Friday, June 29, 2012

TBR welcomes Cynthia Racette

TBR: Welcome to TBR, Cynthia. Will you share a little bit about yourself?
Cynthia: Hubby and I are newly retired and I've been writing forever. After I joined RWA, I started to sell. We have two way too adorable granddaughters, three and four, but we never spoil them. Hee hee! We love everything with water: boats, beaches, swimming, etc. Oh, and I read voraciously and have since a small child. The Bobbsey Twins are my first memory of reading books other than See Spot Run.

TBR: Tell us about Windswept and where it's available.
Cynthia: My novel Windswept, is women's fiction and a story about betrayal and redemption in a family of three where the family's beloved sailboat plays a pivotal part of the whole tale. Human nature, betrayal from two sources, and the fury of Mother Nature perhaps deciding it all.

TBR: What inspired you to write about the theme?
Cynthia: My hubby and I have always been sailors and I wanted to write a story where a sailboat would almost be a character in the story. I think I've succeeded. Others have told me so.

TBR: Are you a plotter or pantser?
Cynthia: Definitely a plotter. Being a pantser would drive me crazy. The men from the psych center would find me hanging from the ceiling with my fingernails dug into the plaster if I tried to write pantserish.

TBR: How do you develop your characters?
Cynthia: I write a character study for all four of the top characters so I know everything about them. By the end I know whether they go to church, what they look like, what movies they like, where they went to school. Everything. It's enormously handy to have all those things at hand to refer to at a moment's notice.

TBR: Do you have a favorite quote you’d like to share?
Cynthia: "To see the world in a grain of sand, And heaven in a wild flower, Hold infinity in 
the palm of your hand, And eternity in an hour." Wm. Blake, Auguries of Innocence.

TBR: Did any music inspire your book? Do you have a playlist?
Cynthias: I love to listen to music but cannot abide music when I'm writing, nor TV nor God forbid, radio. I like quiet or I get distracted.

TBR: Which of your characters would you most/least like to invite to dinner, and why?
Cynthia:  David. He would be a fascinating character—very smart and with high values, in spite of what he did. Most of his punishment was self-imposed remorse. He beat himself up so badly over what he did, he didn't need anyone else to.

TBR: While creating your books, what was one of the most surprising things you learned?
Cynthia: How, once I started, I couldn't stand not writing. I have to have a work in progress or I break out in hives.  LOL

TBR: Tease us with one little thing about your fictional world that makes it different from others.
Cynthia:  Windswept gets caught in a waterborne tornado called a waterspout.

TBR: What's next for you?
Cynthia:  I'm currently revising my new novel with the working title of Fall Down Flat. A woman's husband is killed in a tragic accident caused by a drunken driver. She has never had a job, never had to deal with finances and never been completely alone with no one to rely on. When her daughter is arrested for shoplifting, she decides she has to make a life for herself and her children.

TBR: Any other published works?
Cynthia:  Just Windswept and a handful of articles and short stories.

TBR: What’s the most challenging aspect of writing? Most rewarding?
Cynthia: Challenging: Finding time and opportunity to write every day. Rewarding: Seeing your work in print and knowing you're giving pleasure to someone and maybe even affecting some aspect of their lives.

TBR: What’s the most interesting comment you have received about your books?
Cynthia: Someone told me one of my stories had made them cry. She actually teared up again when she told me about it.

TBR: Who are some of your favorite authors and books? What are you reading now?
Cynthia: JK Rowling—Harry Potter. The Fellowship of the Rings by Tolkein. Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell. Heaven is For Real by Todd Burpo. I just finished reading (and plan on implementing) a book on writing, Beginnings, Middles, and Ends by Nancy Kress. Looking forward to book #2 of Hunger Games.

TBR: Where can readers find you on the web?
Cynthia: www.cynthiaracette.com

TBR: Is there anything you’d like to ask our readers?
Cynthia:  Do you like books that deal with the whole family and how the children react to the adults' situation or do you prefer to just get the man/woman situation and cut to the chase?

Where to buy Windswept:

TBR: Thanks for visiting TBR, Cynthia. All the best to you.

1 comment:

Talk to TBR guests!