Interview Ben Douglas

by

Marilyn Gardiner

1) Tell us a little about yourself: family, hobbies, day job, etc.

I have two daughters and a son. My son is chief of faculty and student medicine at the University of Oregon. My oldest daughter lives in Johnson City, TN and my youngest is a sophomore at the University of Pennsylvania. My hobbies are writing, reading, traveling and sailing. I am professor emeritus of the University of Mississippi Medical Center. I live in Madison, MS with my wife, three cats and a hound dog.

2) Do you write in the same genre all the time?

In the past I’ve written both fiction and nonfiction. Now and in the foreseeable future I plan to concentrate on writing mysteries.

3) What is the hardest part of writing for you? (i.e. discipline, plot, character development, etc.)

The hardest part is tidying up the loose ends of the plot while keeping the novel to a reasonable length.

4) Do you write from a synopsis/outline, or just go where the muse leads?

I know the beginning and ending of the story. I don’t know where the characters will take me in the meantime, and they often take me to surprising places.

5) Do you work on one project at a time or have several going at once--and if so, how do you stay focused on whichever one you are working?

I bang out the rough draft of a novel and put it aside. I get another novel organized and started while I let the first “cool.” After a couple of months I rewrite the first and submit it. While I’m waiting to hear of its fate I return to work on the one I’d started. Reading a few pages of the novel on which I’m working gets me back into the “world” of the novel.

6) Do you ever get writer’s block? What method do you use to push yourself through it, if so?

Writer’s block? Never. If I ever got it I’d sit until I’d written at least one page, even if I had to write an entire page of he said/she said. Becoming engaged turns on inspiration.

7) What about a writing support group--family, friends, critique group? Do you need such a support system to keep your writing on track or could you write all alone on a desert island?

I could write all alone on a desert island. I do belong to a writer’s group that meets once a month. We sit around and talk about writing, about who’s working on what. That’s fun.

8) When are you the most prolific, early morning, late at night, and do you write to a schedule?

I’m a morning person. I get up around 6:30 a.m., eat breakfast, shave, shower and go straight to the word processor--no newspapers, radio, nothing until I’ve written at least one page. I write Monday through Friday, never on the weekend.

9) Which comes first to you, character or plot?

Character. My characters drive the plot. I think it was Henry James that said, “What is plot but the dramatization of character?”

10) Tell us about your first book, how you got started writing.

My first book was about high blood pressure during pregnancy. Being in medical research, a part of my job was writing and publishing the results of the research. I’ve had an interest in fiction since I read Tom Sawyer as a child, always wanted to write it.

11) Your publishing history? Do you write only novels or other things as well?

I’m the author of four books of nonfiction, more than 200 scientific articles that have appeared in 28 different scientific journals, three children’s books, and several hundred newspaper columns and articles. I now plan to concentrate on writing fiction.

12) Are there any books or sites you’d recommend to help with the writing process?

Stephen King’s book, On Writing, is the best book on writing I’ve ever read. Close seconds are Lawrence Block’s Telling Lies for Fun and Profit and Anne Lamott’s bird by bird. I’m not familiar enough with the sites to recommend any of them.

13) Will you tell us a little about your current project?

I’m writing a series of mystery novels in which a detective on a small town police force is the main character. I’ve signed contracts with Wings for the first three books. Two are scheduled for release in ’06, a third in ’07. I’ve finished the fourth in the series and am set to begin the rewrite on it. In the meantime, I’m working on the fifth and should complete it in about a month.