August 8, 2007. This blogging is still new to me, and my feeble brain is still stuffed with images from the weekend—a stage full of actors and a mystery theater audience all enjoying the mystery event I adapted and directed. It was a chaotic evening in which the lighting was improvised, the sound system was definitely deficient (the actors couldn't hear their musical cues, the AC was struggling on the hottest evening of the summer, and the place was packed with an enthusiastic, more than sell-out crowd. Unbelievable! But by all accounts, the event was a great success.

Enough of the weekend. Today we are fortunate to have with us Silvia Foti for an interview.


Interview with Silvia Foti, author of The Diva's Fool
GRACE: Welcome, Silvia! We're very glad to have you here. Tell us about yourself.
SILVIA: I spent 20 years as a journalist writing for a variety of media. Most recently, I switched careers to become a high school English teacher and will start teaching my first class of freshmen on August 10, tomorrow. I have a Masters in Journalism from Northwestern University and am two courses shy of a Masters in Education from National Louis University.
I write from Chicago, where I reside with my husband and two children. I'm president of Love Is Murder, a multi-genre conference for writers and readers (www.loveismurder.net) where I met my publisher, and the Chicago chapter of Sisters in Crime. The Diva's Fool is my second mystery novel, the launch of a mystery/paranormal series based on the Greater Secrets of the Tarot cards.

GRACE: Sounds like an interesting series. Now we want to know you, the real person behind the writer. If you were an animal, what would you be and why?
SILVIA: I'd be a wolf because it's part of my alter ego's nature—to prowl, watch, and be silent. My protagonist is named Alkexandria Vilkas, and in Lithuanian vilkas means Wolf. The country's first ruler dreamt of a wolf and built the capital of Lithuania called Vilnius, so the animal is strongly associated with my heritage.

GRACE: When did you begin writing, and what prompted you to write?
SILVIA: I started a diary at 8 years old and have kept one ever since. My first play was "produced" in grade school as part of a children's assembly, and I was hooked at trying to make meaning.

GRACE: Which writer or writers do you most admire, and why?
SILVIA: Caleb Carr is an incredible writer, a master at plotting and characterization, and the way he delves into New York history and brings it to life is breathtaking.

GRACE: What do you think is the hardest thing about being a writer?
SILVIA: Learning the craft mostly by myself. I wish I had pursued a degree in creative writing and had more professional feedback. I still may do it because I keep thinking about how much there is to learn.

GRACE: Tell us about your writing, published or in progress.
SILVIA: The Diva's Fool features a detective who solves murder mysteries primarily by using Tarot cards, an extended metaphor for the development of her intuition. It's the first in the series, based on the Tarot's Greater Secrets, in which a fool initiates a journey that will take twenty-two steps until she reaches enlightenment. Her own foolish endeavor is falling in love with a married man. I'm working on writing the next in the series, concerning The Magician card, in which Alexandria develops her concentration and willpower.

GRACE: Silvia we wish you the best of luck with your new series. Thank you for taking the time to be with us today. Everyone is invited to visit Silvia at her website www.SilviaFoti.com. The Diva's Fool is available from Amazon.com, bookstores, and Echelon Press.