| Q. Andie, when did you write your first book? How did | | | | sound cliché, but sometimes there is no growth or |
| you get it published? How long did it take? | | | | gain without pain...though I wish there were. |
| A. I wrote my first book 10 years ago but didn't publish | | | | Q. Who has been the biggest influence on your |
| it due to content. I was told I didn't have the name to | | | | writing? |
| publish this type of book. It was called Daddy's Little | | | | A. My biggest influence that's a tough one but thinking |
| Girl. It dealt with the first black American President | | | | back it had to be J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye. For |
| embroiled in an incestuous relationship with his | | | | me it was the first book that let you know the world |
| daughter. She killed him by poisoning him with nicotine; | | | | isn't exactly what it appears and neither are the |
| the man smoked three packs a day. She developed | | | | people. But Edgar Allan Poe also influenced me via his |
| Multiple Personality Disorder, which led her to kill. | | | | personal struggles and losses that so eloquently |
| Abstract Murder is my first book to be published. I | | | | appear on the pages he wrote. |
| published it myself through Authorhouse, which isn't a | | | | Q. Do you read for pleasure? If so, what kind of books |
| vanity press, September 2008. With editing it took | | | | do you like to read? |
| about a year to complete that aspect of publishing. | | | | A. I'm severely dyslexic so, I don't read a lot. I've been |
| Q. Which do you find leads you to your best writing: | | | | asked "How can you write if your dyslexia is so |
| your triumphs or your tragedies? Do you write from | | | | severe?" The only thing that I can tell you is it's less |
| joy or pain? | | | | difficult to write than it is to read! My trouble is inverting |
| A. Hmm, that's an excellent and difficult question but I'll | | | | words that create real words, so spell check doesn't |
| take a stab at it. My writings depend on what's going | | | | pick up on them. I have to be extra diligent. If there is a |
| on in my life which is usually hectic and chaotic. I write | | | | book that catches my attention then I'll listen to them |
| from pain then turn it around and show the joy that | | | | on audio. Thomas Harris and James Patterson have |
| comes from certain types of pain. Life is a journey and | | | | had influences on me. |
| every once in a while we're going to hit pot holes that | | | | Q. What has been the most significant book you've |
| make child birth feel like a bad case of cramps. Not to | | | | read (or listened to) in your life? |