Q & A
Q – How long did it take to write The Heights, the Depths, and Everything in Between?
A – It took nine months to write the first draft, but then over a year to do all the revisions.
Q – How long have you wanted to be a writer?
A – Since I could read. Really. I always thought it was the best thing anyone could ever do, and I still think so.
Q – Are you Lucy?
A – No. I’m not. I’m fairly tall, but not quite that tall. I love basketball and still occasionally play. And, of course, I love to read and have a terrific vocabulary. But no, alas, I’m not Lucy.
Q – Did you know someone like Jake?
A – Nope. Made him up. That’s what we do, writers. We make things up.
Q – Did you know someone like Gary?
A – Nope. I knew a few guys like Gary. So I combined them into a single person with some made-up stuff in there too. That’s also what writers do - take some real things, change them, add fictional elements and - voila! A character emerges.
Q – It says on the book jacket you lived in a neighborhood similar to the neighborhood you call “The Heights.” So you don’t make everything up, do you?
A – Well, I do, kind of. There are definite differences between the neighborhood I lived in and “The Heights,” but here are the similarities - my neighborhood did back up on a graveyard and it did have a small farm nearby. Sometimes it’s best to write what you know, and then tweak it and exaggerate it to make it into something that serves your story better than the actual real thing.
Q – What do you like writing best - plays, screenplays or books?
A – I like them all, because each one requires a different craft, a different discipline and asks me to think in an entirely different way. I love to be challenged and each form has its own unique challenges. But in the end, it’s all writing, and that’s what I love more than anything.