Maria Hudgins interview

Where were you born and raised?

I was born in Joplin, MO and raised in eastern Tennessee.

What was it that first got you into writing and when did you start writing?

My love for mysteries. I've always loved to read them and it made sense to me to write something I'd like to read. I started writing seriously when I retired from teaching. I was a high school science teacher and science has a way of sneaking into my stories.

Which writers have influenced you the most?

Agatha Christie, Graham Greene, Truman Capote, Peter Lovesey, James Lee Burke.

What kind of things do you write?

I write mystery novels. I've written a few short stories but I prefer writing novel-length stories.

What are you working on now?

I've just finished a book, Lotus and Honey, set near the Valley of the Kings in present day Egypt. I'm thinking about starting a new mystery, but the plot is still swirling around in the ether of my mind.

What is your writing day like?

I'm an early riser. I get up about 6 am and by 7:30 or so, I'm at my computer. By one o'clock my brain is shot so I quit and turn to other duties, like mowing the lawn or doing laundry.

What’s the most exciting thing about writing for you?

I love to watch as the characters develop and surprise me. I invent characters to fill the role I assign them in the story but they often insist on putting in their own two cents worth.

What’s the most frustrating thing about writing for you?

Wording sentences so they read easily and convey what I want.

What’s the best piece of feedback that you’ve had from your audience?

A reader wrote to tell me she took my Death of an Obnoxious Tourist, a mystery set mainly in Florence, to Italy with her and sought out places I'd mentioned in the book that sounded fascinating to her.

Do you write for a particular audience, or is your first priority to satisfy your own creativity?

I write for myself. I write what I'd like to read. I'm a 60ish American woman, so I guess that's my audience.

Do you have a homepage? Do you have any short stories or poems published online? (If so, please provide the URLs):

My website is http://www.mariahudgins.com/. I have no stories online but at my website you can read the first chapters of my Dotsy Lamb Travel Mysteries, Death of an Obnoxious Tourist and Death of a Lovable Geek.

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