When did you decide that you would be an author? Was it something you fell into, felt called to… ?

I’ve written stories for as long can remember, but considered it a hobby until I enrolled in a professional writing class in college. I realized then I could work on a magazine and make a living, so that’s what I did for many years. In the back of my mind I always wanted to write a book. Often when I wrote freelance articles about successful people, I asked the person I interviewed what inspired him or her. Many times they spoke of their faith in God. Most of the magazines took that out. I declared then that I would write books and put Christianity in all of them.

What’s your pet peeve?

As an author who is not computer savvy, I have so many responsibilities, especially online, that have nothing to do with writing that I barely have time to squeeze in time to write.

What was your most embarrassing moment as a writer?

When my daughter was a baby, I answered an ad for freelance writing for a local magazine. The editor asked me to bring my portfolio to his office. I easily arranged for a baby sitter, but I didn’t have a briefcase. I rummaged through our belongings until I found a picnic basket a friend had given us for Christmas. I pulled out the fancy glasses and napkins and tossed in my writing samples. I was frazzled by the time I got to the editor’s office and was quite ready to sit down. I put the basket in my lap and the editor leaned over his desk and stared at it. “Are we having a picnic?”

I explained about the portfolio and ended up writing many articles for him for many years. My daughter eventually visited his office on her career day in high school, The day I met him I had rushed around so much and concentrated so hard on how to carry my samples, the picnic basket had become a briefcase in my mind. I was totally embarrassed when he jarred me back to reality.

What has been your most difficult challenge as an author?

Marketing.

How do you process rejections and/or negative reviews?

I try to ignore them.

What do you feel is the best success so far in your writing career?

It depends on how one measures success. I keep trying to improve my writing to make my books better, so I see my success as a time when I’ve nailed a new technique or when I understand what an editor or agent was talking about when they told me to change something. As far as books go, I’d say Barely Above Water is probably my most popular, and it is a 2017 Reader’s Favorite Award Winner.

What is your current work in progress?

I’m working on a couple of romantic suspense books.

Bio: Award-winning author Gail Pallotta’s a wife, mom, swimmer and bargain shopper who loves God, beach sunsets and getting together with friends and family. She’s a former regional writer of the year for American Christian Writers Association, a 2013 Grace Awards finalist and a 2017 Reader’s Favorite Book Award winner. She’s published six books, poems, short stories and two-hundred articles. Some of her articles appear in anthologies while two are in museums.

Website: https://gailpallotta.com

Newsletter:  https://www.gailpallotta.com/mainphp.html

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorsandMore

Twitter: Gail Pallotta @Hopefulwords (https://twitter.com/Hopefulwords)

Amazon Page: amazon.com/author/gailpallotta

Latest book release: Stopped Cold, a young adult sports mystery and an Amazon Best Seller in  Teen and Young Adult Christian Mysteries and Thrillers for one month.

Things aren’t what they seem in peaceful Mistville, North Carolina. Margaret McWhorter enjoys a laid-back Freshman year in high school flirting with Jimmy Willmore, swimming and hanging out with friends—until that day. Her brother, Sean, suffers a stroke from taking a steroid. Now he’s lying unconscious in a hospital. Margaret’s angry at her dad for pushing Sean to be a great quarterback, but a fire of hatred burns inside her to make the criminals pay.

Looking for justice, she takes Jimmy and her best friend, Emily, through a twisted, drug-filled sub-culture. A clue sends them deep into the woods behind the school where they overhear drug dealers discuss Sean.

Time and time again they walk a treacherous path and come face to face with danger. Even the cop on the case can’t stop them from investigating. All the while Margaret really wants to cure Sean, heal the hate inside, and open her heart to love.

Buy Links

Amazon – Amazon.com/dp/B07R7RHF5K

Barnes and Noble – https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/stopped-cold-gail-pallotta/1117352035?ean=9781522398578

Kobo – https://www.kobo.com/us/en/search?query=Stopped+Cold+by+Gail+Pallotta

Meriwether High School, the fictitious  school in Stopped Cold, has its own Twitter page, Meriwether Christian @MeriwetherCS (https://twitter.com/MeriwetherCS). The heroine, Margaret, would love to have readers follow it.