Writer

Writer's Page

Interview with Katherine V. Forrest

RL - Tell me about your writing career and when and where it all started.

KVF - The magical age of 40 was the starting point. It was a milestone year, a taking-stock year, and my partner said, "You've always wanted to write, why don't you take six months and write a book?" Three years later...

RL - How difficult was it for you to get your first book published?

KVF - The difficult part was simply learning the craft. Expecting to write a book in six months was like expecting to become a ballet dancer in six months. Once I put in the time and study and effort and sheer dues-paying, the publication part happened, helped in great measure by the fact that I caught the first surge of the great wave of gay and lesbian publishing that's happened over the past two decades.

RL - How do you write, with pen and paper or a computer?

KVF - Computer. Although I occasionally do write on paper. But I still have to rush to the computer to see what it looks like "in cold type."

RL - Who were your Literary inspirations when you were growing up? What did you read? What do you read now?

KVF - Women writers were and are my inspiration. In my youth, women were not taken seriously in the literary world, and so we inhabited the genres, especially the mystery genre. I came of age reading Agatha Christie of course, and also Naigo Marsh and the wonderful Josephine Tey. Today there's so much to read that it's difficult to keep up with what's going on in our own GLBT literature, much less books from the larger culture. I do try to read gay literature along with lesbian books, because our gay brothers are doing remarkable work, exemplified by Michael Cunningham's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Hours (which has marvelous portraits of women, by the way). I continue to read women writers, and feel gratified by the success and increasing visibility of our lesbian writers.

RL - What are your feelings on the Internet and do you feel it has or will have a good or bad effect on fiction writing? Do you think it is a bad idea or a good idea for beginning writers to publish their work on the Internet?

KVF - The internet is one of the most exciting technological breakthroughs of my lifetime. It has opened the world to us all, and our literature is spreading worldwide. I now receive fan mail from all over the globe. As to publishing on the net, it's still in its embryonic stage, and it's hard to say at this point how it will all work out. We're about to be washed over by a floodtide of information on the web, and it would be too easy for a web-published book to disappear into that sea of choice inundating cyberspace. It behooves every writer, published or seeking to be published, to be very aware of the changes affecting the publishing industry, because they are truly transforming changes.

RL - When was it that you knew you wanted to be a writer and why?

KVF - Like all writers I know, I've always wanted to be a writer. The why of it is more difficult to understand, because it's trying to define the creative impulse. An explanation I can more easily make is that I write for my community because I care about the issues that matter to us, and I'm very proud to be one of the writers recording the truly spectacular history of our community as this century comes to a close..

RL - What is it that you feel makes the difference between a good story and a bad story and why?

KVF - That's a very broad question that I could spend a week answering because it has everything to do with the craft of writing. I can safely say that no writer today can invent a new plot. All the plots have been done--Shakespeare pretty much covered the waterfront. What sets books apart is characterization. We don't remember the plot to Gone With The Wind, but we do remember Scarlett and Rhett.

RL - Now that you have been published and can look back at the beginning, what was one of the most important things you learned as a writer in your journey of writing your first novel?

Persistence. And that writing is rewriting. Early in my career a professional writer told me that writing is 5% talent and 95% temperament, and I have come to believe it. A lot of people can write, have the talent to write; but few people are willing to do something over again twenty or fifty times if need be to get it right. Good writers are willing to do this.

RL -Can you remember how old you were when you began thinking that you wanted to be a writer and what first made you want to write?

KVF - Beats me. I must be too old to remember.

RL - Where do you find your writing inspirations and ideas?

KVF - From the observation and experience of a lifetime, from what I feel passionate about, and from looking at the world from a writer's standpoint. That last part is a very necessary part of a writer's toolbox. Looking at the world with the eyes of a writer will always provide endless material.

RL - What has been the greatest challenge for you in your writing?

KVF - Finding enough hours in the day. So many books to write, so little time!

RL - How many books have you written?

KVF - Twelve, including the seven Kate Delafield novels.

RL - What is your favorite genre to write?

KVF - I like them all.

RL - What is your favorite book that you have written?

KVF - That's like choosing between children. I can say that I may have written better novels since my first novel, Curious Wine, but none that I love more.

RL - How long does it take you to write a book?

KVF - It depends on so many factors, including deadlines. In general, I like to have about a year and a half.

RL - Are your characters based on people you know? or maybe people you would like to know!?!

KVF - People I've known sometimes suggest a character. But in every case characters acquire their own distinct identity.

RL - In closing can you offer any advice to hopeful writers out there who are currently working on their first book?

KVF - Find a good writers group. Writing is a very isolated occupation, and credible feedback is hard to find. Because you have to bring in material for a writers group to evaluate, they also provide a form of discipline in making sure you write!