W.S. Gager Searches for Volatile
Deeds
Could you please start by telling us a
little about yourself?
I’ve
always been a writer and have been able to do many things with it from writing
speeches, promoting nonprofit organizations, and writing crime for newspapers
as well as lots of other interesting things. Most recently my love of writing
has been used in a college-classroom setting helping students build their
writing skills to be successful in college. This has been the most satisfying
as they realize they do have something to say and can learn the skills to make
it happen.
Do you plan all your characters out
before you start a story or do they develop as you write?
My
characters are very independent and many times I feel like I am losing control
all-together. I have characters that only are supposed to have a small part in
the book. In A CASE OF ACCIDENTAL INTERSECTION, octogenarian Elsie Dobson’s
role was to be a witness in the first chapter only, but she wasn’t happy with
that. She took cookies to Mitch Malone to get him to investigate when the
police weren’t interested. She made so much fuss, she became a target. One of
my favorite scenes ever is Elsie outwitting a killer. I laugh every time I think
about it. I wish that was my creativity but it was pure Elsie not letting me
rest with my own ideas.
How much research do you do for your
books? Have you found any cool tidbits in your research?
I
love research. I usually find the coolest and weirdest things that people would
think I made up. Some of my books require more research than others. I try to
do as much of the research before I start to write but more often than not, the
book takes a different turn and I need to do more. In A CASE OF VOLATILE DEEDS
I did quite a bit of research about explosions. I needed something that would
scare a city silly but really wasn’t more than flash powder in a high-rise
building. Through a professional organization I belong to called the Public
Safety Writers Association, I found an explosives expert who gave me all kinds
of information about different types of explosions. I had no idea there were so
many ways to blow things up. I might be on a watch list for that research. LOL.
How does your family feel about having a
writer in the family? Do they read your books?
My
family is pretty evenly split on the writing. My husband has dutifully read the
first two books and became stalled on the third. My son has never read any of
them and my daughter is a big fan and hounds me to finish each one.
Do you recall how your interest in
writing originated?
My
mom said I always made up stories but I don’t remember that. My first memory is
when I was named editor of the eighth grade newspaper. I was selected because
my teacher liked my journal entries. Every week we had to write two whole pages
on anything we wanted. Most kids hated that assignment and I loved it.
What would be the best way for readers
contact you? Do you have a website? Email address? MySpace site? Blog? Message
Board? Group?
I
love to hear from readers. Check out my website at http://wsgager.com
or my blog at http://wsgager.blogspot.com
or contact me directly at wsgager@yahoo.com.
I also am on Facebook at www.facebook.com/wsgager
or Twitter @wsgager
What is the best and worst advice you
have ever received?
The
best advice I ever received was before my critic group. I’d written a romance
because that was what I had read a million of. I thought it was pretty good. It
was the first manuscript I’d ever finished. I was a member of Romance Writers
of America and one of the ladies in my local chapter read it for me. She told
me that I wasn’t a romance writer, which made my stomach drop. She grabbed my
hand so I couldn’t run away. She told me I was a mystery writer and to forget
about the romance. After I got used to the idea, I realized she was right. The
worst advice I ever received was that writing was a solitary enterprise and
writers didn’t need others. I would never have been published had it not been
for my critic group.
Do you belong to a critique group? If
so, how does this help or hinder you?
I
have the most fantastic critique group in the world. We meet once a week and we
each bring a chapter. We have been meeting for at least six years. Some members
have changed but we each have different strengths and weaknesses. We also write
in different genres from romance to paranormal. Their influence has made my
writing stronger, more vivid and filled with action.
When did you first decide to submit your
work? Please, tell us what or who encouraged you to take this big step.
I
decided to submit A CASE OF INFATUATION to a contest. I’d written it, edited it
with the help of my critic group and didn’t know what else to do with it. I
wanted feedback from professionals to improve it. My book won the contest and
the prize was a publishing contract. I would never have done that without my
critic group telling me it is good enough.
Do deadlines help or hinder your muse?
I
worked at newspapers for a dozen years and I am so much better with a deadline.
If I don’t have deadlines or set goals, I will take forever to finish
something. I also do much better if I have a ton of things to do instead of
only a couple.
Mitch finally scores dinner
with a cute receptionist, but an explosion makes him stand up his date as he
runs for an exclusive. His date is the only casualty in a botched robbery. When
femme fatale Patrenka Petersen returns, Mitch learns that much of what he knows
about his date isn’t what it seems. Mitch must keep his head down or a cute dog
with a knack for finding dead bodies will be sniffing out his corpse.
