Today I have the pleasure of interviewing Donna Wierzbowski, author of A Bodyguard of Lies. Donna Wierzbowski has been writing fiction since her high school junior year. She went to college, got married and spent 34 years teaching English. Now, having retired from her years of teaching, Donna is focusing on her first true love: writing fiction. It’s an honour to have her here today.
1. Can you tell us a bit about your book, A Bodyguard of Lies?
A BODYGUARD OF LIES is a spy-mystery with both a contemporary setting and WWII setting. In the contemporary story, FBI agent, Jake Bernstein, is recruited by MI-5 to go undercover and investigate an elderly, naturalized American grandmother who’s currently on tour in the UK. MI-5 suspect that she is a notorious Nazi spy never caught by the Brits during WWII. This spy, who went by the codename Hummingbird, caused the deaths of thousands of innocent people. Jake, a Jewish-American whose grandfather fled Germany in the early 1930’s, takes his assignment to heart but resolves to study the facts and not jump to false conclusions. Obstacles to his investigation are: the woman’s lovely grand-daughter, a ruthless, neo-Nazi organization in Ireland called the Celtic Wolves, and a cagey, clever old woman who keeps one step ahead of him.
2. When did you first know you wanted to be a professional author?
I wrote my first novel as a junior in high school, but it wasn’t until I retired from high school teaching that I had time to follow this pursuit. At heart, I’m a born storyteller.
3. What was the first story you remember writing about?
My high school novel was called Seventeenth Summer, and yes, it was about a 17 year-old girl who meets the boy of her dreams. Kind of a “Twilight” without the vampires and werewolves.
4. How did you get the idea for A Bodyguard of Lies?
The ideas for BODYGUARD: I’ve loved studying about World War II and I love spy novels with romantic elements. This is a mesh of both passions.
5. What kind of research and planning did you do for this book?
I based the locations and some of the travel details on my own motorcoach trip through England, Ireland and Scotland. Also, a few chapters take place in Hannover, Germany and Berlin, both places I’ve visited several times for I have some good German friends who live there.
6. What is the hardest part of the writing process for you and how do you make it easier for yourself?
The hardest part of the writing process: It’s so time-consuming! And the time spent on my a*# is less time spent at the gym. I try to make time for both, and my grandsons, so consequently, I don’t spend as much time writing as I should and would like. I never have writers’ block and as long as I can visualize the scene, I can write it.
7. Why did you decide to go with an ebook publisher rather than a print book publisher?
I like the higher royalties, and since the digital revolution has made eReaders so popular, I think ePublishers are just as valid and professional as the print ones.
8. What do you think is the most important advise for an aspiring writer to remember?
Write what you enjoy reading!
9. What are you reading right now?
I love to read mysteries and thrillers, so that’s what led me to finally writing my spy-mystery, A BODYGUARD OF LIES, and my speculative fiction thriller, THE DELPHI BLOODLINE. Before then, I’d begun a series about professional singers called BORN TO SING with another ePublisher, DevineDestinies.com/Mainstream. It’s doing well and I’m working right now on the 3rd sequel, Born to Sing 3: Alive in New York City.
10. What are you working on next that readers can look forward to?
After Born to Sing 3, I’ll start a sequel to A BODYGUARD OF LIES, a new mystery with Jake Bernstein.
You can buy A Bodyguard of Lies for $5.99 here. If you’d like to ask Donna any more questions, leave a comment and she should get back to you in the next day or two.
Such an interesting interview. I adore mystery/thrillers. Congratulations!