#ThisorThatThursday Interview with Frances Aylor

I’d like to welcome Frances Aylor back to the blog for this week’s #ThisorThatThursday interview!

Things you never want to run out of: Coffee, clean underwear, gas for my car

Things you wish you’d never bought: The 4 boxes of instant mashed potatoes that are still in my pantry 2 years later – I couldn’t resist a sale, but I don’t really like instant mashed potatoes.

Hardest thing about being a writer: Staying focused and not getting distracted by things on the internet

Easiest thing about being a writer: Talking with book clubs

Favorite foods: Fried chicken, pepperoni pizza, cookie dough ice cream

Things that make you want to gag: Really spicy foods, jalapeno peppers, raw oysters

Favorite music or song: Motown and beach music

Music that drives you crazy: Twangy country music

Things you’d walk a mile for: A medieval village, a beautiful sunset, a college football game

Things that make you want to run screaming from the room: Snakes and spiders

Favorite places you’ve been: Greek Isles, Frasassi Caves in Italy, the Amazon

Places you never want to go to again: overcrowded airports; grocery stores with long lines and surly cashiers

Favorite books (or genre): mysteries and biographies

Books you wouldn’t buy: Horror stories or anything with too much violence, blood, and gore

Favorite things to do: Travel with friends, try out new restaurants, attend plays and concerts

Things you’d run through a fire or eat bugs to get out of doing: Cleaning poison ivy from my shrubbery. If only I had remembered the line “Leaves of 3, let it be.”

Most daring thing you’ve ever done: White water rafting in Costa Rica

Something you chickened out from doing: Riding the Dominator roller coaster at Kings Dominion

Some real-life story that made it to one of your books: My paragliding experience in the Swiss Alps inspired the opening scene of my novel Choosing Guilt.

Something in your story that readers think is about you, but it’s not: Scuba diving in the Caribbean for my story “Death in the Deep.” I interviewed several divers for this story, but I have never been scuba diving myself.

About Frances:

Frances Aylor is an avid traveler who has paraglided in Switzerland, climbed the Great Wall of China, gone white-water rafting in Costa Rica, and fished for piranha in the Amazon. Her most recent adventures include cruising the Greek Isles and exploring the amazing Frasassi Caves in Italy. Formerly an investment analyst, she now focuses on volunteering in her community, spending time with family and friends, and writing. A member of Sisters in Crime and International Thriller Writers, she won the Ingram Spark “Rising Star” award for her thriller Money Grab and was first runner up for the 2021 Claymore Award for Choosing Guilt. Her most recent short story, “Death in the Deep,” was published in June 2024 in the anthology First Comes Love, Then Comes Murder.

Let’s Be Social:

Website:    https://francesaylor.com/

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/FrancesAylorAuthor/

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/francesaylorauthor/ 

#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with Frances Aylor

I would like to welcome author, Frances Aylor to the blog this week for #ThisorThatThursday!

A few of your favorite things: Pictures of my family & friends, my travels, fun things I’ve done. These connect me with past and present and inspire me to plan interesting experiences for the future.

Things you need to throw out: Old textbooks. I keep thinking I’ll reread them some day to keep my mind sharp, but the odds of revisiting Latin or intermediate accounting or my Spanish-language version of Don Quixote are pretty slim.

Things you love about writing: Talking to book clubs, having them discuss my characters as real people and not just something I molded together from imagination and memories.

Things you hate about writing: Struggling to get my ideas on paper, working much too long to get a sentence, a paragraph or an image just right.

Favorite music or song: Anything by Jason Mraz. He’s from my hometown and sings upbeat songs about happiness and love. I especially like “Have It All.”

Music that drives you crazy: When rock song I’ve loved get turned into the background for TV commercials. They’re messing up good memories!

Something you’re really good at:  Music. I play the piano and organ and was even a church organist many years ago.

Something you’re really bad at: Singing. I can’t hit high notes anymore. I’m always singing an octave below everyone else.

Last best thing you ate: Salted caramel ice cream. Terrific mix of sweet and salty.

Last thing you regret eating: Escargot in a restaurant in a Mexican airport. I was trying to be adventurous. My stomach rebelled.

The last thing you ordered online: Dryer sheets. I now have enough to last ten years.

The last thing you regret buying: An online rug. It looked bright and crisp on the website, but was a muddy burgundy when I rolled it out in my den. Really heavy and awkward to roll back up and return.

Things you always put in your books: I like happy endings: for the good guys to win and the bad guys to receive justice.

Things you never put in your books: Excessive violence.

Favorite books (or genre): I love mysteries, suspense and thrillers. In the Woods by Tana French is a favorite. Books you wouldn’t buy:  Books that are too scary, violent or gory.

Things that make you happy: Being with my family, traveling to new places, meeting fun people.

Things that drive you crazy: People who are so focused on their own opinions that they won’t listen to other points of view.

Best thing you’ve ever done:  Marry my high-school sweetheart. He’s kind, supportive of all the crazy things I do, and even after all these years still tells me how much he loves me.

Biggest mistake: Investing in rental property. It seemed so easy when we read the book. We bought 3 houses and sold them within a year when collecting from tenants became too much of a hassle.

Most daring thing you’ve ever done:  Jumping off a 4,000 foot mountain in Switzerland to go paragliding.

Something you chickened out from doing: Scuba diving. The thought of being hundreds of feet underwater and getting nudged by a shark terrifies me.

 Let’s Be Social:

Website and blog: https://francesaylor.com/

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/FrancesAylorAuthor/

Amazon Author Page:  https://www.amazon.com/Frances-Aylor

About Frances:

Frances Aylor, CFA combines her investing experience and love of travel (she has visited over 30 countries) in her financial thrillers. Money Grab is her first novel. She has also written several short stories, including "The Girl in the Airport" in the Deadly Southern Charm anthology. She is a member of International Thriller Writers and is currently the president of Sisters in Crime - Central Virginia.

Great Advice That I've Learned from Other Authors on My Writing Journey

I am extremely grateful for all the authors who have shared their ideas, advice, and successes with me through the years. It is so helpful as you begin or move along your writing journey. Here are some key items that I’ve learned.

When I’m working on a new novel, I plot out a simple outline. I learned from Donna Andrews to color-code the different kinds of action in your outline, so you can see it over the course of the book. For example, I mark all romantic elements with pink, humorous items are orange, clues are green, etc.

I learned from Mary Burton to keep a running list of over-used words. Add to it as you write, and then at the end of each revision cycle, search your document and remove the culprits. She also calls your first draft the “sloppy copy.” This isn’t “the end” of your project. It’s the beginning of the revision cycle.

I learned from the late Kathy Mix to keep a list of character names for each book. Her rule was to name each character with a different letter of the alphabet. If she already had a Krissy, then she couldn’t have another character whose first name started with a “K.” I build a chart of characters for my books in a series. I create a column for each book and update where the characters appear. I also create a list of key locations. I enter all the important facts, so I can keep track of the details.

Mary Miley gave me some great advice about honing dialogue. She recommends cutting out the unnecessary pleasantries and chitchat that don’t move your story forward.

Elaine Viets said to know your genre and who is publishing in it. Do your research and know the conventions.

Lynda Bishop, my long-term editor, recommends that authors keep a timeline for each book to make sure all events are in order and make sense. This helps with pacing.

In one of her talks, Tina Glasneck told the group to create a calendar for each book launch. Mine starts three months before the launch and runs three months after. Plan all events, interviews, blogs, and media campaigns.

Jane Friedman tells writers that their platform grows from their body of work. An author’s website and blog should be at the center of this. Also, the website and blog should be on the same site.

Frances Aylor and Alan Orloff gave me the best advice for writing. Butt glue (Frances) or BICFOK (Alan). They’re essentially the same. If you want to be a writer, put your Butt in the Chair and Fingers on the Keyboard.

What would you add to my list?