Interview with Jericha Senyak, aspiring author

Guys, today I'm doing an interview with Jericha Senyak, aspiring author and legendary follower o' mine! She's a particularly intriguing person (*grins*), and I can't wait to get to know her better. So, I'm going to dive straight into my questions:

Question 1: If you had to describe yourself in one sentence, what would it be?  

Aha, you see, I am the champion of complex, mystical, evocative, and wildly gesticular run-on sentences. I could tell you my whole life in a single sentence (correctly punctuated, too) with all the major events to date and not a single misplaced modifier. Really, I swear. But actually I’m just going to let that first line stand as it is.

Question 2:  What are the three most important things should we know about you? 

The three most important things? Hmmm. I’m pretty sure there’s only one: all you need to do for me to be putty in your hands is offer me a really excellent snack. (Both my parents and my boyfriend can corroborate this.) Add a moderately nice-looking garden/museum/café/armchair in which to enjoy it and I’m yours forever. I’m like an especially dopey puppy who’s hungry all the time.

Question 3: You talk about the Museum of Joy project on your website. It sounds like an awesome project, can you tell us about it? Are you close to realizing this dream, or is it something you’re working toward for the future?

The Museum of Joy is my life’s work, and it’s pretty much exactly what it sounds like: a museum dedicated to the experience of joy. (And yeah, okay, also wonder, delight, glee, exuberance, longing, and a general feeling for the marvelous. I’m not fussy.) What the heck does that look like? In my head, it looks like a piece of conservation land with a hand-built complex of low-impact buildings making some kind of fabulous pattern on it, each of which would be home to a riotous conflagration of art, dance, poetry, performance, music, imagination, cookery, and other general joy-inducing stuff. I’m nowhere near it, but I’m working on it. Why, exactly? Because I have an overdose of love for the sheer glory of existence, and I’m pretty sure that if I don’t do my very best to build something really, really awesome centering around the sharing of joy, I’ll end up wearing an orange robe and chanting nonsense syllables in some yippie cult in the Marin Headlands. And I really, really don’t want that.

Rach - Wow, this sounds so intriguing! You told me you'd love to build it on the Californian coast - I'm going to wish you the best of luck with your dream and hope one day I can come visit :)

Question 4: Tell us where you are in your writing journey? Where would you like to be in one year, five years, ten years?

I never thought I’d be a fiction writer. I’ve written all my life, and I love words, but I stopped bothering with stories after I was fifteen or so. I wanted to be a filmmaker and then I wanted to be an artist and writing was just something to help me put my thoughts in order. Then last November my dad and my sister were both doing NaNoWriMo, and I thought hell, I should at least try. I actually have no idea why I thought that, given that I didn’t have the faintest idea what I wanted to write about, but then a novel fell out of me kind of by accident and I stopped asking questions. I have no idea if I’ll ever write another one – I’m still in that one up to my eyeballs.

Honestly, I think of myself as someone-who-builds, not a writer or even an artist, really, despite what my website says. All my art centers around making spaces that feel magical to me, microcosmic and macrocosmic dream worlds and houses and castles in the air, that kind of thing. The first thing I ever wanted to be was an architect, and everything else has just been a variation on the basic theme of architecture as I understood it when I was eight: make something that people can walk into and feel transfigured, moved, shifted, altered forever. That's what I want, now and in ten years and probably in fifty years as well. Writing is a marvelous thing, but honestly, I just not-so-secretly want it to become a fantabulous bestseller so I can buy a piece of land already. If that doesn’t work I’m going to have to try something else. Maybe lawyering. Or chartered accountancy.

Question 5: What WIP are you working on at the moment? Can you share your premise with us? 

I’m deep into my second rewrite of the NaNoWriMo novel I mentioned above. Here, let me give you my new pitch! The Book Doctors, whose amazing book The Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published has become a quasi-Bible for me, told me I had to practice my pitch. Let me know what you think, guys. Be harsh.

Somewhere in the heart of in a nameless city falling slowly into the sea, George Kepler, a shy bookbinder, is sitting in his attic with his books. He lives alone. He reads the books he binds. He doesn't have adventures. He dreams of alchemy and harmonies and devils in the chimney. His prayerbooks are the texts of old mathematicians and astronomers. He drinks coffee. He sighs a lot. He wonders if there is anyone left who remembers to praise the works of God but him. He wonders if maybe love's a better option (at least it's companionable). He chronicles the marvelous workings of the cosmos meticulously each evening, and wonders why divinity seems so very far away.

But just when he finds himself distracted by the black eyes of his local barista, Lilya, a peach of a girl with sharp elbows and an obligatory dose of snide, two strangers come a-knocking who know a lot more about him than they should. Before he knows it, they've whirled George out of his sleepy life of prayer and sent him on a series of harebrained and beautiful adventures. As he pursues an unseen Klezmer orchestra through a driving snowstorm, falls off cliffs, uncovers the unlikely friendship of a Danish alchemist and a famous mystic rabbi , stumbles across a secret synagogue, and discovers a forgotten manuscript that might just be about the Golem, he's left with hardly any time to ask himself - are his new friends fun-loving fools, or are they after something? Are they angels sent from God or a pair of tricksy demons? Is he having the time of his life or beginning to lose his mind? Does Lilya think he's nuts or a just lovable schlemiel? And did he leave the front door hanging open?

A Fool For God is an old-fashioned mystical romp, a brooding Eastern European meditation on belief thrust into a San Franciscan carnival of merry, drunken adjectives, a fantastical Christian allegory and a Jewish folktale busy birthing a love child on a festive night in the back alleys of a city that just might be your own.

Question 6: What similarities do you have with your main character? What differences? If you could meet your main character the day before an important event from your WIP occurs, what would you tell him/her???

Well, what I started with was a question for myself: can I, a nonbeliever who can be very impatient with religious belief and especially, generally speaking, the kinds of people who have religious beliefs, can I write a character who believes really and truly and fervently in God without me thinking that he’s basically, well, an idiot? And George kind of sprang up full-fledged in answer to that question. He’s like me in that he’s a Jew with unorthodox ways of looking at the world, I suppose, and his love for beautiful things and books and the mystical aspects of the universe are all certainly things we have in common. But there are fragments of me in all my characters, without any of them being me, or even a version of me. I wanted to write people who I didn’t understand and see if I could get into their heads. But the book is about faith, and the question why is beauty, and that’s certainly me. Me and almost everyone I’ve ever met, actually.

If I met George on the street (and I would love to, I think), the only thing I’d be able to say to him is I’m sorry, I don’t know the answer either. One of the major themes of the book is the mysterious, and what happens to the sacred when you ask too many questions. Or the wrong kind of questions. I’m all for questioning. But part of dealing with faith, no matter what kind of faith you’re talking about, is the battle between the part of you that wants a tidy answer and the part of you that wants to experience wonder. George would be looking at me all crazy-eyed, and I’d be shaking my head and going, “I got nothing, dude. Sorry. I’m not God, I’m just the writer. You’re on your own with this one.”

Rach - That sounds pretty intense. And I'm thinking you've got some great characterization going in your WIP, so go you!

Question 7: And the most important question of all—chocolate or cupcakes???

Oh, chocolate. Hands down. I remember that good dark bitter chocolate is a miracle every time I eat it. Cupcakes are not miracles; they’re too bloody sweet to be miraculous. Miracles are things that make you sway on your feet. Cupcakes are nice, but seriously, who wants nice? Joy isn’t nice, it’s a kind of transcendence, and transcendence is a wild, strange, wonderful thing. And really good chocolate is one of its many manifestations.

Rach Haha, I think that's one of the most unusual answers I've ever got to this question! 

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Thanks so much for taking the time to be interviewed, Jericha. I hope everyone pops over to her blog to say hello and give her a hug from me :)

I'm being interviewed...

I'm braving Cally Jackson's hot seat today, so pop over and wish me luck. Anybody have a fire extinguisher?

Also, did you read my interviews on platform-building over at Deana Barnhart's blog recently? Make sure you check out Part 1 and Part 2.

When did you last back-up your blog? (plus directions if you don't know how)

I had a major panic a couple of weeks before The Great Blogger Crash. Everything on my blog went screwy - little bits of computer code appeared, my followers all disappeared, I couldn't open my dashboard - everything you can imagine to give me a headache and a spot of "Oh my God, what if...?" Things were back to normal the next day, thank goodness, and I'd backed-up my blog a few days before so I wouldn't have lost everything, but the whole incident made me squirm. I thought it might be timely to remind you to back-up your blog regularly, and show you how to do it if you don't know already.

As to the reminder part

Um, yes, do it! :D

And the directions...Here's how to save a copy of your blog template, in four easy steps (honest!)

Step One - Click on "Design" at the top right of your blog (or you can go through the Blogger Dashboard instead if you prefer)

Step Two - Click on "Edit HTML"

Step Three - Click on "Download Full Template"

Step Four - Save the file (I usually add the date to the save-name, so I can easily work out which is the lastest download)

And as for saving your entire blog content...Check out Clarissa Draper's post here.

And that's it, eezey-peezy. I've set my calendar to remind me to back-up my blog every two weeks, but you can do it more or less if you prefer, of course. Make sure you save your blog often though - we put so much work into them, and I've heard some horror stories about people who've lost the whole thing. For good!

How about you: Did these directions help you? Do you back-up your blog often (if so, how often)?

Other stuff:

I was interviewed by Deana Barnhart on platform-building last week. Check my two-part interview out here and here.

You'll have seen I've been doing a bit of tinkering with my sidebar and my banner - hope you like :D Also, I finally got my act into gear and joined Networked Blogs - I'm looking forward to catching up with heaps of you there!

Thanks so much to everyone who's given me an award lately! I've popped your names and awards up on my Awards Page *grins*

Oh, and I've changed my blogging schedule to Mondays-only for the next little while, as I dive into my revisions in preparation for querying.

Hope everything's well with you all, and Happy Monday!

Interview with Bess Weatherby (It's the world, dear)

Today I'm interviewing Bess Weatherby from It's the world, dear. I've been following Bess for ages now and I love reading her blog posts. They're so descriptive and "in the moment" - I always feel like I'm right there with her, wherever she may be.

Take it away Bess!

Question 1 - Tell us about yourself (to make it a little harder, I’ll give you 10 words exactly)

Post-college writer avoiding 9-5 by nannying, novels and New York.

Question 2 - Which genre do you prefer to write in? Would you ever change genres? Children’s or Adult fiction?

I have an unhealthy relationship with Lord of the Rings, so I started out writing fantasy. Two Middle-Grade books and then a YA. I tend toward epic, high-fantasy, but I'm trying to ground my new book closer to home. One day, toward the end of high school, I was sitting in my room, alone in my cloak, looking out at a field of sunflowers. I realized that, as much as I love Tolkien and Lewis and George MacDonald, I'm an American; I'll never be able to write kings or queens without cringing, elves don't live in corn fields and pioneers are simply practical. American epic fantasy isn't really a genre, but that's the genre I'm writing in now.

And the story about the sunflowers isn't true. But everything else is. Scout's honor.

Question 3 - Describe your current WIP. What stage are you at – drafting, revisions, etc?

My new book is the first of a series involving multiple characters. Usually I just write, plot be darned, but this time, knowing how involved the story was, I created a thorough outline first. Working from that, I’m at about 50,000 words on the first book, and am fine-tuning the outlines of the other books, one a month. At this rate, I should have a polished draft with extensive outlines of the sequels by November. That’s the goal, anyway. Then, quite possibly, Book Two during NaNoWMo? We’ll see.

Rach: A great goal! Best of luck with it.

Question 4: Answer these in a sentence:

• I’m happiest when...

I'm with my siblings. I fall smack in the middle of five kids. They're the reason I write. And if any of them read this they will punch me for being corny, but it's true. All my characters have big families. That’s the “Write what you know” part of my writing.

• My biggest quirk is...

I would really prefer to never wear pants.

• I blog because...

The same reason I write: I'm really awkward in person.

• The thing that most annoys me is...

In New York there are many, many things to be annoyed with. I usually channel this annoyance into my blog. Mostly rants about hipsters. Or pigeons. Or people calling me a bad mother because I let the kid I nanny chase pigeons. While he attacks, I yell at them that He is not my child! and Mind your own business!

People in New York never do.

• One thing you’d never guess about me is...

I never wanted to move to New York. In fact, I always wanted to live in a cabin in the woods. As a child I even imagined lying to my children, convincing them that it was the 1800's. Unfortunately, M. Night Shamalyn stole my idea and I realized that I was unlikely to find a guy who would go along with this plan. Also I look really bad in a braid. So from there, with no car, I ended up in a closet in Manhattan. Go figure.

• The writer I’d most like to be (and why) is...

William Faulkner. He would sit on his porch and shoot the breeze with his buddies, drink good whiskey, yell at passersby, then go inside and write books like The Sound and the Fury. Anyone who can drink while writing the most accurate portrayal of a mentally ill person in the history of America has my vote for president. And life-best-led.

• If I knew my books would never be published, I would...

Storm the Flatiron building. Not really. I think I'd actually relax. I might move back to Texas, sit on the porch with my best friends, drink Manhattans, yell at passersby and write books for the important people in my life.

Question 5 - Where would you say you’re at in your writing journey? What still lies ahead of you?

I’ve written three books, so that should mean something impressive, eh? I like saying that. Three novels. Well, three manuscripts. Three doorstops. I used to be ignorantly confident, but the more I write, the more I'm daunted and humbled. There is so much to learn, so I’m concentrating on seeing and capturing. New York is the perfect place to do that; there is so much strangeness and beauty here. With my blog, I’m teaching myself to keep my eyes open, to spin a story from subway rats and debutantes, the way they bump into each other here. That gives me richer fodder for my books. It’s seeing what’s already in the world. That’s all writing is really: making sense of things.

I can remember so clearly the first time I closed my eyes against that computer-screen headache and thought Writing is, like, hard. But that's part of the process. If it wasn't hard, the result wouldn't be any good, and if I didn't like it, I wouldn't do it. For now, I see no other way to live my life.

Rach: Amen

Question 6 - Lastly but not least, chocolate or cupcakes?

Cupcakes. With coffee. For breakfast.

Rach: Ooh, what's not to love!

It was lovely learning more about you Bess! If you're not already following her, pop on over to It's the world, dear and say hi!




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Interview with Alberta Ross (Alberta's Sefuty Chronicles)

Today I'm interview Alberta Ross from Alberta's Sefuty Chronicles. Take it away Alberta...

Q: I understand you’ve published three books. That’s really impressive! Can you tell us about them? And where we can find them of course

Well two of them, Ellen’s Tale and The Storyteller’s Tale, are part one and two of a dystopian series The Sefuty Chronicles.

In the mid 22nd century two archivists, Ris and Maia, are trying to piece together the events of fifty years previously when Ellen, a sheltered young girl from the City, meets and falls in love with Bix who is a genetically altered soldier. As a result of the genetic changes he is supposed to be infertile but Ellen does get pregnant. Because he cannot live inside the walls and she cannot live outside them they see no future together. Ellen’s Tale, the first of the Chronicles, is how she finds a way. In itself this might not appear all that important but the archivists looking back recognise it as a pivotal moment in the country’s history. Information is gathered from letters, diaries and transcripts of recordings taken at the time. ‘The Storyteller’s Tale’ continues the story.

In the course of these investigations we learn through their correspondence of Ris and Maia’s deepening regard for each other. The events they are researching during 2111 have to be considered within the context of events in the mid twenty first century, about 2060, when the catastrophic results of climate change had led to mass migrations, with whole nations fleeing rising seas and desertification. The world tore itself apart in war over land, water and diminishing resources. The survivors had split, most scrambling to purpose-built cities the others fortifying their settlements behind the false security of rings of landmines.

Because of the trauma of these events, the leaders and scientists in the cities had begun a course of genetic manipulations on the populations to free mankind from greed and violence to try to create a peaceful world. But this has resulted in the destruction of the drive which made the human race so successful. The other survivors, unable to escape the rings of mines, had been deprived of resources for fifty years; they have been fighting famine, natural disasters and despair. Most had not survived.

I call it an historical romance in the future, with three time periods and two love stories set against a background of climate change, child soldiers, landmines, genetic engineering and eugenics!

I also published a collection of short stories, A Patchwork of Perspectives, tales one side of normal, just before Christmas at my friend’s (editor) request and they have surprised me by being well received so it pays to listen to one’s editor!

My books can be found on my official website where extracts and readers’ comments on all my books can be found.

The e-book editions of Ellen’s Tale and The Storyteller’s Tale and any moment A Patchwork of Perspectives can be found on Smashwords.

Q: What did your journey to publication involve? Do you have an agent? Have you published ‘traditionally’ or ‘electronically’? Looking back is there you would have done differently?
I started off thinking of traditional ways of publication and, along with the usual rejection slips, I did have a nibble of interest – enough to give me confidence in Ellen’s Tale. Then I was diagnosed with cancer which put everything on hold and, although I am fine now, left me feeling distinctly vulnerable and with a feeling that in my 60’s I couldn’t take lengthy time frames for granted so I decided to go it alone. On a very limited budget I had to do everything myself. Pat, my friend from forever (over 50 years) became my editor and did sterling work on the manuscript. I learnt all about DTP and designed a cover, found a printer. I funded the printing costs with advance orders so I wasn’t out of pocket at the end of the process. Then, and I know it is the wrong order!, I set about learning about marketing on the web and after a year with the second in the series published I started down the e-book path. I should have started the marketing first but I am catching up now.

Q: What is your current WIP about, and what are your plans regarding timing and publication?

WIP at the moment is the third in the Sefuty Chronicles, Jack’s Tale, which still follows the archival route but is more complicated in its structure than The Storytellers Tale and involves many subjects outside my comfort zone such as army training, battles, mind control and torture, so a great deal of research. I am hoping to finish in time for a late summer print but I haven’t tied myself up with any dates this time. Pat wants me to bring out another short story collection later this year. We will see.

Q: You mentioned to me you have dyspraxia. What is it, and how does it affect your writing?

Well it’s a collection of symptoms really, a neurological problem that impairs the organization of motor movement (when I was young it was called clumsy child syndrome) but along with these problems comes an immaturity in the neurone development of the brain. This affects the way the brain processes information, particularly when it involves thought, perception and language. Children with this problem are often called stupid, but we are as intelligent and as creative as anyone else. We can understand information but our brains are unreliable in regurgitating it. There is no brain damage as such and it is thought to happen after birth when, for some reason, the maturing of those pathways which usually happen after birth doesn’t.

My main problem now is the ordering of words, (I don’t talk in public because of this, I once managed to insult a visiting judge at our local photographic contest, I still don’t know how I managed to mangle up ‘Thank You’ but I did!) and spelling and punctuation. Pat and I have long . . . er . . . ‘discussions’ on my use of words. I tend to go with her take on it when blogging and fight a bit harder in my novels where I consider a bit of ‘creativity’ in my style is allowed.

She struggles to knock my manuscripts into shape and, although I can see an improvement in myself since I started writing seriously, I’m not sure how much she would agree! I can still read a whole page of words and not realise there is no punctuation. Drives her to distraction. Especially as I make the same mistakes over and over again, as if I wasn’t paying attention, which she knows I am. It is a problem with Dyspraxia, and unless people understand it there can be some scathing comment! It does take some of the spontaneity away from such as blogging, and commenting. I will attempt the shorter ones but it takes hours of agonizing over. Does it make sense? Is there a full stop anywhere? Have I offended anyone? I think sometimes it comes over as sounding a bit abrupt as a consequence. Also I find I will often use a word that doesn’t exactly fit what I want to say because of the spelling difficulty, such as vanish instead of disappear. Slightly different meanings. I have a dictionary of course but one does need to know how the word starts to be able to look it up.

It just means really that everything takes longer. Manuscripts and longer blogs have to be e-mailed to Pat and then corrections returned. The computer has been a godsend for people like me – oh I know the limitations of the spellchecker but it has helped alert me to some of the mistakes. And the background colour can be changed, for instance I can pick up lack of punctuation better on a primrose background and by magnifying the print more still can be found.

No cures, but repetition does work and, over the course of a lifetime, and by finding alternative ways of doing things, most of us get along. But self-confidence takes a huge knock in the early years. Nowadays treatment is all about building confidence and skills. I was very lucky with my parents who by instinct did the same and they always believed if you want a thing enough you can do it. So this was what I wanted to do. Find a way. Without my Pat though it might have proved very expensive buying in the services of professional editors!

Q: Do you have any advice for those of us on our writing journeys?

Have confidence in your work. Don’t hide behind imagined limitations, just go out and try. We are more capable than we know. Be up front about any difficulties you have, it’s amazing how many others are in the same boat, or know about the problems. Don’t be afraid to ask for help, the community of writers on the web are an amazing bunch of generous-hearted, knowledgeable folk. I have found that by joining in groups, challenges and the blogging world my confidence has been boosted and I have learnt so much. And along the way found new friends.

I also blog here and here

Thanks for spending time with us today Alberta. And if you haven't visited Alberta's blog, pop over and say hi.

Interview with Luna (Project Fraeya)

Today I'm interviewing Luna from Project Fraeya, a Crusader and a lovely lady who I'm glad to call a friend (except when she calls me nasty names that are completely undeserved! :P). I thought I'd ask her some questions so you can all get to know her better. And keep an eye out for the artwork in this post, she drew it all herself!!!

1. Tell us who you are (let's make this challenging, I'll give you ten words exactly *grins*)

I strive to be peculiar, loyal, book obsessive and honest.

2. Your blog name is "Project Fraeya" - does it have any meaning?

*evil grin* yup and that's a secret between me and myself and will be revealed...

3. What are your passions in life?

This is hard, books are obvious but I am *cough* slightly obsessed with dance. I can't actually dance but it doesn't stop me watching it: Ballet, Ballroom, Hip Hop, Jazz I don't really care what. I flew to Philadelphia in 09 to see the DWTS tour, only to top that by flying 5000 miles to Las Vegas to see the SYTYCD* tour last year. (On both occasions I ended up in the same hotel as the cast – that was freaky.)

Before that I spent almost an entire year travelling to London every month to watch Musicals, over and over. I still try to see as many as possible but can't afford London very often. :( I love concerts... you know I think the best answer is that my passion is making memories. I'll pick those over stuff any time. When I'm old and grey I can look on these years and I will always always smile.

*We were going to Vegas anyway, we just flew 3 days earlier... 

4. Tell us about your current WIP(s)

I've got two on the go:

One which I carefully planned and storyboarded called Quarantined. A post apocalyptic / dystopian story about a young media intern called Troy who unlocks an SOS originating from Blackpool, a coastal town that has been quarantined for the last 5 years and according to every official report has no survivors.

My other WIP doesn't really have a title as its MC only started haunting me this month, her name is Bree and she's got a ghost on her shoulder which happens to be a Shinigami (death spirit) that uses Bree to do her work. I haven't even tried to storyboard it as I'm writing as I go (which is scary) but had 5000 words within the first 3 days. I haven't really had the chance to work on it since then.

5. I'm absolutely amazed at how well you draw! You drew these gorgeous pictures of Nozomi we're using for Write Hope, and so much else (*gazes around this blog post*). However did you learn to draw like that???

*blushes* why thank you. I think of them as doodles... I never learned it anywhere, I just have this tendency to draw on notepads at work while being stuck on phones. Manga/Anime was a big thing while I was growing up so I copied and then started doing my own thing. I struggle drawing “real” people and I haven't really been doing a lot of drawing since the last time I did something for charity.

6. What piece of writing advice do you think is the most important?

Get the right kind of help... the amount of stuff I've learned from my writing buddy and critique partners is invaluable. The thing is, you need to pick people who either match or complement you. There is no point in having a crit-partner who doesn't read the stories you write. While my writing buddy has a different style we have enough similarities to be able to help each other. And the differences there are, are what also brings a new viewpoint when crit-ing each other.

Yes you are the one writing and editing and re-writing but without help I think it's a lot harder because you can't always see that needs to be seen. (I'm channelling my inner philosopher here >.<)

7. Chocolate or cupcakes?

Chocolate, always chocolate. I don't actually like cake all that much... I'll eat it to be polite but even when I was little I never got excited about birthday cakes. I was more excited about the my mum making quiche LOL.

8. Anything else you'd like to add?

Write Hope

Yes please, please, pretty please with sugar and icing and a cherry on top visit Write Hope. All of us there have been working hard to get everything organised for the charity auctions starting today and there is some awesome stuff in there; signed copies of If I Stay/Where She Went (ARC), first chapter critique by Tessa Gratton (increasing to additional chapters) plus a signed copy of Blood Magic, signed ARC of Memento Nora, Haven prize pack, a critique of your first twenty pages by Carrie Harris and the mystery box plus so much more....

Rach: And it's for such a good cause - Save the Children emergency disaster relief in Japan

I loved finding out more about you Luna, thanks so much for stopping by!

If you haven't popped over to Project Fraeya yet, hie thee over and meet Luna where she usually hangs out :)

Interview with Marieke

Well, I'm back from my blogging hiatus, all rested and refreshed and the proud owner of a brand new spiffy laptop (woot!). Must say, I've missed you all, and I can't wait to catch up and find out how all your Christmas and New Year celebrations have been.

Today I'm interviewing Marieke, my legendary critique partner, fellow blogger and Crusader, and wonderful friend who I'm just dying to meet in person one day. Oh, and she's also the co-conspirator in the evil "Something is Coming" plot/plan/teasy-thingy (but more on that later).

To launch straight into the juicy stuff...

Question 1: What inspires you to write?

Life. Cheesy, huh? ;) It has always interested me how people perceive the world. For me the world consists of stories. When I'm at work, when I'm sitting in a coffee shop writing... I don't just see people around me, I see stories. Whether it's the two kids on the street attacking each other with imaginary swords, the lonely girl sitting at the table in the corner, or the elderly couple walking the same route every single day. I want to know what lies underneath the surface.

And apparently I've always been very good at 'What if'-ing too. I have a bit of an over-active imagination sometimes! ;)

Rach: Inteereesting!!!

Question 2: What's your all-time favourite book (and why)???

Ugh, I so hate this question. Please don't make me choose?!

I don't really have an all-time favorite, because it changes with the mood I'm in. I do love quirky books, stories that are different then normal. I recently reread Meg Rosoff's Justin Case: YA magical realism about a boy and Fate. I didn't 'get' it the first time around but I'm starting to appreciate it more and more. (And truth is, I love all her books!)

I also *adore* When you reach me. It's quite possibly one of the best books I've ever read. The voice is amazing, the story is wonderfully complex, and I love how it uses A Wrinkle In Time as inspiration.

Rach: Ooh, I've never read "When You Reach Me." But it's definitely on my TBR list!

Question 3: Do you listen to music while you write? Is there anything in particular that gets you in the writing mood?

It depends. Normally I love to listen to music, but I've learned that, now I'm getting deeper and deeper into Jaime's world in WICK, I prefer working in silence. She has a very typical world view and music isn't part of that. For me to listen to music is actually distracting.

It's a novelty for me, because normally I can block out any and all background noise! But it seems Jaime has a will of her own ;)

Rach: It's amazing how your characters can influence your own likes/dislikes while you're so deep in their world!

Bonus question: Is there anything you'd like to add?

Yep, I hear there's a massive contest and some awesomely amazing giveaways coming soon. If you want a head start check back on Tuesday, January 4 to find out how you can collect your first points.

Rach: (*Rubs hands together*)

Interview with Tessa Quin (Wait! Is that--? Something is coming...)

Today I'm interviewing Tessa Quin, my fantastic friend, co-conspirytor (I know, but I like this spelling!!!), critique partner, fellow blogger and Crusader, aspiring author, and owner of a cute little hamster who has an unfortunate book-eating fetish.

I've come up with a few (relatively) easy questions for her to answer, so we can all get to know her a little better.

Question 1: What inspires you to write?

I have always had it in me to write, but I wasn‘t serious about publishing until after I became pregnant. So I guess it's safe to say that my boys inspire me to write and the idea that when they become eight or nine, they might read my MG books, and when they become teens, they might read my YA books. They love books and I read to them every night. I've also had ideas for picture books that are directly inspired by a sentence they frequently use. I'm thinking about making it into a series and self-publish here in Iceland (I was told that most picture books were self-published in Iceland these days). They’ll be “boy-books”, because I pretend to know what boys like to read about.

Rach: That's so sweet you want your boys to read your books! And it's intriguing you've got PBs, MG and YA on the go, wishing you the best of luck with them all.

Question 2: What's your all-time favourite book (and why)???

May I mention a group of books? Harry Potter! You can't just say one Harry Potter book, you have to include them all. What‘s not to love about them? The entire world in the books is fascinating and they're packed with fun, imaginative things. Honestly, although the Twilight series became a craze, I doubt it ever reached the magnitude of the Harry Potter craze. It also inspired me to write, which is something I'll never forget (fan fiction, anyone?).

Rach: Gosh, there are so many HP fans out there!!! 

The offending hamster. It is pretty cute though!

Question 3: Do you listen to music while you write? Is there anything in particular that gets you in the writing mood?

Absolutely not. The only noise around me is the clicking of keys as I hammer away, which is music in itself. A friend tried to get me to listen to music about breaking hearts (no, not Achy Breaky Heart, it was something a little more heartfelt) to inspire my writing of a breakup scene, but I ended up chucking the CD out the window (in my mind – I take good care of my stuff).

Rach: Tee hee, glad you clarified, for a second I was picturing you sitting there and listening to Achy Breaky Heart!!! Oh no. Ok, so how do I get that song out of my head already?

I never thought I'd see the day when Billy Ray Cyrus appeared on my blog!!!

Tessa, one last question: Is there anything you want to add?

Yes, something is coming...

Rach: Hmm, whatever can you mean? (*chortles*)

Thanks for taking the time to chat, Tessa. Make sure you all head over to her blog, The Quest for a Literary Agent, and say hi.

And I'm being interviewed by Marieke (my other co-conspirytor) today - my very first interview, woot!!! So pop on over to Marieke's Musings and check it out... :)