And our Sue's Clues Mystery Author is:
 Our Mystery Author this round is Luanne Rice. As you will see from her interview, while at home in the city and out, Luanne is passionate about nature and the environment. You'll also see she is an author who will touch your emotions and appreciation for family.
Enjoy the interview and then take a moment to visit Luanne at her website: http://luannerice.net/
Thank you, Luanne!
1. Tell us about your sisters. How many do you have? Are you all close in age? What was the best and worst part of having sisters as a kid?
I am the oldest of three sisters, each of us two years apart. There were so many best parts of having sisters: being so close we didn’t need language, but when we used it, it was often our own, incomprehensible to anyone outside our trio. The worst part was the odd-girl-out dynamic that can’t help but occur in three-sister relationships.
2. How closely do your books reflect your relationships with your sisters? What do they think of your writing?
My books reflect the love, respect, sorrow, and wishes I have for sisterhood. I don’t base them on real events in my life, only on my deep feelings. One sister reads my novels, the other doesn’t.
3. Reading different posts on your website, I get the feeling you are very in touch with what nature has to offer - not exactly one for the city. Is that true?
Nature means everything to me. I need to connect with it many times each day and night. At the same time, I love New York City, and live there. There is so much nature here—wild places in Central Park, home to several species of owls. Owling is one of my favorite things to do. Last winter I went to an NYC beach with a friend who’s a bird photographer, and we spent freezing hours watching and photographing a snowy owl who’d flown down from the tundra.
4. What is a typical day like for you when you are writing? Do you schedule writing time or set a minimum to do a day? Or is more of when comes, it comes.
I believe in writing every day, placing myself at the desk to be ready for the muse. If I’m not waiting, she won’t know where to find me, and I might miss something wonderful.
5. What do you like to do when you are not writing?
Walking through the city or along the closest beach, working as an environmentalist to bring awareness to the fragility of our beautiful planet.
6. Have you always wanted to be a writer? When did you know that was what you were meant to do?
I’ve always written. My first poem was published when I was 11. Sad to say, I’m not suited for anything but writing in this life.
7. Tell us about your new release, THE SILVER BOAT.
My new novel is about three sisters returning to their beloved family home on Martha’s Vineyard, getting together for the first time since their mother’s death. It’s about their love and conflicts, how they deal with family secrets, and the huge question of whether to keep their family home or let go.
8. What is next? Are you working on anything now?
I have a monologue as part of a play, Motherhood Out Loud, being produced at Primary Stages in New York this fall. I’m also involved in producing the film DREAM COUNTRY, from a script I wrote with Jayce Bartok, an adaption of my novel of the same title. Mostly I’m writing a new novel.
9. Can you tell us about the time you spent as a whale researcher and deckhand? It sounds very interesting.
Long ago I had one of the most influential experiences of my life: I spent a college semester at SEA (Sea Education Association) aboard a 100’ staysail schooner, R/V WESTWARD. We sailed through the Bahamas and Leeward Islands of the Caribbean during the months of Humpback whale migration. We tracked their migratory routes, discovered calving grounds, listened to their vocalization on hydrophones. That experience led to other times at sea, and increased love, knowledge, and concern for our oceans and the creatures that inhabit them.
10. Are you involved with any organizations or activist groups for the protection of the environment, whales or such?
I’m very involved with NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council.) They have a wonderful program called BioGems that many of your readers might be interested in. Robert Redford is a passionate environmentalist, a longtime trustee of NRDC, and there’s an inspiring video of him talking about ways to help. http://www.savebiogems.org/.
*Photo credit to Adrian Kinloch |
