An Interview With Jennifer Chiaverini

I'm pleased to present the following short interview with my fellow Workshop administrator Jennifer Chiaverini, bestselling author of The Lost Quilter, the latest in her series of Elm Creek Quilts novels.

Eric Petersen: Tell us about your recent success.

Jennifer Chiaverini: I'm very pleased to announce that my latest novel, The Lost Quilter, reached #10 on the New York Times bestsellers list.

EP: How long have you been a member of the Workshop?

JC: I joined the Internet Writing Workshop in 1996, shortly after I finished the first draft of my first novel, The Quilter's Apprentice. Later I became an administrator for the Novels list, and I'm currently a co-administrator for the Writing discussion list.

EP: How has the Workshop helped you as a writer?

JC: The members of the Novels list provided me with invaluable feedback that helped me improve my novel and prepare it for submission to agents and publishers. Their comments on the early chapters were especially helpful in helping me focus the story and engage the reader from the first page. Learning how to reconcile the occasional contradictory critiques taught me to develop better, more analytical self-editing skills, as did critiquing other members' chapters. The Writing list offered me a wonderful forum for aspiring and published authors to share knowledge and advice about the art and business of writing, and I definitely benefited from their collective wisdom when it came time to navigate the choppy waters of the publication process.

EP: What's next for Jennifer Chiaverini?

JC: Longtime members of the Internet Writing Workshop may recall that when I wrote The Quilter's Apprentice, I had no idea it would be the first in a series, so I never mapped out an extended storyline that would be spread out over a certain number of books. In hindsight, I think it’s fortunate that I launched the series this way. Instead of proceeding in a strict linear fashion, following the same thread of the same character’s life in perfect chronological order, I’ve been able to take secondary characters from earlier stories and make them the protagonists of new books. In other novels, I’ve delved into a familiar character’s past, exploring entirely new settings and characters that are still tied in some way to Elm Creek. Because I’m not stuck in the traditional series format, I’ve enjoyed the creative freedom to write novels that stand on their own while still satisfying readers who want to see the people and places they have already come to know and love. Whereas The Lost Quilter is set mostly in Civil War-era Charleston, my next book, The Aloha Quilt (April 2010), will take readers from Elm Creek Manor to Hawaii as Elm Creek Quilter Bonnie Markham helps an old friend launch a new quilt camp in Lahaina on Maui. What will come next, I don't know, but I'm excited by the possibilities.

EP: Congratulations again on your success and thank you very much for your time.

Jennifer Chiaverini's latest novel, The Lost Quilter, is available at a bookstore near you. Click here to search IndieBound for an independent bookstore in your area that carries it. Or, click on the book cover above to order it from Amazon. Pick up a copy today! The Internet Writing Workshop is one of the best free online resources for the craft of writing. If you're not a member and would like to join the Workshop, visit our web site for more information. Write. Critique. Learn.