Interview with Victoria Thompson

How many books have you published? 
I have published 20 historical mysteries and 20 historical romances

Under what names do you publish?
Just Victoria Thompson

What is a day in the life of an author like? Do you write a certain number of words, do you write in the morning or evening, etc? 
I spend my mornings on Facebook and other social media, doing promotion and having fun. I usually write in the afternoon. I try to write at least 5 pages every day. The words usually come slowly early in the book, and by the end, I’m writing 10-20 pages a day because by then the story has crystallized and I’m typing as fast as I can to keep up with it.

Do you plot the entire book first, then write or plot as you go?
I don’t really plot the whole book up front. I usually choose the victim and the suspects. I figure out what each suspect’s motive is and what their secret is. They all must have a guilty secret. Then I start writing. As I go along, the characters reveal things to me that I had never suspected. Sometimes they aren’t who I thought they were at all. About halfway through, I choose one of them to be the second victim, and by then I usually know who the killer is, although sometimes I don’t decide until nearer the end. I figure if I don’t know myself, the reader won’t be able to guess either!

How do you promote your books? 
I have a website, www.victoriathompson.com. I’m on Facebook (Victoria.Thompson.Author) and Twitter (@gaslightvt). I do guest blogs when I have a book coming out.

Who is your favorite author? 
Usually, my favorite author is the one whose book I just read. I have so many favorites that I actually keep a list so I don’t lose track and forget to check when they’ve got a new book out.

Do you write with pen and paper or a computer? 
I wrote my first novel in pencil in spiral notebooks back in the early 1980s, but I bought a computer for the second book and never looked back.