Author Speed Date
- By: Jessica Faust | Date: Mar 04 2011
The idea of speed dating is that you get 10 minutes to sit down with a prospective date and get to know them. In that spirit, we present Author Speed Date. A quick 10 minutes for you to get to know some of our clients. Today we’d like you to meet Lorraine Bartlett.
BookEnds Author Speed Date
Name (the one you’re published under): Lorraine Bartlett, Lorna Barrett, and L. L. Bartlett
Speed date Bio (one or two lines): Before she became a New York Times bestselling author, Lorraine Bartlett had done it all—from drilling holes for NASA to typing scripts in Hollywood.
Web Link: LornaBarrett.com; LorraineBartlett.com; LLBartlett.com
Next Book, pub date: Sentence to Death, June 2011
Agent: Jessica Faust
About Me
Real Name or Pseudonym: Lorraine Bartlett
Currently Reading: Julie and Julia by Julie Powell (I have a large and elderly to-be-read pile.)
Next on Your Reading List: Off Season by Anne Rivers Siddons
Facebook or Twitter (include account name):
Lorraine Bartlett; Lorna Barrett; L.L.Bartlett;
@LorraineBartlet; @LornaBarrett; @LLBartlettbooksThree authors living or dead you would want to have dinner with: Betty MacDonald, Dick Francis, John Mortimer (Good grief, they’re ALL dead!)
Jet-setter or armchair traveler: Definitely armchair traveler.
Glass ½ full or ½ empty: Half empty most days. Half full on launch days.
Tea or Coffee: Tea.
Live to write or Write to live: A little of both.
About My Writing
When (time of day) I write: Mid-morning through afternoon.Writing soundtrack: New Age music.
Character Inspirations: People I meet.
Plot Inspirations: Out of thin air.
Setting Inspirations: Places I have been. Usually placid places.
Plotter (carefully plot books) or Pantser (write from the seat of my pants): A pantser all the way.
Hi Lorraine,
That was fun.
Is Sentence to Death the only book you have coming out this year?
How do you keep all of your characters and plotlines straight? Do you have some master outline giving you direction on what storyline you'll pursue next?
Hi, Dru! No. My first book out this year was A Crafty Killing (under my Lorraine Bartlett name). Next up is Bound By Suggestion, my 4th Jeff Resnick book–later this month, and then Sentenced to Death (the 5th Booktown Mystery) comes out on June 7th. I'm thrilled that all three names have a new book out this year. Thanks for asking.
Anonymous, I usually only work on one book at a time, so it's easy to keep the plotlines straight. But I keep "bibles" (files with character information) for each series, which helps me remember eye and hair color, etc. for the secondary characters, and also plot highlights so I can remember which event happened in what series.
You mention you're a pantser. Do you edit as you go, or finish the first draft before starting the editing process?
Hi Lorraine,
I've been enjoying reading your books. I don't have all of them yet, but I'm working on it.
I'm curious,what or who do you consider to be your best muse or inspiration?
Hi, Lorenda. Every time I start a book I approach it differently. For the last one, I didn't print it out or edit it until I'd done a first draft. (Although I did go back and seed the previous chapters with some clues.) Sometimes I write a chapter and play with it for days before I'm happy with it.
Beverly, I don't have a muse. I'm motivated to write by the contracts I sign. You don't have time to wait for a muse when you have a legal obligation to turn in a manuscript on a given day. That hasn't killed my enjoyment of writing, though, and I have lots of projects I want to pursue … some day.
I recently read Lorraine's A Crafty Killing and highly recommend it to those mystery buffs out there.
Nice dating you today, Lorraine!
Jessica:
How did you reel her in? A well written query perhaps?
Sheila Cull
And Lorraine Barlett, a huge congratulations!
Sheila Cull