Tag: interviews with authors

Interview with Author, Sheryl Steines (part 2)

Part II of my Interview with Sheryl Steines, Sci-Fi writer 

Q.  Who or what is your “Muse” at the moment?

 SS.   It’s weird but I think right now, time is my muse. The older I get, the farther away I feel from accomplishing my goals, I feel as though I’m fighting with time. And knowing that time moves so quickly, it inspires me to keep writing and creating and working.

Q. Do you have a new book coming out soon? If so tell us about it.

 SS. Black Market. It’s the second book in the Wizard Hall Series. Annie Pearce, is a wizard guard, a magical police officer. She is called by her contact at the FBI who warns her of a John Doe in the forest. He’s dressed oddly for a hike in the forest and Annie, learning of his location is worried because the body was discovered just outside the portal to the black market, the magical shopping area selling illegal objects, potions and animals.

Q. When did you begin to write seriously?

 SS. At my 20th class reunion, I caught up with a former classmate who I discovered was a published author. I was so jealous because it had been my life’s dream to be an author. That emotional awakening, forced me to face the reality that I hadn’t even tried to accomplish my goal. It took two years before I finally was able to write the book, but since then, I haven’t looked back.

Q. How long after that were you published?

SS. I self-published the book in 2010, two years after I started writing.

Q. What makes a writer great?

 SS. A great writer is someone who watches, listens, understands people and the world around them. They’re intuitive, empathic and when they write, the story and the characters come off the page.

Q.  and the all-important: What does the process of going from “no book” to “finished book” look like for you?

SS.  I start with an object, an idea for a murder, a location or a snippet of a scene; one thing that starts the story. I can come from watching television or reading a book on mythology or folk tales. When something sparks, I do more in depth research learning about the history of the object, person, story until the idea grows. I’m a pantser, I write by the seat of my pants. I let the story unfold for me once I get the basic idea drawn out. My first draft is usually short and incomplete. After finishing the draft, I wait about four weeks before I touch the story again. The next several drafts add color. I change or adjust the story lines, I add characters, or make tweaks to existing characters. Sometimes this could take up to 10 drafts or more until the story unfolds in a fabulous way. My second book took 10 drafts before it was ready to go to an editor. When I originally wrote the story, the middle and the end were completely different than how the final draft came out because I saw things differently in the later drafts; I rewrote the ending, I changed the bad guys, I changed the murderer, I gave different magical skills to the creatures until the story felt complete and whole.

Q. How has your life experiences influenced your writing?

 SS. I write about death because of the death of my daughter. It helps me understand the grief and in the stories, my main character Annie Pearce also tries to figure out how her father’s death affects how she lives her life.

Q. Have you or do you want to write in another genre`?

SS. Every once and a while I see something or read something that I think would make a great book idea, something that’s not part of the Fantasy Genre. I just wish I had the time to write it.

Q. Is there anything else you’d like our readers to know?

SS.  I’m a mom of two. I love being creative and enjoy interior design. I’m an avid reader, love driving my ’66 Mustang convertible, I’ve been a Cubs fan since I was born and love to travel and immerse myself into my location.

Click here to enjoy Part I

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MY BLOGS feature INTERVIEWS with  best-selling AUTHORS!   Did you miss the past few months?   December: Reed Farrel Coleman, contributing writer for Robert B. Parker series. January was Dinah Jefferies and February’s author is Sheryl Steines.
Johan Thompson (South African author) will join us in March.

Check out more Motivational Moments…for Writers!

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Interview with best selling author, Lisa Jackson

lisajackson2010Q. 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.

LJ. I write on a laptop in a chaise lounge with coffee near me and my dogs at my feet.  The space is my bedroom, though I’m moving and will actually have a dedicated office within the year.  But this works for now.  I just need the place to be relatively quiet where I can get away from the distractions of life.  You know, that nagging laundry or beckoning cross word puzzle or enticing walk?

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.)

LJ. No real rituals, but I have my synopsis of the current story close at hand and usually a cup of coffee. As stated above, the dogs (three—two pugs and a beagle) are usually close by and snoring as they’ve already been fed and walked.  I don’t like a mess around me, but at the latter stages of the book my work area becomes a disaster.  Also, I really hate to admit this, but when I’m late with a book, at the tail end, when my stress level is in the stratosphere, I eat sugary things to stay awake and keep at it.  I recommend Hot Tamales candy and M&M peanuts.  But be wary, extra pounds do appear!

Q. Could you tell us something about yourself that we might not already know? jackson-workspace Continue reading “Interview with best selling author, Lisa Jackson”

Part 2 of my Interview with author, Michael Saad

Photo # 8 - Mike Sailing Along Queen Charlotte IslandsQ. Do you have a set time each day to write or do you write only when you are feeling creative?

MS. When I’m working full time, especially with teaching, with all of the marking, lesson planning, and numerous ‘extra-curricular’ duties we have going on in our profession, it is very difficult to find the time and energy to write. As a married family man with small kids, my family has been very supportive of my ‘hobby time’ of writing, but it still can be an insurmountable task to balance work, family time, and writing. I want (and need) to spend time with my family, and I want (and need) to focus on teaching, so quite often writing will (and should) take a back seat to that.  That being said, I have gotten up at 3 or 4 AM some days to write, often during holidays, just so I can squeeze it in, and balance writing with my other responsibilities.  It is not an easy thing to do, but when you truly find a hobby you like – whatever it is, in my case it’s writing, you are willing to do that if it means being able to get that ‘hobby time.’

Q. What’s your best advice to other writers for overcoming procrastination?

MS. There’s a number of things. The consistency of writing – that is, doing it every day – can certainly help you to build flow and enthusiasm in your work. However, most of us – certainly those of us who do not make writing our careers – are unable to have the advantage of being able to write every day.  So I think the key then is to have a piece or project you believe in, but also have definite parameters in place for the size and scope of your project.  Don’t try and write the great Canadian novel, for instance, if you truly don’t have the time to do so.  Work on a short story instead.  Continue reading “Part 2 of my Interview with author, Michael Saad”

Interview with Canadian writer, Michael Saad

Saad.athis.desk)An Interview with………Michael Saad has been writing almost his entire life.  He is about to release  his first full length novel,  All the Devils Are Here.  He  lives in Lethbridge, Alberta.  A teacher by day, a writer by night, this is a fascinating journey of how Mike fits it all into 24 hours.

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.

MS. I write in my ‘man-cave’ as my family so affectionately calls it. It is my own, customized room in the house filled with items that fuel my imagination.  Everything from Star Wars posters & memorabilia (yes, I’m a wannabe Jedi – I’m totally a child of the 1980s…), historical paintings, nature portraits, my favorite books, and hockey artifacts.  Every writer needs his or her own, customized work space, whatever that is, and it needs to be tailor-made by the writer, and for each writer that’s different, but it’s so important.

I didn’t always have my man-cave.  In the past, as a university student, my writing was best done in a little cubicle in the basement of my old university library.  It wasn’t customized and was quite drab, but it was my space and I did my best writing there.  Continue reading “Interview with Canadian writer, Michael Saad”

Edit Thyself, Writers!

char.analysisI just finished reviewing a poorly written book and it demonstrated the fact that writing a book is not all glory and self satisfaction at seeing your name on a book, as its author.

Far from it!  It’s grueling, damn hard work. Any one of you out there can write, the trick is writing well. It’s being willing to rewrite and rewrite some more. And then edit: does this word, sentence, chapter move my story forward?  Would my character say this? Sound like this? Behave like this?

Then there’s the delete anxnst.mousekey. Horrors!  Delete some of my brilliant writing?  Yes.  You better be willing to give up some of those self-proclaimed brilliant words and be happy about it.  Because when it’s said and done your book will be better for it.

How do you get from writing that first sentence to a finished book?  In my opinion, there is no right and wrong way to prepare.  I write my first draft from the seat of my pants; with just an idea that’s been rattling around in my head for days. No plot line, no story line, and in the case of my true crime series, I often don’t know who my killer is until later.  I will let my characters take me on their journey and the killer will always revel themselves to me.
I marinate, speculate and hibernate. Continue reading “Edit Thyself, Writers!”

What’s in your St. Valentine’s Day Box?

writers, interviews, valentine day, authors,                  My St. Valentine’s Day box is full of authors willing to take time out and be interviewed!    This month, we digress a little with a charming interview with a book narrator.   Audio-books are all the rage now, what with our busy lives,  and professional actor/voice over artist, Tavia Gilbert will let us into her world.  March’s guest author will be Susie Drougas whose modern day mysteries takes us into the wilds of Washington, atop a horse.

Three years ago I began interviewing best selling authors and to my ever-lasting gratitude, they accepted!   Dean Koontz, Sue Grafton, Patrick Taylor, Sheryl Woods, Mark Childress have all graced the pages of my blog!

It doesn’t really surprise me that the authors are relating similar experiences that I have had in my writing life. Characters taking the story in a whole different and unexpected direction.

Dean Koontz: “…if I give characters free will, if I don’t plot out the story and instead present them with a problem and watch them deal with it, they begin to take on a life of their own, frequently surprising me with the choices they make. This is mysterious and exciting.” Continue reading “What’s in your St. Valentine’s Day Box?”

Interview with Author, Matt Jorgenson (conclusion)

Q. Matt, what do you think makes a writer great?

MJ. I’m not sure I can answer this question. Great at what? Pulp, drama, sci-fi, literature, westerns, journaling, ad copy? What age group? For what audience… to what end? I think writing can be a marketable skill that an individual sells in many different types of marketplaces or it can be an intensely personal undertaking. A passionate act that doesn’t need a reader, aside from the originator, to have value. I think, maybe, if someone has a desire to write, and they do, that’s great.

Matt and his sons wrestling a mean ole' gator
Matt and his sons wrestling a mean ole’ gator

Q. What does the process of going from “no book” to “finished book” look like for you?



MJ. First, an intense flurry of writing. Immersion in the developing story. Long daily sessions of virtually unedited writing. Until I hit a wall. Not a barrier or an obstacle. A wall. There’s this sense that the ending is near. Then I mothball it for a while. Do other stuff.
A week or six months later I will print it out, do a full read, and edit what I have. This reacquaints me with the story. Ideas about how to finish start to percolate and I begin looking for a cover artist. I look for someone whose creative strength is visual art. Someone willing to read the manuscript and go with it. I love the collaboration, the surprise, seeing what they pick out from the story for cover art.
I typically hand off a revised draft to my wife at this point for additional editing and then hunker down, finishing it up and polishing the final draft. It helps if I’ve booked a show or festival or other event and have time pressure at this point. Continue reading “Interview with Author, Matt Jorgenson (conclusion)”

A Day In The Life Of A Writer

anxnst.mouseIt’s time once again to share with other writers, my hopes, my fears, my successes, my setbacks. My days as a writer look very much like a pizza loaded with toppings.

My time at my keyboard, has been filled feverishly working with an editor on The Art of Murder because a publisher is sniffing around my campfire.  That is to say, the senior editor for a publishing co. said my mystery series had ‘tremendous potential‘ but wasn’t quite there yet.  Now we wait and see if my editor and I were able to do what they needed in order to offer me a contract.

Yes, even though I am moderately successful as an indie author, I am still chasing a traditional publisher when I stumble across one.  Continue reading “A Day In The Life Of A Writer”

Attention! All Writers Out There!

There’s a BLOG out there that is dedicated to the art of writing and honing your craft. Yep!  I’m talking about mine and this is a shameless promo.  You won’t be disappointed.

For three years now I have published my posts twice a week and it’s always something about being a better writer.  Once a month I interview best selling authors such as Dean Koontz, Sue Grafton, Jeffery Deaver, Sherryl Woods, Anne Gracie, CW.CoverRaymond Benson, Lee Goldberg, Charles Bukowski and dozens more.   My goal is to inspire other writers to write more, tell their stories, try writing a play, or maybe some poetry.

Sign up on my home page  and receive an email with each day’s post.  Delete it if it doesn’t interest you.  It’s that simple.  Recently I have developed a series of ‘creative writing’ journals with ‘How To’ tips and famous quotes to inspire my fellow writers.  https://www.writeratplay.com/category/a-writers-take/ Continue reading “Attention! All Writers Out There!”