Fiction Scribe

Hello and welcome to Fiction Scribe, Ms. Miller. Let’s start with getting to know you a little better. List five things you feel define you as a person.

Book reader from an early age.
Writer from an early age.
Always interested in learning new things.
Grew up in the Midwest – definitely a defining background.
Taught by my parents to always be the good person.

Where did the inspiration for Mrs. Lieutenant come from?

I was a new Mrs. Lieutenant in the spring of 1970 during the Vietnam War. It was a unique experience and I wanted to preserve that slice of women’s social history.

It’s obvious this book is different from your typical women’s fiction novel. In your opinion, what makes this book different from other women’s fiction?

To me contemporary women’s fiction is usually an inward-looking process; the protagonist is centered on herself and her own problems in a way that appears to discount what’s going on around her in the larger picture. The four women protagonists in MRS. LIEUTENANT are outward-looking because their lives are very much impacted by what’s going on around them in the larger picture.

Are you an army officer’s wife? If so, how much of your experiences come into play in this book? If not, what kind of research did you have to do for your book to read authentically?

I was an army officer’s wife from May of 1970 to May of 1972, and my experiences very much influence this novel. I have all my original documents from that time, so I didn’t have to rely only on my memory to recreate the period. (And some of those original 1970 documents can be seen on my website at www.mrslieutenant.com.)

With the war in Iraq happening, there are going to be many women who identify with the women in this book. Was the timing for the publication and release of this book intentional? If so, why make it about Vietnam instead of the current war?

MRS. LIEUTENANT probably has a lot to say in connection with the current war in Iraq, but the publication timing was not intentional. It took me this long to get the book to where I thought it was ready to be released. And I couldn’t have written it about Iraq because I don’t know enough about officers’ wives today. My main objective was to present an authentic look at officers’ wives, so the book had to be at a time that I personally knew.

What are your dreams for your writing? Where do you see yourself in five years both as a writer and as a person?

I’m writing the sequel now – MRS. LIEUTENANT IN EUROPE – about being part of an occupation army in Germany 25 years after the end of World War II. And I have an outline of a third novel when Sharon Gold returns to civilian life. I hope in five years that both those books will be published. I also hope that my completed manuscript of a success guide for teens will be published or available in some format. And, as a person, I hope to always continue learning new things.

What is the most valuable piece of advice you have been given/learned in your life as a writer?

I’ve learned that a writer has to continually work to improve her/his craft – and to believe in herself/himself and not let other people discourage her/him.

Is there anything else you would like to share with the readers here?

On the advice of a close friend, I changed my fiction reading “diet�? to a much wider-range from the steady menu of mysteries I had been reading. This wider-range of reading definitely helped me improve my own writing.

Thank you very much for coming by this blog. I wish you great successes with Mrs. Lieutenant.