An Interview with the Mystery Author
Billie A Williams










1.        Tell us about yourself, where are you from?
Where am I from…interesting question since I grew up along the upper
Michigan and Wisconsin borderline. We moved a lot jumping from one side to
the other. I was born in Park Falls, Wisconsin, lived on this side until I was in
Third grade then we moved to Ironwood Michigan, then Bessemer, then back
to Rhinelander, Wisconsin – I like to say I have grass roots and every time
the geese fly – North or South (Spring or Fall) I get wanderlust and ready to
move again or at least travel somewhere. Lived in Bayfield, Colorado a couple
years – loved it out there but missed my Wisconsin/Michigan. I’ve always lived
in small towns and currently I’m back in Wisconsin about 30 miles from the
Upper Michigan borderline  I am a wife, mother, step-mother, grandmother
and great grandmother –sister, aunt, friend and writer – not necessarily in
that order. I am retired but work ‘part’-time. Anyone who started a part time
job knows that usually means you work more hours than full time with fewer
benefits and less pay…but I enjoy meeting and interacting with people. Fodder
for my grist mill/writing as it happens


2.        What are 3 things people don’t know about you?
A.        I am an introvert, I am shy, and tend to be reclusive if I’m not forced
to go out. Sounds like just about every author you’ll ever meet. I guess
because I spent a good deal of my childhood alone (no I wasn’t an only child,
but was sick with rheumatic fever and other horrid childhood illnesses, Scarlet
Fever, etc…I invented people and stories in my hours in bed) – even being
part of three sisters and a brother, I was alone a lot.

B.        I love helping people if I can. If I can do it behind the scenes even
better, to that end, I donate ¼ of my royalties to various organizations and
charities that are connected to each of my books in a certain way. My writing
books for instance, I donate those percentages to the local libraries, my
young adult book, I donate to the 4-H, two mystery/suspense deal with
domestic and drug abuse I donate to the local shelter for domestic abuse
victims. Every book has a place that receives that one quarter – it sometimes
isn’t a lot, but if I ever get famous---those royalties will mean a great deal.

C.        I taught myself to play the piano, to knit and crochet, to quilt and
just about anything else I decide I want to learn to do. It finally dawned on
me, if I want to do something bad enough I just need to aim, set my goals
and wrap myself around the idea until I achieve it. I learned I could write a
book when I was working through Julia Cameron Artist’s Way books –If I
could write 3 pages a day in a journal, that’s equivalent to two or three books
a year – so why not do that. And I did many times.

3.        What got you interested in Writing? I always loved to read and I
guess it follows naturally that I’d love to write long letters to friends, book
reports, anything that let me have my say without having to say it aloud.
When a new friend showed me a manuscript she was ready to send to a
publisher and asked for my opinion – I read it and thought – wow if she
could, if that was good enough, then I could and I did, eventually.

4.        Have you taken any writing courses, which ones; where? Since I
nearly failed English and Grammar in High School I thought I better do
something to learn that skill when I was working at a community college. I
took every single English, Grammar, literature course I could take along with
some really great classes in Philosophy, physics , and history working toward
my Associates Degree. I was on the staff of the college paper with columns
and feature articles. I loved the challenge. I learned that I could write – and I’
ve been doing it ever since.

5.        What writer’s groups or organizations do you belong to?
I am a member of Sisters in Crime, National Association of Memoir Writers
(NAMW), Romance Writers of America (RWA) Wisconsin Regional Writers
Association (WRWA)Upper Peninsula  of Michigan Writers Association
(UPWA), National Association of Women Writers(NAWW), Society of Children
Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). I have my own writers group called
Wordmage Writers and Readers, and I also publish Working Writers
Newsletter.

6.        Do you write full time? I do at least for a few hours every morning  
and more if I’m not working that day. I get up at 5 a.m. and write until I make
breakfast for my husband when he gets up at 9 or  10. I put in as many
hours as my day allows after that.

7.        Are you a morning writer or do you write better at night? As I
said above – silence in the wee morning hours is my prime writing time.

8.        What is your genre of choice for writing and reading and why?
Actually, I let the story determine the genre. I have mysteries, suspense,
romantic suspense, adventure, historical adventure, thriller, and just about
everything in between. I bill myself as a mystery suspense author because I
enjoy the challenge of a good mystery, but sometimes my muse takes a
different turn after I’ve decided on the characters and the story goal.

9.        What do you think makes a good story? Good, no great
characters – no matter what the plot if the characters aren’t believable and
full of life, someone you’d love or love to hate—you have no story  - a plot is
essential, but characters pull that plot into a good story I think.

10.        Who or what inspires you to write? If I read anything by Natalie
Goldberg, or Tess Gerritsen I almost have to sit down and write, right away.
Otherwise, it can be as simple as a word that I get from my dictionary (www.
mydictionary.com)a daily word, or a quote from one of the many quotes I get
in my inbox daily.
Or, I might see a person – like this lady I saw once walking toward the Kmart
store, she seemed to be hiding in plain sight behind her blonde wig and big
hat. Her face was clown make-up at best with garish red lipstick and too much
eye makeup.  
Then there was a woman in line in front of me in a long black leather coat,
high boots and a coachman style hat – she was meticulously dressed, coiffure
of perfect hair-very pretty – but it was 90 degrees in the shade on a summer
day…why?
You see the stories almost pop out at you. {smile}  It could be someone’s
strange behavior – a girl cutting across a field of weedy grass between an
apartment building on one side of the tracks and a shopping strip on the
other.  She wore tall Indian style moccasins; her long chestnut colored
straight hair reflected the sun as she went.  She looked like an abused, lost
waif to my writer’s mind – she became the protagonist in my Death by
Candlelight series.  
Everything inspires me at one time or another. A sunflower grew and was
blooming in the crotch of my maple tree – aha story. My mother said her
grandfather used to start every tale he told with the phrase, “When tag was a
pub and turkeys chewed tobacco…” That became fodder for Watch for the
Raven (my young adult book)
About Me
Voice in the Dark, titled
"Whodunit?"

But that isn't all I do:
presenter
at the local Historical
Society and The Red hatters as
an expert in Genealogy
research/writing

author interviewer for Wings
ePress and Manic Readers
Websites

I am Editor in Chief of
my Newsletter "Mystery Readers
and Working Writers"

I am Owner/Manager of the
Amberg Writers group
online and on site at my home
every month.

Feature Writer  
profiling people in all walks of
life for Nicolet College New
Times News Paper

Weekend Anchor for a local
television station
News/Weather/Sports
broadcast

Workshop presenter on
Office Management and
Etiquette  as well as  Writing
Wide for beginning writers

Perhaps I can help you
with your needs be it for
speaker, writer, or
motivator.