Getting to Know You: The RMFW Q&A Project #4

The Getting to Know You Project is intended to introduce RMFW members with short responses to three questions, a photo, and a few social media links if available. If you would like to participate in the project for future months, please email Pat Stoltey at blog@rmfw.org

Mari Christie (Mariana Gabrielle)

Website: http://www.marianagabrielle.com/
Professional Services Website: http://www.marichristie.info/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MariChristieAuthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MChristieAuthor
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/marichristie/

1. We know the who (that’s you), so will you give us the what, why, when, where, and how you write?

My historical novels feature second chances for scarred souls; all of my characters come to my books broken in spirit and are, in some way, uplifted. I write Historical Romance (Regency and Victorian) as Mariana Gabrielle, and Mainstream Historical (American Civil War and Turn-of-the-Century New York) as Mari Anne Christie. In my day-to-day life, I am a professional writer, editor, and designer in various corporate, government, academic, and publishing industries.

2. What is one fun thing few RMFW members know about you?

I chose writing over auditioning for the National Musical Theatre Conservatory.

3. What is your most favorite non-writing activity, the one that gives you the greatest joy?

I don’t do anything except write. I am a very boring person in that respect.

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Karen Duvall

Website:  http://www.karenduvallauthor.com/
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/Karen.Duvall.Author/
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/KarenDuvall
Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/405199.Karen_Duvall

1. We know the who (that’s you), so will you give us the what, why, when, where, and how you write?

That’s a tough question because my process changes and evolves all the time. In fact, I’ve recently switched genres. I used to write strictly fantasy, but now write mainstream fiction with elements of magic or the supernatural (magical realism). I write because I’m compelled to, yet I don’t write as enough as I’d like. My day job has interfered more than ever, leaving me very little time to get much writing done. I write on my desktop computer in my home office. As for how I write, I can’t write with music playing, that’s for sure. I need a blank auditory background to get in the flow.

2. What is one fun thing few RMFW members know about you?

During my first year of college at the University of Hawaii, I took a skydiving class on a dare and loved it so much that I went on to do it competitively. I bought my own rig and logged in over 60 jumps before I moved to Colorado and hung up my parachute because the altitude was too much for my sea level-accustomed body. A few months later a bunch of the people I jumped with in Hawaii, including my skydiving instructor, died together in an evening skydiving accident while doing an exhibit jump into football stadium.

3. What is your most favorite non-writing activity, the one that gives you the greatest joy?

I’d have to say my day job as a graphic designer. I’ve been a professional graphic artist for well over 30 years and I now specialize in designing book covers for self-published authors. However, I also design 3D art for an online computer game called Second Life. The Second Life virtual world gets 40,000 to 50,000 registered uses from all over the world logging on every day. I’ve been a Second Life resident for seven years and though it’s a way for me to make a good income, it has also been a tremendous help to my writing through inspiration and roleplay opportunities for character development.

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Karen Albright Lin

Website: http://www.karenalbrightlin.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/karen.a.lin
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karen-lin-8778135

1. We know the who (that’s you), so will you give us the what, why, when, where, and how you write?

I do my first drafts longhand at restaurants over lunch. I typically work on more than one project at a time. I used to be a contest junky; every win offered oxygen. I’m a produced screenwriter who has done work-for-hire, script doctoring, and happily collaborated on a few projects (most importantly with my Sister of the Quill, Janet Fogg). I’ve been represented by a few very successful agents for a novel, cookbook, and a ghostwriting gig. Why did they fall through? I’ll tell you when I’m keynote! I’ve published articles, personal essays, shorts, flash, and a column for BTS Book Reviews. I’m also an editor for award-winning and bestselling fiction and nonfiction writers. The best perk of all–I get to teach for cruise lines and that means cruise for two for free to places like Russia, Tahiti, and Costa Rica.

Why do I write? I’m a show-off. But I probably would have been a forensic entomologist, if not for a high school teacher who encouraged my writing by taking me to a writer’s conference, helping me get a full-ride creative writing university scholarship, and getting the principal to announce writing awards instead of only news of winning football games.

2. What is one fun thing few RMFW members know about you?

My first genre was erotica (the middle school kind). I still write it, but thank goodness it’s different now.

3. What is your most favorite non-writing activity, the one that gives you the greatest joy?

Dancing and food tourism with my husband of 29 years.

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Elizabeth Richards

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabethlrichards

1. We know the who (that’s you), so will you give us the what, why, when, where, and how you write?

I am working on a historical mystery set in Colorado in 1893. I’m fairly sure I didn’t spend all my growing up years in the 20th Century so historical fiction is a natural for me. I spend 10-20 minutes writing every morning before going to work. On the weekends I am often found writing at EverBean Coffee Shop in Evergreen.

2. What is one fun thing few RMFW members know about you?

My career has spanned everything from cleaning up sheep poop at a petting zoo to being the director of operations at an Artificial Intelligence start up company. Both were fun in their own way.

3. What is your most favorite non-writing activity, the one that gives you the greatest joy?

Is it too much of a cliche to say reading? I grew up a military brat, often moving every one to two years. Books were friends when life could be lonely. They opened up a world beyond our everyday life. When I was in 5th grade (New York City) I discovered Rosemary Sutcliffe and read Warrior Scarlet, the coming of age story of a Celtic boy. The next year, in Miesau Germany, we lived near a Celtic graveyard from the time of Isiah. It was as if, out of the corner of my eye, I could glimpse the echo of people who’d lived there a hundred, a thousand, three thousand years ago.

Many thanks to Mari, Karen D., Karen L., and Elizabeth for volunteering for the Getting to Know You Project. If you’d like to participate in future GTKY posts, please email me at blog@rmfw.org