Questions and Answers about "The Whitebridge Web"

Q: I love the cover of “The Whitebridge Web.” I actually bought it because it looked so mysterious. How did you decide on the cover art?

A: I knew the mood of the book and wanted to convey the underlying darkness. I had an image in my mind almost from the moment I came up with the title. I think a cover should draw the reader in. It obviously caught your eye.

Q: Who did your artwork?

A: A freelance artist, Jay Hulmes, created it. He exactly captured what I had in mind, only he went one step better than my vision. I would have plastered the web across the front of the covered bridge, whereas, he drew the web into the interior of the bridge, pulled the eye and reader along with it.

Q: Where did you get your idea for this book?

A: My husband and I began collecting antiques when we lived in Yorkshire, England. One particular favorite was a grandfather clock dated between 1760 and 1780, about the time the United States came into existence.

I got to wondering about who had owned it before, what kind of lives the people had lived, where they lived, etc. Then, I began wondering what kind of experiences those people may have had. I went a step further. On the premise that imprinting exists, that images may be derived from an inanimate object, I wondered what impressions one could derive from an antique that might have “seen” a murder. Only, I took it one step further, actually two, and changed the clock to a telephone and made the telephone a murder weapon.

Q: Wow! That’s imaginative. I don’t quite understand how you’d decide to do that.

A. Actually, it’s the basis for all fiction. It unleashes a world of possibilities when one wonders. The “What If” question is the most vital of all.

Q: Can you give me an example?

A: Sure. Let’s use a hypothetical. Late on Saturday afternoon, Mr.. and Mrs..Farmer are preparing for company. The food is laid out, the music playing. The summer wind plays through the lacy curtains on the open windows of their two story home.

Mr.. elderly Farmer and his wife discover a trespasser on their property. They ask why he’s there? Does he realize he’s trespassing? When he appears incoherent and unstable, they fear for their lives. They ask him to go.

He’s a drunken bum and refuses. He becomes physical when the farmer pushes him toward the front gate. At that point, the man turns around and attacks Mr. Farmer, pins him to the ground and pummels him.

Mrs. Farmer, fearful that her husband might be killed, grabs the nearest object at hand. It is a rock. She hits the stranger over the head with it. And she kills him.

Once the husband gets to his feet, they have to make a decision. They, hard working, God fearing people who’ve never had so much of a parking ticket have to make a vital decision. Should they call the Sheriff? (Good choice) or should they haul the body inside the house and hide it until they figure out what to do? (a more interesting choice). And WHAT IF these God fearing people have just brought an evil spirit into their house and the house becomes haunted? What if some of the party goers arrive early and catch them lugging the body into the house? (Now, we have more people caught in the struggle.) And what if one of them is in need of money? Blackmail?

Lots of possibilities. Only your imagination limits the story.

Q: Are you hooked on ghost stories?

A: No. There’s so many genres that I don’t like to limit the possibilities. A good story is a good story no matter what the subject.

Q: Do you have a favorite category?

A: I guess if I had to nail it down, I’d say that anything dealing with international events, spy thrillers, history, and political mysteries are among my favorites. Those and books on the Middle East and China. I’m particularly intrigued by women’s issues.

Q: Any particular reason for those choices?

A: I suppose because when I learn about other cultures, other governments, other lands, I can appreciate even more what a wonderful country we have.

Q: Anything you’ve read recently that you’d like to share?

A: I was bowled over by Lisa See’s “Snow Flower and the Secret Fan.” It took place in China during the foot binding period. I would have read it from cover to cover in one day, but we had to go out to dinner. I guess I needed sustenance to keep on going.

Q: Anything else?

A: “A Thousand Splendid Suns,” by the same fellow who wrote “Kite Runner.” The author’s name escapes me at the moment. In any case, “A Thousand Splendid Suns” is the story of two Afghani women prior to and after the Taliban took over Afghanistan. A really beautifully written, staggering book and more impressive because a man wrote from a woman’s point of view.

Q: What are you reading now?

A: Peter Navarro’s “The Coming China Wars.” It’s a non-fiction book by an economist on the worldwide impact of China’s industrialization. It’s a pretty scary picture, but one we need to understand.

Q: One last question, do you have any advice to young or even old writers?

A: Absolutely. Never quit writing. Never fall in love with your words. Be willing to change and improve what you’ve written. Join writer’s groups. Not only will they motivate you to continue writing, there will be various levels of expertise that you can tap into. Listen and learn. Then rewrite as many times as it takes to create a superior story.