Ask the Author: Christin Brecher
Answered Questions (6)
Christin Brecher
I turn off my laptop and take a walk. It’s a one-two punch that usually works. I’m always surprised that when I walk away from the keyboard and do something unrelated, but meditative, the idea I’ve been looking for suddenly arrives. And if that doesn’t work, it’s time to re-examine my outline!
Christin Brecher
You’re never bored. Everything becomes a potential story. My kids think I’m crazy because I’ll see someone on the sidewalk while we’re waiting for a red light to change, and I’ll invent an entire backstory for them.
Christin Brecher
I’m at work on Book 3 of the Nantucket Candle Maker Mysteries. I love this one! Nantucket’s past meets the present when Stella helps organize the Island’s Halloween Haunts at an old house in town.
Christin Brecher
Join a writing group or class. There’s nothing more helpful than hearing others share their experience of reading your work. Equally helpful is reading other’s work at the early stages. I confess, the first time I heard my work read aloud and subsequently discussed, I almost fainted. It feels very raw, but it’s worth it in the end. Plus, you make friends with other authors. That’s important because writing is a very solitary experience, and it’s healthy to connect with others.
Christin Brecher
That’s a tricky one! Some days the muses are on my side. I can easily imagine a scene or even a small moment between two characters, and I can’t wait to get it all down on paper. One thing leads to another, and before I know it, I have a chapter. Those days are pure joy. Other days, I’ll be honest, it’s the fear of a looming deadline that gets me going.
Christin Brecher
Nantucket Island was the inspiration for my books. Like my sleuth, Stella Wright, I love the New England island and its history in whaling and candle-making. Nantucket is also where I discovered the mystery genre. As a kid, I spent many afternoons on the floor of Mitchell’s Book Corner in town, looking through their collection of Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, and The Bobbsey Twins. Mix together an afternoon of reading mysteries with the ominous sounds of fog horns at night, throw in the island’s old cemeteries with tombstones that drip of stories past, and voila! There’s a story in you that you want to write down.
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