What is the title of your newest book? How many books have you published?
My new book, the second in the Dr. Pepper Hunt Mystery Series, is called "On A Quiet Street".
My new book, the second in the Dr. Pepper Hunt Mystery Series, is called "On A Quiet Street".
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| J. L. Doucette |
How did you develop your character and choose your location?
My main character, Dr. Pepper Hunt, is a psychologist who works with a local detective to solve crimes. I am a psychologist and I was inspired by Jonathan Kellerman's psychological mysteries featuring the fictional Dr. Alex Delaware.
I decided to create a female psychologist protagonist. I've gotten a lot of feedback from reviewers and readers that suggest the other lead character. Detective Beau Antelope, should have equal billing because of his role in the books. I did have a hard time deciding if I wanted the main character to be male or female and I think the strength of Antelope's character development indicates that I never really resolve that issue. The two characters, Hunt and Antelope, and their differing gender perspectives, are equally important to the stories.
The location was easy because it was central to the story in the first book. I relocated with my husband and baby daughter to a small town in Wyoming right after we finished graduate school. It was an incredible culture shock after studying and living for years in Boston and Cambridge. Everything was so different, and not in a good way. I wanted to leave as soon as we arrived and that feeling of having landed on another planet stayed with me for a long time. But the place, in the sense of a physical place, got to me and though I moved away, I couldn't stop thinking about it. Partly it was because I made friends and found my place there and started to write there. But mostly it's the power of the landscape, it's windswept emptiness, the huge sky, the sanctuary and silence that seems such a perfect home for the kind of stories I write. It's a place where complicated humans can get themselves in all kinds of trouble.
What do you enjoy about the author’s lifestyle? What do you not enjoy?
I still have a full-time psychology practice so I can't say much about the author's lifestyle except that for me, writing happens in the time before I go to my day job. My life is very busy and I wish I had more time for each part of it. From the time I started writing my first book until it was released in 2017, the publishing world changed dramatically.
The writer's lifestyle includes more time devoted to the business of writing especially social media promotion. Talking with readers has been an unexpected joy.
Do you model your character after yourself or any one you know?
Pepper Hunt is loosely modeled on me in that we share the same profession. There are many facets of the character as she is written that are very different from me.
If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?
My younger writing self was pretty wise, I think, so I'm not sure what else I have to offer. I followed a career path recommended by the poet William Carlos William's, maintained a full-time career as a physician. I wanted to do work that would bring me into close proximity with human suffering. It felt important to me to do some direct good in the world through healing. But working as a psychologist also gave me access to the private lives of patients which has expanded and enhanced my own life experience hugely. And that's a good thing for a writer. If anything, I would advise watching the balance and tilting more in the direction of writing.
If your books were made into a movie, who would you want to play the lead character?
Definitely, Julianne Moore for Pepper Hunt. They have the same intelligence, wit and also hair color.
Who is your favorite author?
Andre Dubus III, especially, "The House of Sand and Fog". He's a New Englander of French Canadian and Catholic origins, as am I. All of those weighty demographics have their say in his prose and stories
If you could invite five people – living or dead – to a dinner party, who would they be?
The writer's lifestyle includes more time devoted to the business of writing especially social media promotion. Talking with readers has been an unexpected joy.
Do you model your character after yourself or any one you know?
Pepper Hunt is loosely modeled on me in that we share the same profession. There are many facets of the character as she is written that are very different from me.
If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?
My younger writing self was pretty wise, I think, so I'm not sure what else I have to offer. I followed a career path recommended by the poet William Carlos William's, maintained a full-time career as a physician. I wanted to do work that would bring me into close proximity with human suffering. It felt important to me to do some direct good in the world through healing. But working as a psychologist also gave me access to the private lives of patients which has expanded and enhanced my own life experience hugely. And that's a good thing for a writer. If anything, I would advise watching the balance and tilting more in the direction of writing.
If your books were made into a movie, who would you want to play the lead character?
Definitely, Julianne Moore for Pepper Hunt. They have the same intelligence, wit and also hair color.
Who is your favorite author?
Andre Dubus III, especially, "The House of Sand and Fog". He's a New Englander of French Canadian and Catholic origins, as am I. All of those weighty demographics have their say in his prose and stories
If you could invite five people – living or dead – to a dinner party, who would they be?
I would invite my other favorite authors and enjoy hearing about their experience of writing - Willa Cather, Billy Collins, Junot Diaz, Tana French, and John Updike.
If you could not be an author, what would like to do as a career?
If I couldn't be an author, some other careers I would enjoy, besides a psychologist, are being a journalist or a private detective. I've actually done both of those on a part time basis. I can't seem to get away from writing and people.
If you could not be an author, what would like to do as a career?
If I couldn't be an author, some other careers I would enjoy, besides a psychologist, are being a journalist or a private detective. I've actually done both of those on a part time basis. I can't seem to get away from writing and people.
1 comment:
One of her books is on my nightstand!
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