Gretchen Berg
Author Interview - Gretchen Berg
Author I draw inspiration from: There are a few books I loved so much that I just want to re-read them over and over and over. Patricia Highsmith’s The Talented Mr. Ripley, Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl, and Kathryn Stockett’s The Help (although now I know to stop right before the end to avoid the ugly cry that gives me puffy face and headaches). I’m also obsessed with Daphne du Maurier (My Cousin Rachel, The House on the Strand, The Scapegoat). When you know exactly what is going to happen, how the story ends, whodunnit, etc. and still want to read the book again because you know you’ll just enjoy the journey, that is the kind of writing I really admire.
Author Interview - Gretchen Berg
Favorite place to read a book: In a big chair by the fireplace.
Book character I’d like to be stuck in an elevator with: I’m claustrophobic and being trapped in an elevator is my idea of hell, so Tom Ripley, because he could just put me out of my misery pretty quickly and not feel bad about it at all. Although, after reading some of your other author questionnaires, I see that a lot of people said Hermione Granger, because of her magical abilities, and now I don’t know what it says about me that I never thought it might be possible to actually get out of the elevator.
Author Interview - Gretchen Berg
The moment I knew I wanted to become an author: I did not have that moment. It was more hindsight – after I had written a book it still took me a little while to refer to myself as an author.
Hardback, paperback, ebook or audiobook: Hardcover if I have somewhere to rest it, paperback if I need to haul it around.
The last book I read: F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Flappers and Philosophers.
Author Interview - Gretchen Berg
Pen & paper or computer: Pen & paper to scribble notes, laptop for better organization, legibility and spell check.
Book character I think I’d be best friends with: Bridget Jones, if I could get her to quit smoking.
Author Interview - Gretchen Berg
If I wasn’t an author, I’d be a: Genealogist. I’m actually still doing that, even while I’m authoring. It’s pretty easy to weave the two together.
Favorite decade in fashion history: Visually, 1750s France. Practically, the ones where women could wear pants.
Place I’d most like to travel: Right now, the Cotswolds, but after April I will say Folegandros, Greek Islands.
My signature drink: I drink a lot of cardamom chai in the mornings, and have occasional wine with lunch/dinner. The younger me would have said a few shots of Jim Beam with a Diet Coke chaser. She recovered from hangovers much more quickly.
Favorite artist: Could never pick just one. Chagall, Matisse, Hopper, Andrew Wyeth, August Macke, Karen Rieger, Archibald Motley, and my mom (she’s really good, check out her IG page: @sueinpdx). I also really love folk (or primitive/naïve style) artists like Helen Bradley, Laurence Stephen Lowry and Barbara Cooney.
Number one on my bucket list: To own a house with one of those massive fireplaces that take up an entire wall.
Anything else you'd like to add: Thanks for having me, and for having a website that showcases books and authors!
Author Interview - Gretchen Berg
