|
|||||
|
1. What inspired you to write your first book? My novel, After the Auction, originated from a story my mother told me about a man she met during World War II. Someone like him is a character in the book, but the plot evolved from the mysterious silences I got when trying to research him for a nonfiction article or biography. 2. Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp? I hope the book informs readers about the historical context of the plot. As for message, it’s a story that ultimately tests whether a righteous end justifies less than righteous means. 3. How much of the book is realistic? The history encompasses realistic Holocaust experiences, including Nazi art looting, which remains a timely topic even now, 67 years after the end of World War II. References to illegal smuggling of arms and displaced persons to Palestine before Israel’s War of Independence are also a matter of record. A scholar on art looting has told me that the processes and difficulties I describe are very realistic. 4. What book are you reading now? I’m in the midst of three books right now (this drives my husband crazy). One is a huge biography of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother (the British Royal Family is sort of a hobby), one is a biography of Iris Origo, and I started The List, a historical novel by journalist Martin Fletcher, on my Kindle on a trip the other day. 5. Are there any new authors that have grasped your interest? I recently read Restoration by Olaf Olaffson, who’s not a new author but new to me. It’s a novel based on a character something like Iris Origo. Olaffson is a top executive at Time Warner, which makes me wonder how he finds the time to write, especially since I’m not working full-time anymore and can’t seem to crank books out as regularly. 6. What are your current projects? I am currently working on a sequel novel featuring many of the same characters and set mostly in Shanghai, China. I’m also working on a nonfiction book about affinities among Jews and Chinese told through family stories, including mine. 7. Name one entity that you feel supported you outside of family members. I worked with a developmental editor, Alan Rinzler, who is a veteran in the publishing business. I found Alan after a draft or two, and he helped me shape the story and characters, sometimes by eliminating whole sections, scenes and people. It was an intense (and not cheap) process, but invaluable. 8. Do you have any advice for other writers? Two things: First, just do it!! Write it, and, if you experience rejection and/or long delays from the “conventional” publishing world of agents and editors, forget it and get your work out there. Second, eBooks are a phenomenon not to be ignored! For more information about Linda, or to purchase her book, go to http://www.lindafrankbooks.com/ 
Where are you from? Born and raised in North Dakota – Currently living in sunny San Diego. What’s your latest news? My book was #1 – Won the National Indie Excellence Award, 2011, for Inspirational Book of The Year. When did you start writing? When I was eight – the reason – had to let my feelings out and put them down on paper. Is there a message in my book? Yes! Live your life according to You! Get your priorities and values in the proper order and have a great day – everyday!! What are your current projects? Just completed a new dust cover and an audio book is in production. What was the hardest part of writing your book? Not the writing for me – the inaccessibility of the book publishers, agents and distribution company’s as it relates to helping self published writers. There’s the old way and the new way – neither seems to have much time for self published writers. Self published writers need to band together – to get some power. I’m working on that. What was the most surprising thing you learned from creating your book? I’m surprised by the number of people who really do need direction to find who they are and why. The world seems to be changing so rapidly – most people say that they’re just fine with all the changes, but when you really get down to it – they’re really not – and are looking for a way to put the simple things back into some part of each day. To find out more about Tim, read reviews or order the book go here.
The most popular blogs are how-tos or opinions or reactions to things the author has read or heard about. For a writer it might be about an author event you attended or an article you read in Publishers Weekly. Pick things that will make your readers think — better yet, ask them what they think. Be honest with your writing and write about things that really interest you. Post links to other pages that support or contradict your opinions. Get involved in networks; LinkedIn has a variety of groups to choose from. Remember, blogging is a commitment. You can’t just drop in once in a while. Create a regular schedule, one that’s realistic considering your time constraints. It pays to plan ahead. Keep a list of ideas or better yet, some draft posts ready to go for those times you can’t think of anything interesting to say. Blogging is not only important in creating your platform, it’s an excellent way to make connections and learn from other people. And we all know how important networking is. Happy blogging!
1. Where are you from? I’m a transplant from the beautiful state of Idaho and have lived most of my life on the majestic Pacific coast. After graduating from San Francisco State University with a major in history, I studied at the University of Nice in France and have a Masters in French Literature and in School Administration. I have had a career as school principal and taught college French. I currently live in California. 2. Tell us your latest news? I’m excited to announce that Solstice Publishing has just released my third novel, Murder Down Under, set in Australia. The ebook is available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble. The print version will be released soon. 3. When and why did you begin writing? I first started writing in seventh grade at St. Mary’s Cathedral School under the tutelage of Sister Delores Marie who told me I had talent. I believed her and have been writing ever since. I began writing my first mystery novel about fifteen years ago. I had so much fun creating my characters that I decided to write a series of mysteries that included some of those characters. The other thing that figures in my writing is travel. I love to travel and I love to read mysteries so I now set my mystery novels in the places I’ve visited. 4. When did you first consider yourself a writer? I believed I could be a writer at a young age when I received praise from my parents and friends for my efforts. I became more confident in my skills when I started writing nonfiction pieces as a young adult. I didn’t consider myself a real writer until I published my first novel. 5. What inspired you to write your first book? That’s a good question. Inspiration can come from the strangest places. I decided to write my first mystery novel during my tenure as a school principal. A school environment consists of parents, kids, teachers, and district office personnel. All I had to do was observe the idiosyncrasies and intrigues that abound in a school environment, pick a couple of them, expand and embellish them then wrap a story around them. That’s how I came up with my first novel, Lethal Lesson. 6. Can you share a little of your current work with us? I’m writing a mystery novel set in South Africa. The story takes place in both Cape Town and a nearby Township I call Ikhaya. The novel continues the Lysis Weston mystery series and includes three of my best-loved characters from previous novels. The plot, while it revolves around a murder, allows me to share elements of South African Township life and Xhosa tribal culture. 7. Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it? I learned several things writing my first book. I learned that I enjoy rewriting as much as writing and that the real polishing of the novel occurs during rewriting. I discovered it’s true that your characters can sometimes influence the outcome of your novel. For example, in two of my novels I had decided who would commit the murder only to have my characters point me to a different villain with a different motive. I guess one of the most important things I learned is that you must be very careful about reviewing final proofs sent by a publisher. I’ve found several proofing errors that had to be corrected before the book went to press. 8. Do you have any advice for other writers? Be patient. Agents and publishers receive thousands of query letters a year. Most agents will get to yours, but it may take more than six months. Don’t feel rejected by rejections. There are hundreds of reasons your novel may be rejected. Realize that most of those reasons have little to do with the quality of your story. Be persistent. If you are writing because you hope to be published one day, don’t give up. Keep sending queries out on a regular basis. I set a standard of sending out 5 queries every week. Send your queries to agents and small independent publishers. Mary Higgins Clark, the queen of mystery, was rejected 40 times before she was finally accepted for publication. These days writers should also consider self-publishing. Why not follow in the footsteps of authors like John Grisham and Tom Peters who self-published their first books. 9. How many books/stories have you written? I’ve published three novels and two children’s musicals. One of my musicals, A Musical Salute to America was presented on KQED Public Television. I’ve written several plays for school productions. 10. Do you have any suggestions to help others become a better writer? I have lots of practical suggestions for perfecting writing skills. In fact, I have a blog that is largely dedicated to strategies for improving writing. I address development of main and supporting characters, plot, voice, theme, editing, writing query letters and synopses, marketing—I could go on but it would be best for your readers to visit Global Mysteries. Nancy’s ebook is available at Solstice Publishing, Smashwords, and Amazon.
1. Where are you from? I was born a Connecticut Yankee, and moved to California when I was eight years old. (Three years later, we visited the mountains and I clambered up the first snowy slope, wild with nostalgia. I’d forgotten that snow was cold. My hands got cold very quickly….) After bouncing back and forth between the east and west coasts for years, I landed in the Midwest and became a Hoosier (Indiana resident). 2. When did you first consider yourself a writer? From early childhood, I considered myself a writer. At age eight, I had a poem (not a very good one) published in the local paper. At ten years old, it was my ambition to be the youngest published author ever, and I was somewhat crestfallen to learn that a nine-year-old girl had claimed that honor. 3. What inspired you to write your first book? I’ll answer this about two different books, as my first actual novel was written at age ten and will (I hope) never see the light of day. I wrote that book as a labor of love for my fifth grade teacher, churning out two penciled pages a day — each two pages a separate chapter — for 100 days. As for my more recent “first” novel, Twin-Bred: I read an article online about interactions between twins in utero — synchronized movement, touching, even kissing. Either this article or a comment on the article mentioned the long-term effect of losing a twin in utero. As an avid science fiction reader, I tend to see the sci-fi potential in any event or discovery. I imagined a scientist seeking to overcome the comprehension gap between two intelligent species by way of the bond between twins. It would be natural for the scientist who conceived this idea to be a twin; it would be intriguing if she were a twin survivor, and if she had somehow kept her lost twin alive as a companion, who could be a character in the story. On a deeper level, I have always been fascinated by communication issues and the struggle to understand what is different. 4. Do you have a specific writing style? My authorial “voice” is the product of many years of reading both literary and genre fiction. It is no doubt also influenced, although I hope not fatally tainted, by many years of writing appellate briefs. I tend to emphasize dialogue and internal monologue more than description of people or places, although I’m trying to become less lopsided in this area. 5. How much of the book is realistic? Mara’s situation vis-à-vis Levi is based on what I’ve read about lost twin syndrome and twin survivors — although I don’t have any specific information about a twin survivor maintaining a twin construct well into adulthood as Mara does. The depiction of government bureaucracy is, in my possibly jaundiced view, pretty realistic. The comprehension gap between human and Tofa is extrapolated from how different human cultures have misunderstood each other. The (vaguely described) genetic tinkering necessary for the Twin-Bred’s gestation seems plausible to me, given reasonable advances in biogenetics. As for the Tofa themselves — the jury’s still out on the likelihood and prevalence of intelligent life in the rest of the galaxy. If in fact we have plenty of company, I don’t think it’d be a huge surprise to find the Tofa out there somewhere. 6. What book are you reading now? When I started answering these questions, I was reading Ursula K. LeGuin’s Cheek by Jowl — accurately described in its subtitle, “talks and essays on how and why fantasy matters.” As I finish, I’m reading The Quotable Hitchens, edited by Windsor Mann. 7. If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your latest book? I would include a bit more description of the planet Tofarn and its various towns and cities. (As an indie author whose books are available primarily online, I could make this or other changes in a new edition — but I doubt I will.) 8. Who designed the covers? My wildly creative elder daughter, Livali Wyle, an art student at Savannah College of Art and Design, helped me design the cover and did the cover art. 9. Do you have any advice for other writers? Warning: long answer ahead. . . . The following are mostly suggestions that I have found in various books/essays/blog posts about the process of writing fiction, and then verified by experience.
10. What has been the most surprising thing you learned from creating your books? Probably the way a story occasionally decides to write itself! This can happen in various ways: a character reacts in an unexpected way to a situation I set up, or a detail I considered unimportant added color turns out to play a key role in the plot. My experience tends to confirm Stephen King’s observation that being a novelist is much like uncovering a fossil. I would add that, like a paleontologist, an author may have some difficulty figuring out how the various pieces are supposed to fit together. . . . Twin Bred is available at: Amazon (Kindle edition): http://amzn.to/u2OtVP Amazon (paperback): http://www.amazon.com/Twin-Bred-Karen-Wyle/dp/1463578911/ref=tmm_pap_title_0 Barnes & Noble (paperback): http://bit.ly/xsyzwL Find out more about Karen at www.KarenAWyle.net
Where to start? Once you get an account, poke around on the site and follow people in your business or with your hobby to see what they’re posting about. You can also clink on the “popular” link to get ideas. Think about what your audience would like to see. You can create a how-to board or if you have a speaking event or book signing planned, you could put up a board in advance to market the event. I’m new to Pinterest and am just learning about all the options. But what I know is this is not just another social networking site. It’s growth has been extraordinary and big brands such as Macy’s and Real Simple are onboard (excuse the pun!) So this site seems to have staying power.
1. Where are you from? Arlington Heights, Illinois 2. Tell us your latest news? I’m currently editing a final draft of my first novel, Straight Through. I also started a blog in February called True STORIES www.jessicavealitzek.com, which has been really fun to write. It gives me a break from the tediousness of editing. 3. When and why did you begin writing? According to my parents, I wrote my first story (“The Easter Bunny”) to draw attention away from my brother, who had written a fantastic poem that everyone was raving about. The bug bit me and I haven’t stopped since. Luckily, I enjoy it for more than the attention now. 4. What inspired you to write your first book? Having children made me realize that my “someday” plan was now. 5. How did you come up with your title? At one point, one of my character says, “There’s no way around it. We’ll have to go straight through.” When I typed that sentence, I thought, “Huh. That pretty much sums up the whole thing.” The characters are just trying to weather some hard experiences, to find their way. And there’s no other way but head on. 6. Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp? The only way to live and live happily is to be true to yourself, and to welcome others into your life. 7. Name one entity that you feel supported you outside of family members. She Writes! It’s a fantastic site and the members, both newbies and established writers, are wonderfully supportive. 8. Do you see writing as a career? I do, and I didn’t always. I’ve wanted to write a novel since I knew what a novel was, but I put it off and found writing jobs that paid me for hours worked. I’m finally giving myself permission to sit in a room and write for no money. 9. What was the hardest part of writing your book? Organization. I wrote whatever parts I felt like writing on a given day, and revised as I went along. It was hard to then go back and organize for clarity and consistency. 10. Do you have any advice for other writers? Follow your instincts. Often, the first way I write a line is the best way. I was taught to write, cross out, and rewrite. Then repeat 10 times. That doesn’t always work for me. If I try too hard, it doesn’t sound right and honest. Thanks, Jessica, and good luck with the book!
|
|||||
|
Copyright © 2010 Judith Marshall - All Rights Reserved · AskMePc-Webdesign |
|||||
Recent Comments