Author Interview ~ R.L Griffin

 R L Griffin is the author of Under Glass and recently released book, By a Thread.

What inspired you to write your first book? 

 I woke up in the middle of the night with prologue of my first book, Under Glass, in my head and it took off from there. 

If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?

There is no possible way I could choose one writer. I LOVE reading and my parents took me to the library or the bookstore every weekend when I was little.  There are so many things that I love and strive toward in tons of different writers. 

What do you do when you come down with a case of the infamous ʺwriterʹs blockʺ?

I don’t push my writing.  When I’m on, its constant, but sometimes its actually nice for all those characters and thoughts to take a break.  Sometimes the voices in my head drive me to drink... I’m not crazy thought, right?

When you are not writing what do you enjoy doing?  

 Hang out with my son, husband and dog.  I read constantly, if I’m not writing.  I like wine and now I’m kind of obsessed with Twitter. 

What is your favourite Movie at the moment?

Pitch Perfect.

What is your favourite song at the moment?

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm that’s hard.  I love music almost as much as I love to read.  I love the two playlists for By A Thread and Tension on spotify, but other than that I’m obsessed with Bruno Mars, If I was Your Man and Rihanna, Stay.

Who is your favourite book boyfriend?

Damn, you ask hard questions. 1) Braden, On Dublin Street; or 2) Will, Slammed.

If you could have only one book whilst stranded on a desert Island, what would it be?

Shit, just one?  To Kill A Mockingbird. 

Who is your favourite character from your books and why?
George from By A Thread. He falls head over heels for a girl that gives him hell and is very damaged.  He sees past all that and loves her anyway. 

How about your least favourite character?

There is a character in Under Glass, my first book named Chris.  He starts off okay but turns into a total prick and is a little psycho.   

If you could change one scene from one of your books, which one would it be and why?

I’m sure there are several scenes in Under Glass I would change, but for By A Thread I don’t think so. I’m still writing the story so I can’t go back and think about changing scenes, if that make sense.

Questions on By a Thread

What was the hardest part of writing this book?  

Writing is actually very easy for me.  I love every minute of it.  It’s the re-reading and making sure it all flowed and was a comprehensive story that is hard for me.  I loathe editing. 

What was your favourite chapter (or part) to write and why?

I really enjoyed writing the back and forth between Stella, Patrick and Billy.  I also enjoyed writing the scene where George sees Stella’s tattoo for the first time. 

What do you think readers will like most about this book?

I think different people will like different aspects, but I know everyone has experienced gut wrenching loss, whether it’s a horrible breakup or someone they love passed away.  Stella’s spiral is extreme, but people deal with loss with different ways and whether you turned to alcohol, stay in your bed in weeks or drunk facebook posting, I think there is something from her journey that readers can identify with somehow. 

And now, before you go, how about a snippet from your book:

  Once they got to Finnegan’s it was obvious why they had been summoned. Patrick and a bunch of other patrons were playing beer pong in the back part of the bar. She smiled and was genuinely amused by the sight. Then she looked over to the bar and waved at George. He motioned her over.

“I’ll be right there,” she told Millie who headed to the beer pong tables, her heels clicking on the hard wood floor of the bar.

“Beer pong? I like it.” She said as she shimmied her way up to the bar near George.

“Glad you approve.” He smiled at her. “You look like you got a little something on your shirt there, miss. Would you like a free Finnegan’s shirt to wear?”

“Really?” Stella asked enthusiastically looking down at her shirt. “That’d be great. This jerk bumped into me at this club Millie and I went to and...,” Stella pointed to her shirt, “it’s obvious what happened next.”

“Sure, come with me. There are shirts in the office.” Stella followed him to the end of the bar and then around to the office, across from the bathrooms. He opened the door and then started rummaging around the boxes. “Here’s one.” He was about to throw it to her when he noticed her tattoo on her left shoulder blade. “Holy fuck, that’s a tattoo.”

She turned around and watched his expression. “Yep, it is.”

“Tell me about it.” George’s eyes were full of curiosity.

Stella took a deep breath and then took a step closer to him. She pulled off her shirt and stood there. George took in her body in very slowly.

“You’re beautiful,” he whispered.

“Shirt,” she held out her hand.

“Oh... yeah,” George stammered as if he had forgotten why they were in there. He held it up to her.

“Thanks,” she pulled the white shirt on with the Finnegan’s logo on over her purple bra.

“Go to dinner with me,” George said.

“I don’t date.” Stella said matter-of-factly, and then turned to walk out the door.

“You don’t date?” he called to her back. Stella turned back to face him.

“Nope. In my effort to make the world a better place I have precluded myself from dating.” Stella walked over to where George was standing. “Let me be clear, George, I like you, but I don’t date. If you want to date someone you can get that somewhere else.” Stella leaned into him and whispered in his ear, “If you’d be interested in something else. That, I do.” That statement wasn’t entirely true since she hadn’t had sex with anyone since Jamie, but she was about as sexually frustrated as one human could get.

The alarm on his face was priceless; then his lips turned up at the edges.