Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Meet The Villagers


This week, we’re beginning a new blog series with authors talking about their books, the long road to publishing and the writing life.
To kick things off, this week we feature  S.G (Harriet) Rogers, whose new book, THE TAXI CHRONICLES is a lighthearted, freewheeling slice-of-life in which cab driver Honey Walker winds up at the intersection of small town life and some big city crime.
VG: How did you come to write The Taxi Chronicles
RogersI started driving a cab when my husband opened a cab company 5 years ago.  The characters that we picked up and the things they said and did were frequently so funny that it seemed to lend itself to a book.  I wrote the kind of book I enjoy reading.  Funny, fast and a little cocky.  Combined with the problems of a small town cab company, and, yes, we have been approached to transport illegal substances, and you have a natural for a novel.  I just had to learn how to move the plot forward and chill on the sleeping arrangements of the characters.

VG: What was most difficult about it? 
RogersEverything.  I had no idea writing a novel was so difficult.  I joined two writing groups.  Both of them have been incredibly valuable in teaching me the craft of writing.  I had no clue about voice, tense, or building plot when I started. 

VG:What has been the most rewarding about it so far?
Rogers: Even with a lightweight novel, the sense of accomplishment is huge.  I finished this project and saw it actually up on the web. 

VG: If somebody from say, Pluto, landed in front of you and asked you to tell them about your novel, how would you describe it?
Rogers:  I call it an airport novel.  It’s a fast read so you can finish it on an airplane between Boston and Chicago.  If you’re a slow reader, you might have to go to San Francisco.

VG: Which of your fictional characters most resembles you?
Rogers:  None of them.  Lucille might be a little like my mother but Mom is 93 yrs old.  I think Lucille is younger than that.  But the scene where Lucille is transporting her husband’s ashes actually took place when my mother and I took my dad out to Wisconsin to be scattered.  When the federal agent asked what was in the box, I said; “Dad”.  He told me that his mother wanted to be scattered at the casino.  She just loved it there.

VG: Give us a writing tip.
Rogers: Discipline.  Try to write every day.  And don’t give up your day job.  Remember even John Grisham couldn’t sell his first novel.

VG: Not to mention there’s plenty of inspiration in your day job if your novel is any indication! We hear the book is the first in a series, any hints as to what comes next?
Rogers: The next book gives Lucille center stage.  It involves the theft of prescription drugs from senior citizens.


The Taxi Chronicles by S.G. Rogers
Watch the Book Trailer here:
Buy it now at amazon.com
or Barnes and Noble: