N GEMINI SASSON AUTHOR INTERVIEW
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Sure, but it’ll seem like I have fifteen different personalities. Bear in mind that I get bored easily, so I’m always doing something. I’m a lifelong runner (Boston Marathon qualifier), a Cross Country coach, a reformed home remodeler, and an avid gardener just trying to keep ahead of the weeds. I’m also a dog sport enthusiast and have raised, trained, shown, and judged Australian Shepherds for nearly three decades – which obviously means I started in the dog show world when I was three. *cough*
Was there a certain time in your life you knew you wanted to write?
Fifteen years old, as I was getting my fingers stuck between the keys of an old manual Royal typewriter in my closet. I never got more than two pages into a story then before I lost focus. It took another twenty years before I actually completed a book. My children were toddlers and I needed to escape without actually leaving the house.
What are you currently working on?
Another Sam McNamee Mystery, of course! The characters that keep showing up in those stories provide plenty of material.
Of the books you’ve written, which one is your favorite and why?
That’s like asking which of my children is my favorite. I love them all, in different ways. My historicals were my posterity projects. My Faderville books make me ponder life more deeply. And my mysteries are just plain fun to write. But of all of them, Say That Again is probably my favorite. It involves an autistic girl, a recycled dog, and a reclusive neighbor. The response from readers was heartwarming.
What books have most influenced you as a writer?
The Three Musketeers, The Five People You Meet in Heaven, and A Dog’s Purpose.
What do you find to be the most challenging part of writing? And the most rewarding?
The most challenging aspects are avoiding distraction and starting a new book. I love the momentum that builds when I get about a third of the way in, but just getting the boulder rolling… not so much. And while working at home is great, you have to learn to say ‘no’ more often than you’d like, sometimes to the point where you feel anti-social.
The most rewarding thing is when readers just ‘get it’. When that message you threaded throughout the story moves them, makes them laugh or even cry – that connection is why I write.
What book is on your nightstand?
Nothing. At any time I have a dozen books on the TBR pile of my Kindle. I’d read faster, but then I’d have to write less. Currently I’m reading Nicole Galland’s Stepdog, a romantic comedy, and am thoroughly loving it. I have eclectic tastes: non-fiction, suspense, mysteries, dystopian SciFi, and anything with a dog in it.
What can we look forward to seeing from you in the future?
More standalone dog stories from the Faderville series and at least a few more Sam McNamee books. I’ll stop writing those two series when the ideas quit coming. Which hopefully will be never.
Is there anything you’d like to share with your readers?
Be more like your dog: nap when you need to, play for the sheer joy of it, and forgive easily, because life’s too short to be a grump.
AUTHOR LINKS
Website link – www.ngeminisasson.com
Facebook Link (author page) – www.facebook.com/NGeminiSasson
Twitter Link – www.twitter.com/NGeminiSasson
AUTHOR BIO
N. Gemini Sasson is a serial remodeler, intrepid gardener, runner, and dog lover. She lives in rural Ohio with her husband and an ever-changing number of animals.
Long after writing about Robert the Bruce and Queen Isabella, Sasson learned she is a descendant of both.
