Listen to a lively interview with Gwynne
Forster
and BAN Radio host Ella Curry, HERE.
Gwynne Forster, bestselling
and award-winning author of When the Sun Goes Down, Blues from
Down Deep, If You Walked in My Shoes, and A Different Kind
of Blues, conjures a riveting story of fractured ties,
secrets, and forgiveness in this powerful family drama in When
the Sun Goes Down, the sequel to: If You Walked In My
Shoes.
Gwynne Forster is a national
best selling author of forty-five works of fiction, including her
latest of nine mainstream novels, WHEN THE SUN GOES DOWN. Gwynne
is author of thirty-six romance novels and novellas, of which the
latest novels are DESTINATION LOVE and YES, I DO. She has won
numerous awards for fiction writing, including the Romantic Times
2007 Lifetime Achievement Award, the Romance In Color Author of the
Year award, the Gold Pen Award and has been inducted in the Affaire
de Coeur Hall of Fame.
Gwynne loves to sing, read and listen to
music, especially jazz, classical music, opera and blues. She also
loves to sing and dance, and enjoys entertaining at small dinner
parties. She lives in New York with her husband, who is her true
soul mate. Visit her website for more details on all of the
books:
www.gwynneforster.com
BPM: Mrs. Gwynne, we are celebrating the holidays!
What was your most memorable holiday from the past?
GF: My most memorable Christmas holiday was the first Christmas
Eve that I spent with the man who is now my husband. I cooked a
turkey, the first I'd ever cooked and, to my astonishment, it was a
perfect bird. Many things happened that evening that we still joke
about. We didn't know each other too well then, and we "tiptoed"
around each other, each wanting to assure the other a happy
Christmas and neither of us knowing how. We had a wonderful
evening, singing, eating, listening to music, telling each other
tall tales of our lives and, of course, exchanging gifts. I shall
never forget it.
BPM: How do you celebrate the holidays? What are the
traditions for your family?
GF: We celebrate Christmas on Christmas eve, always with a roast
goose dinner and mounds of gifts around the Christmas tree. We
began the Christmas Eve tradition when my stepson--then a
teenager--got his first girlfriend. Of course, he wanted to have
Christmas dinner with her and her family. So we invited her for
Christmas Eve, and he went to her family on Christmas day. We
liked the custom. We open the gifts after dinner on Christmas
Eve. One beauty of that is that I enjoy Christmas day with no work
to do.
BPM: What are you most thankful for today? What does
all your books have in common?
GF: I am most thankful for Jesus Christ in my life and for the
health and well being of my family and myself. My books have
different themes, but everyone of them demonstrates the importance
of loyalty and common decency and the rewards of reaching for a
higher goal.
BPM: Mrs. Gwynne please tell us about your latest
release, When the Sun Goes Down.
GF: When the Sun Goes Down deals with the strengths and
fragileness of relations among family members. When self-made
millionaire and widower Leon Farrell dies, he leaves behind a
legacy of family dysfunction-and a missing will. The possible loss
of a fortune only increases the existing tension between his three
grown children.
While handsome slacker Edgar kicks back in anticipation of his
windfall, middle child Gunther struggles to save his software
business, and fiercely independent Shirley unsuccessfully tries to
stay out of the fray. But things soon take an explosive turn. And
as the siblings find themselves battling each other to protect
their own interests, they'll face choices that could bring them
together at last-or tear them apart for good.
Caught in the middle of her brothers' ill-will, and doing her
best to keep the peace, Shirley is further unsettled when she falls
for Carson Montgomery, the smart, sexy private investigator Edgar
hires to tract down the will. And when Gunther suddenly falls ill,
Edgar's attempt to manipulate him causes a conflict of interest
that will shock them all!
BPM: Are your characters a portrayal of real
people?
GF: Not at all. Something about a person may give me an idea, but
I invent my characters.
BPM: Who did you write When the Sun Goes Down for?
Is there a message in your book that you want readers to
grasp?
GF: I wrote it for my readership. I thought that the women and men
who have read my novels over the years would enjoy a frank
discussion of some of the problems common among people of African
descent. I'm not sure you'd call it a message, because I make it a
policy not to preach to the reader. My first agent told me that it
is a writer's duty not only to entertain, but to inform. I've taken
that advice seriously, and in every book that I write, whether
mainstream fiction of a romance, I include some worthwhile
information as a part of the story.
BPM: If you could change one thing you from your road to
publication, what would you have done differently?
GF: I wouldn't have written a romance as my first book. I write
mainstream fiction, and some of my books have won awards, but they
are always judged as romances, because reviewers associate me with
romance. And when they complain about something, it's usually what
distinguished mainstream women's fiction from a romance.
BPM: Do you write full time? Describe your writing
schedule for your readers.
GF: I write full time. I get up around seven-thirty and usually
write from nine to about four Mondays through Fridays. Important
errands may interfere with the schedule, but that's basically it. I
write after dinner for about two hours, unless my husband and I are
going out or have guests. I often write on Saturdays after I've
finished my shopping and errands. I don't write on Sundays. I work
in my office, and I don't listen to the radio unless there's a
program of Mozart music.
BPM: What do your do when you're not
writing?
GF: In the summer, I'm an avid gardener. I love music-opera and
classical music, classical jazz, blues, some Sinatra/Nat Cole type
popular songs and a couple of old fashioned country singers. I
enjoy entertaining at small dinner parties and consider myself a
rather good cook. And, of course, I read.
BPM: What does your family think of your
writing?
GF: My family consists of my husband and stepson. Both are very
proud of my success as a writer and read my books. Although my
husband is an academician and not a computer expert, he makes my
fliers, brochures, and bookmarks and does an elegant job of
it.
BPM: What two pieces of advice would you give to
aspiring writers?
GF: Don't be disappointed by rejections. When you get one, clean
up the manuscript and send it to the next editor on your list. The
appraisal of fiction is, in some important aspects, highly
subjective.
GF: Learn English grammar, and cultivate an extensive
vocabulary so as to express yourself precisely as you intend. Write
each day and, if possible at the same time. Try not to get a habit
of procrastinating, and don't rewrite until, say, you've at least
written a chapter. It's best to rewrite after you finish a first
draft. Nothing worthwhile comes easy. Join a writing group such as
the local RWA group and attend writing conferences whenever
possible. Remember: if you write a page every day, at the end of a
year you can have a book.
BPM: Thank you Mrs. Gwynne for joining us
today! Readers you can find out more about Gwynne Forster
and her books at:
http://www.gwynneforster.com