Official Web Site of Laura Treacy Bentley

Hi Sharon:
I just read on your website about the 1000-word challenge that you went through with Adam Edwards to write Faster Pastor. Was this the first time you wrote collaboratively with someone? What are the benefits and drawbacks of co-writing a novel? Thanks!

What book that you have written is your favorite? And why?
[/cstclair2007@windstream.net]

That is like asking a parent which child is her favorite. Truly, all books add something to one's knowledge or life experience. "St. Dale" changed me more than any other book. I was the shy little nerd who lived in books, and after "St. Dale" I was doing laps at Lowe's Motor Speedway with a race car driver (my co-author), and jumping hills at 120 mph in an old pick-up with a Daytona 500 winner. So I turned 17 about 30 years later than most people. It has been wonderful. "Ghost Riders" is the book that I think I "got right," in a literary sense, if that makes sense.

Marie Manilla says...
Hi Sharon:
I just read on your website about the 1000-word challenge that you went through with Adam Edwards to write Faster Pastor. Was this the first time you wrote collaboratively with someone? What are the benefits and drawbacks of co-writing a novel? Thanks!

Co-authoring is like marriage, and the same advice applies: you'd better find the right person. You'd better be compatible. You'd better be able to deal with their particular brand of imperfection. The advantage is that you each bring complementary strengths to a project. Adam knew the technical side of racing, and he writes wonderful action scenes. He also has a terrific work ethic-- no procrastinating, no excuses. And he is a charming extrovert (Lord knows I'm not), which is great for public appearances. -- The drawback would be if you found yourself trying to do a book with someone who did not want to do their share, or who tried to outrank you. That experience would be a nightmare, I'm sure. Fortunately, I found the right guy.

You're a great writer and workshop leader/lecturer, but forget about that for now. Just tell me about your pet fox!

Yes, after I asked you about your favorite book, I thought about which of my novels I'd choose, and discovered I could only come up with how hard one of them was--downright painful to write, but not really which one I loved the most. I do love them all and none of them are the same experience.
So thanks for turning seventeen when you did!

Like Mrs. McCrumb I am a huge fan of folklore. I grew up in the Appalachian mountains and have always been a sucker for storytelling the old fashioned way. Most of my own work revolves around myth and lore. Recently I've really gotten into Russian fairytales. I love how graphic they compared to the Brothers Grimm. In Grimm's tales the witch is mischevous and mean and generally hapless, but in the Russian sotries the witch tells you to go away and eats you if you refuse...that kind of thing.

Hello Sharyn,
You receive high marks for the research that goes into your work. What's a typical percentage of research time to writing time for one of your novels? How do you know when you've finished your research? What's the most surprising piece of information you've uncovered during research that did NOT make its way into your work?
Thanks.

laura7 says...
You're a great writer and workshop leader/lecturer, but forget about that for now. Just tell me about your pet fox!

I got the pet fox when I was only a year or so out of college. He was a cub, and I think he was a little confused about his identity, because he fell in love with my white Himalayan cat (picture Jessica Simpson in a flea collar.) The fox would sidle up to her and make throaty, sexy noises, while she stared at him in unblinking bewilderment. Finally she would shrug and walk away, at which point, he would try to bite her tail. Finally, I guess he gave up trying to define their relationship. One day he chewed a hole in the window screen and took off for the woods, where I hope he found someone more his type.

Paul says...
Hello Sharyn,
You receive high marks for the research that goes into your work. What's a typical percentage of research time to writing time for one of your novels? How do you know when you've finished your research? What's the most surprising piece of information you've uncovered during research that did NOT make its way into your work?
Thanks.

Typical research time for a novel? At least a year. Four years for Frankie Silver. Usually, I am researching one novel while writing another. That's why I like to make novels so different- -because then the research is sufficiently different from your current project that it does not feel like you're working. -- I think I eventually use everything good that I turn up in research-- if not in that book, then in a later one. "Once Around the Track" is what I learned researching and touring with "St. Dale." -- But oddly enough, it was knowing a NASCAR driver that finally enabled me to understand the story of Tom Dooley. (That is probably best left unexplained.)

Sharyn McCrumb is my favorite author! Fun to find out more about her.

Hi, Sharon,

I remember seeing at at Hindman years ago several notebooks full of research you had done for a book you were working on at the time. That tickled me because I love research. Which do you like better, researching the stories or imagining and writing the details, dialogue? Are you doing research for a new novel at the moment?

Eddy says...
Hi, Sharon,

I wonder why people misspell my name so often?

I remember seeing at at Hindman years ago several notebooks full of research you had done for a book you were working on at the time. That tickled me because I love research. Which do you like better, researching the stories or imagining and writing the details, dialogue? Are you doing research for a new novel at the moment?

Researching a novel is a chance to have adventures. Actually writing a novel is a lot like doing a term paper back in college. I like to learn things, and I feel that you should experience as much as you can of what you write about.
I am currently writing a novel, but I did the research for it a few years ago, when I wrote an article on an historical event for a regional magazine. I swore I'd never write this story, because I did not understand the motivations of the principal people involved. -- Now, having met their 21st century counterparts, I get it.
Well... if you want to call it research, I am reading two books, alternately. Wuthering Heights and an account of venereal disease in the Civil War. -- I'm not even gonig to tel lyou what the novel will be about, but when it is published, you'll see that both these books are germane to the narrative.