Del Blackwater

Del Blackwater is a novelist and travel writer based in Wisconsin. Her life vacillates wildly between a quiet existence in the country and a feverish, risk-centric existence when on the road. Her travels have taken her to four continents, and she makes questionable decisions in all of them. While Egypt is inevitably the high-water mark of both her travels and her writing, she tries to spend time in other places as well. Del is published many times over as a board game and tarot deck designer, notably as the creator of Playlist Wars, a music game. When not keeping busy, she unwinds by taking care of a menagerie of critters and enjoying something she calls porch time.

Facebook: @Del Blackwater Author

Instagram: @deadegyptians

Are there particular films that have influenced your writing?

Absolutely. There is so much of Peter O' Toole's performance as Lawrence in Arabia in my protagonist, Albion Stanley, that I had an actual panic attack that readers were going to figure out that he was a carbon copy lol. He is not, it's worth mentioning. In the beginning, he and T.E. Lawrence had a sameness, but he came to life in the way that characters do, and he grew into his own person. I intend to drive this point home by having T.E. Lawrence make an appearance in book four or five of the series, just to compare and contrast them.

Is your go to comfort food sweet or savory? Is it something you make yourself? Does food inspire your writing?

I often tell people that I want to die from going to Greece and eating so much spanakopita that my stomach bursts and poisons my insides lol. I make a gluten free version of it at home, but it doesn't compare. Very difficult to make a gluten free phyllo dough that has the right texture.

Not all books are for all readers... when you start a book and you just don't like it, how long do you read until you bail?

I have very strong feelings about this question, because I have experienced people putting my book down and never going back in. I don't think it's playing fair to set a book down before the end. My own novel is extremely twisty, and you won't know what it is until you get to the last line. That’s gotta be true for other books as well.

Is there another profession you would like to try?

I wish I could go back in time to my college years and study Egyptology properly. Not because I have any business working as an archaeologist - I don't. I don't enter tombs (out of respect) and I don't view unwrapped mummies. I would have enjoyed translating hieroglyphics though. And I might be of some use as a conservationalist - restoring temples or old towns.

Do you have another artistic outlet in addition to your writing? Do you sew? Paint? Draw? Knit? Dance?

I am a game designer in addition to an author. I design decks of tarot cards, and I am the creator of a board game called Playlist Wars, which is basically a dance party in a box. It is currently taking over Wisconsin one party at a time lol.