Month: September 2013

Q) You’ve had a very successful career as a television writer. How is writing a novel different than writing an episode of television?

VCW: Both forms of writing require specific writing skills. What’s common to both is telling a good story. When writing for television the storyteller utilizes dialogue, great characters, action and interesting settings to convey the complexities of the story. And though dialogue is very important, television is a visual medium. Whenever possible, “show” rather than “tell” the audience. The television writer needs to know what will successfully play onscreen, in a visual sense, and what is better …

Q&A with author Valerie C. Woods:

1) How much of this book is autobiographical and how much is pure fiction? Name a few parts that are examples of each.

“That’s kind of hard to say. I was the same age as Katrin in this time period and was the youngest in the family, living on Chicago’s South Side. I have an older sister who is very smart and very intuitive. And we did have adventures in which she was the organizer and leader, when we were young. So the basic bones of the book are taken from my personal history. …

When looking at the past what often comes to mind are the highlights – personal ones, as well as those considered historical.

When looking back at one’s own childhood the historical highlights run side by side with vibrant personal memories. Such a memory was the spark for “Katrin’s Chronicles: The Canon of Jacqueléne Dyanne, Vol. 1.”

This favored recollection happened more than forty years ago. It was one of those magical summer vacation days on the South Side of Chicago and my elder sister decided we would go on an adventure. She packed provisions in a brown paper lunch bag …