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An Interview With Claire Luna-Pinsker

Tell us a bit about yourself. What would you like us to know about you?

I'm a fifty-one year young woman of color who now has time to devote myself to a full-time writing career after years of being a pediatric nurse. My prsonality is still one of a creative, questioning child, which drives my family crazy at times and amuses them other times. I'm known for crazy answering machine messages every week and often have strangers call just to hear the message from word of mouth. I'm a romantic, incurable.

What are you doing now? (Career? Married? Single? Children? Pets?)

I'm married for over six years to my second husband and have three children, 28 daughter, 24 son, and 20 son. The youngest 20 year old son has Aspergers Syndrome which we struggle with every day. Retired from pediatric nursing, specialized in the developmentally disabled. I have a four legged soulmate in a 21 pound calico cat named Elvis who follows me everywhere.

What is your favourite food?

Give me a medium rare steak or baby lamb chops and a baked potato, I'm happy.

What is your favourite colour?

Purple

What is your favourite sound?

The sound of the ocean waves, music

Who is your favourite person?

Hard to choose, my husband I have to say, can't pick one child.

What is your favourite place?

Atlantic City

What is your favourite memory?

The birth of my children, my first daughter's birth, first becoming a mother.

What is your favourite article of clothing?

A tan long skirt outfit.

What is your favourite word?

"Monkey's Uncle"

What is your favourite writers' quote and why?

"To be or not to be.." This quote to me is about living, do you sit and continue to just dream and wish for things until its too late or do you try to reach that dream and live like each day could be your last.

What is your most favourite quality about yourself?

My sense of imagination.

What is the least favourite quality about yourself?

I worry too much about everyone.

If you could go anywhere in the world right now, where would it be and why?

I'm a people watcher so I enjoy Atlantic city, seeing all the people wishing to be rich quickly, but also watching the homeless struggle. I wonder why everyone seeks wealth or fall into squallor.

What inspires you to write and why?

I love expressing my thoughts. My thirst for wondering why and being able to script life for my characters and the ability to erase mistakes just with a delete key. I get lost in my stories. Also just to write about my life's struggles and sharing them with others, hopefully to learn and reach out to help others.

What is your favourite book and why?

I could say the bible because of how many people this one book changes lifes with its power. But I have no particular favorite book. Each book I choose to read I get involved with. I prefer romances and twilight zone type stories.

List your three favourite authors (any genre) and why?

Stephen King, because I would love to climb in his mind for a day as he creates. And to be able to be as sucessful as him. Nicholas Sparks, I admire a man who is able to express romance in words. Anne Rice, again because I like the mystique of vampires and the horror genre.

What do you think makes a writer successful?

To be able to use your words to make the writer escape and be in the world you created. To make you imagine the characters as if they were real people, your neighbors, your friends.To make a person eager to turn the page to find out what is going to happen next. And to have a following of readers.

Whta is it that makes you successful as a writer?

I can only say I get excited about my writing and the world I create, and I hope the reader can feel the same.

How long have you been writing and how did you start as a freelance writer?

I have been writing since I was six years old. In elementary school my teachers used my writing stories as a class reward if we finished our work for the day. When I was fourteen years old, my first published essay was about how the war affects a young person. After being home with my kids I started writing again while watching them play outside, and had shorts published and my first paperback in 1993.

Was it through traditional publishing or online publishing?

Traditional

What was the first article you sold and to whom?

I think to a romance magazine, True Story, about Tenn Pregnancy: a young women and her mother dealing with a possible pregnancy

Describe how you felt when you received payment for this article.

Thrilled, after rejects it made me have hope I can do this as a career and not just for an enjoyable hobby.

What are your goals as a writer?

Just to keep sharing my imagination, hoping to sell more of course, for my career. I desire to fine tune my writing skills without giving up my own individual style.

What is the best tip you can give to fellow writers?

Write every chance you can, and don't let the reject letters depress you. You have to have an intense joy for writing, it can't be a tedious job.

What do you hope to provide your readers with through your writing?

A chance to escape for awhile with my fiction. And with my life essays I hope there is comfort and knowledge that there are others who share similiar situations.

List your three favourite online writer-resource sites and why (include URLS).

I can recommend Writers Market, has everything and so many helpful ideas. Others are hard for me to recommend.

If you have published a book, tell us about your publishing success (title, publishing date and company, where it is available to purcahse).

Ebony Blood, 1993-no longer out in print-company folded

How long did it take you to write your book(s)?

Three months

What would you do differently if you could repeat the same publishing experience?

Choose a different publishing company and expand the story sooner. As a beginning writer you have limited choices of how your book will be marketed.

What have you learned about the publishing world?

Its difficult to get in, seems at times you have to know somebody. You have to really research and know who you are dealing with. And don't compromise yourself.

This is your chance to 'Talk Back' to your readers. What would you like to say to them?

To my readers, thank-you for allowing me to share my gift of imagination and thankfully put a smile on your face.

What's the one thing that you want them to know about your writing?

My writing comes easily because I am a great observer and questioner. I hope I put that across and answer all your questions in my writing.

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