Stuff about Writing/ Reading:
What are your top 10 favorite books/authors?
I guess we shall go
with authors because trying to narrow down favorite books is a
nightmare. In no particular order: Tamora Pierce, Neil Gaiman, Diana
Wynne Jones, Terry Pratchett, Annette Marie, Ilona Andrews, A. Lee
Martinez, Seanan McGuire, Candace Robinson & Amber Duell,
What book do you
think everyone should read?
Howl’s Moving Castle
by Diana Wynne Jones
How long have you
been writing?
I’ve been attempting writing forever.
It’s always been a part of my life. When I was a young wee mite, I
used to dictate stories to my mother who would type them up on an
electric typewriter and let me illustrate them. I still have one of
those, where my dog was a superhero and I was his side kick,
attempting to thwart lily pad thieves who were stealing lily pads
from the local pond frogs. As I got older those attempts at writing
got more finessed as I picked up more and more of the craft.
Eventually I found my wheelhouse of weird and settled in to create
stories full of monsters.
Do the characters
all come to you at the same time or do some of them come to you as
you write?
I often start with my main protagonists.
and then side characters begin to take shape as we meet them.
Sometimes a seemingly one off character actually swells into someone
rather important or a character that might not have had much screen
time in one book takes a plot line and runs with it in the next.
Writing is funny like that.
What kind of
research do you do before you begin writing a book?
It
depends on what the book needs. Sometimes in the case of historical,
I need details of what was invented when, when certain words came
into existence, if something was in common use or rare, details of
different conveyances, travel time, clothing, what towns looked like
in various parts of the country, what was the shape of the country.
But with more fluid genres, the details change. You might need to
know how wounds affect the body, or how much blood loss a person can
sustain, the behavior of animals you are basing a fictional space
creature off etc.
Do you see writing
as a career?
Short answer yes. My goal with my writing
is to reach a point where I make a close to sustainable income or at
least a supplemental income for my family. I am slowly but surely
getting there but the road is long and full of pit falls.
What do you think
about the current publishing market?
These are
interesting times. There are so many paths to success for authors in
the day that it is more about finding what works for you as an
individual rather than being forced to one path only. I think this
could be a golden age for smaller publishers, who work in very
different means than the big juggernauts and taken different kinds of
risks. There is still a lot of boundaries for smaller authors and
publishers, but with Covid proving the viability of online events,
it’s opened up a new sphere for them.
Do you read yourself
and if so what is your favorite genre?
I love books.
In the zone I can plow through a full-length novel in a day. I do
have reading slumps but usually I average about 50 books a year. I am
also a mood reader, but I mostly prefer genres, sci fi, fantasy,
paranormal, romance, historical etc.
Do you prefer to
write in silence or with noise? Why?
Noise. I have two
very noisy children. Without headphones or music it’s hard to drown
out the little noises and chattering to concentrate on the characters
in front of me. Which means every story has it’s own unique
playlist.
Do you write one
book at a time or do you have several going at a time?
I
usually have two or three stories going at a time, though I tend to
have a lot of focus on a main story and then side projects I’ll
tinker around with when I need a mental break.
Pen or type writer
or computer?
Pen for notes, Computer for drafts &
edits.
What made you want
to become an author and do you feel it was the right decision?
I
knew I wanted to tell stories. It feels right to tell stories.
A day in the life of
the author?
Wake up around 6am. Get the kids off to
school or settled in with a movie and breakfast. Spend the morning
hours plowing through whatever remote work I need to get through or
various book tasks. When kids are in school, cram in some writing, if
not, spend the afternoon running them around. Dinner. Unwind. Kids in
bed. Squeeze in some more writing. Sleeps around 11pm.
Advice they would
give new authors?
This is a marathon, not a sprint.
Even the fastest parts of the industry take months to move. Don’t
compare your writing journey to anyone else. Everyone measures
success differently. Our goal posts often change and we are our own
harshest critics. Don’t add holding yourself up to someone else’s
success, because they went through just as many struggles. And don’t
feel you are in competition with other authors. Readers are always
looking for new authors. There are more than enough readers to go
around.
Describe your
writing style.
Chaotic Evil. Sometimes I’ll manage a
good 3k words in a day. Sometimes 500. Sometimes I write 10k and my
hands cramp up for three days. There are a lot of outside factors
that affect my output but generally, I hunker down, squeeze out
whatever I can and script in my head until I can get back to my
computer.
What makes a good
story?
If a story entertains you, it is a good story.
Stories are our escape, our joy. They don’t have to be epic sagas
or literary masterpieces to be good. Reading tastes are subjective
and the measure of good is what they enjoyed.
What are you
currently reading?
In between drafting sprints, I am
reading Here and Now and Then by Mike Chen, some old Christine Warren
books, and a whole bunch of online comics.
What is your writing
process? For instance do you do an outline first? Do you do the
chapters first?
I am a solid planster. I do try to do
an outline for some projects but I usually keep it pretty loose and
fast because my characters like to go off the rails. Sometimes by the
end of chapter one.
What is your writing
Kryptonite?
Em dashes.
Do you try more to
be original or to deliver to readers what they want?
Honestly,
I just pour myself onto the page and hope for the best. I tell
stories I myself want to read so really, it’s all about finding
readers with tastes like mine.
If you could tell
your younger writing self anything, what would it be?
When
I was younger and very naïve of how the publishing world, I used to
tell myself, I would have a book published by twenty or it’s a
bust. Boy was that a terribly unrealistic goal for myself. I had so
much to learn and space to grow as a writer. If I could tell my
younger writing self anything, it would be not to put an expiration
date on your dreams. You are never too old to publish a book and find
success in writing. You are not bound to any set path. You will find
your own way.
How long on average
does it take you to write a book?
It can take me
anywhere from a year to a few months depending on various factors and
deadlines.
Do you believe in writer’s block?
Actually no. I
think authors can be mentally exhausted or have no drive to write. I
think their ideas can get tangled, but I think writer’s block is a
lie we tell ourselves so we don’t have to admit we are feeling
burnt out. If you sit down and can’t find the words, your brain is
trying to not so subtly tell you that you need to take a moment for
self-care. If you find yourself stumped by a particular scene, your
thoughts might be tangled. It might take writing a different scene or
writing the scene you are stuck on in a different character’s
perspective (surprisingly effective), but at the end of the day, I
don’t believe in writer’s block. But I do think it’s okay to
say ‘I don’t think I can write today.’
Thank you so much for joining in on the tour!
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