1. Please describe your latest book in 15 words or fewer.
12-word synopsis: small town, Maine, murder, family, alcoholism, love, secrets, revenge, rage, blizzard, redemption
2. What inspired you to write Dead of Wynter?
My own family. My mother's side of the family has a troubled history. In the 1940's, an ugly rumor about a murder among cousins at a Michigan campsite surfaced. In a moment of dementia, my grandmother inadvertently revealed to my mother that there may have been some truth to the stories. Then, when my
heavy-drinking uncle died (my mother's brother), I decided to combine the two tragedies into a novel. Dead of Wynter is a kind of fermented, concentrated version of those events with plenty of made-up things thrown
in.
3. Where do you do most of your writing?
When I'm planning a novel, the less it seems like work the better. The creative rocket sauce is more potent that way. So, I usually sit on my sofa under my headphones with my iPad. Then, once I start my drafts, I sit at big bare desk my father built for me writing on a laptop. Unlike many other writers, I can't write in public spaces. I need to cocoon myself, preferably in the dark under headphones.
4. What is your favorite book?
Honestly, I consume and like so many books that my "favorite" is usually one I've read in the last year or so. Joe Hill is in that category currently. I loved Horns and Heart Shaped Box, both of which I read this past year. A few years ago, I fell in love with Caleb Carr's The Alienist and The Angel of Darkness. Before that, I might have said Stephen King's The Shining. Ken Follett, Jack Ketchum, and Peter Straub have also written favorites for me at one time or another.
5. Which part of Dead of Wynter was the most enjoyable to write?
When I was about halfway through the second draft, I happened to be at my parents' house on Cape Cod. This was in the summer of 2009. There was something about the plot as it was then that had been bugging me for several weeks. One afternoon, I stepped out of the shower and out of nowhere came a new, better idea for the second half. I rushed for a pad and pen and felt incredibly happy even though I knew I would have to go back and shuffle some things around to make it work. After that, the second half of the book was a
thrill to write.
Thank you Spencer for the great insight into you and your writing life.
Giveaway:
Thanks to Erin McNichols and Meryl L. Moss Media Relations, I have one copy of Dead of Wynter to give away. Simply fill out the form below. Open to US/Canada only. Ends 5/19/2011.
If you can't see the form below, you can find it here.
Incredible Dreams is
the story of a modern-day ghost whisperer who travels through time to
save the life of a WWII fighter pilot and ends up jeopardizing her own
existence. Izzy Miller prefers to call herself a spiritual therapist
because she thinks it makes her sound more professional than plain old
ghost-whisperer. She expects her latest project to be quick and easy
because exorcising military personnel is pretty routine. But there's
nothing easy or routine about Captain Jack Baker-he's a rather forgetful
spirit and somewhat mischievous. And even though he's intrigued by the
US Government's latest attempt to remove him from the only place he can
ever remember being...he has no intentions of going anywhere. Plans
to exorcise Jack are quickly sidelined when Izzy discovers a portal into
the past inside her dreams and sets out to change his fate. Trouble
is...when she gets back there, she can't remember anything but her name.
She still sees ghosts, but is far less accepting of her gift. And, to
make matters worse, a demonic force pretending to be the forgetful
heroine's sister has her own plans-to steal Izzy's soul.
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