” mysteries,
i.e. someone constantly yelling at the amateur sleuth for sticking her nose
into police business, having a protagonist who is willing to meet any stranger
alone in an alley at midnight, etc.
TW: What do you want readers to know about you?
RD: I spent years wanting to write a book and making excuses for not
getting started. I worked as an English teacher and then in advertising and
never had time. A series of occurrences made me realize it was ‘now or never’
so I got started. I had no idea how much absolute fun I would have doing the actual
writing. And the speaking engagements..are like catnip.
TW: Do you have a favorite author or book?
RD: Aside from Scott Turow, I have always loved Rebecca by Daphne de Maurier
and I can’t get enough of Jane Austin’s humor. Charles Dickens is another favorite.
But I tend to pattern my writing style after a combination of James Thurber and
Cornelia Otis Skinner.
TW: What is the most difficult part of your
artistic process?
RD: The fact that I have to put my whole heart and soul into it – and my
work is not for everyone – so that comes with some rejection. In the beginning, a bad review was devastating. One reviewer actually commented that mine was the
worst book he/she had ever read. That’s when it starts to become comical – but there
is still that initial little arrow stab at every harsh comment. I do wonder why
folks who clearly don’t like my genre still choose to read and review my book –
but I guess that’s the age-old question for authors
TW: What does literary success look like to you?
RD: Apparently, getting a complimentary and encouraging note from a
professional TV writer and author. While I’d like to see a lot more sales, I am
grateful that my sales are considerably above average based on studies I’ve
read – the average is surprisingly low. I am getting invited to speak at author
and library fairs and book clubs, I wouldn’t mind more invitations of that
nature. I think success is writing a book, and success is publishing a book,
and success is getting opportunities to promote a book. I think success is
tiered and there’s always the next level.
TW: How has this book changed your life?
RD: There are extremely high highs and some seriously low lows. One moment
you feel as though you ARE a celebrity and at the next event no one shows up
and you’re just sitting there among all the books you lugged in along with your
posters, bookmarks, etc. all by yourself. I read a book by the author of a well-known book turned movie. She commented that at one of her book events so few people
showed up that the bookstore owner made all of his employees stand on line and
pretend to buy a book. She didn’t find that out for several years – and it was
a blow when she did – but it made me feel as though I’m in good company.
TW: What advice do you have for an aspiring
writer?
RD: Don’t say it, do it. If you don’t like it when you’re done, put it
away and take it out again when you’re ready to rewrite it until you do like
it. Some authors take months to write a masterpiece and some take decades –
just get started and see where it takes you. And don’t expect overnight stardom
– or most likely ANY stardom. Do it because you love it.
TW: Do you have any future events or updates we
should know about?
RD: My focus recently has been on promotion in the form of interview and guest blog posts.
I have some local author fairs and as many interviews and I can fit into my
schedule – but nothing particularly noteworthy at the moment – except, of
course, for this interview.
TW: How can we contact you and purchase your book?
RD: Web site:
Books (Can all be found
under Donna Leigh Mysteries on Amazon):
Is It Still Murder Even If
She Was A Bitch?
I Didn’t Kill Her But That
May Have Been Short Sighted.
I Don’t Know Why They Killed
Him He Wasn’t Really That Annoying.
Book Trailer:
Best to message me on Facebook:
Author’s pages on Facebook:
Author’s Page:
Donna Leigh Mystery Series
page:
Comments
Post a Comment