Lee Goldberg

How did you become a writer?

I've always been one. When I was ten or eleven, I was already pecking novels out on my Mom’s old typewriters. The first one was a futuristic tale about a cop born in an underwater sperm bank. I don’t know why the bank was underwater, or how deposits were made, but I thought it was very cool. I sold these novels for a dime to my friends and even managed to make a dollar or two. In fact, I think my royalties per book were better then than they are now.

I continued writing novels all through my teenage years. By the time I was 17, I was writing articles for The Contra Costa Times and other San Francisco Bay Area newspapers and applying to colleges. Once I got into UCLA, I put myself through school as a freelance writer…for American Film, Los Angeles Times Syndicate, UPI, Newsweek. Anybody who would pay me. Most of the articles I wrote were interviews with novelists or people in the entertainment industry, so it was like getting a graduate school education in publishing and the movie business for free… better yet, I was paid for it!

I had a journalism advisor at UCLA who wrote spy novels. We became friends and talked a lot about mysteries, thrillers, plotting, etc. One day, while I was still his student, his publisher came to him and asked him if he’d write a “men’s action adventure series,” sort of the male equivalent of the Harlequin romance. He said he wasn’t desperate enough, hungry enough, or stupid enough to do it…but he knew someone who was: Me. So I wrote an outline and some sample chapters and they bought it. The book was called .357 Vigilante (aka The Jury Series). I wrote it as “Ian Ludlow” so I’d be on the shelf next to Robert Ludlum who was, at the time, the bestselling author in America.

It was a huge success. I ended up writing four books in the series. Naturally, the publisher promptly went bankrupt and I never saw a dime in royalties. But New World Pictures bought the movie rights to .357 Vigilante and hired me to write the screenplay…and my dual careers as a novelist and a screenwriter were born. I've been going ever since.

Name your writing influences (writers, books, teachers, etc.).

It was Gregory McDonald and his novels Fletch and Confess, Fletch. The dialogue was so good that the publisher put a full page of it on the covers of his books. It was the first time I'd read great crime stories that were told primarily through dialogue. Yet they were every bit as rich, in character and plot, as far wordier and less dialogue-driven books. I studied Fletch and Confess, Fletch the way some Jews study the Talmud. I didn’t have McDonald’s skill, but somehow, I knew after reading his books that I could become a writer. I also devoured and studied books by Elmore Leonard, Ed McBain, Larry McMurtry, John Irving, Robert B. Parker and Lawrence Block.

In television, my mentors were writer-producers Michael Gleason (who created REMINGTON STEELE), Ernie Wallengren (who worked on shows like THE WALTONS and FALCON CREST) and Stephen J. Cannell (who is perhaps best known for THE A-TEAM). They taught me more than just how to write scripts, or how to produce television, but also how to survive in the business while still remaining a decent person.

When and where do you write? 

I write anywhere and everywhere, in airplanes, in hotel rooms, in the bathroom, in waiting rooms, in restaurants, in a parked car while my wife is shopping, or on a folding chair on the set of a film, to name just a few places. But most of the time, I write in my home office. I do my best work between 8 pm and 2 am. I get up 10 am, rewrite the crap I wrote the day before, and start fresh again at 8 pm...and so it goes until a novel or screenplay somehow emerges from the process.

What are you working on now? 

I’m working on my fourth “Eve Ronin” crime novel (following GATED PREY, which comes out in October) and a screenplay adaptation of one of my books for a major studio.

Have you ever suffered from writer’s block? 

Never. I’ve hit walls plotting, or had questions about what a character should say or do next in a chapter or scene, but that’s not a block. That’s writing.

What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever received?

Put your butt in the chair and write, even if it’s crap. You can’t rewrite a blank page.

What’s your advice to new writers?

Far too many authors are impatient and self-publish their work way too early…when they still have a long way to go in terms of mastering the craft of writing…and it’s very damaging. You only have one chance to make a first impression, and if you write a terrible book, or even one that’s merely mediocre, that’s what people will remember…and they won’t come back for the second one. And then they compound the mistake by focusing more on social media self-promotion than on their writing.

Lee Goldberg is a two-time Edgar & two-time Shamus Award nominee and the #1 New York Times bestselling author of over thirty novels, including True Fiction, Lost Hills, 15 Monk mysteries, five Fox & O'Hare adventures (co-written with Janet Evanovich), and the new thriller Gated Prey (Oct 2021). He's written and/or produced many TV shows, including Diagnosis Murder, SeaQuest, Monk, The Glades, and co-created the hit Hallmark series Mystery 101. He's also the co-founder of Brash Books, which has published over 100 crime novels & thrillers. www.leegoldberg.com

Sheila Marikar

How did you become a writer?

First, I was a reader. I’m an only child; books were my best friends. I enjoyed writing but wanted to go to art school and be a painter until my parents said that this was a bad way to earn a living. In college, I studied history and applied for jobs at what felt like every media and media adjacent company in New York. ABC News hired me to work in production, then I started writing for the website. After eight years, I quit to attempt to write for the New York Times. I cold pitched an editor a dozen times before getting an assignment.

I thought I fell into writing, but in 2017, I opened a time capsule that I made as a part of a middle school project. It included a letter from my 13-year-old self that said, in part, “I’d hope to be in the profession of writing by the time I read this. I’d like to be a writer or reporter for the New York Times magazine or newspaper. It’s a creative enough job, and the New York Times is a world famous newspaper. I wonder how much it pays, though.”

Name your writing influences (writers, books, teachers, etc.).

My father, who was the most well read person I’ve ever known and my toughest critic. Mr. Leonard, my seventh grade (if memory serves) English teacher, who did not discourage my habit of writing long winded introductions that were unrelated to the assignment’s subject. Scores of writers, among them, J.D. Salinger, Haruki Murakami, Ruth Reichl, Tom Wolfe, Kevin Kwan, Jhumpa Lahiri, Sally Rooney, Ariel Levy, Dana Goodyear, and all of their books, plus many more. 

When and where do you write? 

Fiction: between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. (generally). Non fiction: all the other hours, depending on deadlines. Where: my office, on a desktop computer, a recent and welcome change from hunching over my laptop at the dining table.

What are you working on now? 

My first novel and a few journalism assignments. 

Have you ever suffered from writer’s block? 

No, but I’ve certainly suffered from procrastination and avoiding the daunting parts of the writing process. What helps: breaking down the daunting task into actionable bits, making a list, and crossing it off, one by one.

What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever received?

When I was struggling to write the first draft of my novel, Amy Chozick, author of the New York Times bestseller “Chasing Hillary,” told me to set a timer on my phone, put it another room, and write or work through whatever was preventing me from writing until the timer went off. I started with 30 minutes and worked up to two hours. I still do this when I can’t focus, although now I throw my phone across the room, which is cathartic.

What’s your advice to new writers?

Non-fiction/journalism: cold pitch, be persistent, and do not get deterred by rejections. Pitch another editor. Pitch another idea. Put time and energy into making your pitches sing. Do not write for free. Fiction: I’m new too, but do the timer trick, make it a routine, and keep chipping away.

Sheila Marikar is a Los Angeles based writer. Her work has appeared in the New Yorker, the New York Times, the New York Times Magazine, the Economist, Fortune, and other publications. She is currently at work on her first novel. 

Caitlin Horrocks

How did you become a writer?

I didn’t stop writing. It both is and isn’t any more complicated than that. I was a kid who read voraciously, and wrote extra chapters to the books I loved—fan fiction, although I didn’t have that name for it at the time. I signed up for classes when they were offered, in high school and then in college. But I always did it with the feeling that I was indulging myself, that writing was a hobby I would be smart to set aside. But I didn’t set it aside. When I was still writing and seeking out writing groups two years after my last official deadline or grade, I finally acknowledged that I wanted to keep writing, and I wanted to get better at it. So I applied to MFA programs. Once I was in graduate school, I was lucky enough to find myself surrounded by talented, kind people who challenged me by their example both to keep tackling new things as a writer, and to learn the business end and take the leap of submitting my work. Once I did, I was fortunate to hear enough “yeses” among the “nos” to hearten me for the long haul. The early encouragement helped me to finally own my own ambition, and stopped me assuming that I’d eventually quit and apply to law school.

Name your writing influences (writers, books, teachers, etc.).

I usually answer this question with literary giants and/or past teachers (and deservedly so!) but I recently took possession of the last of my childhood books from my parents’ house, and want to take a moment here to pay tribute to The Dark is Rising series by Susan Cooper, Steel Magic by Andre Norton, the Damar books by Robin McKinley, The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken, Voices After Midnight by Richard Peck, the Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander, Elmer and the Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett, Interstellar Pig by William Sleator, The Diamond in the Window by Jane Langton, and Witch-Cat by Joan Carris. I grew up on a steady diet of dragons and spooky stuff. If there’s a generalization to be made about these, it’s perhaps that they’re books where the author commits themselves wholeheartedly to the creation of an absorbing, idiosyncratic world, whether that’s a fantasy kingdom or a version of our world where strange things are afoot. 

When and where do you write? 

I’m writing this during month 11 of the COVID-19 pandemic: My husband and I are working from home while caring for 4-month-old twins and, when he’s not in preschool, an extremely high-energy five-year-old. There is not a lot of writing happening around here right now. In the Before Times, I loved working in coffee shops, a love that I wish I’d come to embrace earlier. For years I lived in places where I was lucky enough to have some perfectly good room to write in, and I beat myself up over only intermittently finding those rooms to be productive spaces. I wish I’d stopped trying to scold myself into writing more at home, and just grabbed my laptop and headed out. 

What are you working on now? 

Keeping everyone fed and alive and my emails answered and then getting up to do it all again tomorrow. Whenever I get a little more breathing room, I’m kicking around ideas for more stories and a novel.

Have you ever suffered from writer’s block? 

Not true writer’s block, no. I’ve certainly had spells of time when it felt like the work wasn’t going well, or like a particular project might be stalling out. But I think true writer’s block is extremely rare. Much more common is… writer’s dissatisfaction? Which I just push through until I either solve whatever puzzle is giving me trouble or switch projects

What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever received and what’s your advice to new writers?

My favorite advice to give is advice I’ve Frankensteined out of the advice other people have given me, so to answer these two questions together: This isn’t a race, and the goal isn’t just “to get published.” It’s to publish work you feel proud of, in places you feel proud to be in, with people you feel good about working with and who will do something more for your work than what you’re able to do by yourself. That’s the real goal, and it’s worth being patient for. Let it take however long it takes, and if you’re at a moment when your life feels full with other things, then set aside writing without guilt. It will still be there if and when you want to come back to it. 

Caitlin Horrocks is author of the story collections Life Among the Terranauts and This is Not Your City, both New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice titles. Her novel The Vexations was named one of the 10 best books of 2019 by the Wall Street Journal. Her stories appear in The New Yorker, The Best American Short Stories, The PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories, The Pushcart Prize, The Paris Review, Tin House, One Story and elsewhere. She lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and teaches at Grand Valley State University.