About James LePore, lawyer, photographer and writer:

Rebeca Schiller: It seems that lawyers who become writers are fairly adept in writing suspense genre novels. Is this your niche and will you stick with it or have you written in other genres?

James LePore:I am drawn to the suspense genre probably for the same reason I was drawn to trial work as a lawyer. The drama inherent in both seems to stimulate my imagination in ways that other genres—and other legal specialties—do not. I think something has to be at stake for a story to be interesting; the higher the risk, the more likely it is the reader will start to root for a character. This being the case, I will likely stick with the suspense genre for a while. It seems to be in my blood.

RS: Years ago, a novice writer told me that he wanted to take up photography because he felt that composing a picture would help with his writing–to show rather than tell. Do you find that your skills in photography have given you an edge in describing scenes, characters, and action?

JL: I do. For many years I looked at the world either through an actual or an imaginary viewfinder, and asked myself, what information does this piece of the world—this potential image—convey? That was how I learned what the elements of a good photograph are, and it is that experience that has been invaluable in helping me to describe scenes and settings in my writing in a way that (I hope) put a vivid picture in the reader’s mind. I would recommend to any writer to take a basic photography class and to play with the camera. The two disciplines are not as far apart as they seem.

 About A World I Never Made:

RS: As one of the lead characters in the story, Megan Nolan is not very sympathetic. Was that your intention when you fleshed her out or did she take shape as you kept writing?

JL: Megan was always going to be a character who was difficult to like, but who would change, even act heroically, when she realized where her bad decisions had led her. When the stakes were high enough, Megan went all in. Her courage, at least, could not be doubted.

RS: The Roma play important roles in the novel, what inspired you to include them?

JL: There was a gypsy family that lived in my neighborhood when I was growing up. The boys my age were unbelievably clannish and unfriendly. One day I woke up and they were gone and they have fascinated me ever since.

When Megan needs a place to really hide, it came to me that the Roma would be a realistic answer. They have a disdain for the wider culture and a fierce privacy ethic that I felt would make them ideal for Megan’s purposes.

RS: You mention the Madrid bombings, did they spark the idea for A World I Never Made?

JL: I had been to Morocco a few years before the bombings so when they happened I was very interested. They did not spark the idea for A World I Never Made, but they are a historical fact around which I felt much of the plot and the personal story lines could revolve.

About Writing and Books:

 RS: If you read through writers’ blogs, it seems that procrastination is one of the big hurdles they encounter on a daily basis. Are you disciplined writer with a schedule or do you fall in the trap “that tomorrow is another day” and do something else?

JL: I have been lucky. When I engage with a story and a core group of characters, procrastination is not possible. I write every day, taking the occasional day off to rest or to attend to iron-clad obligations.

RS: Once you decided to write, did you join any writing groups, take classes, buy books on the craft of writing etc?

JL: I did not write well at first, but I met an editor who must have recognized some potential and who’s work with me was very informative and formative. That was my training.

RS: Who are you currently reading?

JL: I am re-reading John D. MacDonald’s Travis McGee series. There is something about them, a sense of excitement I think, that I wanted to re-experience.

RS: Which writers do you admire and why?

JL: I love knock-out mystery and noir: Raymond Chandler, P.D. James, Patricia Highsmith, James Ellroy, Walter Mosley, Elmore Leonard, and a few others. I admire them because they have mastered all or a great deal of a very difficult craft. Who is more noir than Chandler, more eerie than Highsmith, more down than Mosley?

To introduce Jeff to my readers, I though I would post his fascinating interview with New York Times reporter and author Warren St. John, who discusses his new book Outcasts United: A Refugee Team, an American Town .

From the Random House website, below is a brief synopsis of Outcast United:

The extraordinary tale of a refugee youth soccer team and the transformation of a small American town

Clarkston, Georgia, was a typical Southern town until it was designated a refugee settlement center in the 1990s, becoming the first American home for scores of families in flight from the world’s war zones—from Liberia and Sudan to Iraq and Afghanistan. Suddenly Clarkston’s streets were filled with women wearing the hijab, the smells of cumin and curry, and kids of all colors playing soccer in any open space they could find. The town also became home to Luma Mufleh, an American-educated Jordanian woman who founded a youth soccer team to unify Clarkston’s refugee children and keep them off the streets. These kids named themselves the Fugees.

Set against the backdrop of an American town that without its consent had become a vast social experiment, Outcasts United follows a pivotal season in the life of the Fugees and their charismatic coach. Warren St. John documents the lives of a diverse group of young people as they miraculously coalesce into a band of brothers, while also drawing a fascinating portrait of a fading American town struggling to accommodate its new arrivals. At the center of the story is fiery Coach Luma, who relentlessly drives her players to success on the soccer field while holding together their lives—and the lives of their families—in the face of a series of daunting challenges.

This fast-paced chronicle of a single season is a complex and inspiring tale of a small town becoming a global community—and an account of the ingenious and complicated ways we create a home in a changing world.

To listen to Jeff’s southern drawl and terrific interview go to Reading and Writing Podcast.

An interview with Rebeca Schiller of Alvah’s Books blog

An interview with Rebeca Schiller of Alvah’s Books blog

Tell me about your Blog?

Alvah’s Books is a book review site. It’s named after my favorite author Alvah Bessie. Alvah was a veteran of the Abraham Lincoln Brigades who fought in the Spanish Civil War, he was a novelist, the literary and drama critic of The New Masses, screenwriter, and one of the Hollywood Ten. For Alvah’s Books, I review literary fiction and non-fiction. I also include essays, author interviews and publishing news.

What was your first blog?

My first blog was A Novel Approach.  It was supposed to be a blog chronicling the trials and tribulations of writing my novel. It was discontinued because it turned more into a lament about my job. It morphed into Exiled at the Beach: A Year’s Chronicle in Creativity.

What is the biggest tip you would give to a newbie blogger?

Have a plan. Think of your blog as a magazine. Think of what you want to publish daily and make it interesting.

To read the rest of the interview, go to Murray Newland’s site. Thanks Murray for the great opportunity!

In any event, Ms. Picoult came across as very personable, and unlike Jonathan Littell, she’s seems like the everyman’s writer. Below is a quick interview from The Independent:

Cultural Life: Jodi Picoult, author

 Interview by Charlotte Cripps

Friday, 1 May 2009 

Inside a ‘perverted fairyland’

The author of the controversial novel The Unkindly Ones talks to the Globe about the brutality of war and his effort to do it justice

Peter Scowen

Globe and Mail Update

May 1, 2009 at 5:29 PM EDT