Introducing Gini Wilson

by Diana Lee Johnson

Hello, Gini, As you probably know by now, my assignment is to interview you for our January releases. I can only assume you are new, at least to "Wings", since I don’t find a Gini Wilson listed among the authors.  So let’s let everyone get to know something about you.

1. Since I don’t even know the name of your book, would you please tell us, give the genre, and perhaps let us in on where the title came from?

The name of my book is All That Glitters. The title is a direct reference to something that happens in the book. Because the book is a Romantic Suspense that’s all I’ll say for now.

2. Would you like to tell us a little about the story?

What would you do if a stranger came into your shop and dropped dead at your feet? This is the dilemma Kate Storm faces while she waits to meet a U.S. Government Agent. She has worked hard to re-balance her life after her husband was killed in a bombing of a restaurant in Germany. Now, years later, she knows that her life will never be the same after Jake Elliott barges into her life.

3. What is the driving force behind your desire to write?

People keep trying to get out of my head. If I write their story, they finally leave me alone.

4. Have events in your own life colored your prose, and if so, can you share an example?

Of course! Life colors the artist who in turn paints images on the canvas for all to interpret into their own life. My canvas is a blank page and my paint is words. In All That Glitters, the heroine is a jeweler. I was a jewelry designer/manufacturer for ten plus years which helped me bring reality to Kate’s profession.

5. How do your characters come to life for you? Do you create your characters, or do they simply evolve with the story?

I may start out with a particular character in mind, but aside from birthday and general appearance, they evolve into who they choose to be. I learned a long time ago that they know who they are a lot better than I. Secondary characters usually stay as I write them, but I have very little choice as to how hero and heroine act.

6. Do you write a detailed description of them? And if so, do you do it before or after they "come on the scene" in your story?

I know where and when they were born, their height and weight and coloring. That’s it. The rest just happens.

7. Do you plot out your story beginning to end first, or does it develop as you write?

I know how the book starts and how it ends. Ideas I get along the way I bounce off my husband as whether or not it works for him. He always has two or three mysteries novels going all the time.

8. With what authors, if any, do you dream of being mentioned in the same breath by an avid reader?

Oh, that could be a long list! Ann Maxwell/Elizabeth Lowell, Jayne Ann Krentz/Amanda Quick, Nora Roberts/J.D.Robb, Tom Clancy– As you can see, I aspire to the heights.

9. Do you have other works published?

Some years ago, I wrote "How-to" articles (16 of them) published over a two year period. And a book (small) of poetry, as well as a number of newsletter articles which were published. And a number of novels, not published, "hidden under the bed."

10. Do you have other stories/manuscripts in the works, or finished and waiting? If so, tell us more. If not, what do you think you’d like to tackle next?

Yes, I have a new book that needs a chapter and a half for completion. Now that the holidays are almost behind us, it will soon be whipped into shape. It is my first Texas book.

11. If the Blue Fairy showed up with her magic wand, what wish would you ask to transform your art at this point in your writing career?

I’d just ask that the word fairy would just keep feeding me complex stories peopled with unforgettable characters. (And help me type faster.)

12. What brought you to Wings?

People I had worked with before and offered their support when it was sorely needed. I feel like I’ve come home!

Whatever it was, welcome aboard.

Thanks for introducing yourself. Hope to see much more of you in print.

Gini’s parting words?  “Now I have a question for you, Diana. May I plagiarize your questionnaire. Why reinvent the wheel?”