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?
Rogers: I
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?
Rogers: Everything. 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:
Our cab car owner was an interesting communicator and we nonchalantly mentioned present concerns, mainly about the elections. Everything went easily.
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