Interview Marilyn A. Gardiner

by

J. A. Clark

Can you tell us a little about yourself, your family, your hobbies, what got you started in writing?

My family consists of one cherished husband, two grown daughters, and eight grandchildren. I am a happy lady. Just for R&R I am a vocal soloist, sing in a large Chorale, knit, crochet, do needlepoint and cross-stitch. I teach adults to read and occasionally teach a creative writing class. I’ve been writing since I discovered, at the age of eight, that words strung together make stories. From that moment, I desperately wanted a book of my own on the shelves of my public library and vowed one day to see it happen.

Tell us a little about your book, When the Wind Blows, and what was the inspiration for your title?

The idea came when I was a secretary for the public school system and one of our little first-graders didn’t appear back in his classroom after recess. Panic! He was eventually found wandering around a workroom, but my imagination went into overdrive and I thought just how bad it could be for a young, single mother if her child disappeared from school. Just that simply, in an instant, Gilly was born. The title came from the final scene in the book when Molly has to do something she is terrified of doing in order to save Gilly’s life.

Where do you get your ideas? How long do you think about the book before you start writing it?

My ideas come from everyone I meet and every incident I read/hear about. I’ll never live long enough to write all the stories in my head. Since I write from character development, usually the basis of the story appears full-blown in my mind at the moment of conception. I write that down immediately in a notebook I carry everywhere. Often, months go by before I get to the actual writing of the book; but it is always cranking around in my head. In the dentist’s chair, in bed before I go to sleep, during an MRI. Always the book is stewing away, bubbling merrily, waiting to get out.

How much research do you do, and do you write to an outline?

I do a *lot* of research. A lot! All of my books have different settings and I’ve either lived there or visited extensively before I write. I go to great pains to make sure my settings and facts are accurate. For Like a River, My Love, my historical romance, I made two separate trips to the area to make sure of what kind of rock comprised the bluffs along the Ohio River, the flora, the fauna, etc., and just exactly what Cave In Rock looked like. I walked into the cave and sat down on the stone floor to gather the “feeling” around me like a shawl. I took rolls and rolls of film from a small boat on the river itself to get the feel of the water beneath me and the concept of the banks as experienced from the water. For Keeper of the Singing Bones, I had a professional spelunker take me down in an unimproved cave because I had to know what it felt like to be in profound darkness, deeply underground. I did my own brass rubbing for Flight of Angels. It’s my belief that a solid, accurate setting makes the entire book infinitely stronger.

I do not write to an outline. I often write chapter one, sometimes the very end, and any significant scenes already in mind, and then have to go back and begin in earnest. Before I begin writing I *always* know how the book will end, but never have even a vague clue as to how the heroine will get there. I know an outline is the safest way to write and I know many teachers are adamant that it is the only way to write, but for me it doesn’t work. I write primarily from character development and usually the characters themselves tell me their stories as I write. If I outline first, the characters no longer speak to me. This practice sometimes gets scary when I don’t know what’s going to happen next and I’m confronted with a blank screen, but it always works--for me--in the end.

Do you have a writing support group--family, friends, critique group? How do they inspire you?

I belong to a very helpful writer’s group, and Fran Priddy/Keighley is a good friend. We bounce ideas/problems off each other regularly. My youngest daughter is my final proofreader.

When do you do your best writing and do you write to a schedule?

Mornings are my most productive time of day and I try to write six mornings a week. Unhappily, I discovered after a recent move that I am apparently more a creature of habit than I knew, as I’m finding it very difficult to get back into the nucleus of the WIP when writing in different surroundings, especially with not as much natural light. I’ve lost my impetus totally, and am having to simply slog through the day’s production and hope it isn’t as bad as I fear it might be!

What types of books do you like to read and do you find time to read much?

I read most genres except horror and erotica, primarily at night when my husband is surfing the TV channels! And yes, I read a lot.

Are you working on something now? Would you be willing to share a little bit about it?

The WIP is another paranormal entitled Dancing Ladies. A ghost story to be exact. I give myself goose bumps as I write! I have a single mother, Kate, who paints orchids on silk for a living and goes back to the empty home in which she grew up, to find what appears to be an unfriendly ghost in residence. There are apparitions and totally unbelievable events, a despicable and suspicious ex husband, adorable and elderly twin neighbors, and of course, the love interest, Cass, a childhood sweetheart. And the ever-present question: who is trying to frighten her into moving away from her home, and why? The unearthly manifestations become increasingly violent and Kate has to face the fact that she and her son are truly in mortal danger. Kate and Cass are forced to believe in the reality of the inexplicable.

How many books have you published so far?

When The Wind Blows is my fifth published book, all by Wings ePress. Flight of Angels is a paranormal romance, My Pretty Lady is a contemporary romance, Like A River, My Love is an historical romance, Keeper of the Singing Bones is romantic suspense, and When The Wind Blows… it is a suspenseful romance, but I don’t yet know how Wings will classify it.

What is the hardest part about writing a book for you? The easiest part?

Nothing except getting started is particularly hard about the actual writing. Sometimes it is hard to make myself put my fanny in the chair and face the empty screen, but once I begin to write I’m okay. I do any number of tedious rewrites and they are time-consuming and frustrating when I’d rather get on to the next book, but not what I would call hard. I sometimes struggle to get a scene just right, but if I’m patient it works out to my satisfaction eventually. One unfinished book dealt with the death of a child and I found that gut wrenching and utterly draining, but not necessarily hard. To quote some writer in my past, “There isn’t anything hard about opening a vein and bleeding all over the paper. The emotional exhaustion that follows… now that’s hard.”

Once in awhile a first chapter gives me a problem. I find that I have to have the first chapter as near to being perfect as possible before I can go on to the rest of the manuscript. After that I don’t rewrite until I’m finished with the whole thing, but chapter one must be complete with all the characters and plot defined. Easiest thing to write? The paranormals are such sheer, unadulterated fun, I guess it would be them. I seem to enjoy scaring myself and others!