Sunday, November 30, 2014

An Interview with Frame Change Authors, T'Gracie and Joe Reese


Today T'Gracie and Joe Reese stop by to answer a few questions and tell us about their new novel, Frame Change.
1). What’s the best thing that’s happened to you because of your novels?
T’Gracie: The best thing is the fun we have together as we get ideas, puzzle out plots, think of amusing characters or situations and even answer interview questions like these!
2). Do you ever get writer’s block? How do you get past it?
Joe:  I never find myself completely unable to write (if that is the definition of writer’s block). Sometimes, though a novel will reach a critical plot juncture and I simply don’t know what is to happen. All I can do is take my time, lie in bed, stare at the ceiling and hope that the characters will tell me what they want to do. 
3). Do you ever base characters on people you know?
Joe:  Always, but some aspects are changed.
T’Gracie: Sometimes it will be a physical description of someone that we have seen and sometimes it might be something that happened to someone that gets included, although fictionalized. 
Joe: The bottom line, I’ve always felt that all literature is 50% cold hard reality and 50% pure lies. 


4). What did you do to research the book?
Joe: Frame Change is a combination of museum visits we made in Chicago and summers we spent together in Graz, Austria. The marvelous Armory, Eggenberg Palace, which still seems to exist in the 19th century—writing a book gave us a chance to revisit all these places and relive some wonderful experiences.
T’Gracie: We lived in Chicago a couple of years ago and loved going to the Art Institute of Chicago. They had opened a new modern wing while we were there and I loved exploring it. Of course, I also prized the little rooms of period doll house furniture in the basement. And one time they had a special exhibit of Matisse paper collage pages. They were wonderful!
Joe:  I did have to do a little research on stolen art and methods of reframing art work, but that was doubly profitable because now, if the books do not sell, I can become an international art smuggler.

T’Gracie: And, of course, the initial idea for the book came from my participation in an amateur painting event at a local restaurant with some friends. We often wonder what Nina would do if experiencing the same thing that one of us does. 

Graz, Austria Clock Tower and View of the City

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