SUSANNE MARIE KNIGHT INTERVIEW FOR THE RELUCTANT LANDLORD--WINGS ePRESS, 8/2002

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 WINGS: Is this the first book that you have had published?

SUSANNE: THE RELUCTANT LANDLORD is the first book with Wings ePress, Inc. Currently I have six books published with other publishers, plus one due out at the end of 2002, one in 2003, and one scheduled for 2004. [Update: All my novels are now available at Amazon.com and Smashwords.com]

WINGS: Has writing always been part of your life?

SUSANNE: Yes, I’ve always liked to write, in one form or another. Plus, my being an avid reader sparked a desire to write novels. I’ve been writing for fifteen years, combining fantasy with my own particular kind of reality, thus my motto: Romance Writing With A Twist!

WINGS: Was there one person who had the greatest impact on your writing career?

SUSANNE: This is a tough question! I’d have to say one of my professors in college who really believed in my writing and urged me to write professionally.

WINGS: When you were in school did you belong to any clubs or organizations that pertained to writing, i.e., yearbook staff, school paper, drama club?

SUSANNE: No, unfortunately, I didn’t participate in any of those school activities. I spent most of my free time reading books instead!

WINGS: Do you have a favorite author and type of book that you like best to read?

SUSANNE: I still admire the authors I read as I was growing up, like Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, Georgette Heyer, Agatha Christie, and Stephen King. Currently, I love to read romances flavored with other genres such as Regencies, science fiction, suspense, mysteries, paranormal, Gothic, etc. For “real life” adventures, I also enjoy biographies.

WINGS: If so, has this author inspired your own writing career?

SUSANNE: I’d say the writer who inspired me the most was Isaac Asimov. Even today, I can always depend upon his short stories to stretch the limits of imagination. He was an extremely versatile writer, in non-fiction subjects as well as fiction.

WINGS: Do you find it difficult to find the time to write without interruption?

SUSANNE: Life always has a way of interrupting! I’ve tried to minimize the interruptions that I can control by tasking an answering machine with telephone duty and scheduling my writing time while my daughter’s at school. Then, when I come to a good stopping point, I take care of the non-writing activities waiting for my attention.

WINGS: Do you use characters from your own life in your stories?

SUSANNE: I like to use bits and pieces from real life to add realism to the novel. For example, in THE RELUCTANT LANDLORD, young Freddy likes to insist he’s the Duke of Wellington, a hero from the Napoleonic Wars. I can thank a child from my daughter’s pre-school for this. Out of the blue, a boy walked over to me and with a serious face, told me he was Batman!

WINGS: Has it been easy for you to promote your work? Do you find that most of the people that you talk to about writing are interested in what you do?

SUSANNE: Promotion takes a lot of time, so it hasn’t been easy for me to work on that area of publishing. On the plus side, yes, most people I talk with are extremely interested when they find out I’m a writer. And I always carry bookmarks of my novels to hand out, just in case!

WINGS: Was there a particular part of the whole publishing process that was most difficult for you?

SUSANNE: Yes, promotion! Sending galleys out for reviews, preparing press releases, doing promotional handouts... all these areas are notorious time-eaters. But promotion is a very necessary part of writing and being published, so I set aside time to market my books.

WINGS: What age group do you feel that your book THE RELUCTANT LANDLORD will most appeal to?

SUSANNE: One of my readers is in her nineties, and from personal experience, I read my first Regency as a teen and fell in love with the genre then. So I feel THE RELUCTANT LANDLORD can appeal to Regency lovers of all ages!

WINGS: If your book were made into a movie who do you see as the male lead, the female lead?

SUSANNE: Wouldn’t that be wonderful? For Quentin Thornhill, the Earl of Udall, I’d love to see Colin Firth, who starred as Mr. Darcy in A&E’s Pride and Prejudice. For Katrina Jones, I’d be thrilled to see Gwyneth Paltrow, who did a great job as another Regency innocent in the movie EMMA.

 

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 Copyright Susanne Marie Knight