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It’s hard-to-impossible not to fall in love with Laura Caldwell’s Izzy McNeil. Endearing, authentic, and courageous, Izzy proves that sass combined with laugh-out-loud shenanigans can lead to life-changing revelations. A combination of romance, mystery and suspense, Caldwell presents readers with another page-turning tour de force. She shares how she plots Izzy’s world, her other passions aside from writing, and provides a sneak-peek into what’s next for Izzy and crew.
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“Once the broad strokes are there, I'll write as much as possible...”
—CALDWELL
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AUTHORLINK: CLAIM OF INNOCENCE is full of surprising twists. Will you share a little about how you plot out a novel? Do you know beforehand where you're going to take the reader?
CALDWELL: I have to give my publisher a synopsis for approval. It’s usually short--10 pages and skims through everything. Once the broad strokes are there, I'll write as much as possible and then stop to story-board the novel (usually when I've backed myself into a corner plot-wise). With Izzy 6 (False Impressions), I'm story-boarding early. Stay tuned for the results.
AUTHORLINK: When you are in the initial thinking/tinkering phase of a book, how do you choose which elements of law to inspect and share with the reader?
CALDWELL: Izzy is a lawyer who moonlights as a private investigator. Sometimes a novel will take her more into one world or another. If it’s the law, I try to make the details, the dialogue about it as real as possible. I'm always calling up Chicago lawyers asking them how they would analyze a certain situation or argue something to a judge.
AUTHORLINK: The characters in your Izzy McNeil series are consistently authentic and relatable. Do they ever surprise you?
CALDWELL: I know these characters (Izzy and crew) better than any I've ever written. And the more books we do the more I know. So I usually don't have that experience some writers do where they're typing and thinking, "Oh no, she is NOT going there, is she?" Although I will say that Izzy has some romantic interaction in Izzy 6 with someone that surprised me. Two people, actually.
AUTHORLINK: The love life of Izzy McNeil isn't a soap opera romance. Her relationships are honest and easy for readers to relate to. Would you share how you write realistic romance?
CALDWELL: Never before have I had characters who seem as real to me as Izzy and crew. So I see real life obstacles and joys in their relationships. I try to think through what would really happen with those particular characters who are interacting with each other, whether it’s Izzy and Sam, her mom and Spence, or Maggie and her boyfriend.
AUTHORLINK: What is the most poignant discovery that emerged from researching and writing CLAIM OF INNOCENCE? |
“The most poignant part of COI for me was the sub-story about Maggie's grandfather...”
—CALDWELL
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CALDWELL: The most poignant part of COI for me was the sub-story about Maggie's grandfather, a former state's attorney-turned-criminal defense lawyer who seems to be feeling his age. And having a hard time with it. What he ultimately discovers and how he reacts, I felt, were realizations and actions that were honest and full of integrity. That story line really pulled at me.
AUTHORLINK: Writers all over are struggling with the future of publishing - to publish the traditional route or to go it alone. Readers will always read, but do you believe one route is more beneficial than the other?
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“I'm watching the changing publishing world like a novel unfolding.”
—CALDWELL
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CALDWELL: I think it's pretty clear at this point that there is no clear winner for manner or mode of publishing as a means to success or reaching the right audience. I was going to say that I wish I could crystal-ball the whole thing and tell you how it'll shake out, but that wouldn't be true. I actually think it’s all pretty interesting. I'm watching the changing publishing world like a novel unfolding.
AUTHORLINK: Is there anything you are more passionate about than writing?
CALDWELL: It took me 12 books to stop and notice that that was a hell of a lot of production. And I am really proud of all of them. I'm also very intrigued and passionate as well about the innocence world and in particular, the issue of 'after-innocence.' At Loyola Chicago's Life After Innocence, we work with people who were wrongfully convicted and then later exonerated by something like DNA evidence which shows conclusively they couldn't have committed the crime. I am in awe of the emotional tenacity that the 'exonerees' possess in order to believe in themselves in order to get our and then saddle up for a whole new journey after exoneration. As they say, freedom is just the beginning.
AUTHORLINK: Will you give us a hint of what is to come next in Izzy's world?
CALDWELL: Question of Trust (Izzy 5) will be out at the end of February. In it, Izzy starts to doubt whether someone in her life is who he says he is. And then she'll have to get on board as his lawyer and get in even deeper. In Izzy 6, False Impressions (due out end of August 2012). Izzy gets involved in a mystery in the Chicago art scene. I am loving writing the book. Hope readers will love it too! Thanks to all of them who've kept Izzy alive in my world.
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About Laura Caldwell: |
Laura Caldwell is a Lawyer-turned-Author-turned-Born-Again-Lawyer. She is a former civil trial attorney, now Distinguished Scholar in Residence at Loyola University Chicago School of Law, Director of Life After Innocence, and published author of 10 novels and 1 nonfiction book. |
About Regular Contributor
Paige Crutcher |
Paige Crutcher is a wordie, writer, book addict, blogger, National Authors Examiner and columnist for authorlink.com. Visit her articles at:
http://www.examiner.com/authors-in-national/paige-crutcher, her blog: http://paigesprose.blogspot.com/ or follow her on Twitter: @PCrutcher.
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