What can your readers expect when reading your new book, Second Time Around?
[LMF] My readers can expect a whodunit with an unexpected murderer, a bit of humor, and a taste of western Montana.
Who would you say is your targeted audience?
[LMF] Anyone who likes a fun read or a mystery. Although I expected my audience to be largely female, a couple of men have reported that after reading the first chapter, which is posted on my web site, they’re very anxious to read the entire book. And my editor is a man, so who can tell?
When did the idea for this story come to life?
[LMF] I live in the mountains of western Montana, as Timmie Campbell, the protagonist, does. Like her, my driveway winds its way through the forest and as my husband and I were walking our four dogs, we all heard a noise at the top of the hillside next to the driveway. My imagination went into overdrive after being disappointed by a pine squirrel and the prospect of a dead body rolling down the hillside was born.
How did you decide on the title Second Time Around?
[LMF] About halfway through the book, it seemed that so many events in Timmie’s life either repeated themselves or put her in second place. Her reconciliation with Jack Kendall after their relationship ended the previous summer is an obvious reference. Both Timmie and her mother were her father’s “second” family. Timmie was her father’s second daughter and second child. There are several other such events but I don’t want to give away too much of the plot by sharing them here!
Do you prefer to write fiction or non-fiction and do you think writing one venue can complement the other?
[LMF] My first love is fiction but I have a larger body of published non-fiction—at this time, anyway! I believe that writing in both venues has positively impacted my growth as a writer. My non-fiction, by necessity, has to be short, quickly paced, and devoid of nonessential words. As a result of the magazine articles, education texts, and monthly newspaper column I’ve written during the past six years, my fiction projects have become tighter and generated more emotional impact. One other consequence of writing in both venues is that I’ve become more adept at writing in the first person and, when writing in the third person, I reach a greater depth within character.
What is your writing routine?
[LMF] I write every day. It may not be part of my current chapter; it may not even be on my current book. But I’m always working on one project or another and generally on two or three at a time. Last Saturday, for example, I worked on a seminar text in the morning, my current novel in the afternoon, and some plotting for the next novel in the evening.
What is the significance of Timothea ‘s pets?
[LMF] Timmie’s pets are actually a secondary character in the book, a way of showing details of Timmie’s personality that may not otherwise be apparent. While Timmie is reserved and disciplined in her relationships with her mother and Jack throughout most of the book, she’s incredibly attached to, and emotional about, her pets. This insight foreshadows how she’ll react when she faces challenges involving people she loves.
Which would you say is your most compelling scene and which scene was the hardest for you to write?
[LMF] I think the scene where Timmie is sitting inside her car, in the dark, outside her house--knowing someone is out there but trying to convince herself otherwise, is the most compelling scene. The inevitability of something happening is apparent, yet defining that something is impossible. The hardest scene for me, in every book, is the first scene. It has to be perfect—or no one will want to read any further. My editor, Herb Holeman, had significant input with my edits of the first chapter and they wound up making the opening scene so much stronger than I’d originally written.
Most writers speak of a character being the most persistent or talkative when writing a story. Did you have that experience?
[LMF] It happens all the time…now. Early in my writing career, I used to complete comprehensive character outlines—because that’s what published writers said they did. Once I stopped creating every single detail of my characters’ lives and backstories in favor of planning just two or three primary traits, my characters took on lives of their own. After I’d been writing for a while and experienced some success with reviews and publication, I learned to trust my unconscious. Most of my plot twists come full circle on their own without any planning on my part because the characters behave the way they need to behave. When that process isn’t taking place in my writing, I’ve usually been exerting too much control over my characters and have to back off and let them have their own ways.
Did you need to spend time on research?
[LMF] Yes. Much of Second Time Around ‘s setting takes place in Missoula County—not within city limits and not within the jurisdiction of the Missoula City police. Thanks to my sources at the Missoula County Sheriff’s Department and the state web site, I was able to accurately portray the behavior of law enforcement officials in the book. One funny thing I learned during research for STA has to do with yellow crime scene tape—just like the tape on the front cover of the book. In most jurisdictions, especially big cities or communities with a very large population, the tape says: Crime Scene Do Not Cross. Well, in Missoula County, it says Sheriff Line Do Not Cross or Coroner’s Line Do Not Cross. When making our final decisions about the book’s cover, we decided to forego accuracy in favor of familiarity—everyone knows what a crime scene is; not everyone would understand why the Sheriff or the Coroner would be involved and why no one is supposed to cross their lines.
Do you have advice for fledgling writers?
[LMF] Oh, do I! My first piece of advice is: Write. Every day. No matter what. My second piece of advice is to join serious, professional, writer’s groups. There’s nothing in this world for a writer like the support of other writers. (My web site has a very long list of links to writer’s groups and organizations – as well as writer’s publications.) My final piece of advice is to read. Read all kinds of stuff: trade magazines (like Writer’s Digest), books/works in the genre you’re writing, stuff you know you’ll never write in a million years, news feeds from MSN, the newspaper, cereal boxes—everything. I don’t copy other writers’ styles or ideas or voices--but their writing opens my eyes to techniques and skills that I would never come up with on my own and, I’m sure, has influenced my writing.
What are your future plans?
[LMF] Why, to hit the NY Times bestseller list, of course! Seriously, I’m in the process of developing a character and premise for a mystery series—with research assistance from an official in the Missoula County Sheriff’s Department and other officials he’s referring me to. I’ve also got a romantic suspense involving a stalker percolating on the back burner. Then, there’s the two or three other story ideas I’ve got floating around in my laptop…
Second Time Around
by Linda M. Faulkner
$5.99
Instant Download
$14.99
190 pages, 6" x 9",
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