| Wendy Corsi Staub February 2008 author of the month |
| Dead before Dark is to be released April 28th, 2009. Check out her phone interview by clicking on the link. |
| Lily Dale - Believing is another new book to be released on April 29th, 2008. Wendy is a very busy writer, and here is brief description of the book as posted on Amazon.com. After her tumultuous summer in Lily Dale, Calla has decided to stay, hoping to unearth more about her mother’s untimely death. As she starts school at Lily Dale High and begins to explore her relationships with Jacy and Blue, her visions begin to occur with greater urgency. There may be a killer on the loose, and he may be after Calla for her role in solving his first victim’s disappearance. Now that Calla believes in her ability, can she learn to use it properly before it leads her into more danger? |
| We have it!! Wendy Corsi Staub was able to take some time out of her very busy schedule to conduct a great interview with us. Check it out below!! |
What is all-time favorite book (not yours) and why?
These days, I rarely get a chance to read for pleasure, so I look back to my childhood favorites to
answer this question. I’d have to say all nine titles in the Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder; I
practically know them by heart to this day. Those books—which are autobiographical fiction--were
instrumental in my own decision to become an author. I was inspired knowing that despite hardships
and a humble beginning, the heroine, Laura—who after nine books seemed like a close friend--grew up
to become a famous author, which was my own childhood dream. I was a little obsessed, and my
parents encouraged it—I became an expert on her life, and even retraced her family’s travels when my
parents let me (at age 10!) plan a road trip from New York to the Ozarks to visit her home and Mark
Twain’s (another favorite author of mine).
I've often wondered why people write under a different name. Why did / do you
write under Wendy Markham??
It’s all about branding. I had already gained some notoriety and success as Wendy Corsi Staub—my
own name—with my suspense novels, and I didn’t want to muddy the waters when I was invited by a
publisher to try writing chick lit. That’s when Wendy Markham was born. Readers of a Wendy Corsi
Staub novel know by the name on the cover just what they’re going to find inside: plenty of twists,
cliffhangers, and murders. I didn’t want them picking up one of my novels and finding the characters
shoe shopping and gossiping over margaritas. That’s what readers can expect to find in an early Wendy
Markham novel, although she’s (I’ve) branched out into romantic comedy and women’s fiction as well.
Was it or is it difficult to jump from writing Romance to Young Adult to Suspense /
Thriller novels?
Really, it’s not difficult for me at all. Just as most people don’t limit themselves to one genre as
readers, I enjoy tapping into different genres as a writer. I’m blessed with being naturally high energy
and thus prolific, and tend to shift gears pretty easily whenever I begin a new project.
If you could interview any person, alive or dead, who would it be and why?
It would of course be my mom, who died of breast cancer over two years ago—she was just in her
early sixties. We were really close and I am constantly thinking of things I want to ask her—not just
when my kids are sick, or when I need a recipe, but even things I wish I had thought to find out about
her life and our past. I still reach for the phone to call her almost every day.
If you could go back in time and solve any mystery for yourself, what would it be?
What a fun question. For me, it’s not a mystery—not in my opinion, anyway, because to me it’s
“solved”—but I’m really curious about the Lizzie Borden case. I’ve read volumes about it and spent
some time researching it in Fall River; I think I may have a subconscious plan to write about the case or
work it into a future novel somehow! Having pored over piles of books, old documents, and transcripts,
I’m convinced she was guilty, but I have lingering questions about the logistics and whether she had an
accomplice.
Do you have any superstitions that you do before you begin writing or after you
finish writing a novel?
No superstitions, but I do have rituals. I can only write on my desktop computer in my home office,
and I tend to sit with my right leg bent under me and my left foot on the chair, knee somewhere around
my shoulder. When I’m on a deadline, which lately is perpetual, I work seven days a week and I like to
start early, at around 4:30 a.m., before the day has left any kind of imprint on my mood, and I need a
lot of coffee to fuel myself until early evening, when I knock off around 6:30-or 7:-00 p.m.
How was working with former NYC Mayor Ed Koch?
He was terrific, had a great sense of humor, was very charming yet a commanding presence. He
wanted to be as hands-on as possible, and he is definitely—as you might imagine—a creative thinker
and a colorful character! We have something pretty important in common—we are both passionate
about New York City—so we got along really well.
Are we going to see any of your books on the Big Screen or TV mini series soon??
My Lily Dale series was optioned for television and I had several meetings in L.A. with producers and
networks but nothing solid to report yet. I have several other irons in the fire but can’t talk about them
yet. Keep your fingers crossed!
What was the worst job you ever had?
I did temp phone work for a marketing company back in the late ‘80s, when I first moved to New
York City—the money was good, the hours were flexible and I was totally broke and trying to make it as
a writer. It was fun in the sense that it was a night job, with a bunch of theatrical types who were all
trying to make it on Broadway, on television, as musicians, etc. When the boss was out we all had fun in
the office, though—we laughed a lot, played games, gossiped—anything to not have to make those
horrible calls. We had to cold-call people and ask them a series of questions, but only one counted:
What is your annual household income? That question was buried among the others so that it wasn’t as
noticeable and you could possibly get people to answer it. I can’t believe how many people freely gave
out personal information over the phone to a total stranger—and I hated being the total stranger asking
for it!
What is on your Ipod right now?
It’s pretty full and the list is eclectic, so here are some of the highlights off the top of my head:, a lot
of U2 (I’m a huge U2 fan!); Dean Martin, Smashing Pumpkins, Elvis, Bic Runga, Kanye West, Mercury
Rev (a close friend’s band); the soundtrack for Sondheim’s SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE, which
I’m seeing on Broadway next week; some Christmas music I need to remove now that it’s March; The
Office (my favorite show); and the kiddie movie CARS, which my nine year-old son downloaded for his
iPod—it somehow wound up on mine, too and I can’t seem to get it off!
These days, I rarely get a chance to read for pleasure, so I look back to my childhood favorites to
answer this question. I’d have to say all nine titles in the Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder; I
practically know them by heart to this day. Those books—which are autobiographical fiction--were
instrumental in my own decision to become an author. I was inspired knowing that despite hardships
and a humble beginning, the heroine, Laura—who after nine books seemed like a close friend--grew up
to become a famous author, which was my own childhood dream. I was a little obsessed, and my
parents encouraged it—I became an expert on her life, and even retraced her family’s travels when my
parents let me (at age 10!) plan a road trip from New York to the Ozarks to visit her home and Mark
Twain’s (another favorite author of mine).
I've often wondered why people write under a different name. Why did / do you
write under Wendy Markham??
It’s all about branding. I had already gained some notoriety and success as Wendy Corsi Staub—my
own name—with my suspense novels, and I didn’t want to muddy the waters when I was invited by a
publisher to try writing chick lit. That’s when Wendy Markham was born. Readers of a Wendy Corsi
Staub novel know by the name on the cover just what they’re going to find inside: plenty of twists,
cliffhangers, and murders. I didn’t want them picking up one of my novels and finding the characters
shoe shopping and gossiping over margaritas. That’s what readers can expect to find in an early Wendy
Markham novel, although she’s (I’ve) branched out into romantic comedy and women’s fiction as well.
Was it or is it difficult to jump from writing Romance to Young Adult to Suspense /
Thriller novels?
Really, it’s not difficult for me at all. Just as most people don’t limit themselves to one genre as
readers, I enjoy tapping into different genres as a writer. I’m blessed with being naturally high energy
and thus prolific, and tend to shift gears pretty easily whenever I begin a new project.
If you could interview any person, alive or dead, who would it be and why?
It would of course be my mom, who died of breast cancer over two years ago—she was just in her
early sixties. We were really close and I am constantly thinking of things I want to ask her—not just
when my kids are sick, or when I need a recipe, but even things I wish I had thought to find out about
her life and our past. I still reach for the phone to call her almost every day.
If you could go back in time and solve any mystery for yourself, what would it be?
What a fun question. For me, it’s not a mystery—not in my opinion, anyway, because to me it’s
“solved”—but I’m really curious about the Lizzie Borden case. I’ve read volumes about it and spent
some time researching it in Fall River; I think I may have a subconscious plan to write about the case or
work it into a future novel somehow! Having pored over piles of books, old documents, and transcripts,
I’m convinced she was guilty, but I have lingering questions about the logistics and whether she had an
accomplice.
Do you have any superstitions that you do before you begin writing or after you
finish writing a novel?
No superstitions, but I do have rituals. I can only write on my desktop computer in my home office,
and I tend to sit with my right leg bent under me and my left foot on the chair, knee somewhere around
my shoulder. When I’m on a deadline, which lately is perpetual, I work seven days a week and I like to
start early, at around 4:30 a.m., before the day has left any kind of imprint on my mood, and I need a
lot of coffee to fuel myself until early evening, when I knock off around 6:30-or 7:-00 p.m.
How was working with former NYC Mayor Ed Koch?
He was terrific, had a great sense of humor, was very charming yet a commanding presence. He
wanted to be as hands-on as possible, and he is definitely—as you might imagine—a creative thinker
and a colorful character! We have something pretty important in common—we are both passionate
about New York City—so we got along really well.
Are we going to see any of your books on the Big Screen or TV mini series soon??
My Lily Dale series was optioned for television and I had several meetings in L.A. with producers and
networks but nothing solid to report yet. I have several other irons in the fire but can’t talk about them
yet. Keep your fingers crossed!
What was the worst job you ever had?
I did temp phone work for a marketing company back in the late ‘80s, when I first moved to New
York City—the money was good, the hours were flexible and I was totally broke and trying to make it as
a writer. It was fun in the sense that it was a night job, with a bunch of theatrical types who were all
trying to make it on Broadway, on television, as musicians, etc. When the boss was out we all had fun in
the office, though—we laughed a lot, played games, gossiped—anything to not have to make those
horrible calls. We had to cold-call people and ask them a series of questions, but only one counted:
What is your annual household income? That question was buried among the others so that it wasn’t as
noticeable and you could possibly get people to answer it. I can’t believe how many people freely gave
out personal information over the phone to a total stranger—and I hated being the total stranger asking
for it!
What is on your Ipod right now?
It’s pretty full and the list is eclectic, so here are some of the highlights off the top of my head:, a lot
of U2 (I’m a huge U2 fan!); Dean Martin, Smashing Pumpkins, Elvis, Bic Runga, Kanye West, Mercury
Rev (a close friend’s band); the soundtrack for Sondheim’s SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE, which
I’m seeing on Broadway next week; some Christmas music I need to remove now that it’s March; The
Office (my favorite show); and the kiddie movie CARS, which my nine year-old son downloaded for his
iPod—it somehow wound up on mine, too and I can’t seem to get it off!
