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| A Chat With Gloria Davidson Marlow |
A Chat With Gloria Davidson Marlow
SPnews staff: First, thanks for taking the time to let us talk to you.
GDM: Thank you for allowing me to talk to you.
SPnews staff: First of all, tell us a little about yourself.
GDM: I was born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida. I lived there with my husband and our three children until recently, when we moved to Valdosta, Georgia. I have always loved books. I enjoy writing and wish I had time to write constantly. However, I have an outside job as a clerk-typist with the Florida Department of Corrections.
SPnews staff: Your characters arrive on the stage already damaged in some way. This makes for interesting reading. How do you create them? What’s your process?
GDM: Ah, this is the answer when I sound just a bit crazy. I don't create the characters. I simply tell their stories. My process involves a faint idea of a character or characters coming into my head and my letting them have full reign. Sometimes, I know how their story goes when I begin to write it. Sometimes, I don't. When I began to write "Flowers for Megan", I had no idea who the murderer was. There were several people who could have done it, but I really wasn't sure who had until I got to the end. I found out about the same time the reader does. That made for a very interesting writing experience and, hopefully, it made the reading interesting as well. With "The Butterfly Game", I pretty much knew the end when I started writing. "Shades of Silence" was a lot like "Flowers". I knew Sara and her gift from the start, but the story took me in a direction I really had no desire to go. I put off finishing it for quite a while. In the end, the only thing I could do was let the characters tell the story they needed to tell.
When I am writing, that story is constantly on my mind. Bits and pieces come to me and I jot them down as they come, wherever I am. Sometimes, I have receipts, napkins, envelopes, and any other piece of paper in my purse covered with scenes. The worst part is that I'm even more scatterbrained than usual because at least half of my mind is always somewhere besides where I am.
SPnews staff: What do you consider the most important element of a story?
GDM: Human emotion. Plain and simple. Whatever the plot, setting, and characters are, they are all driven by human emotion. It is what draws the reader in, what connects the reader to the characters...even the villain. It is what makes the characters human and makes their world recognizable to the reader.
SPnews staff: How would you categorize your writing style?
GDM: That's the most difficult question for me. I'll give it a try, but don't be surprised if it doesn't make much sense.
I write simply. I was told by a reviewer that I don't write over the reader's head. This was given as a compliment. My writing isn't intended to showcase my intelligence or to send the reader on a quest for deeper meaning. I just want to draw the reader in and take her away from her own existence for a little while. I want to give her the enjoyment I have always found in a well-written book.
One of the best experiences as a writer is for a person who isn't a reader to be captivated by one of my books. There is a certain triumph in that, as if I've won a convert to the world of readers.
My books are equal parts romance and mystery. The romance isn't erotic. I do like a good romance novel, but I care more about the emotion behind the kiss and the emotion caused by the kiss than the mechanics of the kiss itself.
SPnews staff: When the work day is done, what is your favorite way to relax?
GDM: I really like to lose myself in a good book (although, losing myself in the mechanics and emotions of a good kiss are a close second).
SPnews staff: We know what you write, what do you read?
GDM: I read anything written by Deborah Smith, Susan Wiggs and Mary Higgins Clark. Lavyrle Spencer and Jude Deveraux are also some of my favorites. I like romance novels and romantic suspense. Whether those are historical, paranormal, or other depends on my mood when I go to the bookstore.
Thanks again for letting me talk to you.
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Gloria Davidson Marlow is the author of "Shades of Silence", "Flowers for Megan", and "The Butterfly Game". Be sure to browse SP’s download gallery for samples. Her novels are available from the online retailers on our page of links.
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| Comments |
on March 12 2007 15:17:46
Thanks for the candid look inside your world. |
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