An Interview from Criminal Activity - the blog of Elias McClellen
Trade Secrets! An Interview with Mary Vettel
I’ve known Mary Vettel for something-something years. She was one of the first people I met on Query Tracker and remains one of my dearest scribble siblings. We’ve traded ink and scribe-tears. Mary is a gifted writer with a middle-grade book that the world needs to read among a host of other stories. Today Mary talks shop with me about her experiences as an indie-author and the eternal, (infernal?) paper chase for traditional publication.
First, the obligatory: tell us about yourself?
Native New Yorker, Anglophile, major Beatles fan, mother to two lovely daughters, mother-in-law to wonderful fella who’s more like a son than in-law, and doting grandmother to a 5-year-old.
What does it mean to be a writer?
Writing means I get to escape into whatever world I am moved to create and inhabit with whomever I please. I get to stare off into space and the family knows I’m writing, not stroking out.
What’s a genre you enjoy reading?
I like reading mysteries, from Sherlock Holmes to cozies like Miss Marple.
Who is an author you’d rather not read?
James Patterson doesn’t seem to care that his formula is showing. I could be totally wrong on this, but that’s how it strikes me.
Is there one thing you judge a story—yours and others—by?
Dialogue. If it doesn’t ring true, I could hurl the book across the room.
What would you tell 20-year-old you?
Take as many writing classes as possible. Learn your craft now. I cringe to confess I was still head-hopping until a few years ago until my friend Will Tinkham told me to knock it off.
What was the last good story you read/saw/heard?
“Episodes.” A UK series with Tamsin Grieg, Stephen Mangan, and Matt LeBlanc. Well written, well acted. Believable. Their chemistry was excellent.
How do you deal with the roadblocks of writing?
Please forgive the cliché, but, more coffee, more chocolate. As for writing, or not having the time to write, I dictate notes to my phone whilst driving, (hands-free of course) and jot things down on whatever’s handy.
Presuming that you are afflicted with myriad story ideas, how do you decide on which to follow?
The one that’s the squeaky wheel and keeps raising its hand from the back of the room going, “Ooh! Ooh! Pick me! Pick me!”
What was your biggest challenge as an indie-author?
If you mean self-publishing, it’s the whole ball of wax. And what exactly does that mean? Why would you have a ball of wax? What’s its purpose? From creating a cover and making it look like a ‘real’ book, but not having the time or inkling how to market it or get people to buy it/read it, it is ALL hard.
What has been your biggest challenge as a traditional author?
Still not having cracked the secret code to writing a decent, i.e., agent-grabbing query, synopsis, blurb, despite the numerous articles I’ve read and templates I’ve filled in/out. Hence, I remain unagented at this very late stage of the game but hold out hope that with this latest, just-completed novel, they’ll be clamoring to sign me.
Finally, are you a dessert person and if so, what? If not WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU? And, um, can I have yours?
Yes, I am a dessert person. And key lime pie is my choice. I even forgo a traditional birthday cake and opt for the KLP. Yum. Sorry, you may not have mine, but I will put aside a wedge for you.
Mary Vettel is the author of Death at the Drive-In, a novel, as well as countless as-yet unreleased works of brilliance. You can find her book here: https://smile.amazon.com/Death-at-Drive-Mary-Vettel/dp/1514366878/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=mary+vettel&qid=1626229684&sr=8-1
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Posted on July 13, 2021
Interview with author Will Tinkham
Award-winning author of NO HAPPIER STATE [set during the creation of Mount Rushmore and WWII], and ALICE & HER GRAND BELL [a family saga ranging from the Civil War through the brink of the second Gulf War], Will Tinkham has had numerous short stories and novel excerpts published in various magazines. Mr. Tinkham is also an actor – most recently appearing at the Guthrie Theater (A View from the Bridge) and Theatre in the Round (The Devil's Disciple).
We were lucky to catch up with the elusive Mr. Tinkham and arm-wrestled the following responses out of him:
Q: When not writing, walking the boards, or attending Minnesota Twins baseball games, where can you be found?
WT: Believe it or not, I'm intrusted with the security of a swanky Minneapolis condo building weekday evenings, where I mostly watch Minnesota Twins baseball games on TV
Q: You had alluded to easing into the 21st Century and perhaps obtaining a cell phone. If so, do you use an app, write from an outline, or from the hip?
WT: By app I'm sure you mean appliance and, yes, I have one: A Smith-Corona typewriter (it's electric!). While writing from the hip and eating with the fingers, I got some marinara sauce caught between the Q and the W but I work around that.
Q: Would you care to share with us just where and how your ideas come to you?
WT: For my first novel, I stole the idea from a friend. For No Happier State, the History Channel flashed up a picture of the 1938 Rushmore Memorial baseball team (not even sure what the show was about) and I was hooked.
Q: Much of No Happier State takes place in Keystone, South Dakota. Did you actually go there or was your research all internet-based?
WT: I'm afraid to go there for fear that I'll have to rewrite the whole book. I researched online till I stumbled into two books: Mount Rushmore Q & A, by Nick Clifford who played for that '38 Rushmore team (the book came with his baseball card!) and worked on the monument. Also, Great White Fathers, by John Taliaferro, about the making of Rushmore and so much more.
Q: Who are a few of your favorite authors, and why?
WT: Mark Twain, J.D. Salinger, Mary Vettel, Tim O'Brien, Raymond Carver, Kurt Vonnegut. Storytellers, I guess, who don't get in the way of their stories.
Q: Is there a WIP you’d like to share with us?
WT: Bonus Man: an ex-WWI medic during the Depression feels cheated by the government and sets out to cheat them. He's just not very good at it.
Q: Which of your characters do you relate to most?
WT: Bad Glove Hand, I guess (from NHS). He questions everything but really has no answers.
Q: Since Rita Hayworth is no longer with us to play the role of Pêche in the film version of No Happier State, is there a contemporary actress you know of who could portray your leading lady?
WT: There's no singing or dancing, so I doubt Rita would've taken the part anyway. Emma Stone came to mind the first time I saw her (red hair, crooked smile, looks like she could hike up a mountain), but she'd be in her 50s by the time I ever get this book published and old enough to play Pêche's aging Aunt Emily by the time any movie deal gets inked. Somewhere some overbearing parents are pushing their toddler toward Hollywood and she'll end up with the role of a lifetime. Or not.
[Side note for Mary's followers: "Award winning" refers to a small mag from Minnesota's Iron Range where I never received the cash prize or certificate promised, never had my name placed on their Hall of Fame, and never found the plaque where my name is supposed to be etched for all time.]
For more on Mr. Tinkham's writing, just click the Button Text below.
We were lucky to catch up with the elusive Mr. Tinkham and arm-wrestled the following responses out of him:
Q: When not writing, walking the boards, or attending Minnesota Twins baseball games, where can you be found?
WT: Believe it or not, I'm intrusted with the security of a swanky Minneapolis condo building weekday evenings, where I mostly watch Minnesota Twins baseball games on TV
Q: You had alluded to easing into the 21st Century and perhaps obtaining a cell phone. If so, do you use an app, write from an outline, or from the hip?
WT: By app I'm sure you mean appliance and, yes, I have one: A Smith-Corona typewriter (it's electric!). While writing from the hip and eating with the fingers, I got some marinara sauce caught between the Q and the W but I work around that.
Q: Would you care to share with us just where and how your ideas come to you?
WT: For my first novel, I stole the idea from a friend. For No Happier State, the History Channel flashed up a picture of the 1938 Rushmore Memorial baseball team (not even sure what the show was about) and I was hooked.
Q: Much of No Happier State takes place in Keystone, South Dakota. Did you actually go there or was your research all internet-based?
WT: I'm afraid to go there for fear that I'll have to rewrite the whole book. I researched online till I stumbled into two books: Mount Rushmore Q & A, by Nick Clifford who played for that '38 Rushmore team (the book came with his baseball card!) and worked on the monument. Also, Great White Fathers, by John Taliaferro, about the making of Rushmore and so much more.
Q: Who are a few of your favorite authors, and why?
WT: Mark Twain, J.D. Salinger, Mary Vettel, Tim O'Brien, Raymond Carver, Kurt Vonnegut. Storytellers, I guess, who don't get in the way of their stories.
Q: Is there a WIP you’d like to share with us?
WT: Bonus Man: an ex-WWI medic during the Depression feels cheated by the government and sets out to cheat them. He's just not very good at it.
Q: Which of your characters do you relate to most?
WT: Bad Glove Hand, I guess (from NHS). He questions everything but really has no answers.
Q: Since Rita Hayworth is no longer with us to play the role of Pêche in the film version of No Happier State, is there a contemporary actress you know of who could portray your leading lady?
WT: There's no singing or dancing, so I doubt Rita would've taken the part anyway. Emma Stone came to mind the first time I saw her (red hair, crooked smile, looks like she could hike up a mountain), but she'd be in her 50s by the time I ever get this book published and old enough to play Pêche's aging Aunt Emily by the time any movie deal gets inked. Somewhere some overbearing parents are pushing their toddler toward Hollywood and she'll end up with the role of a lifetime. Or not.
[Side note for Mary's followers: "Award winning" refers to a small mag from Minnesota's Iron Range where I never received the cash prize or certificate promised, never had my name placed on their Hall of Fame, and never found the plaque where my name is supposed to be etched for all time.]
For more on Mr. Tinkham's writing, just click the Button Text below.
* * * * * *
I recently had the pleasure of being interviewed by gifted writer Will Tinkham for his blog.
How many writers can claim to be an Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award semi-finalist and have their picture on the back cover of Stephen King's new novel? Only one that I'm aware of (and that's all that counts): the multi-talented Mary Vettel! And we at Write Under Their Noses are lucky enough to have her on hand for our first ever interview.
Soon-to-be ABNA winner, THE STORY OF LAUREL BLUE STONE is a multi-cultural, young adult novel about young love, bank robbery and Navajo shape shifting. Mr. King is a writer who can no doubt use the increase in sales generated by Ms. Vettel's photo on his book jacket.
Q: Technically speaking, do you write from an outline, from the hip, or use an app?
MV: app, schmapp. A melange of flexible outline and the hip. *bursts into song: The hipbone connected to the outline* [that was for your entertainment, not public consumption]
Sorry, the musical interlude stays (you didn't say 'off the record' before breaking into song). Now, on to your photo on Stephen King's book. Q: At the risk (and in hope) of sparking a scandal, just what is your relationship with Mr. King?
MV: We're just good friends.
Q: Who are your favorite authors (besides Mr. King and myself)?
MV: Actually I prefer you over Mr. King. [honest] Now, can I be on the back cover of your book? [kidding] Admire P.G. Wodehouse, John Hughes, Marian Keyes, Helen Simonson, and Elizabeth Berg.
Q: After the 7-figure book contract, the inevitable movie deal, speaking engagements and action figures, will you be content to pay the proposed 30% millionaires tax or will you fight for a more Romney-like 14%?
MV: I will say unequivocally that I will gladly pay the 30% millionaires tax - then have my fat cat lawyer/accountant find those loopholes...er...legitimate tax exemptions enabling me to hold onto as much of the pot of gold as possible.
Q: My best guess is that you are not of Native American descent, yet the book is full of very believable folklore from this Zuni tribe of New Mexico. Is this all exhaustive research or did you travel extensively through the Southwest or, again, did you use an app?
MV: App. schmapp! I did exhaustive research and traveled extensively in the Southwest in my imagination. I'd love to visit that part of the country, but have many fears, some more crippling than others. [There are 46 varieties of snakes there, and even though only 9 are poisonous...that's enough for me, scorpions there can perform stunts not unlike Evel Knievel, whereas I cannot. Am not liking those odds.]
With a movie being a foregone conclusion, we have a question from one of our regular contributors, Johnny "Bad Glove" Hand [see photos on left]. Q: What Caucasian actress (from any era) do you see cosmetically altering their skin color and donning a braid to play Laurel?
MV: Thank you for that question, Mr.. Hand. Big fan of yours, by the way. Actually, Mr. Hand, I think young Miss Vanessa Hudgens could do it. (Her father is part Irish/part Native American.)
Q: Finally, one last question. You write in multiple genres from middle grade to adult, Elizabethan to Western. Can't find your niche? Can't control your Muse? Or—now be honest—do you have an array of apps that you plug-in whenever necessary?
MV: You and your bloody apps! Were I feeling particularly petulant I would say my muse has a multipersonality dissociative disorder. But not wishing to besmirch the good name of my generous and loyal muse, I'd just say rather than being pigeon-holed into one particular niche, I like to challenge myself. Variety is the spice of something, no?
LIFE! Yes, we have life. Thank you, Mary, for bringing life to this dusty old blog. Try here for more on Mary Vettel.
Do yourself a favor and visit Will's blog and read some of his excerpts from his novels and short stories.
http://willtinkham.blogspot.com/
I recently had the pleasure of being interviewed by gifted writer Will Tinkham for his blog.
How many writers can claim to be an Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award semi-finalist and have their picture on the back cover of Stephen King's new novel? Only one that I'm aware of (and that's all that counts): the multi-talented Mary Vettel! And we at Write Under Their Noses are lucky enough to have her on hand for our first ever interview.
Soon-to-be ABNA winner, THE STORY OF LAUREL BLUE STONE is a multi-cultural, young adult novel about young love, bank robbery and Navajo shape shifting. Mr. King is a writer who can no doubt use the increase in sales generated by Ms. Vettel's photo on his book jacket.
Q: Technically speaking, do you write from an outline, from the hip, or use an app?
MV: app, schmapp. A melange of flexible outline and the hip. *bursts into song: The hipbone connected to the outline* [that was for your entertainment, not public consumption]
Sorry, the musical interlude stays (you didn't say 'off the record' before breaking into song). Now, on to your photo on Stephen King's book. Q: At the risk (and in hope) of sparking a scandal, just what is your relationship with Mr. King?
MV: We're just good friends.
Q: Who are your favorite authors (besides Mr. King and myself)?
MV: Actually I prefer you over Mr. King. [honest] Now, can I be on the back cover of your book? [kidding] Admire P.G. Wodehouse, John Hughes, Marian Keyes, Helen Simonson, and Elizabeth Berg.
Q: After the 7-figure book contract, the inevitable movie deal, speaking engagements and action figures, will you be content to pay the proposed 30% millionaires tax or will you fight for a more Romney-like 14%?
MV: I will say unequivocally that I will gladly pay the 30% millionaires tax - then have my fat cat lawyer/accountant find those loopholes...er...legitimate tax exemptions enabling me to hold onto as much of the pot of gold as possible.
Q: My best guess is that you are not of Native American descent, yet the book is full of very believable folklore from this Zuni tribe of New Mexico. Is this all exhaustive research or did you travel extensively through the Southwest or, again, did you use an app?
MV: App. schmapp! I did exhaustive research and traveled extensively in the Southwest in my imagination. I'd love to visit that part of the country, but have many fears, some more crippling than others. [There are 46 varieties of snakes there, and even though only 9 are poisonous...that's enough for me, scorpions there can perform stunts not unlike Evel Knievel, whereas I cannot. Am not liking those odds.]
With a movie being a foregone conclusion, we have a question from one of our regular contributors, Johnny "Bad Glove" Hand [see photos on left]. Q: What Caucasian actress (from any era) do you see cosmetically altering their skin color and donning a braid to play Laurel?
MV: Thank you for that question, Mr.. Hand. Big fan of yours, by the way. Actually, Mr. Hand, I think young Miss Vanessa Hudgens could do it. (Her father is part Irish/part Native American.)
Q: Finally, one last question. You write in multiple genres from middle grade to adult, Elizabethan to Western. Can't find your niche? Can't control your Muse? Or—now be honest—do you have an array of apps that you plug-in whenever necessary?
MV: You and your bloody apps! Were I feeling particularly petulant I would say my muse has a multipersonality dissociative disorder. But not wishing to besmirch the good name of my generous and loyal muse, I'd just say rather than being pigeon-holed into one particular niche, I like to challenge myself. Variety is the spice of something, no?
LIFE! Yes, we have life. Thank you, Mary, for bringing life to this dusty old blog. Try here for more on Mary Vettel.
Do yourself a favor and visit Will's blog and read some of his excerpts from his novels and short stories.
http://willtinkham.blogspot.com/
