Guest Blog Interview With Susan Whitfield
Please give us a brief bio.
Claire Applewhite is a graduate of St. Louis University, where she earned an AB in Communications and an MBA, Finance, and completed the Mercantile Leadership Program for Women. A past participant in the Summer Writers Institute at Washington University, she is a contributing writer for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Her first mystery novel, The Wrong Side of Memphis, was released in May 2009, by L&L Dreamspell. A short story, Moonlight Becomes You So, was released in June, 2009, also by L&L Dreamspell. Her romantic suspense novel, The Nearness of You, will be released in early 2010. Unchain My Heart, a romantic thriller, was recently named a Semi-Finalist in the Faulkner Creative Writing Competition. In 2009, she organized Rouge et Noir, LLC. Visit www.Claireapplewhite.com for details.
Claire is a current Board member of the Midwest Mystery Writers of America and the Missouri Writers Guild, where she is the current Vice-President and Conference Chair for the Annual 2010 Conference. Claire is an active member of the St. Louis Metropolitan Press Club, St. Louis Writers Guild, Sisters in Crime, Heartland Writers Guild and Mystery Writers of America.
When did the writing bug bite, and in what genre(s)?
In second grade, I recall writing a “novel” such as it was, but I really, really enjoyed it. I joined the school “newspaper” and wrote articles and speeches for competitions. In high school, I mostly wrote short stories, though I tried a few plays and song lyrics. I started attending summer programs for creative writing students. Later, I majored in Communications in college.
When you started writing, what goals did you want to accomplish? Is there a message you want readers to grasp?
When I started writing, I did it because I enjoyed it. Period. I liked making things up and seeing where they went—it was that simple. Later, it became a form of expression, a way to relax, unwind, forget the tension and events of the day.
Message? That a writer can relate a human interest story with a moral or message that can simultaneously be suspenseful and entertaining. I think the lines between literary and genre fiction are becoming blurred.
Briefly tell us about your latest book. Series or stand-alone?
My latest book is The Wrong Side of Memphis, released April, 2009. It is the first of a series of three books, and features a Vietnam vet turned PI who ends up at the wrong place at the wrong time to match wits with a ruthless St. Louis killer.
What’s the hook for the book?
It concerns the Journey after the Destination for those who served in and survived the Vietnam War. How they coped with devastating afterlives, their intense friendships and their current problems are explored in this book.
How do you develop characters?
I take 3-4 of the most charismatic people I know and pull one characteristic from each of them. Then, I blend those qualities into one new person.
Setting? I must visit a place to use it in a book. Feel it, smell it, hear it. Then, I have to be able to imagine the characters interacting there.
How do you determine voice in your writing? First, read the dialogue into a tape recorder and play it back—or even just read it aloud. Discover extra words or places where words are missing. Also, be aware that readers should be able to tell which character is talking without identifiers. Differentiate the ways in which one character speaks to the various people in his/her life.
Do you have specific techniques you use to develop the plot and stay on track?
I usually write the first and last chapters first. Then, I write scenes as they come to me. When I have 6 or so I arrange them in some kind of logical order and ask myself, what must happen between scenes to get to the end I chose? From then on, the scenes to be written determine themselves.
How does your environment/upbringing color your writing?
I live in the Midwest, St. Louis, Missouri, but I have lived in the South, Memphis, and in Hawaii as well. I have also traveled extensively. I think travel and exposure to different cultures is essential for a writer, as it develops appreciation for many kinds of language and traditions. It can only enrich the writing.
What are your current projects?
The Nearness of You, a romantic suspense novel, will be released in early 2010. It is the full length novel from which my short story, Moonlight Becomes You So, was derived. It can be found in the Poison, Murder Satisfaction Anthology, released May, 2009. I am also completing a standalone entitled Unforgettable, based on an entry found in a diary in the old St. Louis City Hospital.
Where can folks learn more about your books and events?
My website is www.claireapplewhite.com
Bio
A St. Louis native, Claire was raised in South County and attended Cor Jesu Academy and St. Louis University, where she earned an A.B. in Communications, and an MBA, with a concentration in Finance. Currently, she is enrolled at Washington University in St. Louis, where she is taking piano lessons and courses in music theory. Writing workshops include the St. Louis Writers’ Workshop, and the annual Summer Writers’ Institute at Washington University in St. Louis.
Claire is an active member of St. Louis Writer’s Guild, where she serves as the current Publicity Chair. She also belongs to the Heartland Writers Guild, and the Greater St. Louis chapter of Sisters in Crime, where she has served as Vice-President and Publicity Chair.
Her hobbies include her dogs, Dolly, a polite Standard Poodle, and Savannah, aka “Vanna”, a rowdy Airedale Terrier. Vanna’s photo is pictured, and coincidentally, most of the books in the collection feature an Airedale much like her. Unlike the Airedales in the books, however, Vanna does not write chapters from her point of view. She is busy being a bad-to-the-bone Airedale – Claire’s favorite kind!
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Press
Getting to know Claire Applewhite
by Meg Bergman for The St. Louis Writers Guild
Claire Applewhite may sound like a pen name but it’s the real deal. Claire was born and raised in St. Louis and, though she has traveled extensively, has determined that there really is no place like home. A member of St. Louis Writers Guild for about six months, she has been writing off and on since taking a creative writing class in the 1970s as a communications major at St. Louis University. After writing a short story for the class, she first realized writing might be her calling.
“People seemed to identify with some of my characters in their situations and dialogue and told me that I should expand some of the short stories into novels,” Claire said.
We all have significant people in our lives who chisel and mold us into the people we become, much the way we, as writers chisel our works. Claire mentions three members in her exclusive list of influential people.
“My husband continues to encourage me,” Claire tells us. “He understands and has been tolerant of all of the various demands, time commitments and deadlines facing writers. I am fortunate. It would be impossible to accomplish anything without support at home.”
Claire also credits her mother as one of her greatest cheerleaders. She passed away in 2002, but even now when she feels discouraged, Claire will look back at past e-mails her mother sent her. In one way or another they all say the same thing: “Don’t stop writing.”
Claire’s writing instructors would likely agree, particularly John Dalton, whom she met at the Washington University Summer Writers Institute. Professor Dalton asserted that “it isn’t enough to write well, because everyone writes well. The work must approach the sublime…”
This bit of wisdom has pushed Claire to continue to improve her work even when she thought it was finished.
Claire’s genre interests lie mainly in mystery, noir fiction in particular. She prefers snappy, brisk dialogue and the absurdity of the human condition. They say a writer learns most from constantly reading. Claire is doing just that, currently reading two stories simultaneously. Angry Candy and The Essential Ellison are both collections of stories written by Harlan Ellison, although her favorite author is the late Ed McBain.
Claire is hoping to be able to one day say that she sold a book. To date she has written six novels. “Four are floating in agent-land. Two are under revision.”
Claire typically writes at night after everyone else has gone to bed. However, as writers know, creative inspiration can strike when you least expect it. Some of the most unusual places Claire has written are in a darkened hotel ballroom and on the back of a paper napkin when a friend needed a speech in a couple of minutes! She’s written and edited newsletters for several non-profit organizations and carries an unusual addition to her resume – a collection of eulogies which she has been requested to write over the years. “They are probably my most emotional pieces…,” she declares.
Claire’s favorite quotation about writing is from The Art of Fiction by John Gardner.
Art has no universal rules because each true artist melts down and re-forges all past aesthetic law… It follows that for the great writer… there can be no firm rules, no limits, no restrictions. Whatever works is good. He must develop an eye for what works.
Claire is currently doing research for two more books and recently had a story accepted for publication in an anthology by L.L. Dreamspell, titled Moonlight Becomes You So.
Way to go, Claire!
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E-mail Claire
To contact Claire directly, please e-mail claireapplewhite@gmail.com.