Author Interview with Irene Woodbury

I’m interviewing Irene Woodbury today, author of women’s fiction “A Dead End in Vegas”. Welcome to my blog, Irene, and thanks for answering my interview questions.

Author Interview

1. When did you know you wanted to be an author?

Very early on, maybe when I was five or six. I would watch people and listen to them and imagine them as characters in stories. I loved writing papers in school and college, and writing letters too. I loved writing journals and diaries. I loved writing poetry. I just adored the process and hated when it stopped. Books are a good way to keep the creative process going a long, long time.

2. Where did you get the inspiration for A Dead End in Vegas?

I knew couples who met on the Internet, and then got together in person, and it went very well—at first anyway. So I did some research and read comments of people who had met online, and then in person. Most of the time, they had a wonderful, romantic experience. But I began to wonder about a situation where it didn’t go well…where it ended badly, maybe even tragically. And little by little, I started to put the plot together.

3. What is your editing process like?

I write and rewrite everything 50 to 100 times. It goes on and on and on, but that’s the only way I can work. I finally reach the point where I’m satisfied with it.

4. What was the most challenging part of writing this book?

The emotions I had to wade through to create the sad parts.

There were days where I put off work as long as possible because I knew it was a chapter that would make me sad, and I didn’t want to deal with it. Once you realize you’re doing that, you kind of shake yourself up and say: enough already with the procrastinating, get to work!

5. What are your writing goals for 2014?

My big goal for this year was to get this book finished and published. Now I’m working on the marketing, which I like. When you’re writing, you’re locked in a room with a computer for hours on end.   At least with marketing, you get to meet, and interact with, people. That’s a refreshing change.

About The Book

Title: A Dead End in Vegas

Author: Irene Woodbury

Genre: Women’s Fiction

When the nude body of Dave Sloan’s wife, Tricia, is found dead at the Bellagio in Vegas, he’s stunned.  Why was she even there when she told him she was going to a conference in Phoenix?  Tricia Sloan’s mysterious death shatters, and later transforms, the lives of those closest to her.

Author Bio

Irene Woodbury’s second novel, A DEAD END IN VEGAS, is a dark, probing look at marriage, infidelity, revenge, and grief.  Immersing herself in drama and dysfunction for months on end was a challenge for this upbeat author, whose first book, the humor novel A SLOT MACHINE ATE MY MIDLIFE CRISIS, was published by SynergEbooks in 2011.  At first glance, the two novels seem quite different, but both deal with midlife confusion and chaos, and the complexities and unpredictable nature of the human heart.  And both, of course, are partially set in Las Vegas, a city Irene got to know well during her years as a travel writer.  Between 2000 and 2005, her stories appeared in major newspapers in the U.S., Canada, and Europe. Irene, who graduated from the University of Houston in 1993, lives in Denver with her husband, Richard, a retired correspondent for Time Magazine who edited both of her novels.  The couple miss traveling, but, after two novels, Irene insists there’s no greater journey than the one into your own heart and mind.

Links

www.irenewoodbury.com

Publisher: www.synergebooks.com

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NCKEFSI

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/473657