Today's Chat with Sarah features Jerry Lambert author of Minor Arcana.
To view the official review, click here.
To view the book on Amazon, click here.
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1. When did you know you wanted to be an author?
I was always a prolific reader and I wrote from a young age. With the encouragement of teachers and professors I won a few awards for writing in high school and college. That was when I knew I wanted to be an author. But I ended up working in another profession and owning a successful business for many years before finally taking the time to do what I had always loved, writing.
2. Describe what a typical day of writing is like for you.
I get up at five in the morning and have my coffee, and then I'm ready to write. I usually spend about four hours in the morning writing before heading off to my business. When I come home I will often continue writing or editing for a few hours. Once I began to treat writing as my career, carving out time for my craft became easy.
3. Who or what most influenced your writing style?
Growing up I had eclectic tastes, from Stephen King and Anne Rice to Anne Tyler, John Irving, and Dominick Dunne. My tastes were all over the place. Readers make good writers because it helps you learn pacing and plotting in your genre. Now my influences are more Dan Simmons, Preston & Child, Diane Setterfield, and Shirley Jackson.
4. Let's discuss your book Minor Arcana. Why crime?
I have always been a big fan of crime/mystery and also of the paranormal. I wanted to pull those two genres together into a thriller with a paranormal twist. Originally I thought I was going to go fully into horror, but it turned out that the characters I created wanted to go in a different direction and I'm glad I followed.
5. The reviewer discusses your world-building, considering it the book's greatest strength. How did you make New Orleans come to life so vividly?
Mainly because I was born and raised in the south and New Orleans was like a second home. It has always been one of my favorite places in the world to visit. Queen of Swords takes place mostly in the bayou country of Louisiana in 1850s and present day. Minor Arcana takes place mostly in the mansions of New Orleans’ Garden District, which is a place I love. I think my appreciation of the city comes out and helps make for rich descriptions and adds to the feeling of being there. I want to be immersed in a world when I am reading and that is what I try to deliver to my readers as well.
6. What part of the book was the most difficult for you to write?
Scenes that involve sex or romance can be difficult because that is the one thing that some people will want more of and some will want less of. Learning the balance that appeals to your audience is important, but it does take time to figure that out. I am very sex positive but from a marketing aspect learning the difference between romance and erotica is very important.
7. What came first in the book, the story or the characters?
It all starts with a story idea. A mystery may be plot driven, but well considered characters will make the story come alive. I start a story with an idea and then I develop the kind of characters I think would create the right kind of tension together. I write detailed bios for them, much of which never makes it into the actual story. That detail informs how characters will act and react.
8. This is a series. Is there another book in the works?
Yes, there is a third and final book of the trilogy is in the works. The first book, Queen of Swords, introduces the characters and the mystery of the emeralds. Minor Arcana pulls you in to a dark underbelly of New Orleans society and their reasons for searching for the emeralds. The final book will pull all the characters back together for an explosive denouement of a story two centuries in the making.
I like to end on a few fun questions. You can skip these if you wish.
9. What was your favorite book to read growing up?
I was a weird kid, so People Like Us by Dominick Dunne. The world he wrote about was so completely opposite of how I grew up that I was fascinated by all his books.
10. What do you do when you need to relax?
Most evenings when I get home I make a gin and tonic and jump in the pool.
11. Where's your favorite vacation place?
We go to Paris every year, and in fact a good bit of Minor Arcana takes place there. The third and final book spends a lot of time on the French Riviera, which is another long time favorite.
12. Would you rather be burned by fire or get frostbite?
Oh, I'd have to go with frostbite any day.
