Interview Dina Keratsis

by

Billie A. Williams

1) Is Charlesgate a spin off, or similar to the Stargate television show? If not, tell us how you came up with the title.

No, the title is the name of the hotel in the book. The germ of Charlesgate began with my own fascination with an abandoned Back Bay mansion. This was about eight years ago. At the time, I lived on Charlesgate East in Boston and so I’d pass the mansion every day. I just fell in love with it and the only thing I knew about it was its name--Charlesgate--because it was carved in stone over the front door.

2) How long have you been writing?

I’ve been writing for about fifteen years--in my head. In actuality, I’ve been writing for five years. Very slowly. It takes me a long time to finish a book. Charlesgate is my first.

3) How did you develop your characters?

This was my first full-length book and so I took the advice of many authors and started out with what I know. All of my characters started out based on real people. As I moved through the first draft, then the second and third drafts, the characters became themselves, with only bits and pieces from real life acquaintances. Zylla, for instance, has a little bit of the surface me in her--her love of the Charlesgate and ice cream, as well as her migraine attacks, but the more I wrote, the more she developed into her own quirky self. Her nemesis, Charlotte de Berry, on the other hand, is an actual historical character. She is based on a little known seventeenth-century pirate queen. I just drove her mad.

4) Did you start with characters or did the idea for plot come first?

Characters definitely, starting with the Charlesgate, because the building is a sort of matchmaker between Jabe and Zylla. As I’ve mentioned, I fell in love with the building and for months could find out nothing about it. I kept digging and finally discovered the grand history of the Charlesgate Hotel. Knowing what she was and what she had become just intrigued me all the more. At the time, I was enrolled in a History of Boston course at BU and for my final paper, I wrote a fictionalized tale about the Charlesgate and its architect. Lydia Berry and Caval were born from that. A year or so after that, a company purchased the Charlesgate and began renovating it. At the same time, I had started a romance novel about a female pirate, based on Charlotte de Berry, but seeing the Charlesgate rebirth obsessed me, so I combined the two. The characters developed out of this long process, grabbing pieces of plot along the way.

5) I can’t tell if this is a romance, could you tell me what genre it is and specifically what audience you are directing it to?

It’s definitely a romance novel between Zylla and Jabe. The sub-genre is contemporary with paranormal (ghosts), but it does delve into the history of the Charlesgate Hotel. It’s a traditional boy meets girl tale, and Zylla is a traditional romantic at heart with chick-lit characteristics and as a result, I think she’ll appeal to women of all ages and maybe a few men, too.

6) Readers love to get to know the authors as a means of feeling like they are an insider to their books. What single thing would you say influenced you to become a writer? Was it a teacher, parent, an idea you had or perhaps another author you read?

All of the above? I’ve been scribbling stories and pictures since before I remember. My poor mother received a handmade book every year for Christmas filled with poems and tales and drawings. And I’ve been reading--or read to--since before I can remember. I guess I knew I wanted to be a writer when I declared to Marguerite Henry, in a letter, that I was going to grow up to be a writer just like her. Then I did everything I could to not write. The fear of being a bad writer overwhelmed me so after high school, I just stopped until the desire to write filled me until I would either burst of go crazy. So here is Charlesgate, for better or worse. Better for me, because I’m happy. I get twitchy when I’m not writing.

7) Who is your favorite author and why?

George Eliot. The key to happiness is illustrated by her characters. It’s all about taking personal responsibility for acknowledging and accepting truth--self and outer. Once you do that, you can see who you are and where you stand in the world and grow from there. Another sub-theme in her books is romantic love. When you find the right person, you can do anything--love can open you up to another truth that you might not have found without it.

8) Do you have a writing tip for a “wannabee” aspiring author, or something that even a seasoned writer might find useful?

No new writing tips. I think Jennifer Crusie summed it up in the latest issue of the RWA Report: “Write. Of course, that’s as hard to do as it is simple.”