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Ask the Author: Debra Castaneda
Answered Questions (9)
Debra Castaneda
It dates back to my teenage years when I read about spontaneous human combustion in a magazine and then I started coming up with stories to explain it. This, of course, involved the supernatural.
Debra Castaneda
I'm addicted to writing so I think it's hardwired in my brain somehow.
Debra Castaneda
I'm currently working on a supernatural novella set in Chavez Ravine. I'm also half way through a soft sci fi novel set in the rural west.
Debra Castaneda
Here's the funny thing. I wrote every single day for my entire career in news. Which is NOT the same as writing fiction. I had to learn a whole new craft and the learning never stops. There are some amazing books out there on plotting and structure. I also highly recommend Anne Lamott's book on writing, Bird by Bird. It taught me that it's okay to write a shitty first draft and evict those nasty voices in my head that kept me from finishing a story.
Debra Castaneda
Getting into the dream zone! When your characters and setting suddenly become so real that you start dreaming about them and by the morning, you've solved that nagging little problem or somehow advanced the story without sitting in front of your laptop, crying.
Debra Castaneda
Well, an outline pretty much solved that nasty little problem. That and sitting down at my computer no matter what mood I'm in. Also, I started out producing TV newscasts, and in that world, there's no such thing as missing your deadline and keeping your job. You can't just show up and say, "You know what? I'm just not feeling that six o'clock newscast."
Debra Castaneda
Trini wished she hadn't taken the shortcut through the woods connecting the two neighborhoods of Chavez Ravine. Under the gloom of a tree, a figure stood dressed head to toe in white, a lacy veil over the head of a long snouted dog.
Debra Castaneda
I'd travel to Anne McCaffrey's Pern and become a dragon rider.
Debra Castaneda
Well, I'm hoping for Mo Hayder's new book, Bonehead! Next on my list is Mexican Gothic by Silvia Morena-Garcia. I LOVE stories with creepy mansions. Then it's on to Elly Griffith's latest installment in Ruth Galloway's series, The Lantern Men. I'm a sucker for the complicated relationship between Ruth and the surly detective as I am for the mystery.
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