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QUESTIONS FROM READERS
Mariah Stewart answers readers' questions about what inspires her novels and how she researches for them, finding her voice as a writer, and what's currently on her reading list.
Catherine from Brea, CA: How much time do you spend each day writing? How much research must you do in regard to the storyline?
Mariah Stewart: Catherine, I try to get in at least six hours each day --- sometimes more, sometimes a little less (and I do try not to work weekends if I can get away with it!).
The amount of research depends on the plot and the setting, and any elements specific to that story, such as the appropriate prison sentence for a particular crime; how specific evidence might be processed --- anything germane to the story that I don't know for certain off the top of my head has to be looked up. I do have the luxury of having an FBI agent to go to when I'm not sure of something. It all depends on the story I need to tell, and how much I have to educate myself to tell it authentically.
Teri Lynn from Hamilton, NJ: What are you reading?
Mariah Stewart: Let's see... last night I finished an ARC of the new Chelsea Cain novel, SWEETHEART, which a well-meaning bookseller gave me. It's simply awesome.
Also, I am finishing THE TIN ROOF BLOWDOWN by James Lee Burke, in anticipation of his new hardcover in about a week. I think he's just amazing.
The copy edits of FORGOTTEN, my next book (8/26), which will be the last in my FBI series for a while.
Chapter by newly finished chapter of Victoria Alexander's work in progress.
Teri Lynn from Hamilton, NJ: What is the most satisfying part of being a writer?
Mariah Stewart: Teri Lynn, it's all satisfying --- I love working at home, coming up with a new idea and fleshing it out, watching the characters come to life, seeing how so many seemingly random ideas knit together to form a story. Bad reviews aren't fun, but everyone is entitled to their opinion, so I try not to take those personally (think of how dull life would be if we all thought exactly alike or we all liked the same things!).
I love doing research and talking to people in whatever field I need to know about for any given book. I always learn something new with each book.
It's always a real moment for me when I walk into a bookstore and see my books on the shelves. And I really enjoy hearing from readers.
All in all, this could be the best job in the world.
Teri Lynn --- did you know I grew up pretty close to Hamilton, in Hightstown? I went to college not far from you, too --- Trenton State (now The College of New Jersey).
Glenda from Winter Park, FL: How do you find your voice as a writer?
Mariah Stewart: I think your voice is there, Glenda. It's in the way you speak and the way you express yourself verbally --- the natural flow of your thoughts and words.
Glenda from Winter Park, FL: Where do you get your first ideas that later develop into novels?
Mariah Stewart: They come from everywhere and anywhere --- snippets of overheard conversation, news articles, magazines --- and an overactive imagination. I woke up a few mornings ago with a story in my head, something I'd never even consciously thought of writing about. I have no idea where it came from...it was just there.
Sometimes some random thing that someone says seems to have wheels of its own.
Elizabeth from Salina, KS: Will you be writing more books in a trilogy format? If so, when?
Mariah Stewart: I'm sure I will --- I might actually be working on one right now! LOL
After FORGOTTEN, I will be putting the FBI books on ice for a while so I can concentrate on the Mercy Street books. The idea has caught my fancy, and I'd like to continue with those --- there will be two new ones in that series, I believe, for next year. I hadn't planned on putting a limit on the number of books though, so I don't know if it will be a trilogy or not. Right now, I'm thinking more along the lines of an open-ended series, but we'll see how it plays out.
Thanks for asking, Elizabeth.
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