This is your basic Frequently Asked Questions section.  Truth is, some of these weren’t really asked all that frequently.  Maybe once.  But they were good questions.  Others were asked more than once.  Others were/are asked all the time. 

(Q) For THE GIRL SHE USED TO BE, was it difficult writing in the first person using the voice of a woman?

(A) The quick answer is more than I thought it would be.  For a more detailed response, you can go to the Grand Central web site for a short essay on how I wrote (and grew) through the process: On Writing (about a girl).

(Q) How much of the story comes from personal experience?

(A) It would be impossible for me to say my life or personality did not influence the story in some way.  In fact, there are probably a dozen inside jokes in the text that only my wife and I would understand (or think were funny in the first place).  As for the details, the great majority came from a mix of casual discussions with colleagues in different areas of the Federal Government, detailed research, and creative license.  I suppose that is one of the joys of fiction; it can be fairly relative.

(Q) Was THE GIRL SHE USED TO BE the original title of the novel?

(A) Actually, no.  When acquired by Grand Central, the original title was NOWHERE GIRL.  While everyone liked the title, it had a little too much in common with GOSSIP GIRL, VELOCITY GIRL, and a bunch of other GIRLs.  The folks at GCP thought it made the book sound like a YA title, which it is not.  We went through countless lists of possibilities before making a final decision.  Ultimately, the publisher, Jamie Raab, came up with the winning title.

(Q) How long did it take you to write GIRL?  And how long to get it published?  What was the whole editing process like?

(A) If I sum the time expended on the first, second, and third drafts, it took about eight months to complete.  Then my agent sold it pretty quickly, then it took two years to actually get it through the publishing refinery.  The editing process (with Grand Central) was amazing.  Just when you think you have the final version and it is perfect and nothing needs to be changed, an editor comes in and finds all the holes, mistakes, oversights, and unneeded indulgences.  It’s like bringing a microscope into focus.  And then the copyediting--wow.  I can’t believe the attention to detail these folks can produce.  It’s actually intimidating.  And they find everything.  It’s a well-oiled machine, for sure.

(Q) When will your next novel be released?

(A) I am currently working on my next novel now (writing the entire thing at night--I get up at three in the morning to start each day!)  Stay tuned for updates.

(Q) When I was reading the novel, I felt it flowed much like a movie.  Any chance THE GIRL SHE USED TO BE will become a film?

(A) As a matter of fact, the movie rights for THE GIRL SHE USED TO BE were sold to Mark Johnson’s Gran Via Productions (THE NOTEBOOK, MY SISTER’S KEEPER) and Julie Lynn (THE JANE AUSTEN BOOK CLUB), by Sean Daily at Hotchkiss and Associates, on behalf of Pamela Harty at The Knight Agency.

(Q) How did you get starting in writing?

(A) In the mid-90’s, I went back to school to get a second bachelors degree while working a full-time job--which meant I was working my brain into overload by studying in all my free time.  In 1998, when I received my degree, I found myself with an expanded mental capacity that wasn’t being utilized.  I casually mentioned to my wife while walking in the Columbia Mall (a point of interest for those who’ve read GIRL) that I thought I could write a novel.  Now, had she laughed or blown me off, that would have been the end of it.  But instead she said, “I think you could do it.”

The result was a bloated, 275,000-word exercise in self-indulgence that will never see the light of day.  The good thing that came of it, though, was that due to it’s size it was like writing three novels instead of one, and allowed me to learn quite a bit about the writing process.  Without exception, everyone who read it agreed the last third was significantly better than the first and second.  (Side note: Folks who read it consistently suggested I rewrite the beast.  But 275,000 words.  I’d need to edit it with a Homelite.)  After that I wrote some short stories and another novel (which I do hope will see the light of day), then finally THE GIRL SHE USED TO BE.

(Q) Would you submit my (novel, memoir, biography, etc.) to your (agent, editor, colleagues, etc.)?

(A) As flattered as I am at your implication that I have some sway over the publishing community, I’m afraid I cannot review your project(s).  There are a host of reasons why, but the most compelling are the legal and logistical ones.  Not to mention e-mails with attachments (of any type) are deleted automatically.

(Q) Stellar.  So what do you recommend?

(A) Barring the advice everyone else might offer ([1] Write the best novel (or other work) you can, [2], Don’t submit anything to a publisher without an agent, [3] Consult the premier web sites and books offering advice on obtaining said agent), I do highly recommend joining Publishers Marketplace.  I’m not sure I would have near the understanding of the publishing industry had I not become a member years ago.  The site is the ultimate source for news in the industry as well as virtually the only site for finding who is selling what and where, right down to how large the deal was.  You will learn more in a short time there than anywhere else.  The publishing industry is more complicated than you might think--and changing regularly.

I also recommend reading Steven King’s ON WRITING.  It is an excellent primer on the industry and editing--and downright entertaining.