Interview John A. Broussard

by

Linda Wallace

1) I understand that you write reviews of other author’s works. What do you look for in a novel to give it a “Highly Recommended” rating? Does reviewing help you to make your own writing better? Are you as critical of your own work as you are of others?

It's strictly subjective.  If I thoroughly enjoyed the book, it's "Highly Recommended."

Definitely.  Sometimes it gives me ideas for a plot.  Mainly it's "atmosphere."  I'm less adept at conveying moods and emotions and envy writers who are skilled in that respect.

When I first write a story, I consider it to be perfect.  Months or years later I'm appalled at how bad it is.  I tend to be less critical of other writers, though some are so awful that I won't review them.

2) You once owned a pen-pal matchmaking service. Is The Case of the Mail Order Bride based on real people?

Yes, though the characters involved in the marriage and their relatives are chiefly an amalgam of people we encountered while in the business.

3) Do you keep to a regular writing routine? I would think, living in Hawaii, you might have a hard time maintaining a regular schedule. What is a typical writing day like for you?

Horrors, no!  I write because I enjoy writing.  If I'm not in the mood, I don't write. I've been retired since '87, and I try to do only what I want to do.  I don't often succeed at that, but I have no problems maintaining a regular schedule, since I don't even try to do so.

It depends.  If I'm writing a novel, I usually get so involved that I put in hours at it.  Short stories I generally dash off at a sitting.  Of course, that's only a beginning.  My in-house editor (my wife, Kelly Pomeroy) generally tears my writing to shreds, so I have a lot of polishing to do--something I enjoy as much as the original writing.

4) You seem to love mysteries. Do you plot your mysteries from true crimes? Or are the murders in your books all your own?

It's a mix.  Since I've written some fifteen crime novels and well over a hundred short mysteries, the plots can come from anywhere.  I especially like to write about recent  forensic discoveries. I can't remember basing any of mysteries on true crimes, but I wouldn't be surprised if I did at sometime or other.

5) How long does it take you write a book from the first germ of an idea to the final draft? How much rewriting do you do?

Two weeks for the first draft.  Probably a month or so before the last polish. Ordinarily not much.  Sometimes I, or Kelly, catch an egregious error requiring  a rewrite, but most of what I do consists of correcting grammatical infelicities.

6) You write short stories as well as full-length books. How does writing a short story differ from writing a novel?

Short stories are like frosting.  Novels are the cake, itself.  I've heard writers say that it's a lot harder to write short stories.  It's the opposite for me.

7) What is your writing background? Have you thought of yourself as a writer all of your life?

Many, many years ago, when I was fifteen I wrote my first story.  It was just recently published in a Canadian magazine (the setting was Nova Scotia).  Wars, college, (though I took one critical writing course) graduate school, twenty years of teaching kept me from doing serious writing. And then the pen-pal business which was a 24/7 enterprise.

8) What other interests do you have besides writing?

Science, gardening and fascination with the cyber world.

9) Who are your favorite authors? Have any of them influenced your own work? Has writing changed the way you read other authors? Or can you still read for pure pleasure?

Kingsolver, Smith-Deal, and someone you've never heard of who wrote back in the Twenties--James Branch Cabell.  And a host of older authors, of course--Samuel Butler, Lewis Caroll, Wilkie Collins, et al.

Yes.  I'm especially intrigued at how they get into some of the traps I've encountered. I'm especially intrigued by how they avoid them.

Reading is pure pleasure, with the rare exception of some terribly bad books.

10) Is there a common theme or motif that runs through all of your work?

There may be, but I don't know what it is.  I'll leave it to the literary critics to discover it, though they'll have to discover me first.

11) What can we expect next from John A. Broussard?

A political novel which will probably be too preachy to be published.  Also a screen play about Catherine the Great of Russia during the five turbulent days when she took over the throne from her husband.

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