Official Interview: Belle Ami
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- kandscreeley
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Official Interview: Belle Ami
To view and participate in the book of the month discussion, click here.
To view the official review, click here.
The book is available for free on Kindle Unlimited. To view the book on Amazon, click here.
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1. When you aren’t writing, what do you like to do? What are you passionate about besides storytelling?
I have so many passions, it’s hard to list them all. The following are in no semblance of order, they all fill an equal space in my life. As a writer, you spend a great deal of time sedentary. The only muscle you tend to use is your brain. I go to the gym three times a week. I spin three days a week, I box two days a week, and I weight train one day a week. I double up and take two classes in a row, so I don’t have to spend more than three mornings at the gym. I’m also an avid hiker/backpacker and have hiked quite a few places in the world, which is always inspiring. Three of my favorites were the Inca Trail in Peru, Half Dome at Yosemite, and The Kalalau Trail in Kauai, which is probably the most beautiful hiking trail in the world.
I’m a gourmet cook, so I’m always whipping up something special for my family. I try not to cook more than three times a week as it interferes with my writing. Tonight I’m making French onion soup (from scratch, of course) with croutons and melted Gruyere cheese on top. Doesn’t that sound yummy? In my books you’re always going to travel to different countries around the world and read about food and recipes. Many of the restaurants that I write about I’ve been to, which makes it fun for me and fun for the reader.
Naturally, I’m an avid reader and have a lot of TBR books. An author needs to read the work of other talented writers.
I studied piano most of my life. For relaxation and inspiration I sit down at the piano and play Beethoven, Mozart, and Chopin for a few hours a week. One day I’m going to write a series about musicians, the women or men they loved, and their lives.
2. Who or what has been your biggest inspiration in life?
My mother first. She’s a child Holocaust survivor and the strongest woman I know. Even after all she’s been through she bears no hatred and has always been an optimist.
Many people, friends, authors, musicians, and artists have also inspired me. But I really try to inspire myself as much as possible. I set goals in my writing and in my life. This year’s goal is to publish three books. I’m on track. Ransom (Tip of the Spear Book #3) just went up for presale, and my second in the Out of Time series titled The Girl Who Loved Caravaggio is with my editor, and I’m about 35,000 words into book three, which is titled The Girl Who Adored Rembrandt. I think I sense a trope in the titles of my Out of Time series.
3. As an author, what was the biggest obstacle you had to overcome?
The biggest obstacle besides learning how to compartmentalize rejection, criticism, and bad reviews, was learning the business of publishing. There are so many wrong ways to do it, and believe me I’ve made my share of mistakes. I am published by two small press publishers and I’m self-published. Self-publishing is expensive if you do it right. A lot of writers do it wrong. It took me quite a while to develop a team: editor, formatter, proofreader, cover designer, etc. that make sure what I publish is quality. Someday I’d love to be published by Montlake Publishing, and I’ve set them as my goal and dream publisher.
4. Let’s talk about The Girl Who Knew Da Vinci. Where did you get your inspiration for this story?
This story has been brewing inside of me since my twenties. I originally co-wrote a treatment for a film that centered around past lives and a painting. That screenplay idea bore some similarities to this story, but when I sat down to write The Girl Who Knew Da Vinci the whole story morphed into something else. I have to admit, I come up with new ideas for books every day. Everything and anything can inspire me.
5. Was The da Vinci Code on your mind at all while writing?
Not even a little. I read the book when it first came out, that’s sixteen years ago. I don’t even remember it, and as I said I came up with this concept in the 1980’s.
6. Did you choose what genre you wanted the story to be or was the story in your head and it just came out that way?
I write romance/suspense/thrillers. That’s the genre I write in, nothing has changed. However, the next two books have a lot more art history and history in them. I’ve been told I have a knack for writing in the past. We live in a very dysfunctional world and we need more love in it. The romance genre has evolved tremendously in the last ten years. There are a lot of very talented people who could write anything, but choose to write romance.
7. It looks like this is the first book in the Out of Time series. How many are you planning? Can you give us any hints on future plots?
I think this series can go on as long as I do. There are so many artists I want to write about. There are literally thousands of stolen or missing works of art that I can create a story about and then there’s the artists themselves. Artists are very dysfunctional people as a rule, so their lives make interesting stories. As I said, Caravaggio is next, and wow was his life interesting. He was a murderer on the run for seven years. He has been completely misunderstood and I give a new spin to the who, what, and why of what happened to him. In 1969 one of his most beautiful paintings was stolen from a church in Palermo, Sicily. There is evidence it was stolen by the Mafia. The Girl Who Loved Caravaggio is about the search for this painting and it’s a spellbinding tale.
Rembrandt is another artist who was misunderstood for centuries. One of the greatest artists in history and he died bankrupt and was buried in a pauper’s grave. He had so much tragedy in his life, yet he never lost his inspiration nor did he capitulate to criticism or the prevailing winds of fashion. In this book I’ve invented a stolen painting and built the story around everything known about Rembrandt.
I have a whole list of artists that interest me. One in my mind is Lucian Freud. Yes, that’s the grandson of Sigmund Freud, so you can just imagine what goodies my research will turn up. Gustave Klimt is another artist that interests me. Unfortunately, but fortunately for me, there are a lot of missing and stolen paintings that I can weave a story around. Lucky for me, art is something I know about. It has always been a passion in my life. I was an art-history major at Bryn Mawr College and I love research, which in this series of books separates me from the pack. I spend one to two months on reading about the artist and research on the artist’s paintings.
8. Do you have other projects not related to this story in the works?
I do. After Rembrandt I’m going to take a short sabbatical and write three Novellas, a serial series about an art historian searching for missing artwork that disappeared during the Holocaust. It will have a time-travel element. I’ve already plotted it out and run it by my author assistant and editor and they love it. So, that’s coming up.
How about a few fun questions to end on.
9. Would you rather be a reindeer, an elf or Santa?
None of the above, although making kids happy is always good. If I were Santa their only gift would be books, and only books. The world needs more readers!
10. If you were only allowed one food for the rest of your life, what would you have?
This one’s easy. Pizza! But I insist I have a pizza oven because I make the best.
11. Do you have a favorite color?
Green because it matches my eyes.
—Neil Gaiman
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Your training schedule is smart and encouraging.
I like how everything you love to do takes care of you and supports your writing objectives.
I am busy modifying my routine to prioritize my writing/reading/business and family-orientated goals. Self-care ( training /cooking/ meditation schedule) is currently my work in progress in terms of maximizing improvement.
Your concepts and views on artists are simply breathtaking. I like that you are bringing to the world in terms of art history, artists, and love. Such awareness through stories can only cultivate inspiration, understanding, and compassion in the world forward, encouraging future artists to be authentic and passionate in their expressions.
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