Member Spotlight: Victoria Dana Zackheim

Why is writing important to you and why do you think it’s an important medium for the world? It’s my way to weave truth with fiction (as opposed to the lie) and delve into the psychology around what drives us to act as we do. The world has always relied on the written word, a reminder that we are a thinking species.

What are your tried and tested remedies to cure writer’s block? Outline. Outline. Outline. When I have plot threads and characters defined in a comprehensive outline, which might take weeks to create, the skeleton of the entire novel is in place. After that, it’s a matter of adding the moving, breathing, sentient parts.

What is your favorite time to write? 8am to 3am…. without a break.

What’s the best piece of writing advice you’ve ever received and would like to impart to other writers? Don’t write to please the reader; write to be true to the characters. If you allow them to reveal their loves, fears, opinions, strengths and weaknesses, they will come alive.

What excites you most about being a writer in today’s age? I’m increasingly able to move into my characters’ head/heart and see/feel their world from their perspective. With the many political distractions around us, I’m excited about losing myself in the writing process.

Anne Perry’s Death Times Seven, completed by Victoria Dana Zackheim, is out now with Ballantine Books.