writing Archives - Page 40 of 82 - Trisha Sugarek, Author, Playwright & Poet

The Fallen by Ace Adkins ~~ A Review

A Review 5 quills out of 5

One of my favorite authors, Ace Atkins, takes us once again to the backwaters of ole’ Miss. Village names like Sugar Ditch, Jericho and Choctaw intrigue the reader and you want to turn to the next page. The series is replete with characters like the ex-Army Ranger, Quinn Colson, his sister Caddy, Boom, Lillie Virgil, Fannie Hatchcock, the villainess, and her sidekick, Mungo. All wrap the reader in the swampy hand of the deep south.

I could write another review praising this writer to the heavens: ‘Adkins delivers another scintillating mystery’, ‘Quinn Colson takes us on another riveting search for the murdering bank robbers’, ‘you won’t be able to put it down’, blah, blah, blah. And I refuse to write a spoiler, like some reviewers do, just to fill the page.

That’s why I mentioned the underpinnings: Ace’s stories are neck deep in the flavor of small town life in the old south. His fans already know they’re in for another great read. So I’m going a little off the oyster-shell road of a typical review by quoting Ace here in the Oxford Magazine:

Atkins. ‘The inspiration came together quick. I won’t tell you how quick, but something so personal comes from a long gestation and a brief pen to paper with a little whiskey. I scribbled out my families. The Colsons, with Quinn and sister Caddy as a nod to the master. But these two were solely my own, with Quinn taking shape from my love of 1970s drive-in heroes like Billy Jack and Buford Pusser from Walking Tall. Quinn is an Army vet, a seasoned Ranger who soon becomes sheriff. Caddy wasn’t altogether different from Faulkner’s, only walking straight out of gritty strip clubs in South Memphis to discover a serious and real faith. The other families—the Varners, the Bundrens—would be new and unique folks, descended from people in nearby Yoknapatawpha.’ More

I am a die-hard fan of John MacDonald and Robert B. Parker and mourn their passing; no more Travis McGee and Meyer, no more Spenser and Hawk. I looked, literally, for years to find a writer of their caliber. Finally!! Ace Adkins. Serendipitously for me, I found him writing for the Robert B. Parker series and wanted to read some of his own work. The Fallen (Release date July 19th) is highly recommended and while it stands on its own, I suggest that my readers start with book #1 of the Quinn Colson series. To order click here.

Did you miss my Interview with Ace Atkins??
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MY BLOGS feature INTERVIEWS with best-selling AUTHORS! June: Mehreen Ahmed. July: Janet Macleod Trotter, author of Tea Planter’s Daughter and in August we say ‘hello’ to Cheryl Hollon.

Check out more Motivational Moments…for Writers!

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Interview with Janet Macleod Trotter (part 2)

Q. Where/when do you first discover your characters? (continued) Did you miss Part I

JT. I once created a totally imaginary strong-willed heroine who was a suffragette called Maggie Beaton. Then speaking at a talk to a convention of Women’s Institutes, a woman told me that her great aunt had been called Maggie Beaton and she sounded just the same sort of person! I got a tingle down my spine at that!

Other characters have been inspired by people closer to home. My grandparents lived and worked in India for years, where my granddad was a forester. I have used their background and some of their experiences in my second India novel, THE TEA PLANTER’S BRIDE, to get a really authentic feel of 1920s Scotland and India. Three years ago, my husband and I did a trip back to India to trace where my grandparents had been, and also where my mother had been brought up for the first 8 years of her life. I had a thrilling moment in Shimla, in the foothills of the Himalayas, when I managed to track down the old guest house where my family had lodged after trekking in the mountains in 1928. It still existed! Standing inside, I could almost see my mother toddling across the hallway. Shimla features in my third tea novel, THE GIRL FROM THE TEA GARDEN.

Q. What first inspired you to write your stories?

JT. I’ve been writing stories since I was a wee girl. I lived in a boys’ boarding school where my father was a history teacher and house master. The kind matron used to type up my stories so that, in my eyes, they looked like proper printed pages! My father was a great story teller of clan and family history, and my mother always read fiction aloud to us when we were young, so I grew up with a thirst for stories. Added to that was a love of history, so that it was natural for me to want to set my stories in the past.

Q. What comes first to you? The Characters or the Situation?

JT. I think actually it is the setting! I start with a historical incident or momentous event (First World War, the Suffragettes, Miners’ Strike etc) and then read around the subject. First, I must have a sense of place. Once I’ve visualized the setting – the home, village, tea plantation, city slum, Hebridean island – then ideas for the plot and characters come.

Q. Do you ‘get lost’ in your writing?

JT. On a good day yes! It’s thrilling to check the time and realize that I can’t remember the last hour – I’ve been off in some other place at a deeper level of concentration.

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

Janet & Friends dressed up as Suffragettes

JT. My mother! I’ve just begun writing another tea novel set at the end of WW2 and the time of Indian Independence with a heroine who returns to India after being ‘exiled’ in Britain during her schooling and the war years. She is the same age as my mother would have been, who was also in that situation – separated from her father in India because of the war. Though my mother never got back out to India, I am trying to imagine what she would have done if she had.

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

JT. The next novel in the pipeline which has already been written is THE FAR PASHMINA MOUNTAINS and is set in Britain and India during the early 19^th century. It has a spirited Northumbrian heroine and a Scottish hero who joins the East India Company Army to seek his fortune. (One of my own MacLeod ancestors also did this a generation earlier in the 18^th century). India was an exciting and fascinating place for Europeans at this time, a place of exploration, romance and where fortunes could be made, but it was also fraught with dangers. In the novel this also includes the first ill-fated invasion of Afghanistan.

Q. When did you begin to write seriously?

At university in Edinburgh I wrote articles for the student newspaper but it was a couple of years later that I decided to take a correspondence course in writing. I wanted to have the discipline of writing to deadlines and trying out different forms of writing.

Q. How long after that were you published?

JT. I finished the course of twenty assignments and then offered my money back because I hadn’t been published by the time it was completed! Instead, I elected to take a further course, concentrating on fiction writing. Before this was finished I began getting short stories published in teenage comics – providing the storylines and the words in the bubbles! So I suppose that was after about two years of learning the craft. I continued to get short stories published in women’s magazines but the first break-through into novels was after about five years. I had a teenage novel, LOVE GAMES, published in the same year as my first Scottish historical novel, THE BELTANE FIRES. Three years after that, I had the first of my historical family sagas set in North-East England, THE HUNGRY HILLS, published. That was in 1992. I’ve been writing for over 30 years and produced 21 books.

Join us for the conclusion of this wonderful Interview July 21st

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MY BLOGS feature INTERVIEWS with best-selling AUTHORS! Did you miss the past few months? June: Mehreen Ahmed. July: Janet Macleod Trotter, author of Tea Planter’s Daughter and in August we say ‘hello’ to Cheryl Hollon.

Check out more Motivational Moments…for Writers!

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Ten Minutes to Curtain! Vol. I ~~ Bigger and Better

I published these volumes beginning in 2009 and they are very popular with teachers, directors, and drama departments. It was time now to add new plays to this volume. Retaining the tried and true, popular short plays, I have added many that I have written since 2009.

Fifteen 10 minutes plays in one volume. A variety of real life issues that teens face today with a couple of fun, silly ones just because. Teachers tell me that often doing the play, the students open up about their challenges each day.

Contents:

The Bullies…………………………………………..9
Boys at school bully a kid different from them-
selves. 4m
Pan of Potatoes………………………………………………21
A sassy little tale about greed and a pan of
potatoes.   5f
The Run-Away…………………………….…….31
Running away is not the solution to a teen’s problems
and can be very dangerous. 3f 1m
The ‘D’ Word……………………………………………….45
Two teens face the fact that their parents
are divorcing. 2f, 2m
The Postcard…………………………………………………57
The mother of the bride receives a postcard from
the daughter that she gave up for adoption
twenty years ago. How does a devoted
mother tell her child, about a sister she never
knew about. 2f, 1m
Cyber-Hate…………………………………..…..65
Bullying has reached sophisticated levels, sometimes
ending in tragic situations. 4f 1m
The Art of Murder………………………………81
A reclusive artist watches his neighbor and paints
her over and over until she ends up dead. 2m 1f
Song of the Yukon …………….………………….95
A teenager is inspired by the poetry of Robert
Service and strikes out for Alaska. 3f, 1m
You’re Not the Boss of Me…………………….105
The journey of decision making as a
teenager grows up. 3f
Love Doesn’t Leave Bruises…………………………115
Violence among teens dating is nationally on the
rise and is becoming a genuine concern among
parents and educators. How one family deals with
it. 2f, 1m
The Waltz……………………………………………………127
Falling in love during their first waltz until her
underpants fall down around her ankles. 1f, 1m
Trans-G Kid…………………………………….133
Trapped in the wrong body a teen tries to find a
way out. 3f 1m
Trans-G Parents……………………………………147
A support group for parents trying to understand
and support their transgender child. 6f 5m
The Perfume Bottle……………………………………………157
Two youngsters leave a perfume bottle for
the mean old lady next door. Is it perfume or a
far more lethal smell?   3f
Ivah the Terrible……………………………………………….163
A rich client visits the house at dinner time while
the wife hides in the kitchen; but does she stay
there?   1f, 3m

I hope you enjoy these plays. More importantly I hope that your student/actors are inspired to navigate the troubled waters in their lives with good sense and wisdom.
Remember, when the plays are used in a classroom environment they are royalty-free!!

Available at www.amazon.com and other fine book stores.

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Interview with Author, Janet Macleod Trotter

TS. This is an author whom it seems picks each individual word as she writes. Elegantly written prose, she scrapes the words down to their most beautiful meaning. She knows her characters and locations and wears them like a second skin.

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.

JT. My writing ‘dens’ have changed over the years! I have a small area in the house that I call my study (seen here) and I’m writing this in there now. The desk is usually untidy with research notes, spiral note books, scraps of paper and of course my laptop. Around me are shelves of non-fiction books, dictionaries and loads of files full of research for the various novels I’ve written.

But I often get more writing done if I go ‘out to work’ and away from the house and its domestic distractions! So I do a lot of my writing in libraries or places of retreat. My favourite one is the Lit & Phil in Newcastle-upon-Tyne (Northeast England)– a wonderful old 19^th century building with floor-to-ceiling bookcases and wee cubby-hole spaces in between where I can sit and work, drink coffee and try not to get distracted by the fascinating history books around me!

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.)

JT. I quite often go for a 50 minute walk first thing in the morning, partly for exercise and partly because doing something physical often kick-starts ideas. I think about my characters as I walk and this helps me know them better and decide what to do with them next! As I’ve indicated, my desk at home is not a tidy space but all I need is the laptop and the current file of notes beside me for reference. Sitting down at the desk and getting started is the hardest moment, as I’m a great procrastinator! And I have to have ‘rewards’ along the way such as a huge cup of proper coffee in the late morning and lots of tea in the afternoon (especially since I started writing my INDIA TEA SERIES!)

Q. Could you tell us something about yourself that we might not already know?

JT. When I was eighteen years-old I caught a bus in London and three months later arrived in Kathmandu! It was the heyday of the hippy trail across Asia in the 1970s and I got to see some amazing places that are now too dangerous to visit. I saw the ancient Buddhas of Bamian in Afghanistan before they were destroyed. The trip was the inspiration for my mystery novel, THE VANISHING OF RUTH.

Q. Do you have a set time each day (or night) to write?

JT. I try and get started by mid-morning and write for a couple of hours. Then I’ll start again after lunch and write till late afternoon/early evening. I don’t write any later than that. The evening is relaxation time or catching up with other jobs, social media, emails etc. But in some ways a writer is never off-duty, as I’m often mulling over ideas or doing background reading. It’s not just about the physical writing.

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

JT. Oh dear, you are asking a hardened procrastinator! Routines are good. Make sure that sometime during the day you sit down at your computer/desk/kitchen table and put some words on paper. It doesn’t matter if it’s not perfect, just write something. Then you have material to go back over later and build on. I find that re-reading what I’ve written the day before and editing it, helps me get back into the story. And while you’re there, put your phone and computer on silent so that you aren’t tempted to check messages or answer them!

Q. Where/when do you first discover your characters?

JT. I always begin with the historical period and the social scene, so I do a lot of reading around the subject and then my characters begin to be conjure……

Join us on July 14th for Part Two of this fascinating Interview
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Mistrel Dawn Interviews This Author

Hey Everyone!! 🙂 Trisha Sugarek is joining us here today to talk about her new book. Trisha, can you tell us about yourself and how many books you have written?

Trisha: I have enjoyed a twenty year career writing stage plays, fiction, children’s books and poetry. In addition to a half a dozen full length plays, I expanded my body of work to include four children’s books, ten novels, of which seven are a series of true crime mysteries. I has written a collection of ten minute plays for the classroom. Most recently I created four journal/handbooks (instructional) for writers. My active blog encourages and helps other writers. I live in Savannah, Georgia with a ridge-back hound, Miss Molly and her little sister, Gracie, and their two cats, Fiona and Barcode. All were rescued and adopted.

Me: Sounds like you’ve been busy! 😉 What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?

Trisha: Video of Murder. Inspired by the other six books in the series of mine; World of Murder.

Me: Cool! What are you working on now?

Trisha: As I just published Video of Murder, I am taking a small break until the next idea comes…………and in the meantime the idea came to me. I am 19,000 words into my latest book, Sisters, based on the true story of my mother and her five sisters growing up in the 1900’s in the backwoods of Washington state………>>More

http://mistralkdawn.blogspot.com/2017/06/interview-with-trisha-sugarek.html?zx=b46a4a5d7db3a0

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How to Write Creatively to be taught in Argentina

This is just one class of adults wanting to learn to speak and write English, in Argentina! The professor is a long time friend, Mariana Falco. She and her colleagues graciously hosted me, when I traveled to their University several years ago. We keep a vibrant friendship going.

She expressed a wish to use my newest book, How To Write Creatively, as a tool in her classes. I was honored to comply.

These Argentinians are some of the most gracious and warm people on the planet. Once in a while one of the students will send me something that they have written. I always respond. Like recently, someone from the class (pictured here) sent me a letter about wandering along a stream in the autumn. It read like poetry so I tweaked it and returned it back (via Mariana) in poetry form. That spurred a young 7 yr.old from next door to draw a picture for me of how the ‘poem’ spoke to him.

And so the river of creativity flows!

Autumn

leaves fall, carpet of colors

i walk by the river,

lazy with autumn’s ebb

a tree in silhouette shade,

creates a six legged creature

creeping along

its branches move

on the breeze

Mariana…second from the right. During my trip to Argentina!

of a cold day

Mariana in center. Fulbright teaching assistant at St. Mary´s College

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MY BLOGS feature INTERVIEWS with best-selling AUTHORS! Did you miss the past few months? Johan Thompson (South African author) joined us in April. June: Mehreen Ahmed. July: Janet Macleod Trotter, author of Tea Planter’s Daughter and in August we say ‘hello’ to Cheryl Hollon.

Check out more Motivational Moments…for Writers!

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Motivational Moments…for Writers! #31

You’re a Writer. You just received a critique. Constructive criticism. What Do You Do Next?

What you DON’T DO is answer back in the heat of the moment! If you contact the critic at all, you write a ‘thank you’ note and say how much you appreciated their time. Your job, now, is to be gracious, polite and calm. Even though inside you are seething. How dare they criticize your writing? Don’t they know you have sweated blood and tears over this manuscript? What do they know anyway?

I read and review books, for authors, all the time on my Blog. One time I was reviewing the book of a relatively new author. She had a good story.
She had first hand experience with her setting (the high country in Montana) but her characters needed massive fleshing out. Her knowledge of crime scene investigation was lacking and therefore she had made some serious mistakes in the forensics area of her story. Instead of taking my critique in the spirit of what was given, she wrote me a blistering email in response. When what she should have done was go back and looked at her work, to see if any of my comments had any value. She missed an opportunity to make her writing better.

Yes, I have felt the sting of the critique….many times. And you know what? After my hurt feelings calmed down, after my initial anger that my ‘writing was being attacked’ had abated, I saw that the critic had some valid points. That if I went back and applied the critique to my work I ended up with better writing and a better story. In the end I was grateful to the critic!

“I critique myself way harder than anybody else could critique me.” ~~ Wiz Khalifa

“I’ve always loved brainstorming with other writers, and I consider having my work critiqued a part of that brainstorming.” ~~ Jay Asher

“My most profound growth as a writer came when I joined an online critique group. What a harrowing, terrifying, wonderful experience that was.” ~~ Rae Carson

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Interview with the author of The Pacifist, Mehreen Ahmed (part 2)

Q. What first inspired you to write your stories?

MA. Natural beauty gives me the thrill. Nature, more so than human society, inspires my stories. If there is anything I’m madly in love with, it is nature. My first stories were purely descriptive pieces, written during a thunderstorm or sitting in a garden.

Q. What comes first to you? The Characters or the Situation?

MA. Situations. Because, it is the situation that shapes personality. A character without situation is like a flat stick doll on a piece of paper. They don’t move, breath or talk. It is the situation that makes them choose and bring them to life.

Q. Do you ‘get lost’ in your writing?

MA. All the time, which is problematic. I feel like I should always have a godlike grip over the writing process but I find myself slip away, getting caught up in one element of the story or another. It is always a challenge, which I have to contend with, every time I sit down to write.

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

MA. Nature is the source of my inspiration and my muse. I get inspired by rain storms, or the rustle of the dry leaves. I get a thrill from walking on the beach on windy days. These are emotions recollected in tranquility, as Wordsworth said. I feel nature is the anchor for all my artistic inspirations.

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

MA. Yes, I do. The Pacifist. It is a romantic novel based in the gold rush period in Australia. It is one of the most romantic times in Australian history, in my view. The book is about an orphaned child with great expectations. He doesn’t want to remain in poverty anymore, so he strives to change his situation. With some very interesting consequences.

Q. When did you begin to write seriously?

MA. In 1986, while I was in Canada and had seen snow for the first time. I was so thrilled to see the first flakes of snow that I sat down and wrote my first introspective piece, A Winter’s Tale. It was published in the Sheaf, the campus newspaper of the University of Saskatchewan.

Q. How long after that were you published?

MA. After that I published at least four journalistic write-ups for the Sheaf. Then I moved towards writing nonfiction academic articles and academic book reviews, which were published in peer review journals. In 2011, I went back to writing fiction. Since then I have been writing and publishing regularly.

Q. What makes a writer great?

MA. I think it’s the passionate exploration of the human condition. The better one does it, the more successful one is. Without passion and without its proper execution, a writer cannot be great in my measure. My son had asked me a question once pertinent to this issue. He asked ‘how well do you think you represent the human condition? Do you do this better than Shakespeare?’ It gave me something to think about.

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

MA. An accomplishment and a great sense of relief. Every time a book is done, I feel that I have reached another milestone. Parts of the processes itself are nerve-wracking. Working with an editor is sometimes difficult, being asked to change pieces of my cherished work. I understand the necessity but sometimes it’s frustrating. Also, I’m very anxious during the first couple weeks after my work is released. You just never know how it’s going to go.

Q. How has your life experiences influenced your writing?

MA. I’m deeply touched by the misfortune of the most vulnerable in our society. I think this takes precedence over anything else in all of my books. I have known many refugees, and orphans. I feel their pain. I know their plight. I express their sorrows through my writing.

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

MA. I like writing literary fiction. I don’t think I want to move to any other genre. Not anytime soon, anyway.

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

I love my characters as my own. They are my flesh. They are my blood. They are my other world.

Did you miss Part I of this fascinating Interview? Click here

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Video of Murder, New Release by this Writer

REVIEW~~Recommended Reading – Donovan’s Bookshelf ‘By now it should be evident, with Volume 7’s addition to the ‘World of Murder’ series, that Trisha Sugarek has a real winner on her hands in terms of an ongoing theme able to sustain itself through book after book. This latest focuses on the Chinese mafia in New York City, and presents a riveting story line that takes two different cultural milieus and ties them neatly together. Replete with satisfying turns, this story not only fits nicely into the prior series but stands well on its own…. ‘ More

TS. I wouldn’t ever have imagined that a short little play, written on a whim, would become a best selling true crime series. Here’s how it all began,

Years ago one of my crew, in a stage production I was directing, said, “Trish for years now I’ve had this great idea for a play script but I know I’ll never write it….hell, I wouldn’t know where to begin…. and you’re the writer so I want to give you my idea.” His name escapes me but it must have been Billy Bob or Bubba or junior seeing as we were in Texas at the time. This idea of Bubba’s blossomed first, into a one act play, and later into this series of true crime mysteries. All because we had a few beers one night and he thought I could write it better than he could. Thank you, Bubba, wherever you are!

I feel like I need to explain the ‘writing a play on a whim‘ remark. I was deep into writing my series of 10 minute plays for the classroom, many of them addressing the serious challenges of teens today. Why not throw in a “G” rated murder mystery, for the kids, just for the fun of it? So I did.
Many of my fans and friends read my play scripts even though they aren’t involved with theatre.
So the feedback that kept coming back was, “We want more of Detectives O’Roarke and Garcia. Can’t you adapt this play into fiction?”
Never dreaming, at the time, that there were seven books (and counting) in me! I have to pinch myself.

Midwest Book Review ~ Angel of Murder ‘It takes a tightrope artist of a writer to create chapters that successfully delve into a killer’s thoughts without revealing his identity in the process, but Sugarek achieves this with a dance of introspection.’

At all fine book stores in paperback & e-books Click here to see them all

Interview with International author, Mehreen Ahmed

TS. World Traveler, Mehreen Ahmed’s new book The Pacifist stirs the imagination and the heart. Come with me while we peek into her writing and traveling life.

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.

MA. I enjoy bustling street-side style cafes, preferably with lilies and gardenias hanging over walls but I usually write in my bedroom. My dream workplace would be sitting on a beach with the waves crashing in, or a mountain resort where I could see the impressive Himalayas spread their majesty across the mysterious land. But enchanting cafes are also good working places.

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.)

MA. I’m very messy and so is my desk. I have books scattered all over the place. My tea mug is a permanent feature on my desk, alongside the laptop and little notebooks. Sometimes I try to arrange scraps of rolled papers that spill over the laptop before I write. I suppose that could be considered a ritual.

Q. Could you tell us something about yourself that we might not already know?

MA. I also sing. I took singing lessons as a child, something my family encouraged me to do. I started singing when I was five. I had a private tutor who came to my family home once a week to give me lessons.

Q. Could you tell us more about the places you have lived?

MA. I was born and raised in Dhaka, Bangladesh. I had a very happy childhood. I come from an aristocratic old family in Dhaka. Because of
this, I had the good fortune of going to private schools, which is a huge advantage there. However, during the 1971 civil war, we became
refugees for a while. We were in Khulna then, and I was in grade 5. As a child, I saw some of the worst atrocities imaginable. Still, Bangladesh is incredibly beautiful and I loved it there. But after I received my first degree at the University of Dhaka, I decided to continue studying abroad. That’s when I decided to move to Canada.

I lived in Ottawa and Saskatchewan between 1980 and 1992. Saskatchewan was very cold. But I loved the snow. I could appreciate, “The big sky” of Canada and the northern lights from the flat prairies more so than anywhere else. However, I’ve also visited other places in Canada namely, Calgary, Montreal, and Toronto. Walking through the snow was never easy and I fell down frequently, slipping on treacherous slush piles. Once I remember, I lay there on a blanket of snow, just watching the night sky from that angle. I was in no hurry to get up as I didn’t want to miss looking at the sky from this perspective. The good Canadians looked over
me in concern as they passed by. But I reassured them, smiling, that I was just fine. I have visited Italy, Vienna, France, Switzerland, and Spain as well.

Presently, I live in Australia. By contrast, the landscape of Australia is rugged. The grass is not greener but much scruffier here compared to the tame Canadian lawns; the ones that I saw, at least. The weather much hotter, Australia can also be quite cold in winter, though not as cold as Canada. I have heard that it snows in some parts of Australia, but I’m yet to see it here. I really missed the snow when I first moved away from Canada. But Australia compensates with its warm climate, suitable for swimming and surfing.

Q. Do you have a set time each day (or night) to write?

MA. I usually write when I have a thought. Otherwise, I’d just be staring at the screen. If a thought comes to me, I usually pen it down almost straight away. If I get an idea in a dream, then I would jot it down in the morning. I have many dream-like scenes in all my books. A lot of these ideas were conceived in my own dreams.

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

MA. Procrastination is harmful as a writer. Would-be brilliant writers sometimes get nothing out because of it. I think it’s important to write something creative each day. Even if it’s just a few lines, instilling a habit of writing is important. I have a difficult time giving advice, though. Every writer is different and each one has his or her own process.

Q. Where/when do you first discover your characters?

MA. I discover characters as the story is penned. I have a vague idea of who this person is but I don’t necessarily know how they are going to react until they are faced with a situation in the plot. It’s like I’m getting to know them through writing, not that I have imagined them beforehand.

Please join us June 16th for Part II To order “The Pacifist” click here
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