This author is one of my current favorites. Rich stories with believable characters, it’s a pleasure for me to be able to interview Jodi Thomas.
Q. Where do you write? Do you have a special room, shed, barn, special space for your writing? Or tell us about your ‘dream’ work space.
A. I write all over the place. I have a great office at West Texas A&M University with all my covers on the wall. I have an office upstairs in my home with one wall of bookshelves and three walls of windows and I have a tiny office out back off the garden where I’m putting together the plot for a new series.
Q. Do you have any special rituals when you sit down to write? (a neat work space, sharpened #2 pencils, legal pad, cup of tea, glass of brandy, favorite pajamas, etc.)
A. No. I tend to work in two to three hour time periods. I get up to refill my drink every hour—diet coke if it’s warm, hot tea if it’s cold. I always open with what I worked on the day before. If I have to be away from my work more than four or five days, I start from the beginning. Usually spend at least half my time rewriting before I start writing.
Q. Could you tell us something about yourself that we might not already know?
A. I named my youngest son Cole after the hero in ASHES IN THE WIND. Don’t tell him.
Q. Do you have a set time each day to write or do you write only when you are feeling creative?
A. Hey, I could zone out of reality at any moment and write. Don’t believe in ‘feeling creative’. I think of creativity as more like a muscle than a talent. The more you use it
the more creative you become.
Q. What’s your best advice to other writers for overcoming procrastination?
A. Hardest part of writing is getting your butt in the chair. It’s not easy. I sometimes tell myself, “just 15 minutes tonight, I’m tired’ Three hours later I look up. Once I’m in the story, I’m in the story and don’t want to leave.
Set goals—-5 pages a day 5 days a week.
REVIEW: ‘One True Heart’ released April 7th
Part 2 of this Interview April 11th!
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DON’T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS featuring INTERVIEWS with best-selling AUTHORS! April’s author is Jodi Thomas. Coming Soon! Authors Barbara Taylor Bradford and Dorothea Benton Frank.
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Love your interviews, Trish!
I love Jodi and all her books. Her new one everyone will Love.
Here is my review oh The Little Teashop On Main:
Jodi Thomas has a gifted ability of weaving an amazing story not only through your heart, but through the fibers of your very soul.
The Little Teashop on Main is such a tender heartfelt book, a ritual in a journey of friendships, a passage through time, a bond forever sealed.
Jodi Thomas has written her best novel ever, so many emotions captured in this wonderful gift she has given her fans.
The Little Teashop on Main will be a treasured book shared by all generations and coveted on bookshelves for many, many years.