Episode 23 Conversations over Milk & Cookies - Stevie Turner

Welcome to Episode 23 of Conversations over Milk & Cookies hosted by Kindle Ninja.


What is this madness, you ask? It's my way of supporting indie authors (some of them are members of the RAVE REVIEWS BOOK CLUB).

We interact with them everyday, directly through tweets, or indirectly through re-tweets, but we don't really know much about them. Their personalities really don't shine through in 140 characters.

All the EPISODES of Conversations over Milk & Cookies can be found HERE.  Or you can just look to your right and you'll find the Quick Links.

In this episode, we feature STEVIE TURNER, author of 'The  Porn Detective', 'The Pilates Class', and 'A House of Windows' (among others).



Let's get to know Stevie in more than 140 characters, shall we?

** Green Tea and Lemon Cake were served in this episode because Stevie is allergic to milk and cookies.




KINDLE NINJA:  Welcome to Conversations over Milk and Cookies. Green Tea and Lemon Cake.  Do you agree that there’s a particular sadness in lemon cake?



There would only be sadness present if one could not obtain any.


Writers are very interesting (and sometimes quirky) people with strange rituals. What is your strange writing ritual?

Because I tend to sit and write for a long time, I always go for at least a half hour walk before I start.

What would you consider as your 15 mins of fame?

The time recently when A House Without Windows made it into the top 100 bestsellers in the Amazon.co.uk Crime/Suspense/Kidnapping section.  I think its presence in said category might have even topped 15 minutes too.


How important is the choice of character names in your novel  (or any novel for that matter)

Quite important for me.  I like down-to-earth characters in real situations with unaffected names.  As soon as I see handles like Skylar or Tyriona it turns me off straight away!

 If your novel “The Porn Detective” would be made into a movie, who do you want to play the main character/s?

I think Kristin Scott Thomas would make an excellent Frances, and likewise Daniel Day-Lewis for Martin.  Rhona would need to be somebody quirky; Julie Walters would fit the bill there.

And who will direct the movie?

Roger Michell.

How do you feel about doughnuts without holes?

You’re asking somebody comfortable with eating mainly healthy food with the odd foray into lemon cake.  As far as I’m concerned, the best bit about a doughnut is its hole.


 What’s the book you wished you’d written?

The Go-Between by L.P Hartley. I wish I’d written ‘The past is a foreign country.  They do things differently there.’ 

What’s the book that positively shaped you?

I read through it again recently when I was writing A House Without Windows, and I incorporated it into the story.  It was Enid Blyton’s ‘Island of Adventure’. It started a love of reading when I was a young child that has fortunately never gone away.

Actor you’d take to the movies. What movie?

Robert Redford, my all-time favourite actor. I’d happily sit with him and watch his younger beautiful self in one of my favourite films ‘Out of Africa’.

 What would you rather be doing now? (instead of answering these questions).  

Writing my sixth novel. 

 What do you do to decompress?

Walk about in the countryside where I live.  I love to hear the birds singing and feel the sunshine on my face.


What bizarre food have you eaten?

I have various food allergies and am not particularly adventurous when it comes to trying new foods.  I once wound up my husband and sons and gave them a saucer of pumpkin seeds as a starter (I put them on porridge).  My sons gave them the evil eye and enquired as to what had to be done with them, and my husband wondered if I had recently purchased a parrot.

If we were to raid your fridge, what would we find in there?

Living lettuce, watercress, tomatoes, cucumber, soya milk, soya yoghurts, soya margarine (I’m allergic to dairy produce), turkey slices, ham, broccoli, carrots, pod peas, cabbage, fruit juices, low-sugar strawberry jam, low-fat mayonnaise and salad cream, new potatoes, jacket potatoes, and slices from a roast chicken I cooked yesterday.

 What’s in your purse right now?  

Many coins weighing it down, a couple of tenners, the prescription card for my new glasses, a supermarket receipt, an AA card in case my car breaks down, and a Hard Rock Café card that lets me go to the front of the queue.

 On a scale of 1 to 10, how excited are you about life right now?

When you get to my age (56) it’s more about being fulfilled and satisfied with your life, rather than excited.  Writing fulfils me, my marriage is stable, there’s a fourth grandchild coming soon, and I can still walk about without my knees giving way.

 Nicholas Sparks or Dan Brown?

Nicholas Sparks definitely.

J.K. Rowling or Stephenie Meyer?

Neither I’m afraid.  Only real life stories interest me.  


 Ninjas or Porn Detectives?

A Ninja has definitely got to be a better way of living than being a porn detective. In fact, even being a dead Ninja is better than being a porn detective!

Thanks, Stevie!


Stevie just published her latest novel, 'NO SEX PLEASE, I'M MENOPAUSAL'


http://www.amazon.com/No-Sex-Please-Im-Menopausal-ebook/dp/B00LQYUR48


You can follow her on Twitter: @StevieTurner6


Find her on Koobug.
 

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