About Anne Miller

Questions & Answers

Where did you get the idea for your debut book?

I got the idea for The Last Photograph when I was in college. It was around the time Garth Brooks' The Dance came out, and it got me thinking: what if there was a story about a man who loses his wife suddenly, out of the blue, without any warning? There didn't seem to be a lot of stories out at that time about loss told from a man's point of view, in particular one who was raised to be a "real man" and keep all his emotions inside him. I also love movies like The Sting and Ocean's Eleven, where twists come at you that you never see coming, and I thought why not try to get inside this man's head and see what he's really thinking and feeling, which I'm sure is every woman's dream, to get inside a man's mind.

How do you get inspired to write?

Writing has always been a part of me. It's who I am. I've always thought even if I never made a dime from my writing I'd still be doing it because it's like breathing to me. Sometimes ideas just come to me from out of nowhere and I tell myself I have to write this down right now or I know I'm going to forget it. That's the coolest thing: when I'm having trouble writing a certain scene or getting a point across and then all of a sudden it just comes to me, like it was so obvious the entire time.

What’s your advice for aspiring writers?

Best advice is to never stop writing. Even if you take a break for months or years, always come back to it. The came up with the idea for The Last Photograph when I was about twenty-one or twenty-two, and now here I am nearly twenty years later as a newly published author. Success doesn't happen to everyone at the exact same time; it's different for everybody. There's no real rule book, so just don't ever give up.

What’s the best thing about being a writer?

The best thing about being a writer is seeing other people's reactions to my stories. I love being able to get to people's emotions, so I'm thrilled whenever words I've written evoke strong emotions in people. It's kind of surreal too. I can't wrap my brain around the fact that my writing can make people angry or cry. That just floors me!

How do you deal with writer’s block?

I step completely away from whatever I'm writing, because sometimes if I keep pushing myself to write something I know it's not going to be good. And sure enough I'll look back on it the next day or even a couple hours later and hate pretty much everything I wrote. It's better for me to just step away, watch a little tv, or read; anything to take my mind off whatever scene I'm trying to write.