Interview with the Writers' League of Texas

“Draped Woman” by John Singer Sargent. Creative Commons 1.0.

Rejoice! I've been interviewed!

By the Writers' League of Texas - please take a look here!

I owe much to the League through the generosity, creativity, and talent of my fellow members. From the interview:

I have learned to believe in one’s writing, no matter what others think. It took me 20 years to write The Camel and the Scorpion, which is inspired by actual events. The rejection letters from literary agents filled rooms. I threw my manuscript at the wall too many times to count. But after each hurl and the passage of time, I would pick up the manuscript again and begin another rewrite. Why? I would have loved to discover the book I was writing in a bookstore or library.

I also give heartfelt thanks to members of the Austin Writers’ League, which morphed into the Writers’ League of Texas, for helping inspire The Camel and the Scorpion. I joined the the Austin Writers’ League’s “novel in progress” group, or “nippers,” as we called ourselves, in Austin in the late 1990s. We met weekly to critique each other’s work and be each other’s supporters and cheerleaders. Those critiques were invaluable—they were done in a nonjudgmental, nonthreatening manner. What’s more, my writing improved tenfold with the group’s input.