Yay! Book Club!!
This week, I'm super psyched to share a little interview I did with Tawna Fenske, who writes some of the funniest romantic comedies of all time. Of course, by "interview," I mean that I sent her five questions that she replied to via email, but that's really neither here nor there. Haha!
Okay, let's get on with it, shall we?
*puts on interviewer pants*
1. Interactive fiction is pretty much the
funnest (yes, funnest—spellcheck and I currently disagree on its status as a
word) way to read a book because I, as a reader, get to participate in the
story. Is your creative process any different when you know you have to write
alternate ways that things can go down?
One of the toughest things for me when it
comes to writing fiction is the constant second-guessing of every decision I
make as an author. Should she call this
guy or that one? Should she go to the bar or stay home? I always use my
best judgment, but there have been times over the years I would have KILLED for
someone to just tell me what readers would prefer. Fortunately, Coliloquy
prevented me from having to murder anyone. With interactive fiction, I don’t
have to make the decisions. I can write multiple versions and let readers choose
what they prefer. When I see the aggregated data later, I can use that to shape
how future episodes unfold. It’s very empowering, and makes the creative
process so much more fun for me because I’m not obsessing about every little
choice I make.
2. Speaking of going down (ha), where did the
idea for The Great Panty Caper come from? My hope is that it wasn’t from a
personal panty-thievery-experience, although I’m sure that would be a killer
story. ;)
I wondered if anyone would ever ask! About 15
years ago, a colleague and I took a business trip to Scottsbluff, Nebraska. We
had separate rooms and work schedules, but met up for breakfast a few days into
the trip. “I have to tell you something,” she said with an embarrassed look on
her face. “I’ve been stuffing my dirty underwear in a trash bag to take home
and launder at the end of the trip, but this morning I realized the bag was
missing.” I tried to pretend I was horrified for her benefit, but I couldn’t
stop laughing or coming up with far-fetched scenarios involving someone
breaking into her room to steal her panties. We both ended up seeing the humor
in the situation (and assuming it was an honest mistake by the cleaning staff)
but I never stopped thinking that would be a good setup for a story. Turns out
it was!
3. I read on your blog that your (recent) fiancé
(congrats!) likes to help you research things for your writing (this post is about figuring out boobs-pressed-against-back logistics—awesome). What’s the
strangest thing you’ve found yourself researching? (Yes, I’m aware that I could
be opening a proverbial can of scantily-clad beans, haha!)
LOL, I suppose it depends on how you define
strangest. I often bookmark pages I use while researching books. Since I’m on a
crazy publication schedule right now (four books and two novellas releasing
with three different publishers in a twelve month span—yikes!) I’ve got a lot
of odd-looking links in my bookmark cache. Here’s a random sampling:
·
10 incredibly bizarre sexual practices
·
Nicknames and euphemisms for breasts
·
How can I make money selling used panties?
·
Infidelity testing and semen detection
·
The best of British slang
·
What do colorblind people see?
·
10 ways to clear a building with a firearm
·
Prolapsed hemi-penis in lizards
·
Baked salmon with warm mango salsa
Four of those were specifically for The Great
Panty Caper, and the rest were for my other romantic comedies. Or for my
dinner. I’ll let you guess which.
4. You really have a knack for dialogue and
sometimes I read the witty exchanges so quickly that it’s hard for my When you
are writing dialogue, does it come easily? Do you practice it out loud?
It’s funny, reviewers often praise my
dialogue, and I feel a little guilty about it. Dialogue is the easiest thing
for me to write, and sometimes I do it just for fun when I’m stuck in a plot
hole or when I have no idea where a story is going. The dialogue between the
Shultz sisters is particularly fun, and I love the dynamic between the two
sisters. Since I’ve never had a sister, I spent a lot of time researching and
watching sisterly relationships before I started writing this series. I’ll
admit I sometimes realize I’m thinking of myself as some sort of invisible
third sister in their scenes. I never read dialogue out loud, but I do spend a
fair amount of time fine-tuning to make sure things sound natural.
5. Do you have a favourite scene in The
Great Panty Caper? Something that, when you read, you can’t help but smile to
yourself? If so, can you describe it a bit without being spoiler-y?
I
think I’m most fond of the scene where JJ questions the event staff manager who
can’t bring herself to say underwear,
so JJ has to keep finishing the woman’s sentences with creative words for
panties. I also enjoyed coming up with potential names for the little kit Lori created
for women to tuck in their handbags in case of an unexpected overnight fling.
***
So if this interview made you laugh even a bit, then be sure to check out The Great Panty Caper! It's a really great novella, and you can read my review here.
