Hi, Sin here. Today I’m joined by Belinda, someone my author, Shaun, met something
like four years ago. She thinks I’m
cheeky. I can’t think why.
Hi Belinda. What’s your name? Now, I realise I just said your name but,
well… erm… introduce yourself…
My name is Belinda G.
Buchanan — and before you ask, I won’t tell you what the middle initial stands
for.
I reckon it’s Glinda,
as in the good witch from Wizard of Oz.
Or perhaps Gregory. Garry? Gina?
Nah, I’ll go with Glinda. Anywho. Where are you from?
Kentucky, also known
as the bluegrass state.
You have blue
grass? Is that where James Cameron got
the idea for Avatar? Do you like living
there? If not, where would your
favourite place to live be? If yes,
where would you least like to live?
Well, I….you know,
Sin, your questions are a tad confusing. I’ve lived in a few different states
since I’ve been married, but I have to say that the city I’m living in now is
the best. It’s a small town where everyone waves at you…it’s a nice place to
raise my sons. The place I’d least like
to live would have to be the Waverly Hills Sanitarium (which has been called
the most haunted place on earth) and is less than an hour from my house.
You think I’m
confusing? You have a middle initial
without a name… although I’m the man who lost my own last name along the
way. Oh, and you live somewhere where
they have blue grass. Doesn’t it get
confusing if you go to the seaside? Do
you think you can walk on the ocean or is it swim in the sea? See, now I’m
confused. As you’re a writer, is this
your ‘day job’?
Writing is my day job,
night job, and all jobs in between - that, along with being a mom to two boys.
Sounds good. I’m sure Shaun wishes he could write all the
time. It would mean it’d be less cramped
in his head for me. Tell me about your
latest project.
‘Tragedy at Silver
Creek’ has just been released and is a novel about a small town in Montana that
is trying to cope with the aftermath of a serial killer’s reign of terror.
Let’s hope they don’t
have blue grass to contend with too.
Seriously, though, it sounds great.
I have to ask, though, how do you feel about bacon? A crazy person once said it was the food of
the gods. OK, I admit that person was
myself...
I adore bacon
and….wait…I think you’ve got some bacon juice on your chin.
Don’t you hate it
when that happens? It’s all that time in
a strait jacket. You sometimes forget
you can actually wipe your chin!
So. What is your favourite film?
It changes from year
to year as new ones come out. My current favorite is The Age of Adaline with
Blake Lively and Harrison Ford. Have you seen it? If not, you should. I mean, they have movie night here, don’t
they?
I haven’t seen it
yet, though I’ve heard good things about it.
Yes, we occasionally have a movie night and, occasionally, it’s a decent
film rather than the one we saw three weeks earlier and everyone fell asleep
at! Have you always wanted to be a
writer, or is it something you found yourself doing one day?
I began writing when I
was ten or eleven I think. Stories would just pop into my head and I’d put them
down on paper, hiding them under my mattress where only I could read them. That intensity carried over, and when I was
in my twenties, I wrote, After All Is Said and Done. I love to write stories,
and can’t imagine not doing it.
It must be fulfilling
to be able to bring your creations into life and not need to hide them. Do you have so many ideas they dribble out of
your nose if you don’t get them down, or do you have to hunt around the floor
and the back of your sofa to find where your Muse is hiding?
The words flow through
my fingertips like a running faucet, but the day after is comparable to a bad
hangover. I look at the screen on my computer and wonder what the heck was I
thinking? Type, delete, rewrite…repeat. My muse is usually right beside me, but
sometimes she disappears (maybe out of boredom, I don’t know). I wait patiently for her to return, but if
she doesn’t come back by nightfall, I leave an unwrapped KitKat on the stairs.
It usually takes her about five minutes to smell the chocolate and come around.
Ah, bribery! I like your style. And a Kitkat, good choice – I’m partial to a
finger or two myself. If you were in an
asylum, what would your particular delusion or psychosis be?
I suffer from an acute
syndrome of talking about the characters in my novels as if they are real. I
have a tendency to babble on and on about them like they are an extended part
of my dysfunctional family - a habit that drives my husband nutters.
I can always find
room for him here. I’m sure Connors
wouldn’t mind. And, as for treating your
characters as real, that’s a bit strange isn’t it (says a fictional character
talking to you)? I think you’d both fit
in very well! What genre(s) do you
write?
I write edgy, women’s
fiction and mystery romance/suspense. They’re filled with emotion, intimacy,
humor, and angst. If you don’t mind a few racy scenes and a sprinkling of
profanity here and there, then my novels are for you.
Sounds interesting. Joy, my sister, liked those sorts of
books. She read almost continually. And, what genres(s) do you read?
I mostly read women’s
fiction, & mystery, but if I see a cover that’s striking and like the
blurb, I’ll read it-even if it’s not in that genre. I am a huge Star Trek Fan
and have boxes and boxes of their paperbacks that I scored at a yard sale a few
years ago.
Star Trek! Cool!
I love Star Trek myself. I think
Shaun quite likes it too, though he’s never said. If these are the same, what attracts you to
them? If they’re different, why do you
think that is?
I like women’s fiction
because I like a story with drama. I give certain afflictions to my characters
(alcoholism, mental illness) and sprinkle in a few flaws (like adultery). My
women are not weak, and my men are not always strong. Giving them these
problems makes them human and brings about a certain vulnerability, because even
a hero has a chink or two in his armor.
Very true and a good
premise. A flaw can be the floor to help
you stand up straight and true. Or
something. Bacon – just cooked or
crispy?
I like my bacon so crispy that it snaps
in half when you bite into it.
Wow, that’s
crispy! I like mine crispy too, but not
so much that I’d break a tooth! Now
you’re in the asylum with me, how do you aim to get out? Do you have an escape plan?
I do have an escape
plan, but I’m going to need your help. Do you have a coin? Flip and catch…
The problem with tossing a coin is you never know which way it will
land, or who will die in the process…
So, there’s Belinda. A lovely
woman, I can assure you, though with her blue grass and not knowing her middle
name, she may need a night or ten in the asylum…
You can find out more
about Belinda at the following locations.
I can recommend dropping by and checking out her books!
