#ThisorThatThursday Interview with Adele Gardner
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I’d like to welcome author Adele Gardner to the blog for #ThisorThatThursday!
A few of your favorite things: Some of my recent favorite Christmas gifts: a glow-in-the-dark, light-up moon; an album by and magazine about William Shatner/Star Trek; a Thirteenth Doctor (Jodie Whittaker) doll and mug; and Julia Child cookbooks.
Things you need to throw out: Broken things I’m always intending to fix but never have the time.
Things you need for your writing sessions: An open mind, a willing heart, and often, a deadline! Cats. Sitting on me. Purring. A glowing moon (real or the one on my desk). Jazz.
Things that hamper your writing: The fear that my work will never be good enough. Cats. Sitting on my page/computer, playing with the “mouse,” or running off with my pen.
Hardest thing about being a writer: The fact that all the time I’m spending on writing is taking time away from other things, like spending more time with my relatives, archiving family memories and getting all of Dad’s writing published, building a family of my own, organizing my house. Another problem: the “boring parts” like reviewing my voice dictation files versus the typed transcript, or typing my handwritten drafts.
Easiest thing about being a writer: Writing itself! I love the mental challenge and, at the best of times, that soaring, creative flight of the heart! Also the way that diving deep for a detail brings memories vividly to mind, including things I hadn’t realized I remembered at all.
Favorite music or song: I love so many songs and styles. Two favorite genres are 1930s-1950s jazz and 1970s-1990s rock (especially alternative). For a while I had “Losing My Religion” by R.E.M. as my wake-up song; also loved hearing Dad sing Bing Crosby’s “Meet the Sun Half-Way” in the mornings! “Wuthering Heights” by Kate Bush. Fats Waller, Jack Maheu, Cyndi Lauper, the B-52s, Phil Collins, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Ian and Sylvia, and so much more.
Music that drives you crazy: My neighbor’s country music blasted over the neighborhood so that I can’t sit in my back yard and write in peace.
Favorite beverage: Coca-Cola Classic and Vanilla Coke
Something that gives you a sour face: Alcoholism runs in my family, so I am perturbed by the casual and obsessively frequent use of alcoholic drinks promoted in popular culture at every turn as the answer to all ills.
Last best thing you ate: My mom’s hamburgers. Her homemade burgers are so good they are one of the top reasons I gave up being a vegetarian. (Another is pepperoni pizza.)
Last thing you regret eating: A diabolical combination of a Hawaiian pizza (which I normally love) plus anchovies. Never again!
The last thing you ordered online: Birthday presents for my niece, including a Hero Cats graphic novel and Plusheen unicorn. (Our family loves cats!)
The last thing you regret buying: A chain saw. I invested in it as a much cheaper alternative to a tree service, due to the increased hurricane damage to my trees every year. While it would be really handy in theory, with my back issues and the known safety hazards, I’ve been too scared to use it.
Things you’d walk a mile for: Walking or jogging a mile is a great thing to do in and of itself! Especially if there’s interesting scenery/architecture/trails/trees/flowers, or I’m on the fitness center treadmill watching a show I like. I love taking walks with loved ones, or jogging with great music or an audiobook.
Things that make you want to run screaming from the room: TV shows that emotionally manipulate viewers in an evil way. This includes the emotional torture of characters one cares about, just to get people to binge watch.
Favorite things to do: Snuggle with my cats and spend time with human loved ones.
Things you’d run through a fire or eat bugs to get out of doing: Losing a loved one. I would run through fire to save them!!!
Most daring thing you’ve ever done: Traveling to Pennsylvania alone to meet World War II veterans at a large convention. I am very shy and find crowds stressful on a good day. This was a very tense situation for me, but also very important. My father was a World War II veteran, and I wanted to take every chance I could to speak to other vets, to thank them for all they went through and hear their stories. Yes, I hope these experiences will help to inform my mystery novels featuring a WWII vet detective, but it meant so much more to me than that. Almost like a chance to visit my father.
Something you chickened out from doing: Running a 10k at NASA with my brother at the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11. I’d trained for it for most of a year, but when I found out my brother and I would have to drive separately and find each other, I couldn’t face the horde of people.
About Adele:
Adele Gardner (www.gardnercastle.com) is a professional member of Sisters in Crime, SFWA, and HWA. With mystery stories in Mystery Weekly Magazine (cover), Seascape: The Best New England Crime Stories 2019, and A Study in Lavender: Queering Sherlock Holmes, Adele has over 450 stories, poems, art, and articles published all told (under bylines including C. A. Gardner, Lyn C. A. Gardner, Adele Gardner, and Max Jason Peterson, among others). A former editor for The Mariners' Museum, this genderfluid night owl can be found reading comics with cats--or drawing them. Adele serves as literary executor for father, namesake, and mentor Dr. Delbert R. Gardner, who also has a cover story in Mystery Weekly Magazine.
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