Writers' Rituals - Betty Webb
The Mysterious Writing Habits of the World's Top Crime Writers
Oct 10, 2008
Are writers obsessive-compulsive? Overly superstitious? Or do habits and rituals provide security for writers who never know where the next idea, or the words to write it, will come from?
Searching for clues to the secrets of writing, Suite 101 has an exclusive interview with Betty Webb, author of the very dark Lena Jones Mysteries, set in the Arizona desert, and a new, humorous mystery series, set in a California zoo, which debuts November 1, both published by Poisoned Pen Press.
Q: How much research and plotting do you do before you're ready to write a book?
A: Desert Wives, about polygamy, took almost five years to research, which included visiting Arizona's notorious polygamy compounds.
Desert Cut, about an abusive world-wide "procedure" impacting little girls, also took five years to research. I always plot/outline my books in advance, then throw out the outline as I write. Perverse, isn't it?
Q: What hours do you devote to your writing and what time of day do you prefer to write?
A: I write from 4:30 a.m. to around noon, or until my fingertips bleed.
Q: Do you take breaks, and if so, what do you do during them?
A: I take breaks -- play with the dog, annoy the cats, and just basically feel sorry for myself.
Q: Where do you write?
A: In my den, with the door closed and windows shuttered.
Q: What do you write with?
A: All on computer. As a former reporter, I can type 90 words a minute.
Q: ...and why is that your preference?
A; NO one -- including the dog, cats and husband -- is allowed in the den while I'm nose-to-nose with my beloved computer (whose name is Brian). Therefore, I get more done. Besides, I can't read my own handwriting.
Q: What you like to keep within arm's reach while you're writing?
A: A cup of coffee and a bottle of water. (It was formerly bourbon, but my liver isn't what it used to be.)
Q; What you do see when you look up from your writing?
A: Hundreds of books, a plush stuffed anteater, a plush stuffed koala, a maps of Moss Landing, California, a photograph of a squirrel monkey, an Arizona atlas, a rubber pig with Mardi Gras beads hanging around its neck, and four walls of red paisley wallpaper guaranteed to keep me awake.
Q; What was the first thing you wrote which was published?
A: An article on the Equal Rights Amendment, which got me my first job as a journalist and led to a thrilling 20-year career.
Q: What is your latest book?
A: The Anteater of Death, a new series starring zookeeper Theodora "Teddy" Bentley, who lives on a houseboat and solves crimes at a California zoo. A man is found dead in the Giant Anteater enclosure, and in order to keep the anteater (named Lucy) from being shipped to another zoo in disgrace, Teddy looks for the real killer. The latest Lena Jones book is Desert Cut.
Born in DuQuoin, Illinois, Betty Webb now lives and writes in Scottsdale, Arizona. Betty also has a blog where she offers writing tips, the link can be found on the Links page of her website.
Source:
Interview with Betty Webb conducted by E-mail, October 2008
Read about Peter May, Alanna Knight, Eileen Ramsay, Ruth Dudley Edwards and many other Writers' Rituals
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