Updated on 28th December 2012
What is your favorite quality about yourself? I’m a grumpy old lady and enjoy it thoroughly … especially during the past election season since so many stupid comments [don’t bother with the lies] were flying around.
What is your least favorite quality about yourself? I’m a hermit. I really think I should get out around people more … but I always seem to find something else to do.
What’s your favorite place in the entire world? I’ll have to say the coolish, sandy beaches of Northern California, Oregon and Washington state. Fortunately the redwoods are located close to the beaches. One regret. Wished I had spent more time on the Harlech beach in Wales. Was quite lovely with the castle ruins in the background.
How has your upbringing influenced your writing? By being an integral part of me. Can’t separate the two.
Do you recall how your interest in writing originated? I’m so dyslexic I didn’t even realize I could read until about the fourth grade. Discovered library books in the fifth grade. Then, my sixth grade teacher wanted us to write a short story for English. I remember being enthralled by being able to call the shots. Didn’t finish the assignment … only wrote 25 pages, but by the next summer, I had finished a Nancy Drew pastiche and started my second novel which is fortunately lost to posterity. Have been writing something ever since even through collage and small children.
When and why did you begin writing? See above.
How long have you been writing? Since sixth grade …
What inspires you to write and why? Writing amuses me.
What genre are you most comfortable writing? Fantasy … though I like to cross genres within it …
What do you consider the most challenging about writing a novel, or about writing in general? Getting endings on the stories. I have a couple file drawers of starts … though my computer holds eight completed drafts set in my Far Isle Half-Elven world and others middle grade novels in what might be called my Never, Never California world. A full of one of them is being considered by a publisher.
Do you intend to make writing a career? I consider writing an amusement. If it didn’t entertain me, I wouldn’t do it. After completing drafts for several years after I got laid off, I decided to get serious about marketing aka sharing my stories.
Have you developed a specific writing style? No. I write like I talk … What’s in my head just pops out.
Have you ever had writer’s block? If so, what do you do about it? Don’t think I have writer’s draft. Computers make writing relatively easy. If I get stuck in one place, I just give my characters problems some other place. I worry about the clean up when I revise.
Can you share a little of your current work with us? Bad Luck Emma, a middle grade fantasy. – After years of her grandmother’s attempts to turn her into a proper young lade, Emma Klocken thinks she has the worst possible luck in the world. Her family moves to the California Gold Country after a drive-by shooting in Oakland where she encounter a Hobgoblin when she’s ditched in an abandoned mine by a couple frenemies. Later, she learns the Fae was imprisoned for working magic in the mortal world when a Spriggen threatens her. Emma travels to Faery to save the Hob and learns to ignores her fears by doing what needs to be done, not matter how scary or uncomfortable it is.
How did you come up with the title? It just developed over the couple of years I worked on the draft.
Can you tell us about your main character? Which character? Which book? Troublesome Neighbors which is the published novella I’m promoting?
How did you develop your plot and characters? Troublesome Neighbors developed from my wanting to write something where Renna starred. She appears in several books set late in my Half-Elven history as a cantankerous friend of Mariah, one of the heroes of the Half-Elven Rebellion. Troublesome is set soon after the Rebellion has ended and Renna’s neighbor, Gorsfeld, is contesting the leadership with Linden, one of the other heroes of the Rebellion. Gorsfeld covets Renna’s lands, and Renna must protect her people even though she hates fighting.
Who designed the cover? Cali Taylor
Who is your publisher? I self-published through BookBaby since I’m still building a platform.
How do you promote this book? This is one attempt to promote. I have an author and a world Facebook page, have a blog, website, and am on Twitter. As I find places to list my novella, I link/list Troublesome Neighbors with them. I’m hoping to get three-four book reviews [4-star or better] so I can use the Amazon promotion services.
Will you write others in this same genre? World is the better term here. I have a draft of a sequel to Troublesome Neighbors called The Pig Wars. I need to revise, then edit that prior to self-publishing it. – I also have a novel draft centered on Mariah … set 400 years into the future from the novellas. — Oh. I’m also drafting a middle grade novel about a girl who’s on the run from evil warlocks who want to steal ancient grimories Mac is safe-keeping after her Granny and mother’s deaths.
Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp? There’s a message of freedom, I guess, but I’m mainly telling a story.
How important do you think villains are in a story? Villains make the story interesting. If the villain isn’t strong, your main character seems a wimp or a conceited ass. Fortunately, both Gorsfeld and his descendent, Catsfeld, are strong villains. My critiquers think my villains are more interesting than my main characters.
What are your goals as a writer? To amuse myself. If I’m in a good mood, I’ll share.
Who is your favorite author and why? Have dozens. A few of the modern ones: Lee Child, Jim Butcher, Patrica Briggs, Yasmine Galenorn, Mercedes Lackey, Ilona Andrews, L. M. Montgomery, Nora Lofts, Simon R. Green, Rebecca York, Charlene Harris, Kay Hooper, etc.
Can we expect any more books from you in the future? At least 10 if I never draft another new story.
Have you started another book yet? A couple. Whether they get endings is another story.
Where do you see yourself in five years? Hopefully, alive.
What are your current writing projects now? Revising the sequel to Troublesome Neighbors, drafting Mac’s story, and marketing Bad Luck Emma to agents.
Are you reading any interesting books at the moment? Kay Hooper’s new book. Can’t remember the title.
What are some of the best tools available today for writers, especially those just starting out? There’s tons of stuff from books to the internet. I’ve learned a lot from reading agents’ blogs. One of my favorite books is “Save the Cat” … again I can’t remember the author … and I’m too gimpy to want to go down the stairs to find out.
What contributes to making a writer successful? Writing. Writing. Revising. Revising. Revising. And Writing some more and Revising some more.
Do you have any advice for writers? Another way of saying the above – study your craft. You can be a wonderful story teller, but you still have to meet the rough conventions that your readers might expect. Find a local writing group. [Your local library is a could place to start on that.] Find a critique group so you have someone to tell you when you miss the mark – either with too many words or not enough words.
Do you have any specific last thoughts that you want to say to your readers? Read widely. And do the writer a favor and review their books. It doesn’t have to be an English assignment. Just something you liked about the book.
What do you do to unwind and relax? Read. Walk. Go to the gym. Have coffee with my friends.
Buy now @ Amazon
Genre – Fantasy (PG13)
Website http://www.half-elven.com/
0 comments:
Post a Comment