When did you first know that you wanted to write fiction?
My mother is a high school English teacher, so I grew up with a great love of literature. My whole life, I've felt most at home in libraries or book stores and I've always needed to have a book in my pocket. Novels had the huge impact on me especially as a teenager. I was addicted to "The Bell Jar" and read it eight times in one year (tip to high school girls: Don't do that). Because books were so important to me, I wanted to participate in the conversation between writers and readers. I started writing short stories at 15. And I didn't get published until I was about 25.

What is your Virginia connection? Were you born here or did you move here?
I'm originally from Wisconsin. I moved to New York when I was 18 and did my undergrad at New York University. I moved to Richmond to attend Virginia Commonwealth University's MFA program where I met my husband. After I graduated, we decided to buy a house and stay. I got a job as an entertainment writer for Richmond.com (shout out!) and now I work for the Richmond Times-Dispatch's Web site, inRich.com, as an online editor.

What do you like about living in Richmond?
It is affordable and arty and interesting. I've always found it a very creative place and an inspiring place. I love so many places here: Maymont, the Byrd Theatre, the Fan, Church Hill, Libbie Hill Park. I've made some wonderful friends and feel very at home here.

Do you prefer to write short stories or novels? Are there any other literary forms that you are interested in?
Short stories come more naturally to me. But it is a really difficult time to be a short story writer. There are so few magazines that publish them. And it is very difficult to publish a collection of short stories. People just don't buy them as much as they buy novels.

I just spent the last two years working on short stories. I wrote those stories because I was trying to process how I felt about certain things: sex, marriage and motherhood. I'm glad I wrote them because I was able to open up all those anxieties and put them literally to bed. But I do wonder, will anybody ever read these? Do people even want to read something like this?

Novels are different because they're bigger and they take more plotting. They're like a huge puzzle and you have to figure out all the pieces. But I really like how a novel can take over your life. The best part for me is when your novel is really chugging along. You know your characters inside-out; you can basically wind them up and let them go. It feels like you're really working and that's very satisfying. I'm working on a novel now and I'm really enjoying the process again.

Do you write every day? Describe your novel writing process.
I used to have a study at the back of the apartment I lived in when I was in graduate school. This was when I only wrote when I was "inspired" or had a story due for workshop. It was cold back there and spiders came through the cheap windows and I almost never went in there. My process drastically changed when I moved into a smaller-but-nicer apartment and put my computer right at the kitchen table. Instead of my writing space being set off and out of sight, it was right there in the center of my life. I had to face the computer every day and think about: Did you write today or didn't you? Which is basically: Are you a writer or aren't you?

Ever since then, I've made an effort to make writing a part of my everyday life. Like brushing your teeth, it's just something that I know I need to do every day. I'm usually at my computer by 6 a.m. and I'll write for an hour or two. Then I have to go to work at my day job. Sometimes I'll just sit at the computer. Sometimes I'll write a sentence or a paragraph. Sometimes I'll write a few pages. It depends on the day. But the important thing is getting there and setting up shop for the day.

Was it hard to find an agent/publisher for "Whores on the Hill"?
Yes and no. The agent I really wanted originally declined WOTH. It just wasn't ready. But I spoke with him about it on the phone and I thought he had some very insightful points about why it wasn't working yet. So I sat down and tore it up for five months. I cut a hundred pages, wrote a hundred more pages. I reworked the ending again and again and again until I got it right. Six months later, I sent it back to the same agent and he signed me. He's really amazing and he sold the novel in a week.

How did having a book published change your life?
It hasn't really changed my life. I still have a job. I still have to get up much earlier than I would want to get the writing in. There's still never enough time, never enough space, never enough money, etc. etc.: all the old excuses that people use to not get the creative work done.

But it has changed my life in that I feel incredibly lucky to have had a novel published. There are a lot of great writers out there and it's hard work to get a novel published. I feel very thankful for that. I'm lucky to have an agent and a publisher who I admire and get to work with. And I'm especially lucky to have readers who read Whores on the Hill and enjoyed it.

Do you belong to a writing group or do you prefer to work alone?
I work pretty much alone now. My husband, who's also a writer, reads my work. He's a very big help with plot and character. I never really found a writing group that worked for me. Graduate school was great in that it taught me the fundamentals of writing and revision. I really enjoyed the workshop atmosphere, but after three years, I reached a point where I knew I had to start listening to myself and trusting my instincts as a writer.

What are you working on now?
I'm working on a novel, tentatively titled "A Year of Winters," about a car crash involving two teenage girls: one who dies and the other who survives. And a collection of short stories about turning points in young women's lives called "My Book of Firsts."

Colleen Curran is the author of the novel, "Whores on the Hill," which was selected by NPR's Nancy Pearl as a Best Debut, and the editor of the anthology, "Altared: Bridezillas, Bewilderment, Big Love, Breakups, and What Women Really Think About Contemporary Weddings." She was recently awarded a Theresa Pollak Award for Excellence in the Arts by Richmond Magazine. More information can be found on her website at www.colleencurran.com.

LAST TIME OUT: Claudia Emerson.