[Interview] Jess C. Scott

Jess C Scott is a short story writer, a novelist and a poet. She lives in Maine in the United States.

Her work includes the blog novel, EyeLeash (jessINK, 2011); the collection of erotic short stories, 4:Play (jessINK, 2011) and the novel, The Other Side of Life (jessINK, 2011).

In this interview, Jess C Scott talks about her writing:

Do you write everyday?

I don’t write everyday, though I try my best.

I like writing by hand (at least initially), especially when I’m planning things out before a first draft ... there’s just something about seeing the words appear in ink on paper that beats typing (despite the efficiency and convenience of the latter).

If I’m working on a story, it ends when I feel it’s complete (everything has to be “tied together,” there must be some form of resolution, etc.). By that time, I’m usually mostly focused on the next writing project.

I like to challenge myself as an artist and keep improving that way. Stagnating is bad because I think I’d be regurgitating material, if I allowed myself to put in less effort.

How many books have you written so far?

I’ve written novels, anthologies, short stories, and poetry, so here’s a selection. They are all published under jessINK, my burgeoning publishing empire that's committed to producing "authentic, original work ... rather than the same old re-packaged mass-market pulp" (review by Bibrary Book Lust).

• EyeLeash: A Blog Novel (2009). EyeLeash captures self-discovery in the 2000s, and showcases the colorful, intricate drama in two youths’ relentless search for themselves—and what’s really in their hearts.
• 4:Play — A contemporary cocktail of erotic short stories (2009). With a scope and style that is fresh and compelling, 4:Play dives into the depths of navigating gender, sexuality, and the lines of desire.
• The Other Side of Life (2011) . Book #1 (The Other Side of Life): A thieving duo’s world turns upside down when an Elven rogue uncovers the heinous dealings of a megacorporation.
• And more @ jessink.com/books_genre.htm

What is your latest book about?

My latest book is a non-pornographic BDSM-themed anthology. It’s taken me slightly longer than I expected to finish it (was aiming for a May 2011 deadline; probably will be finished in August 2011). It’s part of my Primal Scream anthology, my second collection of erotic short stories.

On the mainstream, non-erotic side, my latest book is the first installment in an urban fantasy series featuring cyberpunk elves (January 2011). That one probably took at least a year to write (while I was completing my bachelor’s degree).

I’ve self-published my novels since mid-2009. I enjoy the speed and efficiency of indie publishing and see it as a tremendous opportunity for writers everywhere.

Disadvantages include the necessity for constant multi-tasking (I handle the book design, writing, editing, publishing, web design, marketing, publicity, accounting — basically everything, at the moment).

I deal with it all by understanding that this is something I chose to do, that I want to do, and that I’m capable of doing.

Which were the most difficult aspects of the work you put into the books?

I’ll talk about Primal Scream since it’s a pretty big anthology that spans several genres/styles (erotic fiction, erotic literature, “factual fiction” and “contemporary fiction with erotic elements”).

I think the BDSM-themed collection was the most difficult (as I suspected), because of the subtle implicit route I decided to take.

I’ve always felt that BDSM can be a very intimate form of love and affection, a perspective which is heavily compromised when BDSM is presented in a purely pornographic form.

I’ve nothing against porn on the whole, but when people start thinking that pornography is real sex (when it technically isn’t — it’s a business that generates money from graphic depictions of sexual fantasies which stimulate arousal) and how sex should really be all the time ... that’s when I try to do something with my work, to present a more relevant, down-to-earth, insightful perspective on love/life/sex.

Sexuality is a core component of humanity. It should be respected (as it was in ancient times), not feared, exploited, or repressed.

Which aspects of the work did you enjoy most?

Masochistic as this might sound, I enjoyed working through the difficult aspects of the project. As an old saying goes: “There’s no glory without sacrifice.”

What sets Primal Scream apart from other things you've written?

 It’s a little more sophisticated than my earlier work (which was more raw and “in-your-face” at points). It covers less ground in terms of genre, but covers more ground in the internal lives of the characters involved (I think).

In what way is it similar to the others?

The focus is still on the characters and the storyline. That’s the basic thing I never stray too faraway from.

I’ll next be working on an anthology titled Naked Heat (an incubus/succubus-themed anthology). It’ll be an interesting and unique take on the “paranormal romance” genre (one third of it is complete).

After that, I aim to complete the other two parts of my Cyberpunk Elven Trilogy. I’ll consider it an achievement if that one’s completed over 2012.

So far, what would you say has been your most significant achievement as a writer?

Generating an income from my writing. Seeing the dream materialize so that it’s not just a fantasy I play out in my mind, but the life I have always worked towards securing.

When did you start writing?

 I used to write lots of fantasy-themed short stories as a kid. I began to take the craft more seriously when I wrote my first poem (around nine years old; there was a creative writing type course at school). I journalled a lot throughout my teenage years, and someone requested an erotic story from me when I turned eighteen. I started writing my first proper full-length novel when I was around twenty years old.

How would you describe your writing?

Non-conformist and authentic. I don’t tend to follow trends or formulas. I usually aim to write something honest and relevant.

I don’t think I have a specific audience in mind (in terms of a commercial genre label, as is used for marketing/advertising purposes). I always try to include universal themes to appeal to a wide audience (across genders, age groups, lifestyles, etc.).

I think I’ve always been aware of “certain things in the world” which the mainstream media tends not to cover thoroughly or truthfully enough. I’ve never wanted to narrow down my target audience so “it’d be easier to target/market towards a specific niche audience.” That being said, I am aware of the business aspects of publishing, so I do both alternative and mainstream writing (to strengthen my brand on the whole).

Which authors influenced you most?

I think the authors that influence me the most are the ones that I love and hate the most (I’m very intense... no grey areas... when it comes to passion!). I’ve read and love many classic works (books by Vladimir Nabokov, Anais Nin, Roald Dahl, Edgar Allan Poe, Oscar Wilde, etc.), and I’ve read material that I’ve found really superficial and/or shallow.

I try to emulate what I like, and be somewhat of a diametric opposite to what I loathe, and am confident that someone somewhere in the world will appreciate what I do.

How have your own personal experiences influenced your writing?

Hugely! I used to journal voraciously through my teenage years — I recorded every single detail of every thought and feeling down. I journal less nowadays, but I continue to spend a lot of time on the whole self-discovery and self-understanding concept. The things I think about, am frustrated about, wish to see addressed in the world, are all direct influences on my writing.

What are your main concerns as a writer?

One of my main concerns is balancing artistic vision with commercialism (the financial aspect, so that I don’t end up a perpetually starving artist existing in complete obscurity).

It’s a delicate balance, and can sometimes be fraught with wildly differing views of opinion and sentiment (in my personal experience). I usually deal with it by keeping things real — by taking a good, hard look at myself to do my best to align my personal goals with business goals. I like having both personal/artistic integrity and business ethics. I can’t ignore one at the expense of the other.

One of my biggest challenges is cultivating patience (haha). I have a tendency to expect results for my efforts, fast. I can get grouchy or discouraged if things don’t happen as quickly as I’d like. I try to deal with it by telling myself that I am wasting time and energy by fretting about things I cannot control.

I used to draw a lot and meditate during my late teen years, which did help calm my mind down ... I should probably schedule some time for those activities once again.

Related books:

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Related articles:

• The Other Side of Life by Jess C Scott [Book Review], Murphy's Library, July 26, 2011
• Jess C Scott [Author Spotlight], By Katie Salidas, Written in Blood, July 10, 2010
• M. J. Pearson [Interview], Conversations with Writers, June 6, 2007

[Interview] Jason Kahn

Jason Kahn lives in Park Slope, Brooklyn and works as a medical editor for a New York-based cardiology research foundation.

He is the author of works that include the e-book, The Killer Within (Damnation Books, 2009) and the blog novel, Dark InSpectre.

His short stories have been featured in anthologies that include The Best Of Gryphonwood 2007 (Gryphonwood Press, 2007); Strange Stories of Sand and Sea (Fine Tooth Press, 2008); Christmas Fear (Static Movement, 2010) and Best Left Buried (Static Movement, 2011).

In this interview, Jason Kahn talks about his writing:*

When did you start writing?

I was headed toward a journalism degree my second or third year in college, so I knew then that I wanted to be a published writer. But it wasn't until the summer after my senior year that I discovered I wanted to be a writer. I'd been reading sci-fi/fantasy books since I was a kid, and during my senior year, my then-girlfriend, now-wife, said to me, "Hey, why don't you write one of those?"

Incredible as it may seem, the thought had never occurred to me before.

That summer I started writing, and haven't stopped since.

I began by writing a couple of novels. I had no idea what I was doing and they turned out to be way too long and extremely over-written. But I slowly revised and revised, and got them pared down to pretty decent shape. But then, after several rejections, I turned to the short story market.

It wasn't until I submitted a short story to Jim Baen's Universe that I really learned the craft of writing. The comments and feedback I received there were invaluable. I learned more about writing in a few months than I had in several years. That's where I got my first (and thus far only) professional short story sale, for a story called "Devil May Care".

Since then, I have had other short stories published in various places, and am continuing to write.

How would you describe your writing?

My current writing is best classified as dark, paranormal crime fiction. It's a series being produced by Abandoned Towers Magazine called Dark InSpectre. I'm writing episodes that are posted every two weeks.

Here's the blurb for the story:

In a near-future society where 'normals' fear and mistrust those with telepathic ability, Jack Garrett leads a special police unit of telepaths with the unique talent of contacting the psychic awareness of the dead.

Seven years after solving a notorious murder spree that culminated in the killing of his best friend's daughter, Jack starts receiving visits from the murdered girl. Determined to follow her paranormal clues, Jack uncovers a web of police corruption that threatens to end his career and his life the closer he gets to the truth.

As of my writing this, there are still five episodes left in the current story arc, but they've already been written.

I've already started writing the next story arc for Dark InSpectre, which I'm very excited about.

Who is your target audience?

My target audience always starts out with myself. What story would I like to read?

Hopefully, the story matches up with other demographics.

In general, I'd say I write for people age 16 and up, since that's my general frame of reference.

Which authors influenced you most?

Many, many authors have influenced me: Raymond Feist, J. R. R. Tolkien, Ursula K. Leguin, Anne Bishop, Patricia McKillip, Steven Brust, Katherine Kurtz, Sheri Tepper, Fritz Leiber, David Eddings, Stephen Donaldson, Michael Moorcock, Neil Gaiman, and James Ellroy to name a few.

Early on, I would say Feist and Eddings influenced me the most as I tried to write fantasy-adventures, but lately, much more Ellroy as I've been writing more noir crime fiction.

I read several detective fiction authors as I worked on Dark InSpectre ... Raymond Chandler, Peter Lovesey ... and then I read James Ellroy ... The Black Dahlia, L.A. Confidential, and many more ... I wasn't prepared, my mind exploded ... I could not put them down ... The first-person narrative style he uses in some of his novels and the way he illuminates the darkness that dwells the souls of his protagonists is very compelling. And his prose hits you like a hammer.

Have your personal experiences influenced your writing in any way?

My personal life has influenced my writing in both subtle and obvious ways.

First there were a few things from my childhood. On the positive side, a young friend of mine was instrumental in introducing me to sci-fi and fantasy books, which I read avidly and which formed the foundation and reference frame from which I write.

The negative side can best be summed up by the following anecdote: One day in fourth grade, the books we ordered through Scholastic came in. The boy who sat at the desk across from me took one look at the book I had ordered and said: "Jason, you're always reading such weird stuff!"

And it wasn't in a nice way.

That book was War of the Worlds, by H.G. Wells. I got this sort of reaction quite a bit, and it made me somewhat self-conscious about my reading preferences, which carried over to my writing, and still does to this day.

A way in which my personal life influenced my writing in an overt way derived from my inspiration for the Dark InSpectre series. It sprang from a dream I had, which turned into the first scene of the story. It involved the psychic ghost of a dead girl leading the main character, a telepathic cop (me in my dream), into a room with four prisoners (brothers) encased in blocks of semi-translucent material.

Yes, I know, very strange dream. But more important than the actual scene was the mood. It was futuristic and very dark and brooding.

I mulled over my dream for about a month as I wound a story around it. I saw it as a cross between L.A. Confidential and the psi-core of Babylon 5. And at heart it was a hardboiled crime thriller.

What are your main concerns as a writer?

My main concern, as always, is to tell a good story, no more, no less. Whether it's a high fantasy or a dark, sci-fi piece.

An idea will pop into my head and I've got to get it out and onto paper. Sometimes it will be pretty quick, sometimes it will take much longer.

It usually starts with the all-powerful "What If?" question. Then I flesh it out, saying, "Wouldn't it be cool if this happened?", "And then that?"

Pictures form in my head, and I try and relate them as faithfully as possible through words.

Each story is different, but the goal is the same. To provoke that indefinable wow! by the end of it. To transport the reader for a brief time and take them on a journey, whether to somewhere dark and scary or bright and airy, and to give them a hell of a ride while they're there.

What are the biggest challenges that you face?

I'd say the biggest challenge is finding the time. Both to write and to just think about a story, to work it out in my head. I'm a news editor by day, and my job is extremely busy. I'm also a husband and father of two boys in elementary school.

I'll write whenever I can, but long stretches can go by during which I'm not writing. It can be very frustrating.

I go on business trips about four times a year, and I find that I can get a lot of writing done on the plane if I'm traveling by air. It's great getting a few hours of uninterrupted writing time during a flight.

Sometimes the writing itself can be hard. Not the "big scenes," those are usually pretty well thought out. It's the little scenes, the transitions, the mundane stuff. That can be extremely hard for me to write.

Do you write everyday?

I don't write every day. I wish I could, but time unfortunately does not allow. I write whenever I can.

A session will start with me at my computer, either at home or somewhere else (like with my laptop at my older boy's karate practice, for instance) and me typing away.

I'll review the last section I wrote and try and push on.

Either I've got the scene worked out already, or I have to muddle through, seeing where the story leads.

I'll stop when I have to due to time constraints, or if I'm at a natural breaking point.

How many books have you written so far?

A short story of mine, The Killer Within, was released in September 2009 as an e-book by Damnation Books. It is a paranormal crime thriller.

In terms of other fiction, the Dark InSpectre series is currently running, as mentioned above.

In addition, I have a fantasy short story, "Cold Comfort", coming out in the print version of Abandoned Towers Magazine in May 2010.

How would you describe The Killer Within?

For The Killer Within, here's the blurb:

When Metro City's number one crime family develops a drug that turns ordinary people into mindless assassins, detective Frank Arnold makes it his mission to bring them down. But things take a turn for the worse when the syndicate targets someone in the police department to carry out their next hit. Everyone's under suspicion, including Frank himself as he tries desperately to crack the case before his time runs out, permanently.

I chose the publisher because the story seemed like a good fit in terms of the genres Damnation Books was interested in. The whole electronic book concept, though, is pretty new to me.

The Killer Within is not available in print. It's solely an e-book that can be purchased from Amazon and a whole host of other e-book distributors. But do people really buy or read short stories as e-books? I honestly have no idea. I thought it was worth a try and was an interesting avenue for my work.

Which aspects of the work you put into the book did you find most difficult?

The only difficulty was finding the time to write, same as with any of my stories. Most of the time I deal with this by writing after my kids go to bed.

Unfortunately, this makes for some very late nights.

The Killer Within predates the Dark InSpectre. It represents my first foray into noir, crime fiction. I found it immensely enjoyable to get into the hardboiled detective mood and voice. I can't really explain it, it's just a lot of fun to write in that genre.

What sets the e-book apart from other things you've written?

Most of my writing has been fantasy or science fiction. The speculative element in The Killer Within barely qualifies as sci-fi. It's almost purely a crime fiction story.

The Killer Within is similar to the Dark InSpectre in that they're both hardboiled crime stories, but the Dark InSpectre is darker with a much more sci-fi angle.

What will your next book be about?

I have many other short stories on submission that I'm waiting to hear back about.

I can say, though, that the next story arc for the Dark InSpectre will involve a direct threat to Jack's unit and a drug that only affects telepaths.

*This article is based on an email interview with Jason Kahn which took place in June 2010.

Related articles:

• Interview with short story writer Jason Kahn, Lisa Haselton's Reviews and Interviews, June 21, 2011
• Guest Interview: Jason Kahn, By Kelly A. Harmon, Moving on to Fiction, June 14, 2010
• Interview with Jason Kahn, Lily, October 16, 2009
• Blog Novels [Lists], Conversations with Writers, November 27, 2008

[Interview] Jen Bee

Jen Bee studied Creative Writing at a university in Wales.

On her personal blog, she describes herself as a "recovering student, future tea shop owner, practising telepathy by staring at blank pages."

She is the author of Sally Carter, a blog novel that follows the life and adventures of Sally Carter and Detective Hood.

In this interview, Jen Bee talks about her writing:*

When did you start writing?

Thursday 20th February, 1994 at 3:09pm ... No, I've been making up stories as long as I can remember, though only a few made it onto paper at first. It was just something I did, that and reading.

As I grew older the stories I read grew longer and so did those I thought up, which I then started to write down.

What made you want to get your stories published?

I wanted to write books like those I read, long before I understood what publishing meant. This is probably a good thing or I may have become too overwhelmed to go on. Now it's too late, I love writing, wherever it takes me.

I'm still going about reaching that end, working towards finishing stories, and next year, my final year of studying creative writing at uni, my modules will include E-publishing and Writing & Publishing 2.

I write and submit short stories to competitions and magazines and online. My current project is a blog-story, which I start posting from the June 1, 2010. It'll be updated fortnightly with short fiction, mostly, and some interviews, news stories, recipes, etc. too.

How would you describe your writing?

In general terms, the blog-story is a fantasy-detective series, hopefully quirky, humorous, and fun. As is my other stuff.

My aim is for it to be enjoyed predominantly by young adults, but also to be accessible to younger readers (my sister, 12) as well as older.

Which authors influenced you most?

Tolkien. Exactly how is a bit fuzzy, but I love The Lord of the Rings - to read, not write.

More recent influences include Neil Gaiman and Jasper Fforde, because they seem to just go ahead and write what they want without worrying about being too wacky, as I used to.

Have your own personal experiences influenced your writing in any way?

I dread to imagine ... I'm sure my mum will spot something.

What are your main concerns as a writer?

Currently, finishing uni. One thing at a time.

So far I've learned it can be a scary world out there for writers, so I hope to learn as much as I can before wandering into it.

Do you write everyday?

Yep. Notes, e-mails, Tweets ... Writing is writing and you never know where you may bump into an idea.

I do story writing too, mostly for assignments at the moment, and soon I'll have my blog story to keep up with.

I keep no schedule. If something needs finishing, I do nothing else until it's done, not even Doctor Who. When I'm not writing, I'm thinking of things to write, characters, ideas, stuff to change. Usually not on purpose.

How many books have you written so far?

Nothing finished yet. The aforementioned assignments take priority for another year.

My current project, which I'm publishing online in a blog, follows a Detective (Hood) on a slightly magical island, and a writer (Sally) who sometimes assists him. I'll be writing it as I go or else I'll never get started.

There have been no great difficulties so far. However, while this project kicked off a couple of years ago, it is really only now beginning.

Which aspects of the work you are putting into the project do you enjoy most?

Unexpected ideas. Writing. Happy feedback, because it's always good to have anything you've done appreciated.

What sets the work apart from other things you've written?

The style is similar to another project, which follows two adventurers trying to make a living, but the Hood and Sally stories are on a much smaller scale and, come to think of it, probably a bit darker too.

Also, I have a bunch of other ideas, similarish action-adventure-fantasy-comedy, different characters/worlds/etc.

Started a romance once, for an assignment, an adventure-romance, interesting experience, may look at it again one day.

What would you say has been your most significant achievement as a writer?

I'll get back to you.

*This article is based on an email interview with Jen Bee which took place in May 2010

Related articles:

• New crime novel co-written by 26 authors, By Alison Flood, The Guardian, July 5, 2011
• Books Gone Wild: The Digital Age Reshapes Literature, By Lev Grossman, Time, January 21, 2009
• Blog Novels [Lists], Conversations with Writers, November 27, 2008

[Interview] Wilf Morgan

Wilf Morgan lives in Nottingham in the United Kingdom.

His books include a novella, That Time in Honduras (Eighty8Tales Press, 2009) as well as the novels, The Assassin’s Wedding (Eighty8Tales Press, 2008); The Cotton Keeper (Eighty8Tales Press, 2007) and Lost Angels (Eighty8Tales Press, 2006).

He is also the author of Dead Heroes, a free online serial that he publishes through the Eighty8Tales website.

In this interview, Wilf Morgan talks about his writing:

When did you start writing?

Although I can’t remember when I actually started writing, I do remember some of my first stories being Star Wars tales featuring the figures and toys I owned at the time ...! There was one about Han Solo and Luke Skywalker flying the Millenium Falcon to the end of the universe where the stars stopped or something. And another about Luke and Darth Vader crashing on a deserted planet and being stuck together (I think Darth had actually hit his head and gotten amnesia so forgetting he was the baddie). Random stuff like that! So, yeah, pretty young, I think is the answer ...!

I decided from a very young age that I wanted to become a published writer – but the problem with that is you go through years thinking it’s really easy. All you have to do is write a full-length book. So I did this, expanding on a story I’d done in class called "The Year 2200". It was very long and written on various different types and styles of paper (this was the early 80’s – no home word processing yet!). And it was also a total Star Wars clone! (no pun intended). By the time I finished it, I was 10 or 11 – and I realised it was nowhere near good enough to be published. So I 'archived' it (in the attic) and started again on something else.

A few twists and turns aside, I’ve pretty much gone through that entire cycle several times until I got to what I consider my first 'proper' book in my mid-20s – Lost Angels. Unable to get it published (through the long and difficult 'sending to Literary Agents' process), I printed it myself (initially via Lulu.com) and sold it myself. I did the same with The Cotton Keeper, That Time in Honduras and my most recent printed work The Assassin’s Wedding.

This all ended up becoming a full-fledged self-publishing venture called Eighty8Tales Press behind which I put most of my ‘publishing’ efforts. I would still like to be published by a big publishing house but I’m happy doing self-pub for the time being. (It’s fun doing my own covers!)

How would you describe the writing you are doing?

My current work Dead Heroes is generally described as a thriller. But it has some extra-genre dimension to it that makes it harder to classify if you’re wanting to be more accurate.

Because I initially was a big sci-fi fan, all I wanted to write was science-fiction. I soon found that this limited the number of agents who I could send work to and so I expanded into crime (the genre, not the activity!) and general thrillers. So Lost Angels and The Assassin’s Wedding are in the same boat as Dead Heroes – they’re all thrillers ‘but’…

Dead Heroes is basically a modern-day Robin Hood story. Being from Nottingham, I’ve always wanted to do a Robin Hood story but since there are, like, a thousand of these (and mostly quite similar), I had to wait until I had a really good idea in order to make it worth doing – and, hopefully, unique.

Without giving away too much of the plot, it basically deals with Robin Hood and The Sheriff of Nottingham landing on modern-day Nottingham and continuing their centuries-long battle against each other. Ultimately, Nottingham – and perhaps the rest of the country – find themselves both prize and casualty in this war. On the one hand, it’s just this personal battle between these two individuals, whereas on the other hand, the battle contains concepts and ideals that affect everyone on the planet.

I try hard to balance the high concepts with some good old fashioned action (car chases and gun battles being the currency of choice!).

Who is your target audience?

I’m not entirely sure who my target audience is with any of my stuff – another obstacle to selling myself to literary agents!

Dead Heroes – like my other works – are simply meant as stories to be enjoyed by anyone who likes to get lost in a good yarn. I like to include some kind of concept or question to spice up the proceedings (in Dead Heroes that includes things like: what is the true nature of freedom, how much freedom would you be willing to sacrifice for less crime, etc). And I also like action and drama.

So, I suppose, anyone who likes thinking about some interesting ideas that might touch on their lives but also get swept into a good tale at the same time – that’s my target audience!

Which authors influenced you most?

I have very little influence from any authors – that’s not to say I don’t like any. I get inspired by certain people’s approach but not necessarily their style.

How have your personal experiences influenced your writing?

Only as mentioned previously – I originally moved away from sci-fi out of what I saw as necessity for improving my chances of finding a literary agent. In the end, this proved a fortuitous move as it opened the path to this more ‘genreless’ type of story I like to tell. Now, although this has probably actually harmed my saleability, it has made me tell more interesting stories, I believe.

But with the advent of affordable self-publishing, this is fine as it still gives me the ability to get my stuff out there.

What are the biggest challenges that you face?

The main challenges for me are simply forcing myself to write something every day. With all the other demands on my time – looking after kids, housework, day job – it’s all too easy to flop down in front of the TV at the end of the day and switch my brain off!

Related to that, I’d say forcing myself to write when what comes out is rubbish! You always want your stuff to be perfect and sometimes it’s just total trash. But if you force yourself through and keep churning out the trash, you can go back to it and make it better later. If you stop and produce nothing, you’ve just got the same problem facing you next time! Always a million times easier to write rubbish and brush it up than to write nothing and just get stuck.

Do you write everyday?

Dead Heroes has been good for me because it’s a weekly serial – so I’ve had to get into the habit of writing most days. Sessions are pretty much "power through, go back and re-write and enhance". It’s the same as when I’m writing a full novel except the cycles are extremely compressed with much less procrastinating!

A writing session usually ends when I have to go to bed!

How many books have you written so far?

I’ve written four books so far, not including Dead Heroes. They’re all under the Eighty8Tales banner. They are;

• That Time in Honduras (2009) – A novella and prequel to The Assassin’s Wedding. It’s part action thriller, part love story and leads the reader right up to the start of The Assassin’s Wedding novel. It’s a story of love and revenge. Also, some pigs.
• The Assassin’s Wedding (2008) – A darkly humourous thriller about an assassin, Mike Shepard, who – against his own rules – falls in love and proposes. The story tells of the week leading to the wedding as Mike wrestles with whether he should come clean to his fiancée about his vocation. The week is made harder by missing persons, another assassin and a private eye with a penchant for flavoured vodka. Sometimes, Mike reflects, it’s all you can do to survive the happiest day of your life.
• The Cotton Keeper (2007) – A novella set in Sierra Leone in 1999 – the last days of the civil war. Femi is a young chimpanzee who is tired of hunting for food to feed his starving tribe. He embarks on a mission to find the mythical Cotton Keeper in the hope she will use her great wisdom to lead him to a place where he can live in well-fed and selfish isolation. Things never go so easy, though, as Femi comes into contact with the dreaded ‘Big-Walkers’ and their baffling conflict…
• Lost Angels (2006) – This is a dark and gritty crime thriller set in a fictional town called Lost Angels. Daniel, looking for somewhere to escape the hell his life had become, finds the off-the-map town. It’s run by a violent mix of criminals and politicians. Daniel rises through the ranks in a self-appointed mission to save the town from the corruption that oppresses its inhabitants – all the while ignoring the corruption in his own soul that led him to Lost Angels in the first place…

What is your latest book about?

Dead Heroes is a fixed-length serial updating weekly. It tells the story of Robin Hood and the Sheriff of Nottingham arriving in modern-day Nottingham. They continue their centuries-long battle, each fighting to save us from the apparent tyranny of the other. It’s a battle of law and order versus freedom. Unfortunately, it appears that the very people each side hopes to save are also the ones they are willing to roll over in their quest for victory.

Which aspects of the work you put into the book did you find most difficult?

Probably the most difficult obstacle in writing this book is simply the fact that it’s about Robin Hood – this is a topic that has been done to death and back. How on earth do you find an original angle?

I’m a firm believer that there’s always a way to achieve any particular creative angle, you just have to procrastinate long enough to come up with it! In the end, I think I have done just that but only reactions and comments from readers will tell me if I was right.

Without giving too much away, I tried to look at ways the original Robin Hood ideas could be extrapolated through the filter of modern-day concerns. In the end, the clash between freedom (Robin Hood’s eternal calling card) and controlled law and order (and extrapolation of much of The Sheriff’s traditional antics) seemed to offer a good deal of drama as well as topical relevance. Exactly what freedoms are we willing to give up in order to live in a safe, crime-free society?

What sets the book apart from other things you've written?

This is the first time I’ve used characters and situations that I have not made up. It’s almost like writing fan-fiction except I’ve tried to take the originals and build new issues on top of the existing ones in order to give it its edge. But the fact I’ve had pre-existing concepts to start with makes things very different and a lot of fun!

What will your next book be about?

I haven’t decided yet – I have a few ideas.

I might do a short story collection.

I’m keen to write another story set in Sierra Leone as that is where my family is from. It certainly won’t be examining the violence and misery of the civil war, though. I touched on that with the Cotton Keeper but there are also many more brilliant books on this topic than I could ever write. But setting something fun and entertaining in Sierra Leone might be something a little more interesting and new.

What would you say has been your most significant achievement as a writer?

Writing four books!

Actually, I’d say producing some significant piece of work every year since 2006. It certainly keeps me busy and it always helps people take you seriously as a ‘new’ writer if they see you’ve actually got a body of work behind you.

Related articles:

• Amanda Hocking, John Locke: poster children for self-publishing success?, By Husna Haq, The Christian Science Monitor, June 21, 2011
• Wilf Morgan [Interview], By Jamie Rhodes, LeftLion Nottingham Culture Magazine, October 16, 2009
• Reading, Writing and Self-Publishing: What's Your Experience of It?, Conversations with Writers, April 13, 2007

[Interview] Danie Nel

South African commercial photographer and a writer, Danie Nel has some poems that have been featured in the poetry anthology, The Colors of Life (Watermark Press, 2003).

Currently he is working on Notsoreallifestory, a blog novel he describes as "a take on the alter ego interaction storyline, but with a different slant and angle on it."

In this interview, Danie Nel talks about his writing:

When did you start writing?

I realized I enjoy writing in primary school as part of our creative writing assignments and, having been an avid reader since I could read, I suppose that has always fuelled the fires of creativity for me.

I’ve been writing songs, and lyrics, since I was 18, and have penned a few poems. However, working as a professional photographer has put me in contact with writers, journalists and novelists, and their enthusiasm for their craft has rubbed off on me.

Only my poems have been published in a collection of works called The Colors of Life, and was included after I entered a competition.

As for my creative writing, I only recently really started writing again, and decided that the blog-model works for me, and I’d rather earn my money through advertising programs, and focus on writing what I want, how I want to, and when I want to, without publisher’s demands. I also use the comments section to get readers to interact with me, and rather have the end-user influence my writing, and not the money man!

How would you describe your writing?

Free, quirky, strong storyline, suspense and humour is a must. It would probably fall into the category of humorous drama.

Who is your target audience?

Anyone with a sense of irony, who loves reading easily and loves to chuckle at life. I’m like that.

Which authors influenced you most?

Stephen King’s humour and limitless imagination. Also, he has amazing flow.

Michael Cunningham is just poetic and has the most beautiful writing style.

Bryce Courtenay for sheer story. Koos A Kombuis for his humour, descriptive ability and flow. Bill Bryson, for knowing how to communicate the oddities that we all notice, just don’t seem to remember.

Have your personal experiences influenced your writing in any way?

Probably. We can only put out versions of information we ourselves have gathered and processed.

What are your main concerns as a writer?

That I will bore the reader with obvious plots, obvious humour and no surprises. I try and surprise myself.

What are the biggest challenges that you face?

Time to write.

Do you write everyday?

I write weekly. I normally write late at night, after the family’s gone to bed. It ends when I fall asleep!

How many books have you written so far?

None.

I’m writing a story called Notsoreallifestory, in the blog format. It’s about a man who wakes up to a voice in his head one day. It’s a take on the alter ego interaction storyline, but with a different slant and angle on it.

Which aspects of the work do you find most difficult?

Dialogue.

Dialogue is a spontaneous process, and recreating proper and good dialogue is difficult.

I repeat the dialogue aloud to myself, and if it seems fake, or makes me cringe, I change it.

Which do you enjoy most?

Reading my story.

When writing flows, and I re-read my efforts, it’s amazing to see that I’ve opened up doors in my imagination that I haven’t noticed before. Or I realize I think differently about things than I thought I do.

What sets Notsoreallifestory apart from other things you've written?

I’ve never attempted a series blog before, and all my pieces have been short, concise and normally limited to a couple of pages.

In what way is Notsoreallifestory similar to the other things you've written?

My sense of irony is deeply embedded in how I communicate, also, I veer from cliché’s.

What will your next piece of writing be about?

Probably a musician. Not sure what he’s going to do yet. I just love music and would like to explore that possibility.

Possibly related books:

,,

Related articles:

• Blog Novels [Lists], Conversations with Writers, November 27,2008
• Ezekiel Es’kia Mphahlele [Obituary], by Shola Adenekan, The New Black Magazine, November 8-9, 2008
• Writer: Niq Mhlongo [Interview], by Laura Arenschield, a.magazine, May 8, 2008

[Interview] Thomas D'Arcy O'Donnell

Canadian script writer, Thomas D'Arcy O'Donnell is the author of Diamond Walker, a blog novel about an 18-year-old shaman baseball player.

The novel's protagonist, Jimmy Walker, is a provocative anti-hero who brings a fresh and disturbing capability to America’s Game. He is a cutting-edge warrior and a throwback to old-school modes and values who swims with killer whales and seems to project grace and brightness wherever he goes.

In this interview, Thomas O'Donnell talks about his writing:

When did you start writing?

Diamond Walker started off (in my head) as an idea for a film.

I had the idea that if I could create a 'property' or story based in Vancouver, British Columbia, I could come back some day and, instead of working for someone else as a waiter or bartender, I could go to the places that amazed me and the work I did would be making the film that was in my head.

Through a strange turn of events, year later, I decided to write the story as a novel, after a synopsis for the film disappeared during the Pitch This competition at the Toronto International Film Festival.

All conspiracy theories aside (who took the synopsis and why?), I also realized it would be a very expensive film to make, so why not create it as a novel?

How would you describe your writing?

The stories, Diamond Walker, particularly, tend to be action or adventure with an ecological basis.

Nature and the environment are always in play and the principal characters are either for or against nature and the environment. The 'good guys' are highly in tune with nature, the 'bad guys' are completely oblivious and/or destructive regarding nature.

Who is your target audience?

I write for a very broad general audience ... all ages.

I like the idea of people reading about good ideas, good actions and characters (exemplars) who have the right ideas and values and know how to go about life with actions that reflect this accordingly.

On the converse side, I really don't see the value in slasher or mangle horror titillation, i.e. Bad (Fear) triumphs over Good. Though I see it has been a very successful theme for many writers.

So, in a way, I could say I write to present 'positive' alternatives to 'negative' stories.

Which authors influenced you most?

I've read thousands of books.

It's very hard to single out influence but I'll admit it's inevitable.

I've read every John D. MacDonald book, including the Travis McGee series; every Louis L'Amour book (westerns); the True History of The Kelly Gang (Peter Carey) blew me away and made me realize that prose or literary form did not have to conform to my perceptions just as the original Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain should have taught me.

The Horse Whisperer (Nicholas Evans) certainly inspired me and I hope my 1st book touches similar themes of man/creature/environment.

How have your personal experiences influenced your writing?

Nat Bailey is known as the grandfather of baseball, in Western Canada. While staying in his home (I had worked with his grandson in Banff, Alberta), he told me of his youth and selling peanuts and popcorn during semi pro baseball games. At his suggestion, I visited the stadium named after him, stood on the infield grass one morning and the idea (for Diamond Walker) poured into me as I looked up at an eagle riding an updraft overhead.

It was a magical morning.

The baseball diamond was like a jewel of green, set in an urban environment and Nat's words and storytelling from the night before were floating with the eagle ... yet in my head as well.

What are your main concerns as a writer?

Getting the ideas out of my head, filtered through my clumsy fingers, onto paper (or text file) and then refining or resolving those primal ideas into prose or literary form and being satisfied, is really the challenge.

My only concerns as a writer are satisfying myself ... and that means there should be ideas of merit ... and if there's going to be conflict, crisis or resolution, my lead characters should be exemplars. They should define 'Winners'.

I can't in any way control what a reader of my work thinks ... though I hope they enjoy reading it. I hope they find values they can embrace ... or that make them feel good.

Do you write everyday?

I can only write when it comes to me. It either flows or it doesn't.

I don't see it as writer's block, I see it as a gift that comes to me, often via happenstance or intermittently.

At the same time, I do believe there's a laziness, mixed with self-doubt, to my writing. It's that smidgen of belief and creativity that keeps the small flame alive ... and so ... I write.

How many books have you written so far?

Diamond Walker is my only completed novel and its unpublished.

Keep in mind, that Diamond Walker came into my head ... before there was an 'internet' and I wrote on sheets of paper, then in spiral notebooks, or on napkins in bars or restaurants ... then as text files, eventually even as emailed memos to myself.

I sent queries and sample chapters to publishers, agents etc ... and finally decided to put the entire novel online as a blog novel ... It's kind of apropos actually, since it was written in fits and starts ... intermittently ... over the years.

I think my talent lies in writing. It certainly does not lie in effective contact with literary agents or publishers, though I've tried mightily, to pour effective effort into that Catch 22 endeavor.

Without complaint I can truly say, that an unpublished author in Canada faces an extreme uphill climb and I've constantly tried to reach outside of Canada for representation or interest. Others have succeeded and I'll always keep trying.

I'm self published ... I migrated the book to Wordpress as a blog novel. It's now driven mainly by serendipity, though I utilize its presence on the web via continued queries to the literary or publishing world and of course alternatives such as Conversations with Writers.

Which aspects of the work you put into the book did you find most difficult?

I remember one day when I was writing Diamond Walker and I was creating dialogue and the thoughts of a 45-year-old woman. I was almost overcome with doubt, thinking, 'Who am I to create the thinking process of a woman ?'

The same thing occurred one day when I was writing a treatment for a children's TV program and I was writing dialogue for a 6-year-old girl, but it was more of a feeling inside me of, 'Where the heck is this coming from?'

What will your next book be about?

My next book will likely be a sequel focusing on Hunter Walker (Jimmy 'Diamond' Walker's father).

I like the idea of a hunter, tracker Navajo, based in British Columbia who tracks missing or abducted people in wild or urban environments, and can deal with adverse weather, environments or dangerous adversaries.

What would you say has been your most significant achievement as a writer?

Getting Diamond Walker finished. Uploading it to the web, as a blog novel was a huge milestone for me. But, as I mentioned earlier, satisfaction comes from feeling I've met, or come close to what I believe are necessary levels of creativity, competence and merit.

I wrote a poem, in support of a documentary project I'm developing, and I'd never undertaken a long poem before. Seeing that poem online within my research/development blog for Ann Harvey really made me feel good. Kind of that creatively exhausted satisfaction and, I guess, I should say that the whole process of trying to breath life into a documentary about a historical event, i.e. the attempt to write eloquently about an amazing story that actually happened, but is little known, is a pretty special challenge and opportunity.

Possibly related books:

,,

Related articles:

• Unemployed Harvard Man Auctions Baseball Novel for $650,000, By Philip Boroff, Bloomberg.com, March 31, 2010
• 'Blockade Billy' by Stephen King [Book Review], By Wayne C. Rogers, Las Vegas Review-Journal, May. 25, 2010
• Alma Kroeker [Interview], Conversations with Writers, April 24, 2010

[Interview] Alma Kroeker

In this interview, Alma Kroeker talks about her blog novel, In the Absence of White Rabbits:

When did you start writing?

I would say that I started writing as a child, but this particular work began about four years ago. I was lucky enough to have a day-job that allowed me to work on the novel.

I didn’t want to be overly poetic with the writing which is why I decided to make half the novel dialogue.

Publication was simply a means to having the story out there, for anyone who might be interested.

Who is your target audience?

I worked in a hospital and was witness to some of the issues and people, surrounding the field of psychiatry.

I wanted to write something that would incorporate both sides, doctor and patient, of the experience of being mentally ill. As such, the novel is probably of most interest to those people, though others have also enjoyed it.

How have your personal experiences influenced your writing?

I think we’ve all, at times, on a spectrum of intensity, felt the pressures of life and looked for ways to escape or alleviate that stress.

What are your main concerns as a writer?

That there is something helpful in my novel and that no one will be able to access that information.

Do you write everyday?

I tend to write at least a little bit each day. It depends on how inspired I am.

There are also times where I feel pressed by the characters to tell their story and I will write for hours.

How many novels have you written so far?

Just the one – In the Absence of White Rabbits (2009).

The novel examines a woman’s deteriorating psychosis and her relationship with her doctor.

Why did you decide to release the novel as a blog?

The process of obtaining a publisher is difficult for any new writer.

It was most important to me that the novel be made available to the public. A blog is a forum where people can easily, and without cost, access the novel as well as contribute criticism. However, getting the site recognised is a difficult process (html formatting can also drive me crazy).

It is my hope that the novel's first year online will see a dramatic increase in readers.

Which were the most difficult aspects of the work you put into the novel?

The main character experiences a great deal of turmoil; I found it difficult to write for lengthy periods of time while being submersed in her world.

Which aspects of the work did you enjoy most?

The end. I wrote the last sentence and thought I was done when out of nowhere another sentence was put down which completely changed the tone of the story.

What would you say has been your most significant achievement as a writer?

I wrote a story and people read it.

Possibly related books:

,,

Related articles:

• From Blog to Book Deal: How 6 Authors Did It, By Brenna Ehrlich, Mashable, December 17, 2009
• Blog Novels [List] Conversations with Writers, November 27, 2008
• The Blooker Prize

[Interview] Jonathan Vining

Jonathan Vining is the author of Diary of a First Year Grad Student, a work-in-progress which he describes as a novel about "the absurdities of academic life".

In this interview, Vining talks about what his concerns as a writer.

Is Jonathan Vining your real name or a pseudonym?

It’s a pseudonym.

Why are you using a pseudonym?

Like other books, mine will primarily be met either with praise, criticism, or indifference. Since the latter two possibilities would not exactly enhance my academic reputation and career, I prefer that Jonathan receive them instead of me.

Seriously, I think there is a non-trivial possibility that if Diary of a First Year Grad Student gets much attention, it could lead to the sort of needless academic brouhaha described in it. Some of my colleagues have been caught up in these, and they are not pleasant. So using a pseudonym here is intended as pro-active damage control.

Under what conditions would you reveal your true identity?

I might do so if the blog novel, by some miracle, receives a lot of praise -- or perhaps even if it receives only a little. I will decide whether or not to reveal my true identity when I post the last installment of the blog -- which will be in September 2010.

When did you start writing?

I started writing in 1971, shortly after the start of my last year in high school. My father had just died and our family finances declined sharply. We had to sell our home quickly. At a time when life was in chaos, what I wrote or typed on a sheet of paper was one of the few things that I could control. I valued that immensely. I wanted to publish what I wrote, but I soon found, of course, that that wasn’t so easy. None of my early writing was accepted by a publisher -- for good reason, I am sure.

How would you describe your writing?

I do different kinds of writing: academic, journalistic, and creative. The creative includes essays, travel narratives, and fiction.

My academic writing is targeted at specialists. My journalistic writing is targeted at a broader audience concerned with policy issues. I do creative writing just to please myself -- though I hope it will please others too.

Which authors influenced you most?

When I was younger, I loved what I thought of as the classic comic authors: [Miguel de] Cervantes, [François] Rabelais, [William] Shakespeare’s comedies, Moliere, Jonathan Swift, Voltaire’s Candide, [Edmond] Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac, and the like.

Later, I came to appreciate how George MacDonald Fraser weaved comedy with a deep knowledge of history in his Flashman series. I also love too many Irish comic authors to name, but especially Brendan Behan and Roddy Doyle.

More recently, I have come to appreciate some of the great 19th century English female authors: Jane Austen, all three Bronte sisters, and George Eliot. What I like about all these books is how the protagonist in each of them was able to overcome difficult circumstances partly by having a sense of humor.

How have your personal experiences influenced your writing?

My fiction is based mainly on my personal experience with the many absurdities of academic life.

What are your main concerns as a writer?

My main concern is not having as much quiet time as I need to write. I deal with it by writing when and where there is opportunity to do so.

The biggest challenge I face at present is that it is far easier for me to publish my academic and journalistic writing than my creative writing -- especially my fiction. Despite the absurdities of academic life that I alluded to earlier, one thing I appreciate about it is that if one’s academic writing is good, it is highly likely to be accepted for publication somewhere. Writing good fiction, by contrast, is not good enough to get it published. This is because, I believe, academic publishing is far less concerned about profitability than commercial publishing.

Do you write everyday?

Life is hectic, so I write when I can for as long as I can. I don’t have a set routine.

How many books have you written so far?

I am the author of five academic books and the editor of three more. I don’t want to talk about them here, though.

What is your latest book about?

My latest book is the blog novel that I am now posting: Diary of a First Year Grad Student. It is about the absurdities of academic life -- some of their own making -- that even what Americans call grad students (and Britons call post-graduates) can face. It only took about three months to write, but I never succeeded in finding a publisher for it -- which is why I am now publishing it as a blog novel.

The main advantage of this format is that since it is free, it is clearly accessible to anyone with an internet connection who wants to read it. The disadvantage, of course, is that blog novels don’t pay royalties (at least, not as far as I know). I am far more interested, though, in its getting some (hopefully positive) attention.

Which were the most difficult aspects of the work you put into Diary of a First Year Grad Student?

Two aspects of life in academia that my book deals with are, I believe, serious and sensitive issues.

One is how the concern that some academics express for the plight of minorities is based less on actual concern for them and more on a desire to use this issue for manipulative purposes, including discrediting others.

Another is how those charged with enforcing sexual misconduct rules at universities sometimes do not follow these rules themselves.

Which aspects of the work did you enjoy most?

As other fiction writers have reported, I enjoyed how the characters I created took control of the narrative as I wrote it. After a certain point, I felt that I was merely the instrument of their will. This helped make the writing process go by easily.

What sets Diary of a First Year Grad Student apart from other things you've written?

What sets it apart is that it is a work of fiction; what I mainly write and (more importantly) publish is non-fiction.

There really isn’t any similarity between writing academic non-fiction on the one hand and fiction on the other. Writing academic non-fiction requires a knowledge of what others have written. But fiction -- at least, the way I write it -- does not.

What will your next book be about?

I have written another novel about the trials and tribulations of the tenure process. I don’t think, however, that this one would lend itself to the blog novel format.

I started another novel about the hypocrisy of democratization efforts in the Middle East, but did not finish it. I was discouraged at not succeeding at publishing the other two novels, and distracted by increasing demand for my academic writing. If my Diary of a First Year Grad Student manages to receive positive attention, then perhaps I’ll finish it.

What would you say has been your most significant achievement as a writer?

That’s for others to judge.

Possibly related books:

,,

Related article:

[Interview] Bryce Beattie, author of 'Oasis', Conversations with Writers, July 6, 2009

[Interview] Bryce Beattie

Novelist Bryce Beattie describes himself as a pulp addict, a programmer, a husband and a father.

He is also the author of Oasis (CreateSpace, 2008), a novel that focuses on small town nurse, Corbin St. Laurent as he desperately tries to find a cure to a virus that is turning the inhabitants of his town into zombies.

The novel first appeared as a serial on the blog, Oasis: a Zombie novel before it was released as a paperback.

In this interview, Bryce Beattie talks about his concerns as a writer:

When did you start writing?

I wrote little stories here and there my whole life. I really decided to start writing regularly a few years ago after I discovered the works of Edgar Rice Burrows and Robert E. Howard. Their writing just has so much fun and energy, it was infectious to me.

How would you describe your writing?

Action adventure fiction in the pulp tradition.

My target audience is me, and other folks who were born about 70 years too late. Folks who like The Shadow, seedy jazz music, Doc Savage, old time radio shows, and good, clean fun.

Which authors influenced you most?

Edgar Rice Burrows and Robert E. Howard got me going. Kenneth Robeson (Lester Dent) as well as many hardboiled detective writers like Robert Leslie Bellem and Raymond Chandler. More modern influences include Ray Bradbury and Gregg Taylor from Decoder Ring Theatre.

Do you write everyday?

I try to write everyday. I don't really have a set writing rituals like a lot of writers. I just squeeze it in whenever I can. The session usually ends when my wife or daughter ask me to do something.

How many books have you written so far?

Just one so far. It's called Oasis, and it's a sci fi, action, adventure, pulp, zombie book. I self-published it through CreateSpace, only to have a small publisher contact me the day after it went live on Amazon. They weren't interested in a reprint at the time, so I missed out. More info about it can be found at Oasis: a Zombie Novel.

Oasis is the story of an E. R. nurse who is trapped in a small desert town that has been quarantined following a terrorist release of a horrible virus. A virus that siezes control of the infected person's mind.

I also had a short story published in Astonishing Adventures Magazine, a modern day pulp.

How long did it take you to write Oasis?

Oh, man. Forever. It took like two and a half years. I only really worked on it steadily the last year or so.

It was published just before Christmas last year.

I found it hard to edit the novel to a point where I could really feel satisfied that it had turned out the way I wanted. Eventually I just had to say, "Look, self, do you want this thing published, or do you just want to work on it forever?"

Which aspects of the work did you enjoy most?

I wrote it serially on my blog, and I really enjoyed the interaction with readers after every chapter.

What sets the book apart from other things you've written?

Well, it's long and I finished it. Nothing else I've written meets both those criteria ...

What will you be publishing next?

The book I'm working on now is a sequel to Oasis. It's more sci-fi pulpy action. This time the hero has to deal with aliens.

The book after that is going to be a more mainstream political thriller

What are your main concerns as a writer?

I am constantly striving to make my writings have more energy and be more engrossing.

I've read a lot of books on writing, and I read a ton of fiction. After folks finish reading one of my stories, I want them to say, "That was a ride."

Someday, I'd like them to say, "It's sad that that book is over. It was a fun ride, but it also made me think."

One step at a time, I suppose.

As far as challenges to my writing go, right now time concerns are the biggest. I'm busy with work, family, and my church. There just aren't enough hours in the day to do everything I want to do.

How do I deal with it?

I try to cut out activities that don't really matter. Reading with my daughter matters, watching American Idol doesn't.

Related books:

,,

Related article:

[Interview] Anonymous, author of 'worlds undone', Conversations with Writers, May 11, 2009.

[Interview] Anonymous, author of 'worlds undone'

In this email interview, the anonymous author of the blog novel, worlds undone talks about her concerns as a transgendered lesbian, a feminist and a writer:

When did you start writing?

Writing fiction is a new endeavor for me, something I impulsively dove into five months ago. Heretofore, my writing was mostly of life experiences, or interacting with others in the lesbian community. Coming out for me was a daunting and destructive experience, shattering about everything and everyone around me.

PTSD resulted; in therapy for years now, I sensed a need to do more. The first step was to embrace Reiki, something that empowered me in self-healing, and in giving me a way to reach out to others around me who might wish to receive healing energy. The next step was fiction, and both of these things -- Reiki and writing fiction, sprung forth after leaving a therapy session, which I attend once a month.

How would you describe your writing?

More than anything, it is a story of life, of people embracing their love and a need to change the world around them. As a feminist and lesbian, these elements are inherent to the story, safe space for women and for women who love women. The characters are strong, and the characters defy our stereotypes.

There is an element of science fiction, necessary to bridge to story segments, but I really do not find pleasure in writing these elements. My best writing comes from feeling, touching, and embracing the emotions I feel are called forth by the protagonists.

These elements flow from my soul, from deep within, from my community. And I write without assigning race to the characters, because I would like people to read the story and find themselves in the characters, and not feel as though the story is written in a way that excludes them. The lgbt community transcends skin colour, the lesbian community is among the most accepting one can find, and I like the idea of inclusion.

Who is your target audience?

Given the story carries a central feminist and lesbian theme, that is an obvious conclusion for a target audience. More than anything, I write to soothe my soul, write to give voice to those of us who self-identify as feminist and lesbian, but it would be nice to one day reach beyond and share some of this community with those beyond the community.

My motivation was decidedly selfish; to self-heal, to share how I see the world, to offer my voice from this not often heard from place. Learning to share what was within is relatively new in terms of the length of my life. Too often, what lie inside was hidden away, leaving me to live in fear of others learning or suspecting of the truth.

In the writing that you are doing, which authors influenced you most?

Hard to say, though I can think of one strong influence -- Miranda Beverly-Whittemore, specifically the novel, The Effects of Light. Aside from this specific citation, my favourites are Kate Mosse, Rita Mae Brown (earlier work), Anita Diamante, Sue Monk Kidd, Elizabeth George, and many others.

How have your personal experiences influenced your writing?

Absolutely. This is a story that formed in my head through a lifetime of closeted feelings. Coming out, learning to share what was within, my overall idealist and optimistic nature finds its way into the story. If I can touch a story, if I can feel the story, it will work well in the writing. If I am disconnected, so too would be any resulting work.

Part of my coping came through music -- a major part of coping. And music more than any other external source, influences my writing.

What are your main concerns as a writer?

Staying true to the story I wish to convey.

Writing on a blog, with each posting comprising a rough draft story element, it is easy to veer off on tangents. This can be good, and it can be bad. For instance, a recent report found domestic violence was increasing due to current economic conditions. That night I built a story element addressing the issue.

On the other hand, other tangents have gone nowhere in the story and in my ability to take them forward; on a second draft, I would remove them.

A second concern is my overall lack of formal training and grammatical skill. I compensate in other ways, through emotion, through feel.

What are the biggest challenges that you face?

Falling into dysfunction, totally and completely for a thirty month period of time. As a transgendered lesbian, coming out shattered the world around me, and almost took me out right along with it.

Pulling myself back together, almost an hour by hour, day by day, week by week, month by month undertaking, taught me much, and I wish to learn much more, can stand to learn much more.

Do you write everyday?

I do. Most often, the story element forms during the day, and I set to writing at night. On weekends, I have a goal to write two elements each day. Each blog element is roughly 5-8 book pages.

There is a rough framework in my mind of where the story is at a given point in time, but then I look for inspiration to see me to the next element.

How many books have you written so far?

This is my first effort; it will not be my last. This work is worlds undone (intentionally uncapitalised) and is a story of two women who overcome extreme obstacles and end up changing two worlds.

In five months, I have written 191 blog posts or story elements, equating to roughly 575 book pages. This is a first draft, and at some point would move to a second stage. 109 story elements remain in this book.

Choosing a blog format was no choice at all. As a novice, with a story burning within, with three years of experience sharing my life on a blog, it was a natural outlet. Wordpress worked, as opposed to TypePad (where my regular blog is) because of an excellent category framework. This allowed me to use categories to reference story characters -- readers can look up every story element involving that character or where they are named.

Using pages, I structured a list of story element, the equivalent of chapter navigation with a click of a mouse.

Which were the most difficult aspects of the work that you put into the novel?

Keeping the story consistent through each story element. Using categories helped me reference prior elements that involved an aspect of a story that is again referenced, or the last actions of a character.

Another problem arose with generating names that would give a reader the sense of being of another world. Adding a pronunciation list hopefully offered assistance to readers.

What did you enjoy most?

Definitely writing on the human element, of someone facing a life issue or issues, contemplating the love of another, or interacting with another as they find their way through. I live to write these elements, and grudgingly write elements that bridge from one place to another. These elements flow easily from my mind.

What sets worlds undone apart from other things you've written?

This is my first attempt at fiction. Even a year ago I would scoff at the notion of my attempting to write and share a story fabricated in my mind. Now it is a part of me I will never relinquish.

All of my previous writing focused on my experiences, my condition, my observations in life.

Both carry a decidedly human element, and both reflect elements of my life, of me, of my community.

What will your next book be about?

The next will take the current story, and take it toward facing the prejudices of a world that seemingly abhors diversity. The characters will face judgment and misjudgment, some will grow frustrated, some will work for change. Questions might get asked that carry no easy solution, but I remain hesistant to write something quite that dark.

What would you say has been your most significant achievement as a writer?

Actually finding the courage to write and place it in front of others. Through much of my life, this simple act was unthinkable. In my college years, I ran like the wind from any classroom presentation. My life was largely trying to exist on the periphery of anyone's attention, to be unnoticed.

Second is getting this far into a story, and third is the love of writing fiction that now dwells inside of me.

Possibly related books:

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Related article:

[Interview] Dora McAlpin, author of 'Promises Divined', Conversations with Writers, April 24, 2009