Interview With Claudette Walker

by Dorothy Dreyer

 

 

Hi, Claudette. Tell us a bit about yourself.

I was born in Monroe Michigan, the youngest child of factory workers. My mother Lois Walker, my father Claude Walker, and my sister Deborah Walker are now deceased. I lived a glorious childhood of love and laugher, playing on Lake Erie. Growing up, I was an avid diver, rode small motorcycles, ice skated, roller skated, and more. I have been married, divorced, and I am now remarried.


I am the mother of an adult daughter. In 2003, just as I was launching my first book and was writing C Street, I fell in love and married my husband David, an attorney in Florida. Within hours of our wedding ceremony my life changed, as I was severely injured in an accident. I spent the years since recovering, and I still suffer from the injuries I sustained. It was left to time for me to find out if I would every finish my second novel. Despite the ominous beginning of our life together, I am very happily married.

Wow, what a life! How long have you been writing?

Since childhood; I first published poems in newspapers in my early twenties, and I am now in my fifties.

Tell us about C Street. What's the story about?

C Street is the story of what could be. It is a very possible scenario of the present and future drawn from my examination of the powerful men in recent history. C Street is also a story of intense love, as well as good and evil.

How did the idea of the story come to you?

I came to know some of the players of Washington, D.C. I saw the love of power and I realized that total power totally corrupts during my days of being married to a bipolar genius, a government lawyer, now deceased.

Is this book similar to your first book, To Love the Rose?

No, although To Love The Rose started the journey of the characters and the tapes of secrets. It was the book that began the journey for my voice. C Street is the book where I believe I found my voice.

What’s the hardest part of writing for you?

Deciding when to stop the story and leave it for the next book.

Any tips you’ve learned about writing you’d like to share?

Work some every day. Think about the book and get it onto paper. Then, work a lot on the days when the ideas are flowing. Whatever success you obtain, remember the next great storyteller is yet to come. Be humble and grateful that the world liked your last story. The point of writing is to communicate and the only way to do that is to disseminate your work. It isn’t communication if it never leaves your hands to be read by others.

Great tips! Let’s get to know you on a deeper level. What do you absolutely have to have nearby when writing?

I need a good chair with neck support, paper, a pen, a computer, and lots of coffee.

I'm with you there on the coffee, lol. So, if you could have any super power, what would it be?

Omniscience.

Quick writing test! Use the following words in a sentence: hibernation, fiber, and social butterfly.

A social buttery I am not, for every fiber in my being prefers hibernation in my writer’s lair.

Excellent sentence! Here’s the part where you thank the people who are supporting you. Let's hear your shout outs.

I would like to thank my daughter NeCole who provides endless ideas for my characters and keeps me grounded in life. Without NeCole, I would not be the woman I am today. I want to thank my husband David, who stands with me at every bend in the road, edits my work before the ever editor gets the final draft, lifts, laughs, and goes wherever I need him to be, just in case I need him. To the people who do work for me, from technical work to editing, I thank you. I must not forget, to my neurologist Dr. William Greenberg, who has worked with me over the years to understand what has happened from the injury, provided the treatment course, and brought me back to finish C Street, I thank you. To my readers, old friends and new, who have been so supportive at every step in my journey, I thank you for allowing me the privilege of writing for you. Without all of you, I would not be the author of C Street.

And finally, where can people find you - and your books - online?

I can be found online at www.AbacusBooks.com, My books are available at that website, as well as at www.Amazon.com , UK, FR, DE, AT, CA, JP , www.BarnesandNoble.com and in bookstores. eBooks are available for Kindle, Nook, iPhones, MP3 and other reading devices. You can find me in Saint Petersburg, Florida most all of the time, and in Washington, D.C. in the spring -- signing books.

Claudette, it was wonderful talking with you. Thank you so much for taking the time to talk about your book. I wish you lots of success!