September 4, 2007. Boy, have I been under the weather! The dreaded bronchitis and sinus infection began assaulting me last week as I was touring Grant's Farm and marveling at the sight of Clydesdales from rather large babies to massive adults. While I was having my picture taken with Max, the one who kicked the football on a TV commercial, nasty little bacteria were rampaging through my poor body. By the time I got home, my head felt like a bees' nest with all the bees inside, and I could hardly draw a breath. Now after more than a week, I am feeling much better, though that is not saying a lot.
Today we are lucky to have with us a very enthusiastic journalist, collector, and author, Christine Verstraete.

Interview with Christine Verstraete

GRACE: Welcome, Chris! Would you tell us a little about yourself?

CHRIS: I'm a big pet lover—I've had dogs since I was little—and enjoy reading, collecting and writing. I'm a collector of dollhouse miniatures and love writing about other collectors and collections for various magazines. I have also written an e-book on miniatures, In Miniature Style, which includes how to projects, interviews and photos of collections. (See my website http://cverstraete.com/ for details).

GRACE: Your collecting miniatures sounds like an interesting hobby that feeds into your writing. When did you begin writing, and what prompted you to write?

CHRIS: Being a journalist, I'm used to writing mostly nonfiction, but I'm also a big reader and have always had a book in my hand. Once I discovered the online world, I started writing short fiction, which has been a lot of fun! Unfortunately, a lot of online markets have folded, but new ones like the crime ezine, Mouth Full of Bullets, (http://www.mouthfullofbullets.com/) have sprung up for short mystery and crime fiction. Not all stories, of course, can be lengthened, but when I came up with a story combining my favorite elements - miniatures, dogs, and mystery, that turned into my young adult mystery, Searching For a Starry Night, which will be published in the spring by Quake, http://www.quakeme.com/, a division of Echelon Press LLC. I also enjoy horror and like to bring touches of that to my writing, as in my creepy story, The Witch Tree, a download from Echelon Press. Details are on my website, http://cverstraete.com/ or at the publisher's site.

GRACE: Which writer or writers do you most admire, and why?

CHRIS: There are a number of writers that I admire. I enjoy Denise Dietz's style, Gay Totl Kinman writes fun books for kids, Stephen King and Dean Koontz of course are big favorites. Plus I enjoy dozens of others.

GRACE: What is the hardest thing for you as a writer?

CHRIS: Just writing. Sometimes it doesn't come out right, sometimes you don't feel like it, but it's work and you do it just the same.

GRACE: Tell us about your writing – published and in progress.

CHRIS: I have just started a fun blog called Candid Canine - http://candidcanine.blogspot.com/ which will include everything from funny, odd dog stories, to unique miniatures, short stories and more. My upcoming mystery, Searching For a Starry Night, centers on my protagonist Sam's hunt for a missing miniature Van Gogh (Starry Night) and involves a mischievous dachshund named Petey who digs up a family curse and always is in trouble. So naturally, the blog will feature miniatures related to dachshunds, the Starry Night painting, and even Van Gogh! Check out the amazing Van Gogh miniature scene I have up there now! I also write for newspapers and enjoy writing online interviews. Some of my interviews can be seen or linked at my website http://cverstraete.com/ or at Mysterical-e, http://www.mystericale.com/.

GRACE: Thank you, Christine. We wish you the best of luck in your writing career. It has been a pleasure having you with us.