#WriterWednesday Interview with C. L. Tolbert
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I’d like to welcome the fantastic C. L. Tolbert to the blog for #WriterWedneday!
A few of your favorite things:
The things I like often remind me of times or events from my past. An elegantly shaped bowl by Peter Anderson, the master potter at Shearwater Pottery in Ocean Springs, Mississippi currently sitting on a table in my living room reminds me of my mother’s back porch where it resided for years. The bowl takes me back to walks on the beach, and beauty of the Gulf Coast, where I grew up.
I cherish a poster of my “accomplishments” prepared with loving detail by my sixteen-year-old daughter for my fortieth birthday. One glance at that poster and I’m teleported back to happy times with her and to the days when she was so excited about the future and the medical career she was just starting to plan.
Finally, I love the poems written by my son when he was at Emory University, and published in the Lullwater Review. I love his insight, his humor, and his observations. And I love knowing that I’ll never be half the writer he is.
Things you need to throw out:
Over the past few months, I’ve begun the process of down-sizing - throwing out unnecessary ‘things’ to accommodate a house with poorer storage capacity than my former home. I’m throwing out clothes I haven’t worn in the past two years, electronics, and sadly, I’m giving away unnecessary, but beautiful, antique bowls, temple jars, and urns. I have too much stuff. And even though I love all of my antiques, I don’t want my house to look like a museum. Plus, we need space to breathe.
Things you need for your writing sessions:
The only things I need for my writing sessions are: my computer, my computer glasses, and a chair, a table, or a bed. I don’t even need a desk, although I often write at one. I try not to write on my bed since it encourages bad posture, but I occasionally find myself there, seeking a softer spot and a place to elevate my feet as I type away.
Things that hamper your writing:
I am distracted and aggravated by people talking, and loud noises when I write. I also do not like to listen to music with words while writing, although instrumentals are fine. I am able to write in coffee shops, but loud conversations and loud music impede my ability to think creatively. So, I seek quieter places.
Things you love about writing:
I enjoy researching issues which are relevant to each book. And I love creating the plot, the storyline, developing the characters in the book, and bringing them to life. I also enjoy the process of writing. I often get lost in the story, and cannot pull myself out of what I’m doing to have a conversation with anyone else. Getting “lost” in the story may be my most favorite aspect of writing, but it isn’t one my husband appreciates.
Things you hate about writing:
I do not enjoy the editing process. I am not good at finding my mistakes, but am especially terrible at finding redundancies. But obviously, it’s necessary.
Hardest thing about being a writer:
Marketing your book is, for me, the most difficult aspect about being a writer. I have yet to discover the perfect marketing scheme, and know that I have spent money on projects that have not paid off. Yet, book marketing is essential, and the author must do the majority of the work, or pay someone else to. Most authors, including me, would far prefer spending their day writing, and leave the marketing to others, but that isn’t always possible.
Easiest thing about being a writer:
I find the writing process enjoyable, making the writing process the easiest aspect about being a writer. I love settling down and escaping into the world I’ve created. If I didn’t have other obligations and duties, such as the need for clean laundry and dishes, I would write all day long. I love building a story, and seeing how the story and the characters’ lives interconnect.
Things you never want to run out of:
I never want to run out of printer paper, Pilot pens, or a notepad to write on. I type all of my manuscripts on the computer but print off articles and other research as needed. I also keep an outline of the book in a separate notebook.
Things you wish you’d never bought:
I wish I hadn’t purchased an exercise bike since it is rarely used, and is collecting dust.
Words that describe you:
I was once told by a boss that my best traits were my aggressiveness and thoroughness. He also said that those same traits were my worst characteristics. Since my retirement from the practice of law, I’m far less aggressive, but am even more tenacious, and I like to think I’m still thorough. I also try to be thoughtful of others and kind. If I’m not always, I aspire to be.
Words that describe you, but you wish they didn’t:
I did not like my former boss’s description of me as aggressive. I never saw myself that way, but can appreciate his perspective.
Things you always put in your books:
Emma Thornton, is the protagonist in the Thornton Mystery Series. Each story in each of the books of the series has been told primarily from her point of view. Although the books in the series are all legal thrillers, Emma is also a mom, and the relationships in her life, especially with her twin boys, are important to her. As a working mother, a lawyer, and a law professor, Emma struggles to manage her personal and family life with some equilibrium. I include family interactions, and the ups and downs of family life in each of the Thornton Mysteries.
Also, the setting is a character in each of the books in the series, and a strong sense of place accents the story line of each of the books. Out From Silence was set in the fictitious town of Jonesburg, Georgia. Jonesburg is a college town, and is as charming as a “Eudora Welty novel.” Daffodils cover its hills in the spring and its local watering holes are filled with benevolent drunks quoting lines from their latest poems or books. But the early fall heat in Jonesburg is oppressive, relentless, and bears down on its citizens. The sun is so bright it sears skin and burns eyes. Jonesburg is a beautiful but deadly southern town.
New Orleans is the setting for both The Redemption and Sanctuary, and is the perfect place for a murder mystery. Both stories are set in the 1990’s when, statistically, there was more than one murder a day in the city. Police corruption was at its highest during those years. New Orleans citizens couldn’t walk outside at night without the fear of being robbed, or killed, or both. But New Orleans is also one of the most beautiful cities in the world, filled with Georgian, Queen Anne, and Victorian styled mansions lining St. Charles Avenue, the Garden District, and Bayou St. John. Flowers spill out from wrought iron fences and frame wrap-around porches. French Quarter townhouses trimmed with ornate wrought iron rails and dripping ferns soar over narrow cobblestone streets. It’s a city filled with visual treats, and sinister nights.
Things you never put in your books:
Although Emma has a love interest, Ren Taylor, I do not put explicit sexual scenes in my books.
Things to say to an author:
I am always thrilled to read a review which finds and understands the theme of the book. I am attracted to vulnerable suspects, who are usually the main character of the story. Although I write legal thrillers, there is a subtle social justice issue in each of my books, and I find it gratifying if a reader finds that issue and understands why it is important.
Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book:
I am grateful to all of my readers, but I find it aggravating if a small typo is pointed out after a book has gone to publication. I hate typos, and strive to find each one of them. But they cannot be corrected once the book has been printed.
Most daring thing you’ve ever done:
I once went scuba diving in Mexico with ill-fitting, leaking equipment. I was not certified that day, and still am not. We dove down forty feet off the coast of Cozumel. I had to grab on to the sea grass at the sandy bottom to keep myself down since I apparently float. (In earlier times I may have been burned at the stake as a witch.)
I was told to keep breathing in and out of my regulator or face certain death. I had no problem remembering that and didn’t die. I was in my late twenties, and more stupid than brave. But I was with a group of friends, and at the time, didn’t want to be left out of any of the fun. I believe that’s called FOMO. I haven’t been scuba diving since.
Something you chickened out from doing:
Once, when I was in high school, I was invited on a boating trip by a friend. Her family owned a huge one hundred-and-twenty-five-foot yacht, and it seemed as if our entire circle of friends, girls and boys, were invited. When we finally anchored a short way from an island, a group of football players decided it would be fun to throw girls off of top deck, where I happened to be sunning. This deck seemed very far from the water. The unlucky girls who were thrown over came back on board complaining of sea nettles in the water. I should have left the area then, but felt a little queasy below deck. So, I stayed and hoped the boys had grown tired of their prank. Shortly afterwards, my wrists and ankles were grabbed, and I was swung out over the railing of the yacht. I screamed, and grabbed the railing, immediately wrapping my arms and legs around it. I didn’t care if my fear of being thrown in the sea nettle-infested water was uncool. I only knew that I wasn’t going in from the top deck.
The two boys who tried to throw me in ended up helping me off of the rail. Nothing was ever said about the incident. But I learned that day that I have a strong survival instinct. I didn’t chicken out as much as I refused to be thrown in.
The nicest thing a reader said to you:
A lovely reader, who happens to be an incredible writer, Ellen Byron, kindly said that “C.L. Tolbert follows in the footsteps of legendary southern author Margaret Maron with her haunting debut, OUT FROM SILENCE, a beautifully drawn mystery that explores the duality of evil and kindness in a small Georgia town.”
The craziest thing a reader said to you:
I once received an Amazon review for THE REDEMPTION, the second book in the Thornton Mystery Series, proclaiming that it was “a fun book to read to children!” It went on to explain that the book was about a little boy who wanted a dog. I quickly realized that the comments were intended for another book, and were mistakenly identified as a review for THE REDEMPTION. I write adult-themed murder mysteries/ legal thrillers, not children’s books!
About C. L.
After winning the Georgia State Bar Journal's fiction contest in 2010, C.L. Tolbert developed the winning story into a full-scale novel. OUT FROM SILENCE was published in December of 2019, and is the first novel in the Thornton Mysteries series. Her second book, THE REDEMPTION, was published in February of 2021, and SANCTUARY, the third book in the series, was published in July of 2022.
Licensed in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Georgia, C.L. practiced law for thirty-five years before retiring to pursue writing. During her legal career she spent several years teaching at Loyola Law School in New Orleans, where she was the Director of the Homeless Clinic. She also has a Masters of Special Education, and taught in a public school prior to enrolling in law school.
C.L. has two children and three grandchildren, and lives in Atlanta, Georgia with her husband and schnauzer.
Let’s Be Social:
Website: C.L. Tolbert Mystery Author | Thornton Mystery (cltolbert.com)
