Interview Dorothy Bodoin

by

Tamia Dawn Osburn

1) The Snow Dogs of Lost Lake sounds very interesting; can you tell us a little about it?

The Snow Dogs Of Lost Lake is the sixth book in my cozy mystery series featuring English teacher-sleuth Jennet Greenway and Deputy Sheriff Crane Ferguson.

It begins with a nightmarish commute home in an ice storm. Jennet loses control of her car and thinks she hit a collie who dashed into the road unexpectedly. Her search for the true version of the accident ultimately leads her to a body in the woods and great danger at a time when she is preparing to meet her future in-laws at a Christmas gathering.

2) Was it very hard to write a mystery novel when there are so many out there?

Not really because the plots I develop are my own; they’re based on my own ideas and experiences. I write my books in my own way and hope to sell them. Any writer who writes books in a series has an advantage because if readers enjoy one, they’ll want to read previous books and they’ll watch for future releases.

3) What makes your story set apart from all of the other mysteries that are on the market?

I think my characters, Jennet Greenway and Deputy Sheriff Crane Ferguson, set my books apart from other mysteries. There must be hundreds of other series about a woman with a love interest in law enforcement, but, in my opinion, Jennet and Crane are unique. Readers seem to like them. Also, my canine characters appeal to people. They have bits and pieces of all the dogs I’ve known and loved in my lifetime. Finally the setting, Foxglove Corners, is one I can write about over and over with the same sense of wonder.

4) Who is the biggest inspiration in your life while writing?

My family. My niece, Emilie. My readers, especially the ones who take the time to tell me how much they’ve enjoyed my books. My critique partners who are always waiting for me to begin the next one. I’m always striving to make each succeeding book a little better than the previous one. I want to write the kind of mystery that people enjoy today and many years from now.

5) Can you tell us one of the proudest moments in your life that you want to share with everyone from family to friends and then the whole world, if it’s not too personal that is?

My proudest moment was when I learned that I’d made my first sale and, a few months later, when a box of my first books arrived at my doorstep. I guess that’s two moments. Each new sale, each new delivery, duplicates that moment.

6) While writing, do you ever suffer from writer’s block, and how do you get around it?

Usually I suffer from Writer’s Block when I’m ready to begin a new book. Three-fourths of my mind is still on the previous one, even though it’s finished. My problem is having too many ideas, none of which will connect themselves into a neat and coherent plot thread. None of them seem workable. Then, after I start writing, toward the middle or end of the book, I’m convinced that what I’ve written will never be good, that my loose ends will never be tied. Nevertheless, I force myself to keep going.

Once I start a project, I refuse to abandon it until it’s finished. I just tell myself that tomorrow what I have will look better to me. I also remind myself that when I write the end, I’ll be able to see the good qualities in my work.

I get around Writer’s Block by turning to another project and working on that for a while until I really want to return to the first one. I also go through my plot idea notebook, looking for inspiration, or I read one of the many books on my TBR shelf. This probably won’t be a mystery but something like Ann Benson’s The Plague Tales. Sometimes I just tackle postponed household chores.

7) Here is one personal question; how do you relax after the grueling hours of writing one of your stories?

I change into a nightgown and robe, make a snack, and watch a vintage movie or a few of my favorite sitcoms on television.

8) Do any of your characters reflects real-life people that you know, if so how do they react to it?

I’ve never based a character on a real-life person, but I have given my heroine bits and pieces of my own life on occasion: My own adventures, career experiences, wardrobe, jewelry, interests, and dislikes. Or I’ll give her things I wished I had like Jennet’s green Victorian farmhouse.

9) Can you tell us a little us a little about what your life is like as being a writer in the writing world?

My life is pretty much the same as it was before I sold my first book. But sometimes I feel invisible. Then I google my name and see pages of entries and book titles, so I must have some existence in the writing world. Some people must know me.

I’m by nature a quiet person who should do more to promote her own work. Some day I’d like to be able to attend conferences and travel more than an hour’s distance from my home. Maybe that’ll happen. In the meantime, I hope I’m building a readership, one reader at a time.

10) Can you tell us a little something about the next project you’re working on?

I was going to write a seventh Foxglove Corners book that would take place a few months after the ending of The Snow Dogs Of Lost Lake, but at this time, my ideas aren’t jelling. Also, the time of the new Foxglove Corners book is spring, and it’s difficult to get into a spring mood with wet leaves on the ground and a cold wind blowing. So I’m going to start working on a novel of romantic suspense with Gothic elements set in an old blue Victorian house in the country. For this new book, I’m going to use some ideas that I’ve been keeping on ice for a long time.

At the moment, the new book is just a picture on top of my scrapbook basket and an empty notebook.

Thanks for coming up with such interesting questions, Tami. Let me know if anything isn’t clear. BTW, as you can see I had trouble with the formatting. I don’t think my margins line up.

Dorothy