Lea Wait

What are some of the ways you and your protagonist, Maggie, are alike?

Well, we are both antique print dealers, we both have degrees in American Civilization, and we both have lived in Somerset County, New Jersey. We also both like to drink Dry Sac sherry, and at the moment we also both drive faded blue mini-vans! We have similar interests in history -- and certainly in adoption. But, despite all that, we are definitely not the same person!

 

Antique prints sounds like a specialized business. How did you become interested in this area of antiques? 

I'm a 4th generation antique dealer, and always wanted to to a dealer myself. When I was in my twenties I thought of starting a business, but had little time, and so my mother offered to run one for me if I financed it and did the paperwork. In deciding what to specialize in, we knew we didn't want to do furniture (too heavy,) or glass or china (too breakable,) and my mother had been an artist, so I think she led the way to antique prints. It worked for both of us. She was a part of my business, I might add, until two months before she died, at the age of 89.

 

When did you first realize you wanted to write a series around the antique prints business?

I had the idea of writing a mystery set in an antique show -- using the setting as Agatha Christie might have used a house in the country. All the people come, dress up, interact, there is a murder (or two) and then they go home. You have to solve the murder before they disappear! I first thought of making my protagonist an antiquarian book dealer, but then I discovered John Dunning, who had done such a wonderful job of covering that field. So -- it seemed logical to use a specialty I knew well! I was working full time while I was writing the book that became SHADOWS AT THE FAIR, and using prints saved research time, too.

 

Have you always known writing was in your blood? When did it all begin for you? 

I've known I wanted to be a writer ever since my second grade teacher told me writers got to spend a lot of time in libraries. That sounded like heaven! From that point on I told everyone I was going to be a writer. It took a few years after that to figure out WHAT I wanted to write, though! I've written just about everything along the way, in order to make a living.

 

How do you schedule your writing time?

First of all, I still do have the antique print business, so part of the time I'm on the road doing antique shows, or at home preparing for shows, and there is no writing happening then. I also do a lot of school visits, library appearances, conference workshops and talks that are related to my books. They're important for marketing reasons, but they keep me from writing. And the research and planning that are behind each book take me longer than I'd like to admit -- especially the research for my historical novels. So a lot of the time I'm not actually writing. When I am writing, I usually do marketing, email, household work in the morning (I'm not a morning person) and then write in the afternoon and early evening.

 

Tell us about your family, and how is your family like Maggie's?

Right now my life looks very conventional -- I live with my husband in Maine and I have four grown daughters and six and a half grandchildren. But for most of my adult life I was a single mother. I adopted my four daughters, who were born in Korea, Thailand, India and Hong Kong, when they were ages 8-10, when I was single and working for a large corporation in New Jersey. I also cared for my mother for many years. Next month I'll celebrate my fourth wedding anniversary to a man I've known since 1968 -- but who never wanted to be a father. (Gee -- maybe that's something else Maggie and I have in common!)

 

How many Shadows books are in the series and do you plan more?

As many of you know, there are 4 Shadows books: Shadows at the Fair; Shadows on the Coast of Maine; Shadows on the Ivy; and Shadows at the Spring Show. After the 4th book in the series my editor retired and Scribner dropped the series, along with many others. So far no other publisher has picked it up. If some one does, there will be more! If not, I'm continuing to write, just not more Shadows books!

 

What other books are you working on? 

This summer I completed an historical mystery set in 1865 New York State called Justice and Mercy which my agent has just started to shop around. Fingers crossed! And I'm currently finishing up an historical novel set in 1846-1848 Edinburgh about a family who've been forced from their homes during the Highland Clearances. I have ideas for several other books in several genres, so I'm not absolutely sure which one will come after this! I have to do two antique shows in October first!

 

Do you have any books in any other genres you'd like to tell us about? 

I write historical novels for young people that I'm proud of. They're aimed at children aged 8 and up, set in 19th century America, and have won a number of awards, and are on student book lists in many states. Stopping to Home, Seaward Born, Wintering Well, and Finest Kind are all very special to me. If you'd like to know more about them, check out my website,

 

What are your most heart felt desires for your life, your family's lives, and your future as an author?

WOW! What a question! First, I feel very lucky. I've accomplished most of my life's goals. I've adopted and raised four wonderful daughters. I live in Maine, which I've always wanted to do. I've had the antiques business I wanted, I've written and published books, and by some miracle I've even married the man I've always loved. It seems a bit greedy to ask for more, doesn't it? But good health for some additional years, for myself and for my family, would be tops on the list, and maybe a little traveling for my husband and I. I'd like to continue writing, and my top writing dream would be to win a major writing award, like the Newbery, because that would ensure that my books would be around for a while. I'd like to feel my writing made a difference in the lives of even a few children.

 

Finally, Lea, give us some of your words of wisdom that you try to live by. 

I have two favorite quotations that I've had on my desk for quite some years now. George Eliot said, "It is never too late to be what you might have been." 

And William Jennings Bryan wrote, "Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice; it is not a thing to be waited for; it is a thing to be achieved." 

I think those quotations pretty much sum up the way I've tried to live my life.

 

Lea Wait's book web site and antique prints site are always open!