Author Bio:
Bette Lee Crosby
USA Bestselling Author
Award-winning novelist Bette Lee Crosby brings the wit and wisdom of her Southern Mama to works of fiction—the result is a delightful blend of humor, mystery and romance along with a cast of quirky charters who will steal your heart away.
“Storytelling is in my blood,” Crosby laughingly admits, “My mom was not a writer, but she was a captivating storyteller, so I find myself using bits and pieces of her voice in most everything I write.”
Crosby’s work was first recognized in 2006 when she received The National League of American Pen Women Award for a then unpublished manuscript. Since then, she has gone on to win another seventeen literary awards, including the Royal Palm Literary Award, The Reviewer’s Choice Award, and the FPA President’s Book Award Gold Medal.
Her published novels to date are: Cracks in the Sidewalk (2009), Spare Change (2011), The Twelfth Child (2012), Cupid’s Christmas (2012), What Matters Most (2013), Jubilee’s Journey (2013), Previously Loved Treasures (2014) and Blueberry Hill, A Sister’s Story (2014). She also authored “Life in the Land of IS” a memoir of Lani Deauville, a woman the Guinness Book of Records lists as the world’s longest living quadriplegic.
Wishing for Wonderful will be released in October 2014 and Passing through Perfect is scheduled for release in January, 2015.
What inspires you to write?
The ordinary things of life. Elderly couples holding hands. A young mother struggling with three small children. A wide-eyed child seeing Santa for the first time. A fireman who comes out of a burning building carrying a dog. A flower pressed inside a worn Bible. Someone who has the courage to take an unpopular stand because it’s the right thing to do. I see things like this and wonder what led up to that singular moment. What gave a certain person courage, or caused such sorrow. These are the questions that make me start looking for the story behind the story. There’s a little bit of magic in every person’s life; I try to find that magic.
Tell us about your writing process.
I start with my characters and spend weeks getting to know them, getting to understand their likes, dislikes and opening up my mind so that I can think like they’d think. Once I get to know the characters, I can then think about the challenges they might face in their life.
When I finally start writing, I have the beginning and the end of the story in my head, but the journey that takes me from beginning to end happens as I write.
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
Absolutely listen and talk with my characters. I read every bit of dialogue out loud and if it doesn’t sound like what my character would say, I scrap it and start over. I think reading dialogue aloud is an absolute must. Listening to the exchange enables the writer to get rid of all those pesky little words that might be proper sentence structure, but slow the pace of the conversation. People seldom speak in complete sentences and neither should characters. (Unless of course, one’s character is a very proper Englishman)
Who are your favorite authors?
I tend to have favorite books as opposed to favorite authors and I love each one of the books for a different reason.
At the top of my list of favorites is the classic “To Kill a Mockingbird.” I love the story because the characters so realistically portray the gritty South that truly is a mix of brotherly love and hateful discrimination.
I loved The Night Circus for the pure beauty of it’s prose.
I loved The Book Thief because having death as the narrator of the story is nothing short of genius.
I loved Shadows of the Wind because how can you not love a book that starts with a secret building that is the Cemetery for Forgotten Books.
I love most everything by Sarah Addison Allen, especially her Garden Spells. I enjoy Anne Tyler’s subtle sense of the humor in life and I enjoy most of John Grisham’s books, but The Painted House was my favorite. I enjoy books that explore both the good and bad in people. And, I enjoy books that expose the reality of life and can still find something to laugh about.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
My first book was published through a more traditional publisher and I had a seven year contract. The published overpriced the book, but I had no say in the matter. When e-books began to gain popularity, the publisher asked me to also give them the rights to do my book as an e-book and I said no. They then told me if I wanted to buy back the rights to my book, I could and that pushed me in the direction of self-publishing.
My husband and I set up a publishing company and I’ve never looked back.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
I think the e-book market will continue to grow but I seriously doubt we’ll see the demise of print. Local bookstores are a place where book-lovers meet, greet and gather. There is certain magic in quaint little bookstores that e-books simply cannot capture.
I also think e-book readers are becoming more demanding. More than they want FREE, they want quality reads and the authors who give them that will survive whether they are Indie or Traditionally published.
What genres do you write?
Literary Fiction, Women’s Fiction, Historical Mystery
What formats are your books in?
Both eBook and Print
Website(s)
Bette Lee Crosby Home Page Link
Link To Bette Lee Crosby Page On Amazon
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