5 Questions with Author Terrie Farley Moran

 

Welcome back! Today we are sharing our 5 question series with Author Terrie Farley Moran. 

1) How did you become an author, was it an overnight event or birth rite?

Hi Karen, oh I have often wondered if there is ever such a thing as an

“overnight success” in the field of writing. I know that I certainly took the

long way around. I began writing my first novel, the still unpublished Driven

to Death in 2003. I played with it for a couple of years and then began

querying agents. Never got a nibble. In 2006 I found out there are

organizations for mystery writers: Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of

America. I joined both and Sisters in Crime New York Tri-State had a call

for submissions for an anthology of short stories. I wrote a story, realized I

loved writing short mystery fiction and spent the next few years writing and

submitting short stories. Several were published. In the meantime I started

going to conferences where I could meet agents in person and “pitch” my

book. In 2012 Kim Lionetti of Bookends Literary, asked for a sample. After

she read it, she told me Driven to Death unpublishable and asked if I would

write something else. I jumped at the chance! As a result Well Read, Then

Dead was published by the Berkley division of Penguin Random House in

August 2014. And Kim and I moved forward from there.

2) What or who inspired your writing?

I have to give my parents full credit. They were both avid readers and

encouraged their children to read. The rule was: if the book, magazine,

newspaper etc. was in the house we were allowed to read it. We had lots of

conversations about how books came to be. And when I wrote short stories or

essays, they would always read them and tell me how great the stories were.

Safe to say Mom and Dad sealed my future.

3) How do you keep track of your ideas?

Great question. When I started writing I could make a note on any old scrap

of paper and as long as I left it lying around in the general vicinity of my

computer I could find it as needed. But I have now reached the stage where I

have to be more organized. So I write my notes in ~TA DA~ notebooks. Of

course a truly organized writer would have a notebook for each project. I, on

the other hand, pick up the nearest notebook and scribble. As a result there

are notes for three novels in the notebook with the green cover. Several other

notebooks have some pages filled as well. Still, I suppose it is better than

scraps of paper floating all around.

4) What is the one thing you need, while writing?

Karen, I know you are the one person who will not be surprised by my answer. I

need TEA! Lots of tea. All kinds of tea. Irish Breakfast, Green, Chai, Herbal, you

name it, I drink it—all day, every day but especially when I am writing. I consider

tea to be brain fuel.

5) How would you end this sentence, "Every author should own at least one of

these things..."

Based on my answer above, you wouldn’t be surprised if I answered “a kettle”!

However, I do believe every author should own a good thesaurus. I have two

Roget’s, one Random House and a dictionary of Synonyms and Antonyms by

Joseph Devlin. It is always a great shock to me when I am editing and discover that

I’ve used the same word eight times on one page. Out come my handy reference

books to save the day.

Thanks so much for inviting me here today. It was great fun talking to you.

Thank you for joining us Terrie! To learn more about books by Author Terrie Farley Moran on Facebook please click here. 

Terrie Farley Moran is thrilled to be co-author, along with Jessica Fletcher, of the long running Murder, She Wrote series. Murder, She Wrote Killing in a Koi Pond, Murder, She Wrote Debonair in Death and Murder, She Wrote Killer on the Court  will be followed by Murder, She Wrote Death on the Emerald Isle (January, 2023). She has also written the beachside Read 'Em and Eat cozy mystery series, and is co-author of Laura Childs’ New Orleans scrapbooking mysteries. Her short stories have been published in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, Mystery Weekly Magazine and numerous anthologies. Terrie is a recipient of both the Agatha and the Derringer awards.  

Join us tomorrow to see who might be next in our 5 question series.