This interview can also be found on Authortrek.com. To visit Authortrek.com and read this interview there, please click here.
 

Where were you born and raised?

Johannesburg, South Africa
 

What was it that first got you into writing and when did you start writing?

I started writing as a teenager, and like most teenagers, I wrote poetry that later turned into prose writing.
 

Which writers have influenced you the most?

Many writers, but Hemingway, definitely Hemingway who said that as writers we just have to write one true sentence followed by another true sentence.
 

Where do you stand on the nature v. nurture debate? Were you born a writer, or were there factors in your environment that enabled you to become a writer?

Well, I think it’s a combination of both. My father is a wonderful writer and my seventeen year old daughter already shows talent so there definitely is some family gene that turns out good writers. However, I do believe that environment and the situations and people that come into our lives and change us or our thinking in some way can also attribute to tapping into the creative spirit that lies within all of us. If we just trust that what we have to say matters then we are all born writers.
 

There are a lot of courses teaching creative writing nowadays, but do you think that good writing can be taught?

I think some of my best writing came from class exercises in writing class. I know that if you are willing to really delve into your heart and soul and creativity then a writing class is an excellent forum to discover your sometimes hidden talents. Writing classes can sometimes give us the tools to uncover the jewels within us.
 

Have you entered writing competitions? If so, have you won any prizes?

I haven’t entered too many but I was a finalist in the PENN/FAULKNER AWARDS for a novella that I wrote several years ago.
 

Do you have any short stories or poems published online? (If so, please provide the URLs)

Not at this time.
 

What kind of things do you write?

I write about the human condition and how we overcome the obstacles that are placed before us in our lives. I write about love in all its many forms and also about how fragile life can be.

Transformation and hope are often themes in my works.
 

What, for you, is the best piece of prose that you have ever written?

Probably the epilogue of, “The Year the Gypsies Came”
 

What are you working on now?

I’m working on another novel set in South Africa during a very tumultuous time of political unrest. 1967. The year of the Soweto riots. The story is told through the eyes of Ruby, a seventeen year old girl who lives in a liberal white household. She struggles with her own truth and peer acceptance in a country where there is no tolerance or acceptance of people of race or color.
 

What is your writing day like?

Sporadic! Never two same days in a row. Sometimes I work at 2 am at home and sometimes I work at a local coffee lounge in the late afternoon.
 

Where would you like to be in 10 years time?

Living in a cottage in the Cotswold’s with all my animals or in a beach house somewhere along the Amalfi Coast in Italy. Or perhaps even somewhere more local, like Santa Barbara or Northern California. I’ll definitely be ready for a quieter life in ten years.
 

What’s the most exciting thing about writing for you?

I never know what my characters are going to do next! They constantly surprise me by their words and actions. I just type and they talk. It’s great fun to be a spectator in your own novel.
 

What’s the most frustrating thing about writing for you?

Lack of time to write. I am single mother and am very involved with my daughter, animal rescue and my business. It’s frustrating to try and write when the phone is ringing, the dogs are barking and everyone needs something from you. It is not the writing, but rather, my life around the writing that is frustrating.
 

What’s the best piece of feedback that you’ve had from your audience?

They said that they felt transported to a different time and place and completely forgot where they were!
 

Do you write for a particular audience, or is your first priority to satisfy your own creativity?

I never write for a particular audience. I write because I have a story to tell and hope that it will resonate with someone, whether it is a man or woman or teenager or child.
 

Do you have a homepage? If so, what’s the URL?

Yes. www.linziglass.com