My latest title is Hollywood Ending, which is the second book in my Detective by Day series. It was
How did you develop your character and choose your location?
When I came up with the Detective by Day series idea, I was working in Hollywood as a TV writer. They say write what you know and that’s exactly what I did. I wrote who I knew too. As a black woman who’s been a long-time mystery lover, I wanted to see more women who looked like me, my mom, my best friend and so on as the one’s solving the mystery for once.
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?
I wish I was one of those regimented writers who get up at 5:00 am and religiously pound out 1500 words while the rest of the world sleeps. I’m not. (My fave quote is from Dorothy Parker: "I hate writing. I love having written.") I usually write at about 8:00 at night when I literally have nothing else I can do, including clean my toilet.
For a review of Hollywood Ending, click here.
Do you model your character after yourself or any one you know?
I did though Dayna takes way more risks that I would. There’s no way I’d ever try to solve a murder,
no matter how high the reward money was! Luckily, she’s not like me in that sense. I wrote my first book, Hollywood Homicide, at a time when I was kind of at a career crossroads and felt a bit lost. And I put a lot of that angst in Dayna, who is at a career crossroads but not sure where to go next.
If your books were made into a movie, who would you want to play the lead character?
I think Aja Naomi King from How To Get Away With Murder would be such a perfect Day.
Who is your favorite author?
That’s like picking your favorite child. Some of my favorites includes Barbara Neely, Valerie Wilson Wesley and Sue Grafton.
If you could invite five people – living or dead – to a dinner party, who would they be?
I’m going to go rogue here and just pick one. My maternal grandmother was murdered five days before I was born. It’s a very weird feeling knowing there was someone who was super close to your immediate family but that you don’t know and will never meet. My mom and aunts have always done a great job of sharing information about her—both good and bad. They all agree that I get my outspokenness from her (and my paternal grandmother as well). By all accounts, Phyllis Skinner was an amazing and passionate woman. I would love to spend a few hours talking with her about her life, thanking her for raising such amazing women, and, of course, hearing stories about how bad my mom as a child was so that I can use it for leverage today.
If you could not be an author, what would like to do as a career?
I actually have a day job still and I work in communications. So I definitely would do something writing related, whatever it is.
Do you model your character after yourself or any one you know?
I did though Dayna takes way more risks that I would. There’s no way I’d ever try to solve a murder,
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If your books were made into a movie, who would you want to play the lead character?
I think Aja Naomi King from How To Get Away With Murder would be such a perfect Day.
Who is your favorite author?
That’s like picking your favorite child. Some of my favorites includes Barbara Neely, Valerie Wilson Wesley and Sue Grafton.
If you could invite five people – living or dead – to a dinner party, who would they be?
I’m going to go rogue here and just pick one. My maternal grandmother was murdered five days before I was born. It’s a very weird feeling knowing there was someone who was super close to your immediate family but that you don’t know and will never meet. My mom and aunts have always done a great job of sharing information about her—both good and bad. They all agree that I get my outspokenness from her (and my paternal grandmother as well). By all accounts, Phyllis Skinner was an amazing and passionate woman. I would love to spend a few hours talking with her about her life, thanking her for raising such amazing women, and, of course, hearing stories about how bad my mom as a child was so that I can use it for leverage today.
If you could not be an author, what would like to do as a career?
I actually have a day job still and I work in communications. So I definitely would do something writing related, whatever it is.
1 comment:
Great interview!
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