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Now, on to the current list of questions.
Answers – Part One
Answers – Part One
From Steena Holmes
1. What's the hardest part of writing for you?
Lately, I would have to say finding time. Life gets so busy that it is hard to find the peace and semi-quiet needed to let the muse speak.
2. Did anyone ever share 1 piece of advice that you still use today?
Just write! Don’t talk about it. Don’t procrastinate. Don’t loose the idea. Sit down and put pen to paper and see what happens.
3. If YOU had 1 piece of advice to share with a new writer what would it be?
Along with the first bit of advice; don’t edit until after you have a story written down. First drafts are supposed to suck. Let yours be no different. You can always edit later; if you try to edit while you are writing the first draft, you will never finish.
4. If you could only keep 5 books on your shelf - what would they be?
Oh, say it ain’t so! I don’t want to part company with any of my books. I have so many reference as well as fiction works. There is enough there to keep me entertained for a long time. Oh, well, If I had to pick only 5.
1. My new Greek Mythology book. – It’s HUGE and has a wealth of Information. That can not only teach me but keep me entertained as well. I’m a sucker for mythology.
2. The complete works of William Shakespeare. Again, it is a HUGE tome filled with all of the plays and sonnets I have loved over the years.
3. Queen of the Damned – Anne Rice. – One of her larger books, it has always been a favorite of mine.
Notice I am keeping my largest books. LoL. If I have to choose only 5 I am taking the biggest ones I have!
4. Complete Grimm’s Fairy Tales collection – Again, a very large and extremely entertaining book. Need I say more?
5. Cry Wolf – Patricia Briggs – I’ve found another author who I am fast becoming a fan of. I would love to read the whole series again but this was my favorite one.
5. What do you get out of writing?
Writing is an escape. It’s a way to jump into new worlds and be a different person for a while. It allows you to work out your demons and do things you would never do in normal circumstances. In a way, it’s almost therapy. LoL.
From Lynsey Newton
1. Name your FAVOURITE vampire
Lestat! The Brat Prince. He was my first vampire love.
2. Is there a sequel to your novel?
Yeppers! The sequel is written and undergoing revisions with an expected release date of 2011.
3. Name your 5-10 favourite books of all time
Maybe I should go with series because I could easily answer this question with just one series.
Vampire Chronicles – Anne Rice
Harry Potter – J.K. Rowling
Alpha Omega – Patricia Briggs
Mercy Thompson – Patricia Briggs
Dark/ Carpathian Series – Christine Feehan
From Karen Zupancic
1.In what ways are you like the main character, Alyssa?
We are both too stubborn for our own good. We tend to think that we can handle everything our selves. Some of the mistakes Alyssa makes are representations of things I’ve done in the past and later regretted.
2.Do you work from an outline or just wing it?
I’m a pantser. I write by the seat of my pants. That tends to lead to lots of revisions, but I cannot trap myself into an “official” outline.
3.Have you started writing book #2 in the series?
Yeppers! The sequel is written and undergoing revisions with an expected release date of 2011.
4.What inspired you to become a writer?
I really liked telling stories. Oddly enough I am a terrible public speaker and was always horrible with campfire stories. However, I do pretty well when I have time to put my stories down on paper.
5.How important a role will Facebook and other social media play in your success as an author?
Facebook (as well as other social sites) is so important. Books don’t just sell themselves. If no one knows they are there, how can they buy them? Social networking provides an avenue to reach out and interact with my target market. It not only allows me to tell people about the book, it also lets me share the person behind the pages. I can really make connections with my readers.
From Theresa Milstein
1) How many years have you been writing?
I’ve been writing in some form or another since I was little. I wrote my first story on an Apple IIc when I was about 14.
2) How many manuscripts have you written?
Completed? I have 4.
Other than that, I have countless side project and snippets of story ideas floating around my computer. In fact, I have a file created just for info-dumping ideas as they come to me. It’s a mess in there. LoL.
3) What made you make the decision to self-publish?
It wasn’t my first choice. I wanted to go the traditional route. But, it seemed fate had other ideas. I had been querying for about a year and received lukewarm results. Suddenly, I got laid off from my job and had more time on my
hands than I knew what to do with. It just “felt” right to use it to push my dream into reality. So, after a heart to heart with the hubby, we decided to start Rising Sign Books and self publish Immortalis Carpe Noctem.
4) How long did the self-publishing process take until your book was ready to be published?
From the time I “officially” said, “Let’s do it!” to the time I had my “proof” in hand was 4 months.
5)What advice would you give to writers who have just completed their first manuscript?
Find a really good critique group and learn all you can from them. I am still learning new techniques and writing craft rules. If you are serious about publishing, traditional or self, you need to let others take a good hard look at your work and help you polish it to a nice shine.
Great questions today! Keep them coming!