Eight Questions – Interview with Rita from Rita’s Digest

This week’s Eight Questions subject is mother, part-time teacher and blogger Rita from Rita’s Digest. This 47-year old New Yorker is about to add one more title before her name, that of published author. Rita broke the news of the sale of her mystery book earlier this month. Perhaps more exciting than the tale of the sale, was the unorthodox way that she scored a “novel luncheon” with an editor at a major publishing house. Her methods not only earned her a book contract, but also kudos for her moxie. With one book sold and another under contract, Rita broke with convention again and decided that she wasn’t going to write a second book… not without a little help from some friends, anyway. She posted a casting call to would be-authors who are helping her write the followup book, tentatively titled The Swanning. (As a matter of disclosure, I am one of the writers tasked to help write the novel. However, this interview was conducted prior to her call for authors.) Rita was kind enough to sit down for Eight Questions and discuss blogging, her inspirations and of course, writing.

1. What inspired you to start this blog?
   Truly, nothing inspired me to start this blog.  I had been having a rough time. (I have been disabled with Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy or, by it’s catchier name, Comprehensive Regional Pain Disorder for over 15 years.)  I was going through a very nasty bout of pain, and a friend phoned me.  He knew that when I was in a lot of pain, I tended to avoid people, and keep to myself.  A friend of HIS had bought a blog, and was looking for somebody to “take over the writing.”  Not knowing what I was getting into I said “Sure, why not.” I love to write, so I figured it would be sort-of “therapeutic.”
2. Why did you choose to blog under a pseudonym (I assume since you say you want to keep your anonymity)?
   I chose to blog under a pseudonym for a number of reasons.  First, I wanted to talk about the people in my life – particularly my students – without getting “permission notices.”  Second, I have always been a private person, and I try to protect other people’s privacy.  Outside my home, my students are my life.  Unless I literally can’t move, they get me out of the house two days a week.
3. Do any of your friends and family read the blog? If so, how does that alter the content?
   Occasionally, my husband will read my blog – if I ask him to.  My dearest friend in the world also occasionally reads my blog.  Believe it or not, she figured it out on her own. She knew I was blogging, and showed up one day. I don’t know how, with the myriad blogs out there, but she found me.  I imagine she did some Googling of some of my “trademark phrases;” the name might have given me up. She never told me, and I never asked.  Our relationship continues as normal, and we don’t talk about blogging.

I am inspired by two things:  my mom, who died way too young, and instilled in me the maxim:  “write what you know and know what you write,” and believe it or not, by pain.

4. What, or who, inspires you?
   I am inspired by two things:  my mom, who died way too young, and instilled in me the maxim:  “write what you know and know what you write,” and believe it or not, by pain.  I used to read around 3 books a week as a means of escape into another world.  I also used to “journal,” but not in the usual way – sometimes I’d write five words, sometimes I’d write five pages.  It depended on my mood.
5. What blog post are you proudest of and why?
   This may sound strange, but I’m proud of all of them.  “A Tale of Two Kitties” is probably my favorite, as I got to play around with Dickens, and turn it into a funny story.  I believe it got 0 comments.  And “How I Almost Got Expelled From College” — Part I, was pivotal.  It showed that I could use the blog as almost a “chapter book.”  People were anticipating what happened next, as I left off with a cliffhanger for one reason:  I ran out of room!  For some reason, people got excited about that one:  the subject matter, the general weirdness of the story.  I don’t really know.  All I know is that commenters came back the next day – and I hadn’t let them down with the ending, something that I was afraid might happen.  It gave me faith in my story-telling ability, given that it was written when I had just submitted a manuscript for publication.  (Trust me, it took a bit longer than the “10 days” I mentioned to hear back from the editor!)
6. What advice do you wish you’d received when you first started blogging?
   Honestly, the only advice I wished I had received was that this is a serious time commitment.  I miss reading.
7. You recently sold your first book, a feat many aspiring authors dream of, and you have a contract for a second book, yet you don’t want to write another. Instead, you are seeking a group of writers. What made you think of this unique approach to writing? Why don’t you want to author a second book yourself?
   

   After so many years of reading in the genre, I got a good idea of “whodunit” – and “why” very quickly.  It was a game for me:  how many (or few) pages do I need to read before I “figure it out.”

   Yes, I have a book in for publication, a mystery novel of which I am quite proud.  That novel wrote itself, for the most part, in my head, over a 12-year period.  It was another means of escape, and it addressed my anxiety with the formulaic writing that I was seeing in that genre. When I was forced to stop working, I devoted myself mainly to mysteries.  After so many years of reading in the genre, I got a good idea of “whodunit” – and “why” very quickly.  It was a game for me:  how many (or few) pages do I need to read before I “figure it out.”  I got too good at the game, because I had so much time on my hands.  After 12 years of plotting out the story and “peopling” it, one day I sat down at the typewriter.  A bit over 8 months later, I had what I considered to be a non-formulaic novel.   As for what I am doing now, I have a contractual obligation to the Publisher for a second book if my first book hits a certain sales point. I had just spent over 12 years on this one – I didn’t have another one in me.  What I noticed however, was that there were some TREMENDOUS writers of blogs who caught my attention, who had dreams of writing a novel.  I had a Publisher – and no novel.  They wanted an entrée into publishing.  So I literally “threw out” a call for authors.  My publisher was fine with the idea, once I sat down with my Agent and Attorney, and got everything down on paper.  Rather than planning a novel, I was planning a novel idea – and they knew that they could pay me less because I was committing all of the money to charity.  Publishers, I have found, are not terribly altruistic.  It’s a cut-throat business, and they’re all looking for the next “INSERT FAMOUS AND PROLIFIC AUTHOR HERE.”  
   

8. What are your future plans for the blog, your writing career and your family?
   For now, my blog is being turned over to the writing of a second novel, with some very talented and interesting people.  It is an experiment that I hope gets others noticed.  I also hope that others will come to Rita’s Digest and see how we are constructing a novel, so that we can get some feedback from “the public” on how they feel about the direction of the story, how much it takes to really write a book, and ensure that the interest is there.  Most of the work, however, is being done “behind scenes” where I am connecting so many different voices and trying to get a cohesive plot and prose going. I plan on “revealing” certain portions of what everybody writes as a “blog” perhaps twice a week, to see how the potential audience – and the Publisher – believe we’re doing.  As to the long-term future of the blog, I’d really like to get back to the old “Digest.”  It was always enjoyable.  I DO NOT SEE MYSELF PUBLISHING ANOTHER BOOK.  What I am hoping is that enough “new talent” will emerge that the Publishers – and the reading public – don’t care.  As to my family, I’d like for the four of us to be healthy and happy.  I think that’s a good enough “plan” for now!

(photo credit: old books)

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