Author Interview: Victoria Zackheim
Q: What made you decide to write this book? What is its backstory?
A: Murder at Hotel Gloriosa is the second in a 3-part series. The first, The Curtain Falls in Paris, introduces Aria Nevins, a disgraced San Francisco journalist, and Noah Roche, a senior homicide detective in Paris. Together, and despite an early and palpable animosity between them, they work together to solve the murder of an actor. It takes place during a widely publicized performance in a Paris theater and every member of the cast has a motive.
Q: How long did it take you to write this book and get it published?
A: Unlike the first in the series, which took me (are you sitting down?) twenty-nine years from first draft to publication, Murder at Hotel Gloriosa was written in perhaps six months and will be published in June.
Q: What particular challenges do you face in your writing? What is difficult for you?
A: I tend to create far too many characters. In Aria/Noah #3, that I’m outlining now, I’ve already deleted four characters. I loved them all, but I realized that I was working too hard to make them germane to the story. While I was writing Murder at Hotel Gloriosa, I was challenged by the setting. The first in this series was in Paris, so descriptions, locations, etc. were easy to describe. In Gloriosa, it takes place in the high desert above Santa Fe, N.M., so I had to do quite a bit of research to get terrain and flora descriptions accurate.
I know that a comprehensive outline is vital, and without one my stories would be disjointed and jumbled, but I find the process of creating the outline very challenging.
Q: Do you have any tips for other writers who face similar challenges?
A: Yes! If you’re a writer who follows the “Oh, I’ll just write whatever comes into my head and then sort it out later” process, you’re heading into a world of frustration. With a comprehensive outline—mine usually run over twenty pages—I can reorganize scenes, redefine characters, come up with more interesting and exciting plot lines, and do this before I’ve written one word of the novel. It saves me literally weeks, even months, of having to rewrite an entire novel that was haphazardly written.
Q: Can you talk a little about your editing experience for new writers? What made you choose your editors?
A: I have the great fortune of working with exceptional editors. When I completed Death Times Seven, the seventh in the late Anne Perry’s Daniel Pitt series, I worked with two extraordinary editors at Random House/Ballantine, Susanna Porter and Anusha Khan. If I had a question, I’d email one of them and hear back quickly, often within an hour. With my Aria Nevins/Noah Roche novels, published by Level Best Books, I quickly discovered that Shawn Reilly Simmons was a gifted editor.
If writers entrust their work to an editor, and there’s a sense that this editor is not tuned into the novel, then a change might be required. However, we writers love our stories and cringe (or suffer) when an editor recommends a change in plot or character. If this happens, it’s important to put aside our pride (or love of what we’ve written) and seriously (open-mindedly) consider the editor’s suggestions. It’s never a matter of telling our story, but of telling our story in the most compelling way possible. Often, it takes an editor to show us the way.
Let me take that same question and respond another way. I didn’t choose my editors. In these four novels, I was given an editor. But… I’m a freelance editor, so I can answer that question from the editor’s side. Writers, if and when you decide to hire an editor, be sure it’s someone who resonates with your story, your plots and characters. Ask them to give you a one-page edit, no fee, so you can see their process. If it doesn’t feel right, thank them and look for another editor. Most of my freelance work comes through www.Reedsy.com, a UK-based company with nearly 1,800 editors with an expertise in fiction, memoir, sci-fi, biography, memoir…and more!
Q: Are you a traditional or self-published author? Why did you decide this was the path for you?
A: My first novel, The Bone Weaver (2001) was a hybrid. That is, it was published by a traditional publisher that also offered a semi-self-publish program. Everything after that, including my seven anthologies and four novels, are with traditional publishers.
Q: Can you describe your publishing experience for writers who hope to publish one day?
A: For all of my anthologies and novels, I’ve been very fortunate. I enter into each relationship with my publisher with respect and gratitude, which tells the editor that I won’t be difficult or unreasonable. Too many writers treat editors like private secretaries, with the expectation that they get special treatment. But some editors are working on many books at the same time. Who will they be more receptive to…the patient and respectful author, or the prima donna demanding immediate attention? Patient and respectful keeps the project moving forward. Don’t get me wrong…as writers, we’re not genuflecting in gratitude to editors. Instead, we’re establishing a relationship where we can work as a team… with the same goal of producing the best manuscript possible.
Q: What is one piece of advice that someone gave you that you’d like to pass on to other authors?
A: Ah, now I’m channeling my dear friend, mystery writer Anne Perry. As much as she resisted that pesky outline, she finally acknowledged that it was the backbone for her last fifteen novels and novellas. The outline for the sixth Daniel Pitt novel ran around twenty-four pages, single-space. When the outline was finalized and she was certain that little needed to be added/deleted, she began to write. The outline was clipped to her writing pad (yes, longhand!) and she checked off each scene after it was written. I learned a lot from that. And to emphasize this: I just completed the lengthy outline for Aria/Noah #3, showed it to my agent and my sister (who’s a much-published author), and deleted it. Yes, it was that bad. But the new outline, the new ideas and characters, are now organized and I’ll start writing this novel next week.
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