Today I have my life opposite with us. I grew up in the Bay Area then moved to Tucson AZ where I became a Natural Child birth coach! As you’ll read from her bio we probably passed each other on the freeway!
Marlene Dotterer grew up as a desert rat in Tucson, Arizona. In 1990, she loaded her five children into the family station wagon, and drove north-west to the foggy San Francisco Bay Area. To stay warm, she tackled many enterprises, earning a degree in geology, working for a national laboratory, and running her own business as a personal chef. She’s a frustrated gardener, loves to cook, and teaches natural childbirth classes. She says she writes, “to silence the voices,” obsessed with the possibilities of other worlds and other times. She is married to The Best Husband in the World, and lives in Pleasant Hill, California.
1.If you were to write yourself into your book what kind of character would you be?
I’d be the slightly nutty old lady down the street.
That sounds like a lot of fun.
2.What is the geekiest thing about you?
Have you seen my science fiction library?
Can I borrow books? LOL!
3.Who is your arch nemesis?
Anybody who thinks they can tell me what to do.
I like it.
4.What mad ass survival skill do you have?
I can cook and I don’t mind it if all I have is a campfire. Just don’t ask me to identify any plants. Oh, and in a pinch, I could help deliver a baby.
I’ve gotten to help deliver a baby, it’s amazing!
5.What is the best advice you give, but hardly ever follow yourself?
Do your Kegels!
I’m doing some right now.
6.If your book was turned into a movie who you play your main characters?
Well… I think Colm Meany would be great as Sam, my physicist. Emma Stone would be perfect as Casey. But Thomas Andrews – I don’t know. Victor Garber played him in Titanic, but he’s too old for the part now, especially since Tom is 34 when we first meet him in my book. The real Thomas Andrews was a very handsome man, but I can’t think of any current actors of that age who look like him.
7.Why write about Titanic?
I was very young when I first heard about Titanic, and it always made me feel sad. But I wasn’t obsessed with it, even after James Cameron’s movie came out. But about five years ago, I became curious about Thomas Andrews, who was the ship’s designer He went down with the ship. What kind of man built ships like that? How did he get started? Who was he? So I started researching, and I had the strangest reaction. I was heartbroken at his death, as if he was a close relative, and I just found out he died. Weird, I know – but everything I read about him showed that he was kind, generous, and happy. That he loved life and he loved people. Everyone who knew him, loved him. I had to write the book to give him a second chance at life. It’s my tribute to him.
Strong emotional attachments past events make me wonder about past-lives.
8.You’re going on the Titanic Memorial Cruise in April. What is it?
This cruise is to commemorate the hundredth anniversary of Titanic’s fateful maiden voyage. It includes the same number of passengers that were on Titanic (around 1300), and will have many experts who will provide lectures and exhibits about the ship. Many of the passengers are descendants of people who were on the original ship.
We’ll follow the same route Titanic took, except we plan on ending up in New York! On the night of April 14/15, we will be above the spot where Titanic now sits, and will have a memorial service out on deck at the time she sank, which was about 2:20 a.m.
I’m very excited about it, as are all of the passengers. We’re all getting to know each other through Facebook!
Also, I’ll be blogging about the cruise as much as possible while I’m on it. The BBC will be along, as well, so there may be an interview. Keep an eye on my blog for that, and for other “specials” I’ll be posting about leading up to the cruise.
That sounds amazing, I will be jealously following your updates.
9.Give us a super secret peek into what you’re working on next?
I’m working on Bridgebuilders, the second Time Travel Journals book. It’s got parallel universes, neutrinos bouncing around all over the place, a megalomaniac, a rebel alliance, a hot, young, high school teacher and the brilliant student who has a crush on him, which just may be reciprocated, but I’m keeping it clean…
Don’t keep it clean on my account- *naughty grin*. Seriously it sound like a great book.
10.What style of book do you secretly long to write, but are afraid to try and do.
Hey, if I want to do it, I’ll try it. Life is short.
Good for you!
11.As an author tells us three things that will mean success to you in your writing career.
A certain level of sales. Say selling thousands of a particular book over a one-year period. I don’t need to be the next Amanda Hocking, but I’d like to reach a decent number of people.
I’d like to qualify for membership in Science Fiction Writers of America. That requires traditional publishing, so I’m still working on that angle with some of my other books.
And third… this is the embarrassing one to admit: to be respected enough to be a panelist at Cons. I guess all this means that I want validation. I want people to like my books and if they like them, to let me know.
I am with you 100% on being invited to Cons. That is definitely on my list of success!
Marlene thank you so much for taking the time to join me on my blog.I can’t wait to read the posts of you’re cruise!
And for anyone else who wishes to follow Marlene’s exciting adventures, she can be found here-
The Time Travel Journals: Shipbuilder
Imagine being there before the Titanic set sail.
Now imagine being there before she’s even built.
Sam Altair is a physicist living in Belfast, Ireland. He has spent his career researching time travel and now, in early 2006, he’s finally reached the point where he can send objects backwards through time. The only problem is, he doesn’t know where the objects go. They don’t show up in the past, and no one notices any changes to the present. Are they creating alternate time lines?
To collect more data, Sam tries a clandestine experiment in a public park, late at night. But the experiment goes horribly wrong when Casey Wilson, a student at the university, stumbles into his isolation field. Sam tries to rescue her, but instead, he and Casey are transported back to the year 1906. Stuck in the past, cut off from everyone and everything they know, Sam and Casey work together to help each other survive. Then Casey meets Thomas Andrews, the man who will shortly begin to build the most famous ship since Noah’s Ark. Should they warn him, changing the past and creating unknown consequences for the future? Or should they let him die?
The construction of White Star Line’s Olympic-class ships forms the backdrop for a passionate love affair between Tom and Casey, who must overcome the many differences inherent between an Edwardian Irish gentleman, and a member of America’s Generation Y. The fictional love affair grows alongside real lives from history: the Andrews family of Comber, Lord William Pirrie, Bruce Ismay, and the thousands of skilled men who built the remarkable ocean liners of the early twentieth century.
Really nice interview. And I like your can-do attitude, Marlene. If you want to do it, you’re gonna do it, no matter what. And don’t let anybody tell you what to do. Right on! And your interest in Thomas Andrews is intriguing. I would never have known any of those facts about him had I not read this post.
Thank you.
Patti
Thanks Patti- it was a lot of fun getting to know Marlene
Great interview. Marlene’s work sounds fascinating! I admire her for pursuing her passion and sharing it with the world through her writing. (Passion makes for the best stories, don’t you think??)
I agree, the more passionate you are about what you’re writing the better it will be
Shipbuilder sounds like a fantastic book! I love time travel, and I love the early 20th century! (Which is why I’ve written one in this time period, too!) I’m definitely adding this to my to-buy list. Thanks for a fun interview, ladies!
Thanks Jennette it was a lot of fun to do
The book sounds fasinating! Wonderful interview! Fun and informative. Thank you Marlene and Alica. You’ve really colored the book in the right light. Made me want to check it out.
Yay! Glad I could help tempt you. Thanks Debra- PS- I’m almost done with your interview 🙂
Thanks for having me stop by, Alica, and to everyone for leaving comments. I’m just dropping in for a brief moment before another exhausting day of sightseeing. London is amazing. I’ll try to get a post up this weekend.
I can’t wait for your next post!
Fun interview! I like that it wasn’t just about writing. Seeing the personal side of authors makes me feel like I get to know them, which usually is what makes me want to read their books.
I agree Emma I love learning more about people- you never know when an interesting trait could flesh out a character profile LOL 🙂