L.T. Graham is my pen name while I keep my identity under wraps. In reality, I am a New England-based suspense writer, and the author of several successful novels.
The Blue Journal is my first novel written under this pseudonym, and I am currently at work on the next Detective Anthony Walker novel in the series.
Even though my identity is currently shrouded in secrecy, below I offer a few insights about my influences, inspiration, and writing process. These snippets are from recent interviews with Mysteristas and The Big Thrill.
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What’s your idea of a perfect day?
From a writing perspective, three or four uninterrupted hours in the morning when I am completely lost in the world of the novel I am working on at the moment. In terms of real life experience, I adore time spent with my family, enjoying great meals, great wine, great conversation under an umbrella of sunny weather. -
Do you have a signature accessory, phrase, or meal?
I love fountain pens. The phrase I overuse is unprintable. The meal is veal Milanese with sautéed escarole. -
Excluding family, name three people who either inspired you or influenced your creativity.
A writing professor at Penn State, S. L. Rubinstein. Holden Caulfield. Richard Blaine. -
Do you listen to music when you write?
Yes. Although I love music of all kinds, when I write I listen to Sinatra, Bennett, Martin, Crosby, Ella, and contemporary vocalists like Krall, Sade, Adele and many others. Somehow the sound and the cadence work better for me when I’m writing than rock and roll or classical. -
What themes do you regularly (re)visit in your writing?
Integrity, and how men and women react to circumstances that test their honesty, courage, patience, and fortitude. As someone wiser than I once said, we cannot do anything about the force or direction of the wind, all we can do is adjust the set of our sails. -
If you could host an author dinner party, who are the six writers (living or otherwise) you’d include?
F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, P. G. Wodehouse, W. Somerset Maugham, Agatha Christie and Ayn Rand. I am only excluding J. D. Salinger because he seemed so anti-social. -
What inspired you to become a writer?
I have always written, from puppet shows in grade school, to short stories, plays and screenplays and, ultimately, to novels. For me, there has always been a primal satisfaction in telling a good story. -
Could you describe your writing process? What’s a typical writing day for you? Do you have a special place to write, or habit or activity that helps stimulate your writer’s brain?
I write best in the morning, I almost always write at the desk in the room upstairs in my home, and I never wait for inspiration. I just keep plowing ahead, even if I later discard things. The key is to keep going, as with anything in life. -
What career or life experiences have influenced your writing?
The answer to that question would be a novel in itself. Like everyone, I was greatly influenced by my parents, for the good and bad of that, although mostly good. I have had extraordinary family members and wonderful friends, each of whom has touched me in different ways. And, of course, we live in times that challenge each of us in myriad ways, whether one is a writer or not -
Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?
The late George V. Higgins was a terrific novelist, and he wrote a fine book on the art, titled On Writing, which I highly recommend to anyone who writes. Of all the excellent insights he provided, one has always stayed with me, and it should resonate with anyone who has been approached at a cocktail party with the line, “I understand you’re a novelist. Well, I have this great story…” Higgins said, “Writers write.” It is the best single line of advice I have ever heard. A lot of people have interesting stories, many of which I am sure would make interesting books. But, in the end, if you want to be a writer, then write. If you wanted to be a professional cook, I would tell you to cook. If you want to play professional tennis, then stop talking about it, get the heck out on the court, and hit some balls. As an author, the best thing you can do is keep putting those tales on paper, don’t worry about how they sound now, you can edit later. As Robert McKee said, all you want to create is, “A good story, well told.” -
What’s next for you?
Working on another Anthony Walker mystery, of course!
