DIGITAL MEDIA GHOST
  • Publication
  • #GhostsWriteIt Spotlight
    • Writer Spotlight Submission
  • Services
    • Digital Strategy
      • Content Marketing
      • Law Firm Marketing
      • Social Media Management
    • Ghostwriting
    • Public Relations
      • Social Sabotage & Online Privacy
        • Social Media Policy Template
  • About
  • Publication
  • #GhostsWriteIt Spotlight
    • Writer Spotlight Submission
  • Services
    • Digital Strategy
      • Content Marketing
      • Law Firm Marketing
      • Social Media Management
    • Ghostwriting
    • Public Relations
      • Social Sabotage & Online Privacy
        • Social Media Policy Template
  • About
Search

Author of the Week: Waverly Fitzgerald

6/19/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
PHOTO: WAVERLY FITZGERALD
by Will Viharo

Some people are just born writers, and Waverly Fitzgerald is one of those people. Her lifelong passion for literature is generously, and successfully, shared with her fans spanning several fields of fiction.
​

Whether her protagonist is a historical figure of a talking dog detective, Waverly Fitzgerald puts her readers inside the world of her vivid imagination, which feels as real and timely as the one outside your window.





Waverly Fitzgerald puts her readers inside the world of her vivid imagination.


It continues to both amaze and frankly intimidate me how many great authors are not only in the world generally, but right here in my town of Seattle. I’ve had the pleasure of personally meeting many of them via my Noir at the Bar Seattle live reading series, including Waverly Fitzgerald.

Like me, Waverly has her own imprint, called Rat City Publishing, but unlike me, she doesn’t only publish her own work, but many prominent authors in the thriving Puget Sound crime fiction scene, including her frequent collaborator, Curt Colbert.  But before she founded her own press, Waverly boasts an impressive list of accomplishments in the publishing industry. 

Here, Waverly talks about both her personal professional history and historic literature, which is only one of her many wheelhouses of educated, entertaining expertise.

You started your career in earnest when you were only 13, publishing your third novel by the time you were 25, both ages when most people barely have a clue what they want to do with their lives. Do you consider writing a conscious career decision, a creative compulsion, a personal quest, or all three?

Great question. I’m not one of those writers who feels compelled to write. I love to write, that’s all. I love being immersed in imaginary worlds. I love playing around with words. And I love the surprises that show up when I’m writing—my characters are always doing things that surprise me. Early on in my life, I noticed that some of my favorite writers (mostly female romance writers) were able to make a living writing novels and that seemed like a great career to me.

Your specialty is historical fiction. What do you believe is the appeal of combining fact with fantasy, especially in an era where “truth" is becoming subjective?
​

Historical fiction appeals to me because it imposes restrictions on my imagination, just like writing in a genre (for instance, mystery or romance) does. I also love doing research—it’s another place where I run into surprises. I try to make my books as historically accurate as possible, even to the point of researching the weather on a particular day. It helps me feel my way into that time period, which is why I write historical fiction. It’s the closest I can get to time travel.

But I also work hard to accurately portray the time period I’m writing about. It drives me crazy when writers focus on the more grotesque aspects of the culture or, on the other hand, dress modern characters up in period costume and have them espouse enlightened beliefs. When I was in college at UCLA, taking a class on the history of the Ottoman Empire, I wrote a paper analyzing all the novels by Western writers written about that place and time. It was interesting to see how the attitude shifted depending on the author’s background. We always see another time period through our particular filter.

Along with your fellow Seattle author Curt Colbert, you’ve published several humorous mysteries featuring a talking Chihuahua, combining two popular topics: crime and animals. What is your process when collaborating on a writing project?

Curt and I collaborate all through the process of writing one of the novels in the Barking Detective series. We toss around concepts at our weekly meetings. Curt writes one chapter and tries to leave it at an interesting place. He reads it out loud to me and then I take it home and write the next chapter. Usually we follow the improv rule, which is always say yes. In other words, whatever your partner hands you, you roll with it. I remember being quite annoyed when we were writing Chihuahua Confidential. Curt had Pepe sniffing a mysterious package (our MacGuffin) and declaring it smelled like nacho-flavored Doritos, but I went with it and it turned out to be an important clue. I do a light edit on Curt’s chapters when I write mine, usually tightening up the language and adding background information. I think part of the reason our collaboration works is that Curt lets me have the last word!

What are your influences, literary or otherwise?

I’ve always been a fan of popular fiction. When I was in high school, I read my friend Jeanne’s mother’s Gothic novels and Regency romances. I think those were a huge influence on me. When I stopped writing historical romances (after Doubleday published three of them), I took a break from writing novels for a while and then I started writing mysteries.

I totally missed the Golden Age of mysteries as a reader, and I’ve never been an Agatha Christie fan, but I love PI novels. I have an almost complete collection of John D MacDonald mysteries. I’m also a big fan of the LA noir-ish novelists: James Ellroy, Robert Crais and Michael Connelly. I like books about places I’ve lived, so I also love Sue Grafton’s work since I went to school in Santa Barbara (I mean Santa Teresa!).

In the historical mystery field, I enjoy the writing of Ellis Peters, Stephanie Barron, Ashley Gardner, Ralph Peters and Bruce Alexander. Lately I’ve been reading historical mysteries set in other countries, most notably books by Abir Mukherjee (The Rising Man) on India at the end of the 19th century and Jason Goodwin (The Janissary Tree) writing about the Ottoman Empire in the early 19th century.

What’s next for you?

I’m currently working on two historical novels, one set in late Victorian London, which features a trance medium who channels a spirit who claims she was murdered. And another one set in England in 1643 during the English Civil War, which focuses on an herbalist living in a village full of Parliamentary supporters who rescues and heals a tortured Royalist spy. I’m fascinated by that period because it was a time of extreme polarization in both politics and religion. People were willing to kill for their beliefs and they used propaganda in the form of “fake news” to influence others. I’m planning to go to England to do research this summer. Another advantage of being a writer!

Cheers to that! Thanks Waverly!

BIO:
Waverly Fitzgerald is a writer and teacher, reader and student, author and publisher, passionate researcher and urban naturalist. She wrote her first novel at 13 and sold her third novel at the age of 25. For many years she wrote historical fiction set in Victorian London. For the past fifteen years, she’s been writing mysteries. Waverly has been teaching writing since the publication of her first novel. She teaches writing classes online for Creative Nonfiction and throughout the Seattle area for organizations like Richard Hugo House.
  

WEBSITE
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    Become a Ghostwriter!
    Picture
    Contribute to DMG
    Picture
    BECOME A GUEST CONTRIBUTOR
    Picture
    PROMOTE YOUR BUSINESS BY GUEST POSTING
    Picture
    ARE YOU A GHOSTWRITER? WE WANT TO KNOW!
    Picture
    DO YOU HAVE A GHOSTWRITING BUSINESS?

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    Agency Spotlight
    Business
    Digital Marketing
    Ghost In A Flash
    Ghostwriting
    Media Relations
    Privacy Concerns
    Social Sabotage
    Technology
    Writer Spotlight
    Writing

    Advertising Disclaimer

    Archives

    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    May 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012

Find your domain and create your site at Weebly.com!
Digital Media Strategy
Content Marketing
Law Firm Marketing
Search Engine Optimization
Social Media Marketing
eBooks
Writing
Becoming a Ghostwriter
Blogging
Content Marketing
Ghostwriting Services
Guest Post Guidelines
Media Relations
Online Crisis Management
Personal Brand
Public Relations
Reputation Management
About
Our Team
Our Results
Testimonials
Contact Us
Locations:
New Orleans, LA
Nashville, TN

DMG University
Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Cookie Policy
Digital Media Ghost  @2020
  • Publication
  • #GhostsWriteIt Spotlight
    • Writer Spotlight Submission
  • Services
    • Digital Strategy
      • Content Marketing
      • Law Firm Marketing
      • Social Media Management
    • Ghostwriting
    • Public Relations
      • Social Sabotage & Online Privacy
        • Social Media Policy Template
  • About