Backstory

Andy Stone: He was the editor of the Aspen Times from 1995-2004 and currently writes the weekly column "A Stone's Throw." He just published his second novel.
Linda Lafferty: She taught school in Carbondale and Aspen for almost 20 years and holds a doctorate in bilingual special education. She just published her fifth novel. 

Most Recent Novel

AS: Aspen Drift
LL: The Girl Who Fought Napoleon: A Novel of the Russian Empire

Genre

AS: "It's almost historical fiction, if you want to consider Aspen in the 1980s historical."
LL: Historical fiction

Motivation

AS: "I wanted to write a book about Aspen from the view of a newspaper reporter."
LL: "I usually look for really strong women to write about."

Plot Summary

AS: A mystery set in Aspen some 30 years ago
LL: Teenage girl joins the Russian cavalry during the early reign of a new czar

Inspired By

AS: "My knowledge of Aspen history, but it's completely fictional."
LL: The Cavalry Maiden, a memoir by Nadezhda Durova

Which Character has the Napoleon Complex

AS: A manipulative developer
LL: Napoleon

Field Research

AS: "My entire life in the 80s."
LL: Three weeks in Russia on a custom tour. "I gave the guides information about settings and things to see—Napoleon's camp bed, for example, and battlefields."

Details, Details

AS: "I knew [the era] all too well, so I didn't worry about details except for one long segment that takes place in an old silver mind. I researched some stuff that scared the hell out of me about people being stuck in caves while spelunking."
LL: "I try to feel like I'm really in the room there looking around. I spend a lot of time to find tastes and smells and clothes and language, and customs and idiosyncrasies of the time and culture."

The Write Time

AS: "Five years or so. I spent a long time tying to get an agent, then finally wound up self-publishing."
LL: "About two years. But it took me 27 years to get published [the first time]."

Writing Studio

AS: Kitchen table
LL: Bed

Dueling Pens

AS: "There is a lot of competition between us in everything except writing."
LL: "Andy is my first reader and my first editor."

Up Next: Caravaggio

AS: "It's our first collaborative writing project; hopefully the marriage will survive."
LL: "He was the abd boy of art—arrested 14 times and a murderer—but we both are just completely stunned by his works."

Both Aspen Drift and The Girl Who Fought Napoleon: A Novel of the Russian Empire are available locally at Explore Booksellers. explorebooksellers.com