QUESTIONS FROM READERS

KennethRMartin@aol.com
Are your characters fully known before you start or do you develop them as you write?

M.J. Rose: My main character is about 80% known to me before I start because before I start writing I spend about two to three months creating a scrapbook for my main character putting in a zillion details. The other characters are much less developed and only come to life once I sit down and start writing the book.

C17itzme1@aol.com
As someone that has a story in mind and plans on writing it someday (it is constantly evolving) when do you write, what time of the day and how long do you spend each day? Do you use people that you have actually met for some of the characters or do you just make them up? I know that I am tempted to do that in the book that I want to write (use actual personalities that is).

M.J. Rose: I write every day --- usually 6 days a week. I write from about 1 in the afternoon to about 4. And then often I'll write again from 8 at night to about 10. The latter slot never happens during a first draft --- four hours a day is all I can do when I'm on a first draft. But after that I can go to 6 hours a day. I don't even push for more than that. Some days though I am so into it that I do.

I don't use people I've met for the most part. Occasionally a minor character is based on someone. In this case only Nina Butterfield is based on someone I know. There's no problem with you doing it in your book, it just doesn't happen to me.

bonnieathome@buckeye-express.com
Do you ever dream about ideas of future ideas for books? Are you planning a series with the detective Noah and Morgan?

M.J. Rose: Yes, this is a series and THE HALO EFFECT was the first. I don't dream about my books, but I do get many of my ideas as I am falling asleep or waking up.

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