Today I am speaking with Ann Regentin

Good Morning Ann thank you for taking time to talk to Fallen Angel Reviews today.

Thank you for taking the time to talk with me!

I saw on your website that Second Sight is an Eppie Finalist. Congrats to you and wishing you the best.

Thanks. The book was also nominated for the CAPA, so I'm doubly thrilled. These are both a real honor for a book that was a bit of a risk.

I wish you the best in the nominations. Why not tell your viewers where you came with the idea to pen this wonderful story?

It's a collection of thirty short stories written over a period of about three years. Half were previously published and half are exclusive to the book. It's a lot of ideas, all under the same, metaphorical roof.

Would you like to tell us something about your upcoming releases?

I have a novella called Midnight Conversations coming out this spring as part of an anthology from Phaze Press. I also have a few largish projects on my hard drive that probably won't see print for a while. I am getting my short stories out on a quasi-regular basis again, though, and there's also my column at ERWA. Anyone who wants to know what's going on can check my website.

Do you have to do much research in your writing?

Tons. I've looked up information on things like spinal cord injury, burn care, Inuit mythology, astronomy and Civil War cemeteries. I'm an information junkie, so I enjoy this.

Do you get along well with your publisher?

As far as I know, yes. I'm not really anyone's star writer, but we all seem to get alone fine.

How much of your personality and life experiences are in your
writing?

My fiction is rarely autobiographical, although I do draw on experience. I start with something I see or hear, it can even be something I read about in the newspaper, and then I start asking, "What if...?" The story is built out of that "What if...?"

If a reporter were to insist upon taking a tour of your life would day, what would they see in the day of Ann?

I'm a disabled, homeschooling single mom, so my days are a bit unusual. I have fibromyalgia and undifferentiated connective tissue disease, downgraded from a diagnosis of lupus back in the late 1980s, so I spend a lot of time being tired and achy. I also spend a lot of time making sure my son gets his schoolwork done and gets to his various lessons and activities. Homeschoolers spend remarkably little time at home. We're also video gamers; my son is a budding computer geek. I squeeze
writing in between everything else, often taking my computer with me when my son is in lessons.

Have you always had a desire to write?

Yes. My mother says that I taught myself to read when I was two, and I've been writing stories as far back as I can remember. I was more focused on music for a long time, though. It wasn't until several years after I was diagnosed with lupus that I changed gears.

What kind of books would we find on your bookshelves?

All kinds of things. I have non-fiction on a wide variety of subjects, a lot of murder mysteries, some fantasy, some literary fiction and a weird assortment of books in German. My German isn't great, though, so I haven't read all of those yet.

When is your best time of the day to write?

Between midnight and 4:00 am, unfortunately! I'm trying to shift myself to mornings, but it isn't easy. I also do a lot of writing when my son is with his father.

Do story ideas come easily for you?

For the most part, yes. I'm always asking, "What if...?"

For Fun: Name the best appliance ever created?

The washing machine. I can't imagine doing laundry by hand.

No interview of a writer would be complete without this question: What is your all time favorite food that you hate going without?

Probably fruit. While I like things like chocolate and have a weakness for baked goods, I can and do go without them for the most part. What I rarely go without is fruit. I always have apples, clementines, bananas or grapes in the house, and I love berry season. A big bowl full of mixed, fresh berries and whipped cream is my idea of culinary heaven. Smoothies, too, ice cream with fruit, sponge cake with fruit. Wonderful!

Do you have another website than www.annregentin.com that you would like to share with your readers, like a blog or links to your books?

You can also find me at www.annregentin.blogspot.com and
www.myspace.annregentin.com, and of course you can find Second Sight at http://www.midnightshowcase.com/second_sight05-08.htm.

Ann, I have enjoyed our talk and thank you for taking time to share some insight with us about Ann Regentin. I wish you the best in your writing endeavor with all your fantastic books.

Thanks very much! It's been a pleasure talking to you.

Interviewed by: Linda L.