#WriterWednesday Interview with Mally Becker
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I’d like to welcome the fabulous Mally Becker back to the blog for #WriterWednesday!
Things you need when you’re in your writing cave: A laptop, coffee, scratch paper for notes, and fuzzy socks.
Things that distract you from writing: Good weather, good music, or an empty coffee cup.
The coolest thing you’ve bought online:
A rowboat-sized sailboat. It was delivered to our house in a box—unassembled.
The thing you wished you’d never bought:
After my husband finished building that small boat-in-a-box in the cellar, we discovered it was too wide too take outside through the basement door.
Favorite snacks: Anything chocolate.
Things that make you want to gag: Calamari.
Something you’re really good at: Baking.
Something you’re really bad at: Softball.
Something you wanted to be when you were a kid: A dancer with the Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall.
Something you do that you never dreamed you’d do: Write mysteries! My Revolutionary War mysteries are available wherever books are sold, and I’m at work on a new story.
Last best thing you ate: Shrimp with green sauce and yellow rice from the Portuguese restaurant where my husband and I had our first date.
Last thing you regret eating: The (entire) giant chocolate cookie a friend brought me.
Things to say to an author: “I couldn’t go to sleep ‘til I finished your book.”
Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book: “I don’t read fiction. I don’t see the point. I mean, it’s not real, right?”
Favorite places you’ve been: Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument, New Mexico, Paris, Lake Placid, N.Y.
Places you never want to go to again: Middle school.
Favorite things to do: Kayak with my husband. Go to Mets games with the whole family. Visit wineries with friends.
Things you’d run through a fire or eat bugs to get out of doing: There are books in every room in our house, and I’ve promised to get rid of some. Well, a few. Maybe three. Just not today. Not tomorrow, either.
The funniest thing to happen to you: Being chased up the street by a wild turkey. (Don’t judge. They’re tall and mean!) It was so ridiculous that I burst out laughing as I sprinted away.
The most embarrassing thing to happen to you: Being chased by a wild turkey.
Best piece of advice you received from another writer: Most writers don’t make a ton of money. If you don’t find writing fun, don’t torture yourself. Find another line of work.
Something you would tell a younger you about your writing: Making up stories is even more fun than you imagine, and it’ll lead to some of the best adventures of your life. Enjoy the ride!
Recommendations for curing writer’s block: Writer’s block is my subconscious sending up a warning flag, forcing me to stop when I’ve written myself into a corner but don’t yet realize it. I go for a walk or to a movie, then brainstorm alternatives to find an alternative approach to the scene that’s giving me trouble.
Things you do to avoid writing: I’ve gotten more disciplined with time, but housekeeping chores are a great way to avoid writing.
About Mally:
Mally Becker is a two-time Agatha Award-nominated author of the Revolutionary War Mysteries, which include The Turncoat's Widow, The Counterfeit Wife, and The Paris Mistress. My stories feature Becca Parcell and Daniel Alloway—George Washington's two least likely spies—as they search for traitors in revolutionary-era Morristown, New York City, Philadelphia, and Paris. I've woven fictionalized versions of real events and people into each story. I hope you enjoy Becca's and Daniel's adventures as much as I liked writing them.
I was an attorney and volunteer advocate for foster children before becoming a full-time writer. When I'm not writing, you can find me at The Writers Circle Workshops, where I teach mystery writing, on Guns, Knives & Lipstick, the crime fiction Podcast I co-host with three fabulous female mystery writers, or online at the Historical Novel Society, where I interview other authors. I live with my husband in Somerset County, New Jersey, not too far from Morristown, where my first book is set.
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