Gail Roughton is a native of small town Georgia whose Deep South heritage features prominently in much of her work. She’s worked in a law office for close to forty years, during which time she’s raised three children and quite a few attorneys. She’s kept herself more or less sane by writing novels and tossing the completed manuscripts into her closet.
A cross-genre writer, she’s produced books ranging from humor to romance to thriller to horror and is never quite sure herself what to expect when she sits down at the keyboard. Now multi-published by Books We Love, Ltd., her credits include the War-N-Wit, Inc. series, The Color of Seven, Vanished, and Country Justice. Currently, she’s working on Black Turkey Walk, the second in the Country Justice series, as well as the Sisters of Prophecy series, co-written with Jude Pittman.
Another War-N-Wit plot always seems to be brewing on the back burner, too, whether she’s actually trying to brew one or not, and usually boils quicker when she’s trying not to brew one at all.
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Ariel Anson thinks she has her life in order. She’s young, smart, and beautiful, even if she doesn’t believe the beautiful part. She’s a paralegal with a great career and a fiancé who’s a CPA. You just can’t get any steadier than that. Then she meets private investigator, bounty hunter, process server Chad Garrett.
What does War-N-Wit, Inc. stand for anyway?
Warlock and Witch? For real? Oh, yes! For real.
Her life as she knows it is over! Instead of organizing corporate documents and pleadings, she’s chasing bail jumpers and taking down serial killers. And investigating secret societies. Like Resurrection.
Not everyone can join, just the elite few who remember their past lives. Only the Seer knows if those memories are truth or fabrication. There’s just one problem. The new Seer is missing in action. War-N-Wit’s new assignment is a blast from the past! But whose past?
Available at Amazon
Q) What inspired you to write this story?
Back in the days before I ever published a word, when only a small group of office friends even knew I wrote, one of those readers asked if she could let her mother read my books. “Of course!” I said. I wasn’t sure anybody’s mother would be remotely interested in any of them, you understand, but I figured my friend knew her mother better than I did. And thankfully, she did. Miss Louise enjoyed them immensely and sent me a message. “Tell Gail to write something funny on purpose, ‘cause she’s frequently so funny when she’s not even trying to be.”
And thus was born the War-N-Wit series.
Q) How long did it take you to write?
Well, there’s kind of a back story there. The War-N-Wit novels started life as four short novellas, each published independently. This summer my publisher, Books We Love, Ltd., wanted to combine the first and second novella into one book and the third and fourth novella into one book, so as to make two full-length novels for print purposes. This actually worked perfectly as all the novellas start right where the last one ended. The first War novella, The Witch, which is the first part of what’s now Witch Resurrected took maybe three, four months to write. It just took off on its own. The second novella, Resurrection, which is the second half of Witch Resurrected, took a bit longer, six to eight months. The third novella, The Coven, now the first part of MeanStreets, took about eight months, too. But the fourth novella, MeanStreet, LLC, now the second half of MeanStreets, took off on its own just as the first novella did, and it probably took four months. Now, combining them smoothly together into the two full-length novels? Maybe a week. I really enjoyed doing it, too, it gave me a chance to re-read and re-visit old friends, not to mention helped me with the next War-N-Wit plot brewing back in back of my brain.
Q) What is your favorite thing about writing?
Actually writing, as opposed to trying to write. There’s a difference. See, sometimes, when I sit down at the keyboard, I’m not actually the one writing. (Ssssh. Don’t tell anybody, they’ll think I’m crazy.) By that I mean something coming from somewhere else seems to have taken control over my fingers and my brain, such that I’m not actually doing the writing, I’m just doing the transcribing. Imagine watching a movie playing on a screen inside your brain rather than in front of you, and just typing out the lines and action as you watch. That’s the closest I can come to describing those moments. They’re Christmas, Nirvana, and Shangri-La all rolled into one. I think every writer I know agrees we all have “golden” moments, though I doubt we all describe it the same way.
Q) What is your least favorite thing about writing?
Trying to write. That’s when those moments just described above, the “golden” moments, decide to go on vacation. That doesn’t mean those times aren’t productive, or that writers just stop working till the gold decides to flow again. Digging through such moments frequently lead to another gold strike. I’ll probably end up revising everything I write during such periods, but that’s okay. Just as long as the drudgery eventually leads to another gold rush.
Q) If you could be any famous person for one day, who would you be and why?
You know, I truly wouldn’t want to be any famous person. Or anybody else at all. It’s hard enough being me and I’ve had years of practice at it. I’d really hate to have to acclimate to anybody else’s “me-ness” in the space of 24 hours.
Q) What is the oldest thing in your fridge and how old is it?
I wouldn’t swear with one-hundred percent certainty, but I’m guessing it’s a little jar of grated garlic, the “bought-ready-made” kind from the vegetable department coolers. And I’d guess it’s about two years old. Doesn’t get a lot of use, obviously.
Q) What can readers expect from you in the future?
Their guess is as good as mine. I’m pretty eclectic. I’ve written everything from humor to romance to thriller to horror. Right this minute, I’m working on a paranormal thriller. A rather dark one. I have another War-N-Wit plot brewing over on the side, and the Wars are paranormal humor-thriller-adventure stories, heavy emphasis on the humor. The one thing that tends to remain constant in my work is the paranormal thread. I’d (almost) be willing to guarantee that every book I write will have some thread of the paranormal running through it, some a lot more than others.
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Their guess is as good as mine. I’m pretty eclectic. I’ve written everything from humor to romance to thriller to horror. Right this minute, I’m working on a paranormal thriller. A rather dark one. I have another War-N-Wit plot brewing over on the side, and the Wars are paranormal humor-thriller-adventure stories, heavy emphasis on the humor. The one thing that tends to remain constant in my work is the paranormal thread. I’d (almost) be willing to guarantee that every book I write will have some thread of the paranormal running through it, some a lot more than others.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
