Do you recall how your interest in writing began?
Not really. I remember as a kid I played with writing both fiction and nonfiction. And, there was the neighborhood newspaper that my cousin organized and I contributed to — those kinds of childhood activities. I enjoy reading and began my college career as an English major. I married a writer and have been a part of a writing community for over thirty years. It seems everyone writes in some way or another.
What do you see as the influences on your writing?
I suspect all my personal experiences and reading are ground up in my consciousness and become seasoning for the writing.
Can you talk to us a little about the science and math themes in your work? How did that start?
After leaving the field of math teaching, I became interested in the history of math and science and in the people who do math and science — in their thought processes and how their love of science affected their personal lives. The special difficulties women often have in incorporating their love of science with their personal lives is of special interest to me. I try to communicate the appreciation for the beauty of the ideas, the hypnotic effect of losing oneself in a problem or puzzle, the joy of discovery, that drive the scientist.
How do you do your research?
Read. Read. Read. Keep an index file of all characters and places that will appear. Read everything available about the main subject / person being studied. — examine the bibliographies of others writing on the topic and read their references. Then read about the era. Read the literature of the time. Read the general history of the time. Read about as many of the people who touched the main characters life as possible. Then research the places where the character lives and visits. Finally, force myself to stop doing research, which I really love, and begin the job of reproducing what has become a strong feeling for the era, the place and the people.
Did you need to do specific research on science or math?
Yes. Research into the math of Kovalevskaya was needed. Fortunately, a very good study of her mathematics was done by Roger Cooke in his book The Mathematics of Sonya Kovalevskaya. A Russian mathematician/historian P. Kochina has published several articles on Kovalevskaya's work. I investigated the ideas that fascinated the mathematicians and scientists who associated with Kovalevskaya.
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