For this installment of “20 Questions and a Selfie,” we catch up with Michelle Louise Cox, historical fiction writer.
Michelle has a deep appreciation for periods of the past—from 18th Century London to pre-WWII Chicago. Her writing transports readers back to those simpler times when grit was a virtue and hard work was commonplace.
“While her heart might lie in the eighteenth century with Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy or in the crooked streets of Little Dorrit’s London,” Michelle’s biography reads, “she tends to write of a slightly more recent age, a time closer to the World Wars, when all was not yet lost and the last roses of summer were first coming into bloom.”
You can connect with Michelle on Twitter @michellecox33 and at www.michellecoxwrites.com.
Our 20 questions with Michelle start now:
1) What is your full name?
Michelle Louise Cox
2) What is your professional job title?
Don’t have one! Writer, I guess.
3) Describe your organization.
Family of five
4) Describe your surroundings right now.
Small alcove I created off the master bedroom, thick curtains that serve as a separator, big windows that look out onto the backyard & pond
5) What was your first paid writing gig?
Haven’t had one yet! Unless you count writing up the social histories of people in nursing homes
6) What was the last thing you wrote?
I’m just finishing up edits for Book 3 of my Henrietta and Inspector Howard series
7) What is the next thing you plan to write?
A new blog called “How to Get Your Book Published in 7,000 easy steps” then I’m on to Book 4 of the series
8) Finish this sentence: The ideal way to start my day is …
A cup of black coffee in a china cup, preferably my one from Chatsworth, while I sit and write my novel
9) Besides your computer, what is sitting on your desk right now?
Half-written Halloween cards, several versions of book edits, notes for my blog, notes on how to use Twitter, a CD of 1930s big band music
10) So-called writer’s block is no match for you! What is your antidote?
Coffee
11) Finish this sentence: I hate it when I read …
Bad prose
12) What are the most important tools, programs and systems you use for your work?
Literally, I use my kids’ old school notebooks to write the outline for my books and a pencil. Red pen for edits. Microsoft Word.
13) First book that comes to mind? Go!
14) What are your favorite Internet/mobile apps and why?
I don’t use apps! At least, I don’t think I do…
15) What have you always wanted to write?
Something Victorian. Or something funny.
16) What is your advice for aspiring professional writers?
Be disciplined! Write even when you don’t want to write! Set a timer.
17) First famous writer who comes to mind? Go!
18) Finish this sentence: My favorite thing about being a writer is …
Creating a world of characters that you get to visit everyday. The joy of creating is intense and borders on the divine.
19) Pencil versus pen—who wins and why?
Pencil – because I have hundreds of them lying around, victims of the end-of-the-school year supply dump. Unfortunately, I collect them.
20) Finish this sentence: One word or phrase people will never read in my writing is …
“anything and everything” – I hate this phrase and would only put it in the mouth of a particularly annoying, slow-wit of a character.
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