Seeking Authors for Interviews!

I am looking for authors to interview for an Observing & Writing Dialog blog series! Each interview will be featured for a week on my blog during February and March (and beyond, if enough interviewees volunteer).

BACKSTORY: In May, last year, I was interviewed by @KayMcFarland for her series of author interviews focused on the topic of genre. She has a terrific blog at kristinmcfarland.com and an amazing collection of interviews. I was inspired by Kristin’s series and decided that, with her narrow focus, she was on to something! I was determined to emulate Kristin but instead got caught up in other projects and quit thinking about it. Then, last week, @tamholland tweeted about a conversation she overheard between a couple at a neighboring table in a restaurant. The conversation managed to surprise both Tamara and I, and it generated a tweet exchange about how much we learn from listening to people talk. I told Tamara about a long ago independent study of dialog that I did in college. We chatted some more about the richness of dialog and the joys of listening to people in conversation and that’s when I remembered Kristin’s interview series! Nervous, but too excited to be reticent, I floated the idea for an interview series to Tamara, and she was enthusiastic, supportive, and encouraging. She even agreed to kick off the Observing & Writing Dialog series with the first interview, scheduled for Monday, February 3^rd! 

Are an author? Would you like to participate in this interview series?

Please e-mail me at marcylpeska@gmail.commarcylpeska@gmail.com so that we can discuss scheduling and other details.

Wondering what we’ll be talking about? Here’s a sneak peak at the questions I’ll ask each author.

First, please tell us a bit about what you write and why dialog is important in your work.

Listening is an integral piece of "people watching". Do you "people listen" automatically, or do you make a deliberate effort?

Humans exchange a lot of information paraverbally, that is, through intonation, pacing/rhythm, volume, and enunciation. What paraverbal cues are you most sensitive or tuned into as an author, an observer, and a participant?

Do you enjoy writing dialog? Is there anything about writing dialog that you find challenging?

What have you learned about yourself and your relationships by observing real life & fictional dialog?

Do you have any characters with catchphrases or verbal habits? What are they? How do these personal quirks add depth to your characters?

Do your characters ever interrupt, cross-talk or change the subject? Do you use communication interference in your dialog? Why/Why not?

Please share with us a dialog gem that you've recently overheard or participated in. What do you think makes this dialog interesting?

Please share with us a dialog gem from your own writing. (If published, please share the title & link to purchase site.) What do you think makes this dialog interesting?