Author Interview: Best-selling author, Sidney Sheldon, does...

Best-selling author, Sidney Sheldon, does it again with his new book, "Tell Me Your Dreams." One of the most bizarre murder trials of the century is about to begin --- and reveal an astounding, startling piece of medical evidence almost impossible to believe. Joining us now is the master storyteller himself, ---- Sidney Sheldon ---- to discuss this latest masterpiece.

Question: Welcome, Sidney, we're glad you're here!
Sidney Sheldon: Thank you I'm delighted to be with all of you!

Question: Without giving the plot away, what is "Tell Me Your Dreams" about?
Sidney Sheldon: It's the story of the lives of three women who are wanted by the police for a series of murders.

Question: From what do you draw most of your idea inspiration when choosing to start a book?
Sidney Sheldon: Nobody knows. I think my books are given to me. If you told me to get an idea I would not know how. And yet, ideas come. I feel there's an angel on my shoulder who guides me.

Question: Does this book have any basis on fact?
Sidney Sheldon: Yes. Tell Me Your Dreams is really a combination of actual murder cases that have occurred.

Question: The main character in your books are always women. Who has inspired you?
Sidney Sheldon: I'm tired of the cliche of the "dumb blonde" - if a woman is beautiful, ergo she's stupid. I hate that cliche. I like to write about women who are as capable at their jobs as any man would be; who are intelligent, and who retain their femininity. I know women like that. I am married to a woman like that. And my mother was like that. I don't think men appreciate women enough, and I think it's time we changed that.

Question: Is there anything you've written that you just couldn't get anyone to publish? What was it?
Sidney Sheldon: When I was a teenager, I wrote short stories, and I couldn't get anyone to publish them. Since I became a professional writer, I have been very lucky in having everything of mine published, or put on the screen, or the stage.

Question: According to Guinness book of World Records you are the most translated author in the world. What is the reaction to your novels in other countries?
Sidney Sheldon: My novels are best sellers in most of the over 50 countries that I'm in. In some of the countries, the reception is incredible to me. As an example, I was doing a book tour in Brazil and Argentina, and people were lined up three hours before I was due to appear. They were rabid fans. There was a woman who came up to me with a baby in her arms, and she had named it after me. In Japan, someone sent me their best seller list, and I had four books on it. It's very exciting to me that people of so many different countries seem to like what I write.

Question: How would you say your writing style has changed over the course of your career?
Sidney Sheldon: I don't know that my style has changed. I hope that I have learned more as I grow older, and I'm able to use that knowledge to make my books more interesting and exciting.

Question: For us newer writers trying to get in "synch" with good writing habits, what is your advice on consistency of writing daily, weekly, times of day etc.? And do you use new tools like computers, or the old tried and true yellow pads and pens?
Sidney Sheldon: I think every writer must work according to what's good for him or her. I personally work from 9 in the morning until 6 at night. And I work seven days a week. I love writing. I don't use the computer; I dictate to a secretary. And she brings me the typed pages, and I will rewrite the book up to a dozen times until it's as good as I know how to make it. Then, for the first time, my publisher sees it.

Question: Do you "go on location" to research your stories, or get your background stuff from other sources?
Sidney Sheldon: I will not write about a meal in any country in the world unless I have had that meal in that country. I researched everything that I write about. I think it's very important, because if you fake it, the reader knows it.

Question: You began as a screenwriter, then wrote plays and TV shows. Was your dream always to become a novelist?
Sidney Sheldon: No, as a matter of fact, people have said to me "Isn't it wonderful that you have fulfilled your dream to be a novelist." The truth is, it never occurred to me that I could write a novel. What happened was that as I was writing and producing "I Dream of Jeannie", I got an idea about a psychiatrist who someone was trying to murder. I didn't know how to do it in the dramatic form, because if he were a good psychiatrist, he would have to mentally figure out why someone was trying to kill him. That would make it very introspective. I would have to get into his mind. And it occurred to me that the only way I could do that was as a novel, where I could explain what he was thinking. The idea of writing a novel frightened me. But I couldn't get rid of the idea, and so I decided to do it. It became my first novel, "The Naked Face". It won some awards, and got very good reviews. I didn't make any money on it, but the feeling of freedom - of not having someone look over my shoulder and say "I can't read that line", or "I'll change the valley to the mountains", or "I'll have to cut some scenes", which is what happens when you write a movie or a television show - was so great, that I sat down to write another novel. I had no expectations that it would be any more financially successful than the first. The second novel was "The Other Side of Midnight" and it changed my life.

Question: I read you are writing your memoirs--any quick early Hollywood story that stands out in your mind?
Sidney Sheldon: Well, I'm writing about some of the stars I worked with. There are a couple of stories. The first day of shooting on "Easter Parade" I was at one end of the sound stage telling a story to Judy Garland. At the other end of the stage, Fred Astaire was waiting to shoot the scene. An Assistant Director came up to Judy and me, and said to her, "We're ready for you Miss Garland." I started to get up, and Judy said, "No, finish the story". I started talking faster, because I knew how expensive it was to keep a shooting company waiting. Finally I said, "Judy, I can finish the story later." And she said, "No, please finish it now." I looked at her, and I said, "Don't you want to shoot this scene?" She said no. I asked why, and she replied, "Because in this scene, I have to kiss Mr. Astaire, and I've never met him." So I took her by the hand, and led her over to where Fred Astaire was waiting, and introduced them. And they shot the scene.

Question:Is it true that when you wrote for "I Dream of Jeannie" you worked closely with Barbara Eden?
Sidney Sheldon: Yes, I created "I Dream of Jeannie" and produced it, and wrote most of the scripts, so I worked VERY closely with all the members of the cast. It was like a very happy family.

Question: What was it like when you worte for I Dream of Jeannie and The Patty Duke Shows?
Sidney Sheldon: The first time I ever worked in television was when I created "The Patty Duke Show". I had worked in movies before, but I didn't know much about television. I did know that I wanted to keep up the quality of the show, and I didn't want strangers writing scripts that I might not like. So when I made the deal to write the show, I had them put in the contract that I would write all the shows. In my ignorance, I did not know that in the history of television, no one writer ever wrote all the shows for a weekly series. Years later, I learned that on the day I signed the contract, the company hired three writers to write scripts without telling me. That way, when I came to them one day and said, "I don't have a script for next week", they could pull out the scripts they had ordered. As it turned out, I did write most of the scripts for the three years it was on the air. And simultaneously, I created "I Dream of Jeannie" and wrote most of those scripts, only because I was too ignorant to know that it couldn't be done.

Question: You have been writing for so long, are you ever recognized on the street?
Sidney Sheldon: Occasionally, I'm recognized. When I was writing pictures, no one recognized me outside of Hollywood. But because my photograph is on the back cover of my novels, people do recognize me occasionally.

Question: Is there a place that intrigues you, that you haven't written about yet?
Sidney Sheldon: I think I've written about most places that intrigue me. I've written sixteen novels, so it's hard to remember the places I've written about in each one of them. The only place I can think of that might be interesting to write about that I have not visited is the Galapagos Islands. And I plan to go there fairly soon.

Question: Does your wife go with you on your research trips?
Sidney Sheldon: My wife, Alexandra, goes with me everywhere I go. We are very close.

Question: I live in California. Are you going to be doing a book-tour out here anytime soon?
Sidney Sheldon: The next time I do a book tour will be when my autobiography and my new novel are finished, and that should be in about a year and a half or two years.

Question: Your acclaim is well deserved..What do you do with your days usually?
Sidney Sheldon: I work all day. That's my vocation, and my hobby. I love writing. If I could stay awake I would write 24 hours a day. I don't have any other hobbies. I like to travel, and usually, when I do, it's for research for a new book.

Question: How did you get started in show business?
Sidney Sheldon: When I came to Hollywood I was 18 years old and I wanted to be a writer. I went up to the guards at the various studios, and I said, "I'm Sidney Sheldon, I want to be a writer, who do I see?" And all the guards told me the same thing - "You don't see anybody", so I couldn't get into the gates. Then I heard about readers, people who read and synopsize books and scripts for busy producers, so I sat down and wrote a synopsis of Steinbeck's wonderful book "Of Mice and Men". There were at that time 8 major studios, so I sent a copy of my synopsis to each of them. Three days later, I was working at Universal Studios as a reader and making $17 a week. I would get up at 4:00 in the morning, and work on my own original stories. I wrote four stories, without selling any of them. The fifth one sold, to a B production company. And I was established as a writer.

Question: What is the most important piece of advice you would give an aspiring writer?
Sidney Sheldon: One word: write. People say to me, "I know I could write a wonderful book, or movie, or play." But wanting to do it is not the same as doing it. If you really want to write, you must not let anyone discourage you. It's much, much easier for people to say "No" than for people to say "Yes". If you want to do it, do it. Go for it.

Question: How many projects do you have at one time going?
Sidney Sheldon: Before I started writing novels, I would be into half a dozen projects at a time. But writing a novel takes all of one's undivided attention because it has to be so detailed.

Question: Of all the things you've worked on which do you care most about?
Sidney Sheldon: Novels I prefer to anything else? It's awfully hard, like choosing your favorite child. I had a lot of fun writing "If Tomorrow Comes". And I was swept away by the characters in "Tell Me Your Dreams". They really guided me through the book. I found it a very exciting book to write.

Question: What sort of educational background did you have before starting your writing career?
Sidney Sheldon: I finished high school and went to Northwestern University for six months. Ihad to quit because it was in the middle of the Depression in the 30's, and I had to go to work to help support my family.

Question: I remember "If Tomorrow Comes" When your female hero challenges two men to a CHESS match and plays them at the same time using their own moves against the other opponent. I thought that was one of the most thrilling scenes I'd read in a novel in a long time!! How'd you come up with that?
Sidney Sheldon: Well, I did not come up with that. My characters did. When I begin a book, I have no plot in mind. I start with a character. For example, in "If Tomorrow Comes" I had a specific character in mind, and the story flowed from her. In "Rage of Angels" I wanted to write about a female attorney, and I started dictating, not knowing where the story was going or how it would end. But the characters take over, and I'm able to do a complete novel really just talking it. When I'm finished, I go back to page one, and start polishing it, and rewriting it. When the new pages are given to me, I go to page one again, and do the same thing. And I'll do up to a dozen complete rewrites.

Question: Are there any upcoming movie projects for you?
Sidney Sheldon: We're working now on getting several things done. "I Dream of Jeannie" is going to be made as a feature picture at Columbia Studios, and I'll be Executive Producer on that. And we're working on some other projects of mine, including "Tell Me Your Dreams", which will either be a miniseries or a theatrical film.

Question: Do your characters come from people you know or people you meet most of the time?
Sidney Sheldon: Only twice have I used real characters in my books. At one point I was producing "The Other Side of Midnight" at Paramount Studios, and I got a call that a member of Aristotle Onassis' family wanted to see me. He came to the studio, and said that Mr. Onassis had read "The Other Side of Midnight" and felt that the character in the book was based on him. He was a Greek, one of the richest men in the world, owned a shipping line, an airline, and went out with movie stars. I assured the man that it had nothing to do with Mr. Onassis. But of course, it was really based on Mr. Onassis. The other time that I used a real person as a character was in "Bloodline". I based the character of the Welshman on Cary Grant. Cary had very little education. He went to London and learned how to speak properly, eat properly, and watch what other people did to become the image he had built up in his mind. Finally he became Cary Grant, and that's what the character in "Bloodline" did. I told Cary what I had done, and he was very pleased. Cary was a remarkable man. I had the great pleasure of working with him twice. He starred in a picture that I wrote called "The Bachelor and the Bobby Soxer". And I wrote and directed Cary in a movie called "Dream Wife."

Question: What started you writing?
Sidney Sheldon: I sold my first poem when I was about eleven years old to a children's magazine that I read. I asked my father to mail it in for me. He was afraid that it would be rejected and that it would somehow reflect on him. So he took my name off it, put my uncle's name on it, and then sent it to the magazine. About two weeks later, he was having lunch with my uncle, who said "Why would Wee Wisdom magazine send me a check for $10?" So I sold my first poem under my uncle's name. I always knew I wanted to be a writer.

Question: Which of your novels do you think is your greatest work, even if not your favorite work?
Sidney Sheldon: I would pick two. "The Other Side of Midnight" and "Tell Me Your Dreams". But it's very hard to choose.

Question: Are any authors in the writing community getting together to do something about the senseless death of Nancy Richards-Akers?
Sidney Sheldon: I don't know anything about that, I'm sorry. emmyloo says: Who is your favorite novelist and why?
Sidney Sheldon: The novelists I read are usually the classical novelists. I grew up with Dickens, George Bernard Shaw, and Thomas Wolfe. So I don't get much chance to do any current reading. When I'm working on a book, I am so caught up in the characters and their lives that it's hard for me to look at someone else's characters and stories.

Question: With your notoriety, have you met a lot of famous people?
Sidney Sheldon: Oh yes. I've been fortunate in working with some of the biggest stars in the picture business, in television, and in the theater. I've met 2 Presidents of the United States, I've met English royalty, and I've met a lot of famous industrialists. I am very fortunate to know so many interesting people.

Question: Do you ever get 'writer's block"? What do you do to get through it?
Sidney Sheldon: I've only had writer's block once. It didn't bother me; I simply tried to commit suicide by slashing my wrists. But since I used an electric razor, it didn't work.

Question: After all you have done in your life so far, what was your favorite thing to do?
Sidney Sheldon: Write novels.

Question: How are you able to write so prolifically?
Sidney Sheldon: It's a gift, and I cannot take any credit for it. I think anyone who has talent, whether it's writing, or singing, or painting, has been given a gift. We must work at it as hard as we can to justify having received that gift. And we must share it with others.

Question: What other names do you write under?
Sidney Sheldon: None. I use my own name.

Question: Who would you say are your readers?
Sidney Sheldon: Since I'm in about 52 countries I would have to name the Chinese, Japanese, Czechs, English, French, Italians....my readers are all over the world. I'm read by high school students and college professors, carpenters and housewives. I've sold more than 275 million books, so there's quite a range of readers around the world.

TWBookmark: Unfortunately, we've come to the end of our chat. Thank you, Mr. Sheldon. It's been an honor having you here. Anything more you'd like to leave with us?
Sidney Sheldon: I just want to say to everyone there that it's been a great joy to be with you. I hope you continue to like my books, and as long as you do I'll keep writing them.

Copyright 1999, all rights reserved.