Interview with Wendi Corsi Staub

Interview with Wendy Corsi Staub

How many books have you published
 I’ve published more than 80 books under my own name and various pseudonyms.

Under what names do you publish?
 I’m best known for the mystery/suspense novels I write under my own name, Wendy Corsi Staub, and for the women’s fiction I write under my pseudonym Wendy Markham. For other genres and in foreign markets, I’ve also borrowed my sons’ first names, publishing as Wendy Morgan and Wendy Brody. In addition, I’ve co-written or ghostwritten novels for a number of well-known authors and celebrities. A few I can share are Ed Koch, Fabio, and Francine Pascal, but there are a couple household names I’m contractually forbidden to share.

Do you plot the entire book first, then write or plot as you go?
I always start by writing the first chapter or two, usually with very little sense of where a book is going. I allow the characters to take shape and the plot begins to gel in an organic way. Like many authors, I’m no fan of outlining. At this stage in my career, fortunately, I can provide a very bare-boned synopsis. I know it’s cliché, but I think of it as an electronic map. I have a starting point and a general idea of where I’m going, but it’s very broad, a big picture scenario. As I write the book, I zoom in gradually, and certainly take a few unforeseen detours.

How do you promote your books?
 Fortunately, both my current publishers, HarperCollins and Crooked Lane, have fantastic publicity teams who set up media interviews—television, radio, print, and blogs like this one—and book tours with every release. That means I spend a lot of time on the road. I set out on an ongoing 50-state book tour about a decade ago with my husband and sons, and have signed in all but a couple of states. In fact, there’s only one state I haven’t visited—Wyoming. We were a few minutes from the border a couple of years ago, and thought about crossing over just to say we’d been there, but figured we’d get back sooner or later. It’s turning out to be much, much later! I also promote via social media, mainly via Facebook, where I have personal and author pages and am part of the Crooked Lane authors’ Cozy Café page. I’m on Twitter, too, but it’s not nearly as engaging for me. I have a monthly contest at Writerspace, and I send out a monthly newsletter—readers can sign up via the homepage link on my website at www.wendycorsistaub.com.   

How do you keep continuity on backstory? For example I read a book recently where the lead character said she had three brothers, several books later, she was an only child.
It’s difficult to keep continuity, but crucial. You might be writing series books a year or more apart, but some readers will plow through them in a day, and they will be much quicker to pick up on inconsistencies than the author herself. With two current series—my Mundy’s Landing trilogy for Harper and my Lily Dale Mysteries for Crooked Lane—I find it extra-challenging. In terms of setting, I had a hand-drawn map of my fictional Mundy’s Landing so that I could envision what was where. My younger son came into my office one day, saw it, and told me he could create one using graphic design software. It was intended for my use only, but I sent it to my editor along with the manuscript, and Harper’s art department loved it so much they printed it in the book, giving my son credit.  Lily Dale is a real place, so Google Maps helps, though I’ve taken certain liberties. 

Who is your favorite author?

I have countless favorite authors, and many happen to be close personal friends, so to avoid leaving someone out, I’ll share the one I’ve loved longest. Laura Ingalls Wilder was my role model from the time I read my first Little House book at nine years old. I was so obsessed that my parents drove me from my New York hometown all the way to Missouri to visit the museum and home where she’d written my most beloved book series. In adulthood, I returned with my husband and sons, and also visited her homes in South Dakota and Kansas. I was even a guest speaker at the first-ever Laurapalooza festival in Mankato, Minnesota a few years back.

Do you write with pen and paper or a computer?

I write on a computer—my Mac desktop with a gigantic screen that seems to make the experience up close and personal—I also have a Macbook Air, but as a creature of habit, I don’t do well writing fresh material on the road. I use travel days to edit, or do interviews like this one, which I’m writing in the car in the Catskills. (Yes, my husband is at the wheel—I’m an expert multi-tasker, but even I draw the line there!)

Checkout a review for Wendy Corsi Staub's book here