[Interview] Lynn Emery

Lynn Emery is the author of twelve African-American romance novels which include Good Woman Blues (2005); Kiss Lonely Goodbye (2003) and All I Want Is Forever (2002). One of her stories, “Tumbling Down”, has also been featured in The Lipstick Chronicles, a collection of four novellas from different authors.

Another of her novels, After All (1996) was produced as a made-for-television movie by Black Entertainment Television in 1999.

She has also won several awards for her writing. In 1995, she received the Excellence in Romance Fiction Award for her first novel, Night Music Magic (1995) and in 2000, she was nominated the Lifetime Achievement Award in Multicultural Romance Fiction from the Romantic Times Magazine.

In 2004, she went on to win three Emma Awards, including Author of the Year.

Her latest books include: Endless Passion (2006) — a collector’s edition of three earlier novels, Night Magic (1995); Tender Touch (1997) and Sweet Mystery (1998) — and Soulful Strut (2006), her latest romance novel.

Her first non-fiction book, Be Encouraged: Words of Sunlight For The Soul (BookSurge, 2007), is a collection of inspirational essays and poems.

In a recent interview, she spoke about her writing.

What is your latest book about?

Soulful Strut is about a woman who is finally released from prison after being wrongfully convicted and she has to learn a new way of living — that is, she must resist going back to the lifestyle that made her so easy to frame and she has to forgive herself for past mistakes.

The novel took about eight months to write. It was released in the U.S. in Dec. 2006.

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

I always find the revision process the most painful (after I get notes from my editor). That’s because writing is such hard work that the thought of changing it literally makes my head and stomach hurt. I have to read the letter, recover, and then get over myself and tackle making the book better based on objective feedback.

Which did you enjoy most?

Coming up with the idea and writing snappy dialogue between characters.

What sets the book apart from the other things you have written? In what way is it similar?

I stayed in the main character’s viewpoint throughout the entire novel. In all of my previous novels I did multiple third person [point of view] P.O.V.

Soulful Strut was about finding yourself after making a lot of mistakes, similar to several books I’ve written (Good Woman Blues, Sweet Mystery).

What will your next book be about?

One is about people facing the truth and learning to go on despite knowing the worst. Another book is about a woman deciding who she really is and fighting a malevolent influence from her own family.

How much time do you spend on your writing?

I write everyday. I write on my novels 5 days a week, about 2 ½ hours a day.

In the writing that you are doing, who would you say has influenced you the most?

I decided to be a writer when I was a child, eleven years old to be exact. My ambition to write a novel came from my love of storytelling, oral and written. I am blessed to be from a family of colorful storytellers.

So far most of my novels have been romance or women’s fiction. I have always read and loved romance novels. I love to read these stories and about relationships. When I was in college I discovered stories about contemporary women and the issues they faced. I write both.

As a writer it’s hard to name one person. As I said my family has most influenced me because my relatives on both sides are wonderful at spinning stories. I loved listening to them. As a toddler I discovered the joy of books. I would have to say my family influenced first and foremost, next the people in my community.

Among the writers you read, who would you say has had the greatest influence on you?

Agatha Christie, Maya Angelou, Ernest Gaines and Langston Hughes.

How have your personal experiences influenced the direction of your writing?

I’ve always been very curious so watching the mini-dramas around me as a child fired my imagination. There is at least one event from my past that has inspired each one of my novels. Not that these were things that happened to me, but started the “What if” process in my writer’s brain. Watching how relationships are formed, change and sadly sometimes broken has had a great impact on the kind of stories I tell. I'm not just talking about male/female romantic relationships, but family ties, friends and even the ties between enemies.

What are your main concerns as a writer?

Getting it right. My biggest concern is to not just be accurate in research but to make a story and its characters come alive for readers.

Next comes my effort to let the world know about my stories and finding time to promote or market my writing. In this information age with so many information outlets competing for our attention, not to mention the sheer number of books available, it’s a tough job.

Publishing is a contact sport. Staying published is difficult because sales of books decrease while the number of books on sale increase. It is hard for authors to stay in the marketplace and keep sales up so that publishers keep buying. Authors have to face a lot from reviewers, editors and more. Tough business all the way around.

How do you deal with these challenges?

I tend to rely a lot on using the Internet, my websites. I also try to network as much as possible. Still I try to keep in mind that the writing must be served. That is I can’t get too distracted or exhausted to create the best books I can. To stay fresh I take time out to rest and regenerate.

This article is scheduled to appear on Blogcritics.org.

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[Interview] Allen Ashley

Allen Ashley has worked as a performance poet, a singer/songwriter, music critic, football journalist and book editor. In addition to this, he is the author of two non-fiction books: The Golden Void -- Hawkwind 1970-1975 (Hawkfrendz, 1991), a chapbook of music criticism, and The Days of the Dodo (Dodo London Press, 2006), a collection of cultural commentary articles that first appeared in The Third Alternative between 1999 and 2005.

His short stories have been published in over 40 literary magazines, among them Interzone, The Third Alternative, Postscripts and Prism. They have also been featured in around 10 anthologies that include Triquorum One (Pendragon Press, 2006); Poe’s Progeny (Gray Friar Press, 2005) and New Wave of Speculative Fiction (Crowswing Books, 2005).

His debut novel, The Planet Suite (TTA Press, 1997) was followed by two collections of short stories, Somnambulists (Elastic Press, 2004) and Urban Fantastic (Crowswing Books, 2006).

In a recent interview, Allen Ashley spoke about his writing.

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

I would have to say receiving the 2006 British Fantasy Society “Best Anthology” Award for The Elastic Book Of Numbers (Elastic Press, 2005) is the best moment of my writing career so far. After 24 years as a published author, I felt I fully deserved this recognition … and I celebrated accordingly.

What is The Elastic Book of Numbers?

It’s an anthology of brand new stories all based around the theme of numbers. This concept, I believe, had never been done before.

Sitting in the editorial chair for The Elastic Book Of Numbers was obviously a somewhat different experience to writing one’s own collection. Editing can be very frustrating -- for quite a long time I was worried that the book wasn’t going to work because I wasn’t receiving enough material that fit the book’s parameters and was of the required quality. There’s so much more to editing than simply compiling and arranging.

I’m as proud of The Elastic Book Of Numbers as any of my other books because of the huge amount of work I put into its success.

What are your latest books about?

My two other recent books are both collections of short stories. Somnambulists (Elastic Press, 2004) collects 16 of my best stories which have been described as “borderline science fiction”, “Slipstream”, “urban fantasy”, “psychological horror”, “Twilight Zone”.

My very latest book is a second collection of my short stories -- Urban Fantastic (Crowswing Books, 2006). 21 stories this time, including my very first ever publication plus seven pieces brand new to the collection.

How long did it take you to write them?

I’d been touting a collection of short fiction for several years before Andrew Hook at Elastic published Somnambulists. The stories spanned about 14 years. The time span for Urban Fantastic, which took in my first success, “Dead To The World” from 1982, was even longer. Whereas the turn-around with my novel The Planet Suite from conception to publication was more like three years.

Which aspects of the work that you put into the books did you find most difficult? And which did you enjoy most?

Every aspect of writing and getting published involves several layers of difficulty. Having consistent concerns or over-riding themes and yet not repeating oneself is a major challenge in the actual writing. Making the slightly fantastic or unusual convincing is another big concern. Maintaining a story’s internal logic is hugely important to me -- speaking as an editor, I feel it’s where a lot of novice authors fall down. If you contradict the premise of your piece, you’ve lost your reader’s suspension of disbelief and you’ve totally blown it.

As for the business of getting published: that can often be more tiresome and troublesome than creating your story in the first place. Every author of any longevity has plenty of shaggy dog tales about magazines going bust just before your opus was about to see print, books being accepted and never published, editors never replying even after 24 months, and so on. The advice I would offer is to persevere and to research your markets properly. This latter means buying magazines you want to be published in and books from publishers you want to be published by. And read their guidelines thoroughly. You’d be amazed how many people send poetry collections to publishers whose output is strictly novels.

I enjoy every aspect of writing and editing, dealing with editors, publishers, readers, other authors, artists, agents, etc. I love meeting and talking with people at conventions and writers’ gatherings; writing to and emailing people; reading new work and so on. It really annoys me when I read interviews with professional writers who complain about their lot or who claim to hate the business of writing. Yes, of course, on many levels it’s work, tough work at that, but if you don’t like the profession, pal, then push off out of the way and let the real writers through.

What are the biggest challenges that you face? And, how do you deal with these?

Every new story is a challenge. Seriously. There’s the story as it nebulously exists inside my head and there’s the best version of a compromise that eventually appears on paper or screen.

Then once that’s done, placing the story and getting it published is all part of the process. You have to learn to sell yourself and your work, even shamelessly sometimes.

However, I always caution aspiring writers that very few authors make an actual proper living solely from writing. I certainly don’t. Unless you’re J. K. Rowling or Dan Brown, you might do well and sell a short story for GBP 100 and a novel for an advance of, say, GBP 3000 to GBP 10,000. That’s all a great and just reward, of course, but -- well, a hundred quid will pay your gas bill for the quarter. Three grand? Three months rent or five months mortgage. Ten thousand? Britain is an expensive place to live and unless you’re holed up in a beach hut and not registered for council tax, at that rate, you’d have to write and sell two or three books every year to feed, clothe and shelter yourself. It ain’t gonna happen. Most writers -- i.e. those who are not household names -- have to supplement their income by teaching, lecturing, journalism, reviewing, temporary jobs … whatever comes along.

In a moment of self-realisation -- if that's doesn't sound too poncey -- I asked myself the question Kurt Vonnegut posed, which is, "Who are you writing for?" I eventually decided that I was actually writing to impress my 14-year-old self, writing the sort of exciting, innovative New Wave influenced work that I simply lapped up when I had the time and energy to read 150 books a year!

Going back to my earlier point about finances, I also made the compromise many years ago that I would “keep up the day job”. The beauty of this is that because I’m not relying on selling any given story for a four or five figure sum, I can experiment and write what I would like to read, not what a certain publisher demands … and not the same old tired Tolkien copy or Stephen King rip-off that Johnny Hack is churning out.

This is not to in any way suggest a lack of ambition on my part. I want to gather as many readers as possible. But I must stay true to my internal voice. Kafka did so. Enough said.

What are your main concerns as a writer?

On the technical side -- developing and maintaining an individual voice. I don’t want to sound like anybody other than Allen Ashley. All the great writers are recognisable even without their name on the page; that’s the height I’m aiming for, too.

Thematically -- The individual and his/her struggles to survive in an increasingly homogenised society. Identity/loss of. Lack of control over one’s own destiny. Notions of reality/fantasy/dream/alternate worlds. Conjectures on the formation of the universe, evolution, creation, prehistory, and archetypes. Myths, fairy tales, urban myths. Love and death. I hope that covers it.

In the writing that you are doing, who would you say has influenced you the most?

People see certain influences in my work -- Jorge Luis Borges, William Burroughs, Kurt Vonnegut, Michael Moorcock, Philip K. Dick, the “space poet” Robert Calvert -- but if I had to name just one author, it would be J. G. Ballard. Ballard has cast a spell on a whole generation of British writers such as Will Self … and my self!

When did you decide you wanted to be a writer?

It’s the old cliché, but I’ve always written, even as a primary school child. Writing is what I always intended to do.

How have your personal experiences influenced the direction of your writing?

Oh God, there’s a lot of my own life in what I write. For example, I was unemployed and seriously poor for a few years and that never leaves me -- so, often my lead characters are coping with suddenly losing things that they and other people mostly take for granted.

On the other hand, in a story such “There is nothing left to write” from my collection Urban Fantastic (Crowswing Books, 2006) even though I actually appear as a character right near the end, the main protagonist “Jessica Stone” was completely made up. However, some reviewers and readers have totally believed in her as a “real” person. That’s quite flattering. The fabulous Welsh author Rhys Hughes once wrote, “Ashley is a master of character”. I’d certainly like to live up to such praise.

What will your next book be about?

I’ve got several books on the horizon. There’s Slow Motion Wars, under consideration by Screaming Dreams Press for publication later this year, which is a collection of collaborative stories written with Andrew Hook. There’s an updated version of my novel The Planet Suite, also due this year. I’m negotiating with a publisher regarding another novel and a couple of novellas. I will also be undertaking another editorial project for Elastic Press. This is “an open secret”, details of which will be confirmed around about June -- so don't send me anything yet! That book is likely to see print in 2008.

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This article has also been featured on OhmyNews International

[Interview_1] Magdalena Ball

Australian writer, Magdalena Ball is the author of a non-fiction book, two poetry chapbooks and a novel.

Her first published work, The Art of Assessment: How to Review Anything (Mountain Mist Productions, 2003) is a guide to the review process and covers topics that range from how to write good reviews, how to use interviews to add depth to reviews, and how to market reviews.

The Art of Assessment was followed by two poetry chapbooks, Quark Soup, (Picaro Press, 2006) and Cherished Pulse (Picaro Press, 2006) which she wrote in collaboration with Carolyn Howard-Johnson.

Her first novel, Sleep Before Evening was published by BeWrite Books in July 2007.

In a recent interview, Magdalena Ball spoke about her writing.

When did you decide you wanted to be a writer?

For as long as I've been able to read, I've wanted to make my own stories with words. Reading and writing to me have always been linked activities, joined at the cusp of a love of language. But there was a point when, at university, I had to choose between the world of literary criticism (studying literature) or creative writing (making literature) and for reasons I can't remember, I chose the criticism path. Perhaps it seemed more rigorous to me then, or perhaps I felt that I could come back to writing later.

However, while studying for my DPhil, it soon became clear to me that the concepts I wanted to explore were not academic ones, but rather metaphoric ones -- ideas that needed the language and structure of poetry and fiction (and in fact my supervisor made a point of telling me that I used 'too many metaphors' in my papers). So I guess you could say the sense of myself as a writer happened sometime after I walked away from the doctorate and began writing stories. That's a fuzzy line and it took me quite a while after stopping the study to go back to books -- maybe eight years or so -- and then I began by returning to criticism/reviewing, and slowly started again with stories, poetry and finally the novel.

So, let's say around 10 years ago what was a vague nag became a serious hobby, which is only now starting to look more like a career. But there never was a point for me, from my earliest memories, where words weren't dear and trying to get at the heart of what I wanted to say -- to go a little deeper -- wasn't something that I was aiming at. And I'll always see my love of reading and love of writing as intricately linked.

How would you describe the writing that you are doing now?

My big long term projects are novels. My first one, Sleep Before Evening, has just been released and I'm currently in the process of working on two more of them -- a tree-change novel that moves between corporate Australia and rural Tasmania, and a second one set in the Catskill 'Borscht Belt' of New York, 1942.

Just yesterday though, someone I've known for sometime told me she was the great grandaughter of Goethe, and after listening to her talk about her life for an hour or so I'm thinking there might well be another novel there -- The Daughters of Goethe -- so which one will come next may depend on the the muse!

I'm also always writing poetry, a form that comes naturally to me and is quite relaxing (novel writing is anything but relaxing -- I find it extremely challenging, but at the end of the day, there's nothing quite like holding a whole world that you've created in your hand), stories for various competitions or events, and am also writing lots of reviews, guest blogs, articles and editorial.

I like to keep things reasonably varied!

Who is your target audience?

I'd never knock back a reader, and occasionally I have to admit to being surprised at who has read and enjoyed my work. But while I'm writing I usually think of my ideal reader as being someone with similar tastes to me -- a literary fiction lover -- the kind of person who always has a book on the go, enjoys books that are complex with heady themes, and challenging but still entertaining and fast paced. One of my regular Compulsive Reader visitors or almost any of my newsletter subscribers.

So I write for someone similar in tastes to me (it's probably fair to say that most writers do that). That said, if someone with entirely different tastes or someone who normally doesn't read much comes across Sleep Before Evening and finds it meaningful and enjoyable, that's kind of an extra bonus -- because I've not only reached a new reader, I've perhaps opened a door for someone.

What motivated you to start writing in this genre?

Literary fiction is the genre I read most, so it's how I think and the way I want to create. I'm not sure I'd be comfortable writing in any other fictional genre, since I rarely read other genres.

Why novels? I guess because it has always seemed to me like the pinnacle of writing -- the hardest, longest, most complete form. That isn't to knock other forms -- I love the short story, the poem (and have read some astonishingly good verse novels recently), and nonfiction, but because there's nothing that gives me the same pleasure as getting lost in a novel, that's where I see my biggest projects happening.

Who would you say has influenced you the most?

In terms of my self-perception, that would probably be my rather artistic family, who have always encouraged me in that direction.

In terms of authors, I read so widely that influences are probably everywhere. It's probably fair to say that James Joyce has had a huge influence on me, and I'm not sure anyone else ever has been able to do the things with language that he did. In some ways, Sleep Before Evening is a kind of female version of the ultimate Bildungsroman, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. If I ever run out of inspiration I only need to look into Ulysses and I instantly want to write again and am full of ideas.

But there are many others -- from Tim Winton to Peter Carey, [Margaret] Atwood, [Julian] Barnes, [Umberto] Eco, [Virginia] Woolf. I could probably make a ten page list and still miss some.

How have your personal experiences influenced the direction of your writing?

Despite my regular assertions that there are few biographical elements in my fiction, I have to admit that I use everything around me in my writing. The birth of my children, for example, had a profound effect on my writing, inspiring most of my poetry book Quark Soup, and also influencing the major themes underlying Sleep Before Evening.

Almost everything I've experienced, perceived and seen is useful in my work. Even something as simple as hearing my son play piano will appear in the writing I'm doing at the time. I use everything.

What are your main concerns as a writer?

Character comes quite naturally to me, but as a writer, I'm always struggling to produce a strong, compelling plot with the right amount of beats, and to create a setting which is both vibrant and still natural, sitting behind and supporting character. To deal with what I see as my own weakness (and I have to admit that I've always been good with remembering and connecting with people but there are times when I'm sure I have no idea at all where I am -- so true of fiction, true of life!) I outline, plot, make maps and time lines to try and keep everything ordered and structured within the chaos that I put my characters through.

What would you say are the biggest challenges that you face?

I think it's probably the same answer you'll get from almost any modern author (or person). Time. I have so many different hats and finding the time to put in the hours required to produce work is always challenging.

I'm not sure I'd be happy just writing, as I often find inspiration from everything else that I'm doing, but nevertheless finding the time to write all the things I want to write in any particular day along with meeting the needs of my family, a day job, promoting my existing novel, and all sorts of little things like volunteer work at the school, or having a cup of coffee with a needy friend, can be tricky.

How do you deal with these challenges?

I try to schedule in the writing time. Especially writing time for those non-urgent but important things like writing the novel. I use a diary and basic time management principles like chunking and planning the work quite carefully. This way every minute I spend writing is fruitful and I don't waste time faffing around wondering what to do next.

Do you write everyday?

I do write everyday, and try to work on the novel a little each day. I will open my key work at the start of each day but I can’t really commit to any particular amount of time. I’ll usually start by beginning to do some research and setting everything up, and then will just write until I get interrupted by some other job, and then come back to it and then get interrupted and so on! It usually ends when I realize I can’t do anymore today and it’s time to close down the PC.

What is your latest book about?

Sleep Before Evening tells the story of the teenager's struggle against a self-centered artist mother, a succession of drive-by stepfathers, her desperate escape into a nightmare of drugs and sexual degradation... and her struggle not to Sleep Before Evening.

How long did it take you to write the novel?

It took about six years from concept to creation, but like any first novel, was nagging me in an inchoate form for many many years prior to that. It was published this July in the U.K. by BeWrite Books.

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

As I mentioned earlier I found getting the setting, and time frame perfect a challenge and had to do a lot of time-lining, plotting and even made a large scale map so I could trace specific walks in specific locations. I knew that if I got it wrong, someone who knew those real areas would pick me up on it very quickly (and indeed some of my wonderful early readers did).

I also had to do quite a lot of research on the drug addiction aspects, since, although I’ve had some experience by proximity, I haven’t been through this kind of addiction (I’m happy to say) myself. So I needed to virtually enter the clinics, take myself through the desperation and difficult elements of recovery that my character went through. Again, I dealt with this by extensive research, reading lots of firsthand accounts and talking to recovered addicts.

Which did you enjoy most?

I found it quite easy to get into the mind of my protagonist. I’m a character person -- I’ve always enjoyed talking to people and, I guess, imagining their lives -- so getting under the skin of my characters and imagining their inner worlds came naturally to me.

What sets the book apart from the other things you have written?

It’s much bigger in scale and scope than anything I’ve ever done before. This is my first novel, and the learning curve to sustain the work and create such a big complete universe was steep.

In what way is it similar?

I have a kind of poetic sensibility, I think, and many of the themes and perhaps the use of language is something that could be identified in my poetry books, my short stories and even some of my nonfiction. There are many threads and themes in this book that have formed the basis for lots of my other work.

How did you chose a publisher for the book?

I knew that I wanted a small, attentive publisher -- someone who had a strong reputation for high quality books and rigorous editing, and BeWrite came to me very highly recommended by other authors. My experience with them has been exactly that -- they're small, very warm and attentive (I definitely have that sense of being partners in the success of my book -- both in terms of its literary success and its commercial success).

What other advantages and/or disadvantages has this presented?

Because I'm in Australia I have had to struggle a little with the fact that the book isn't distributed locally -- many of the people here who know me have been a little reluctant to order from overseas (though the ones who have have received the book quickly without any difficulties).

Getting the books on the shelves in Angus & Robertson and even in online bookstores has been a bit of a drama. But overall it's a minor problem, since again, ordering the book from overseas hasn't been a big problem.

How are you dealing with these?

I've done an awful lot of nagging! I've phoned A&R daily for a while, and just kept at it, visiting bookstores, speaking to managers, and so on. I've even called people's local shops to talk the owners through buying a copy.

What will your next book be about?

I'm working on Black Cow (working title -- it may well change, though I'm rather attached to it at the moment) -- a story set between Sydney's ritzy Double Bay/corporate Australia and rural Tasmania.

The key protagonist is a Chief Executive Office in a large multinational corporation and is very stressed. When a threatened heart attack forces him to take bedrest, he begins to imagine a very different kind of life as a self-sufficeint farmer. Of course self-sufficiency isn't exactly a soft option and there are plenty of un-expected stresses as the family goes through the change. This is a tree-change story -- something like Dilbert meets The Good Life.

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

I have to say that the first novel is definitely my most significant piece of work so far -- just completing it and then getting it polished to the point of publishability has been a dream of mine for many years. I now feel almost qualified to actually call myself a writer and not feel like a sham!

How did you get there?

Slowly -- like the Tortoise! I planned it and plotted it and cut it into pieces and worked on it in little bits and pieces as I could fit it secretly into my busy life until it began to take on enough structure to have its own gravity and forward force. That's the only way to get anywhere I think! I can't afford large chunks of time with three young children and a million other priorities, so I have to rely on a ridiculous, almost Pollyanna like tenacity (I have lots of it) coupled with patience (something I don't have much of) and a good clear path forward (which I make and remake as I go along). Works for me.

This article was first published by OhmyNews International.

[Interview] Rae Lindley

Rae Lindley was born in Torrance , California. Her articles and short stories have appeared in publications that include Suite101; The Acacia; The Post and Deep Tapioca.

She has also written for speculative fiction ezines like Lunar Castles; Nightly Gathering; Dark Moon Rising and Comic Stack.

In 2004, her film-script, "Hotel Sunset" received an honorable mention in the Television/Movie Script category of the 73rd Writer’s Digest Annual Writing Competition. Two years later, Quack, Quack, a short animated film that Lindley helped create and art direct went on to win the Copper Wing Audience Award at the Phoenix Film Festival.

Her books include a novella, The Eye of Alloria (Lavender Isis Press, 2007) and the novel, Cimmerian City, which is due to be released by Mundania Press in late August 2007.

In a recent interview, Rae Lindley spoke about her writing.

How would you describe the genre in which you do most of your writing?

Speculative fiction, which most would identify as sci-fi/fantasy. Most of my works deal with today’s social issues in a futuristic or otherworldly setting.

I grew up on sci-fi television, movies and books and what always fascinated me about the genre is the way social commentary can be given in such diverse settings. Of course, I loved the cool futuristic cars, cities and technology but the ones that always had an underlying story about humanity, alongside the cool-looking technology, really stuck with me and inspired me in presenting my own story lines in such settings.

Which of these movies and TV programs did you find particularly inspiring?

I was really into the Doctor Who series, Invaders, U.F.O., Star Trek (the original series), Robotech, Battlestar Galactica (the original 70s version), Space: 1999 and a whole lot of others.

Movies that I really enjoyed were Star Wars, the Star Trek movies, Alien and Aliens, War of the Worlds, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Independence Day, Blade Runner and others. I loved reading the novelizations of the movies I watched so I could get a complete idea of the story structure in the narrative as well as the visual form. There are probably others I’m missing but it would turn into a novelization itself if I listed all of them!

I’ve always been an avid film lover. So much, in fact, that starting at the age of 12, I dreamed of becoming a filmmaker.

What happened to this dream?

It’s still there on the back burner. I think I’m taking baby steps and focusing on one aspect of my career at a time. I did come close by creating animated films, so I was in the director’s seat for a while. I quench my thirst for visual storytelling with illustrations from time to time.

Writing is a lot like that and possibly even more imaginative than film because you’re presenting a world with your own characters that live, breathe and interact among one another in your head and eventually in the heads of your readers. The speculative genre allows you to take it a step further in creating completely different worlds, some bad and some good, where your characters can rise above the everyday situation, possibly have wondrous supernatural powers and become heroes or villains!

When did you decide you wanted to be a writer?

It’s strange, I don’t really remember a defining moment where I went to my parents or anything and told them I wanted to write for a living. It was just something I did that was a part of me. Even at school, I used to write stories while the teacher was talking and pass them on to my classmates who would give me feedback on what they thought.

During my Anne Rice ‘vampire fan stage’, I was really into Gothic horror and I wrote a few stories that are still sitting in my old notebooks from middle school and high school. I remember I scared a few of my classmates with some of those stories!

In the writing that you are doing, who would you say has influenced you the most?

Definitely my mother and father.

My mother in that she continued pursuing her education after raising two children to adulthood and my father in that he continually struggled against hardships to travel and keep us going.

My mother is currently studying law in an effort to give children a voice in the justice system as well as us writers in the family who need a little extra legal guidance. My father works as a contractor, so he goes where the technical jobs need him, traveling from coast to coast, at times. At the same time, he’s also working on a few technical books on space travel, scientific proof of higher life and artificial intelligence -- so both of them are real inspirations to me in how they can juggle so much and still hold on to their passions.

My father has also been a big inspiration because he was a science fiction fan from a very young age.

How have your personal experiences influenced the direction of your writing?

I’d say it's one part experience, two parts emotion and a sprinkle of ‘what if’.

Many of my stories are inspired by current and past news events in the world and some personal experiences that have happened to me that usually transpire through my characters and their actions. If I feel passionately about how people are mistreated, I give them a voice through my characters to speak out and change the situation into a better one.

Who is your target audience?

I usually target my fellow paranormal, science fiction and fantasy fans at the same time aiming for the romance audience.

You’re probably thinking this is a bit strange! But I think reaching beyond genres and touching aspects of each in a story can affect even the most casual reader. Not to mention the fact that most of the great science fiction stories of our time include fantastic love stories as subplots. For example, Isaac Asimov’s The End of Eternity features a love story integral to the plot in a futuristic context.

What’s also interesting is, while most of the classic science fiction works had allusions to relationships, recently a new genre, romantic science fiction, is being exercised in the works of Linnea Sinclair and Susan Grant, among others.

What are your main concerns as a writer?

I would have to say my concerns are whether or not my characters are believable enough in their actions and dialogue.

When I write, it’s not really a conscience procedure. I find it hard to sit down and make a character profile, structure out the plot in an outline and then start writing. I tried that in my early days of writing and by the time I got through planning, the story was already told and the mystery was gone.

Now, I have an idea of what my characters are like as well as the plot when I start the book, but I discover what happens as the story unfolds and the characters act out the situations in my head. So a lot of times things happen that I didn’t even see coming. It’s fun to let the characters do what they want. It’s more like dreaming and recording what the characters are saying and doing.

Script Magazine featured an article by Robert Piluso about wakeful writing which I found to be very identifiable. Piluso said, “... this particular passion (in his case, screenwriting) must be providing some spiritual, emotional, and/or psychological release not ascertainable in our regular life.” So in a way, wakeful writing is like living out a dream state within the pages, which for me is true since I sit back and allow my characters to act out in my writing. I think for many writers we have this urge to tell fantastical stories that make life interesting and quench that creative thirst that’s always running around in our heads.

What are the biggest challenges that you face?

Book promotion by far! Until I had to dive head first into it, I didn’t realize how much it took to spread the word about your work. Not just time and energy, but also in terms of passion. Aside from that, I’d say finding time to create new works alongside running a business.

I work at Lavender Isis Publishing, an e-publishing company... so I straddle both sides of the industry being a publisher as well as a writer. Also, I have my own freelance work where I create promotional items for self-published and small press authors who need that extra boost in getting the word out about their work.

How do you deal with these challenges?

I like to go where the readers are and let them know about my new writing works. So, be it online or people I met out and about who enjoy reading, I try to let them know that I have a book that may interest them and try to give them some cool promotional items that I create myself. It’s been hard sometimes because I have to juggle writing and the business side which can clash into each other and completely tire me out! But I just take a few days off then hop on my train again to keep going.

I usually designate time to balance both. I’m such a night owl and my most creative side comes out in the late night hours. So usually I set aside a day of the weekend or an evening in order to write and rewrite because it’s so peaceful and I can hear my characters more clearly without the hustle and bustle of the daytime noise.

Do you write everyday?

I try to! (Laughs.) Lately, my writing times have been pretty sporadic. I had to take a bit of time off in between finishing my previous book and the other to give my mind a break. So I edited some of my short stories, wrote a poem (a medium I hadn’t written in for a while) and now I’m starting to dive into another novel that is more contemporary. Sometimes it helps to do other activities completely absent of writing to let the brain rest a bit then come back fresh to tell a new story.

When I do write I usually go in streaks of about four to six hours at a time. It usually happens during certain times of the week towards the night hours, especially if I’m really trying to tackle a piece. If I’m between projects, I end up writing about once a week.

My typical sessions usually start after my mind is percolating a bit usually in the evening because I tend to write best at night. I usually read news, or check my writing blogs and message boards throughout the day while thinking of the next part in my current story. I don’t usually write on the computer, unless it’s something I have to get down right at that moment. Typically, I take a large stack of notebook paper strapped to my clipboard and plop down in front of a movie that fits in with the mood of the story I’m telling at the time. The marriage of the visual and the narrative brings out the story in my mind and onto the page. It’s usually hard to start the session. I’m a master procrastinator! But when I get started, I’m completely on a roll. I usually try to finish a chapter per writing session or at least stop at a place where the scene ends and my mind can let go of the story. Otherwise, the characters and plot keep me distracted from other things!

Why is it important to write everyday?

You have to treat it as a serious job where you set aside some time everyday to hone your craft. It takes a lot of discipline to sit down in front of a computer and hammer away at a novel or a short story, but the more you do it the better you get at it.

How many books have you written so far?

I’ve written three novels and a few short stories.

The Eye of Alloria, an illustrated novella published by Lavender Isis Press was released in March in e-book and print format. It centers on a post-apocalyptic Earth where Saron Bravewind, the King of Orland, rules the main Earth city of Orland. Saron mans a flight into space with a faith in finding a higher life to help his daughter who has fallen ill. What he finds will change the fate of mankind. Fans of elves, the mystical and romantic triangles will like this story.

Cimmerian City, on the other hand,is a science fiction thriller set in a future not far from our time. It's a world where corporations rule the world, science is big business and governments as we know them no longer exist. A war breaks out between two races and one of them isn’t human. Raven Blackheart awakens in this world as a product of both races and nurtured by the vice president of the main corporation as a symbol of the union of races. With her help, Vice President Tyler Deamond's corporation can take both beings off Earth, which is quickly becoming a waste planet, to a new terraformed planet. But... as Raven soon learns... nothing is as it seems, especially concerning humans. I think fans of thrillers, the paranormal, and science fiction would enjoy this book. I tried to offer an alternative take using the myths of vampire tradition in a realistic setting dealing with racial and class issues.

The latest book is actually the sequel to Cimmerian City entitled Cimmerian World which I’ve recently finished editing.

How did Cimmerian City come about?

I started Cimmerian City in 1999 during my high school English class where we were studying Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. I still remember that day. I was doodling the idea for the story on a notepaper and from then on the story went through many incarnations, different ideas and mediums until I finally wrote it all out in novel format in 2004.

Although Cimmerian World took about a year to write and a little longer to edit, it took a lot more out of me.

What did you find most difficult when you were writing the novel?

Definitely the obstacles I’ve put my heroine through. Along with the usual external plot points and hurdles to jump through trying to save the planet, my heroine also has to learn to trust those who want to help her. She has an affinity to close herself off because of the people she's lost during her life. That transition into adulthood, the trials she goes through to come of age and stop the antagonist took a toll on me mentally because it was as if I was experiencing the same situation.

Which did you enjoy most?

With both books, I enjoyed building the personal connections between the characters. Seeing them interact in the environment, develop romantic feelings for each other and overcome so much that it's a relief at the end when the payoff finally occurs!

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

The tone is the darkest of all my works. I also consider the heroine of the Cimmerian books my alter ego and her story has been with me for a good chunk of my life. So of all of my books, this particular set of stories would be my labor of love.

In what way is it similar?

I like to write about seemingly ordinary characters thrown into extraordinary circumstances with an extensive amount of odds against them and see how they overcome these. Some of my stories deal with the everyday but the characters take various, out of the ordinary, actions to try and change it. Sometimes it turns out well for them, but other times they fall into traps.

What will your next book be about?

I have a few stories that I’m writing at the moment along with Cimmerian Girl, the third book in the Cimmerian Series.

I’m also working on a new illustrated novella, Marauder Star; a suspense novel entitled Before Dawn Breaks; a few short stories about how a married couple (two different sets in different stories) working in the entertainment business deal with corruption, infidelity and murder; and some screenplays I’m adapting into literature.

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

It would have to be the acceptance of my first book to be published, Cimmerian City, which is the book that's closest to me. It still hasn’t entirely hit me yet!

How did you get there?

Persistence, plenty of writing and rewriting and tweaking. Receiving lots of good feedback on the direction of the work and just believing in it enough to keep pushing it out there.

This interview was first published by OhmyNews International.

'Diary of an Asylum Seeker': Anatomy of A Work In Progress

I’ve taken a leaf off George Bernard Shaw’s book and have written a very long introduction to my work in progress, the Diary of an Asylum Seeker.

The introduction is really a ‘back story’ in that it shows part of how the Diary came about; it shows part of how I’ve been working on the Diary and it shows part of the reception the Diary has received so far.

I started working on what is becoming the Diary of an Asylum Seeker in late 2004 or early 2005 after coming into contact with the Assist Service, a medical practice which provides specialized primary health care for asylum seekers in Leicester. There, one of the people I was and still am in dialogue with is Jan Moore, the practice therapist, who suggested that I keep a diary. Which I did. For about a week or two.

I wish I’d kept the diary more religiously. I wish I’d kept it like medicine. I didn’t. I tell myself that the reason for this was because, soon afterwards, I started writing a lot about asylum seekers, about who they are, about the pressures that force them to leave home and country, about the countries they claim asylum in and the reception they receive in those countries. Some these articles have been published in places that include UK Indymedia, Worldpress.org, OhmyNews International, Labour Left Briefing and the British Journal of Occupational Therapy.

In both the fiction and non-fiction writing that I do, each time I focus on a subject, I do a lot of reading around it and I make extensive notes on it. In some cases, the subject dominates or takes over and I start living for it. Writing about the subject becomes the reason why I’m here, it becomes the reason why I’m alive. It becomes difficult to stop thinking about it and I start talking about it incessantly. Aspects of the subject also invade my dreams when I sleep and I start living them intensely that way. Because of this, the diary became a journal and then it became a notebook on asylum seekers and aspects of the immigration and asylum system and then it became a journal and then it became a diary. And then I thought, “Instead of writing newsy stuff about all this, why not a short story or a novel that will focus of a day, a week, a month or a year in the life of an asylum seeker?”

The Diary of an Asylum Seeker was born out of these questions.

While I can’t think of a novel focusing on the life of an asylum seeker or a group of asylum seekers, that’s been written in the form of a diary, I’m aware that there’s a body of work out there which, each in its own way, sheds light on how dehumanizing the asylum process can be. One of these works is the highly original and influential play, The Bogus Woman by Kay Adshead. Another is the novel, Refugee Boy by the indefatigable Benjamin Zephaniah.

The Diary of an Asylum Seeker is a work in progress. I intend to push the narrative as hard as I can and see if I can’t turn it into a novel.

Because it’s a work in progress, it’s not static: a sentence will change, here, and another one will change, there; paragraphs will be added, others will be moved; new entries will be made while other entries will be removed… such is the life of a work in progress.

If I manage to pull it off, I think the Diary will be a double-first in Zimbabwean literature. It’s already the first attempt at a novel in the form of a blog by a Zimbabwean writer. If I pull it off, it’ll be the first such novel by a Zimbabwean writer.

Even though it’s a work in progress, the Diary has been well received.

Its very first version received a commendation in the 2005 Leicester and Leicestershire Library Services Annual Short Story Contest. A year later, a slightly different version was published on both the U.S.-based Glimpse Abroad website and in the Glimpse Foundation’s quarterly magazine. This year, extracts from the Diary were published in the second issue of Tripod Magazine. Another extract, "Living on Promises and Credit" (which was written in 2002 and which I intend to integrate into the Diary) was published in Writing Now: More Stories from Zimbabwe (Weaver Press, 2005).

I’ve also received some very interesting and encouraging comments from some of the world’s finest writers. For example, Maurice Suckling, the versatile computer games scriptwriter and author of the collection of short stories, Photocopies of Heaven (Elastic Press, 2006) said, “Crickey… That’s pretty [fill in appropriate adjective here, since I don’t know how to sum that up in one word].

“When do you think this novel might be finished?”

H. Nigel Thomas, author of the critically acclaimed collection of short stories, Spirits in the Dark (House of Anansi Press, 1993) and Why We Write: Conversations with African Canadian Poets and Novelists (TSAR Publications, 2006) said, “The writing is forceful. It takes skill and experience, I think, to produce excellent fiction using the epistolary mode, and the excerpts you posted attest to this.”

Gordon Hauptfleisch, in his review of Writing Now: More Stories from Zimbabwe, described “Living on Promises and Credit” as “earnest and affecting.”

To go back to Maurice Suckling’s question -- I have every intention of finishing the novel.

Although I haven’t been updating the version of the Diary which appears on the blog, Immigrant Diaries, I’ve been working on it in earnest since about February of this year. In April, the winds rose and it’s been taking a lot of energy to just stay on my feet. When the winds settle down, as they are bound to, the novel should start moving more markedly. Until them, I’ll continue doing what I always do… my best. The material is there in my own life and in the lives of the asylum seekers I’m in contact with. The challenge is to see if I can tell this story in 50,000 words or more and still be able to hold the reader’s attention right through to the end.

This article was first published by Blogcritics.org.

[Interview] Rose Paisley

Rose Paisley grew up in a small town in the Amish Country of Mifflin County, Pennsylvania. She subsequently moved to Harrisburg where she went to college when she was in her forties, and graduated with a degree in Criminal Justice and Psychology.

She has worked as a waitress, a truck driver and as an electronics technician building speakers. She currently owns and publishes Romance at Heart Magazine, an online magazine as well as Romance At Heart Publications, a small publishing company that puts out about 12 e-books a year from selected authors.

One of her own stories, A Wild Love: Escape was published by Lavender Isis Press in March 2007.

In a recent interview, she spoke about her writing.

When did you decide you wanted to be a writer?

Actually, I didn’t decide to be a writer. It was decided for me in that I took the dare of two long time friends, Carole and Kate. They dared me to submit something because they said my writing was good enough to be published. I didn't react to the dare at first, then I stumbled onto the Lavender Isis Press and their short story contest. A Wild Love: Escape was long enough, so I thought, "O.K., I will prove those two wrong!"

I have played around with stories, but never consider myself as a serious writer, it was an accident... That is my story, and I am sticking to it with a vengeance.

How would you describe the genre in which you do most of your writing?

Paranormal Fantasy. I love outlandish scenes, settings, characters with grit, shape shifters etc. so I try to create my own versions of them for my own pleasure.

Who is your target audience?

In the past, before I thought of being published, I wrote for myself and a few friends... I guess now a target audience would be those who read paranormal romances.

What motivated you to start writing in this genre?

My love for authors like Christine Feehan, Ronda Thompson, Amanda Ashley, Cathy Spangler, Susan Grant, Susan Squires, and then Sherrilyn Kenyon, when she came along.

I did a fan fiction on an ezboard site dedicated to Christine Feehan. It took me ages to get it done. Then, I was prodded every step of the way by readers on the board. They got lucky I think. I have trouble stringing more than 10,000 words together in a coherent way.

I do not have a link to the piece I wrote... It was done years ago and I think it is long gone from the site. It was called "Of Darkness and Light" and needs a good editor! (Laughs out loud!)

Who would you say has influenced you the most?

Christine Feehan… her stories make me laugh, cry, rage, and root for her characters with abandon. Ronda Thompson… she has a wicked sense of what could be, what has been, and writes vibrantly. Amanda Ashley… she brings the dark side close to home, yet allows us to believe in their future. Cathy Spangler…who has a delightful imagination of the future and shares it willingly. Anne McCaffery… she showed me you can step out of the bounds of the “real” and create it yourself. R. Casteel, Carole Ann Lee, and S. L. Carpenter for also having faith and guiding me.

What would you say are your main concerns as a writer?

(Laughs out loud.) You are taking it for granted I am a writer. If I really was, my concern would be that my books would tempt and tantalize the reader's imagination, and the characters and their problems would truly “live” in their minds as they read about them.

To me, a writer is generally someone who is talented enough to carry off the story and the characters in such a way that the reader can get lost in the action, and can almost "see" the story as it unfolds. I think a writer has to be pretty dedicated to the story and the characters and must have the desire to entertain and carry the readers away on a flight of fantasy, suspense, or in the eroticism of the tale. Most writers enjoy writing, and most love the research, the plot development, and every aspect of their craft.

I am driven, but I don't like the "out of control" feeling I get when I write... There are times when I have to do it... it is like a compulsion at times.

How have your personal experiences influenced the direction of your writing?

Um… nah, I don’t think so. Given my subject matter, I wouldn’t know how my personal experiences could possibly influence my writing. I am neither a shape shifter, a vampire nor a ghost, nor do I have any kind of paranormal talents like they are reputed by legend to possess.

What would you say are the biggest challenges that you face?

Actually being published. I am not sure about the whole process, and think the ladies of Lavender Isis Press are really brave to take on the short I wrote. I will do my best, however, to live up to their faith in me.

Being published is a challenge because I don't know that I can do it again, and at this point it is almost "expected" that another book or short story would be coming. The biggest challenge is being able to string the words together to tell a good story, one that readers (other than my friends) would really want to read.

How are you dealing with these challenges?

I just do my best.

Like I said, I am not truly a writer, at least not one of romance or fiction, reviews on the other hand, oh yeah, I can write a wicked review. This... trying to write another complete story... I will just have to handle one day at a time, and do my best each day.

How many books have you written so far?

One only. A Wild Love: Escape which was published by Lavender Isis Press in March, 2007. It is the story of a man, a shifter named Hajj who has been long isolated on an island. The house he had built for his mate and family has been usurped in his absence by a vile and greedy man and then Hajj finds he may not be as alone as he thinks. It's a discovery which leads him to hope he can escape and find his true mate.

Do you write everyday?

I don’t write everyday. Christine Feehan (a favorite author as well as a friend) says I should, but I can’t. My husband and I run a website that sells consolidator airfares and there is always work to be done there, updates, new postings, etc. I also run the review site Romance at Heart and the publishing house Romance At Heart Publications.

Which aspects of the work that you put into A Wild Love: Escape did you find most difficult?

How to answer that…writing like that does not come easy to me. There are times when my mind blurts stuff out. If I am in a position to write it down, then it is O.K., but I can’t just stop and write. My businesses would suffer, and I can’t allow that to happen. Others depend on me, and it would be irresponsible to let something I do, only because I am driven, to interfere.

Which did you enjoy most?

That... I really don’t know. When it comes to writing, it is not done for enjoyment, it is something I am driven to do, then when the urge goes away, it is just that, gone away and I am left alone again for a while. To say I enjoy it would not be truthful.

How and why is it that you are driven to write? Why do you write?

I can't answer those questions, I am sorry. I am not certain I have the answer. I have told myself again and again to stop the foolishness, but my brain doesn't listen. There is something in me that drives me, and I really can't fully answer the questions as to why I am driven to write, or why I do it... they are truly beyond me.

What does writing do for you?

I know being able to write reviews releases some of the tension I live with in life, from updating websites to making certain they run smoothly, to making sure all the reviews, articles, and whatever else have to be posted to the site is done and without errors. The rest of it? Well, that part of the writing, the "novel/short story creative writing" only adds to my frustration, but as I said, it appears to be a compulsion.

What sets A Wild Love: Escape apart from the other things you have written?

The fact that it is a book, well a short story. I wrote and still write reviews, not books, so that is a big difference.

In what way is it similar?

Dunno. I never tried comparing reviews to the books I read to write about. I would have to think on that a while.

What will your next book be about?

Um, If my editor has her way, it will be a few more shorts in the same vein. A Wild Love: Escape is just one of a bunch of silly shorts I was actually driven to write inspired by art, music, and the above mentioned talented authors. I call them silly because they were done on a whim, during a flight of fancy as it were, and were actually only meant to be examples of contest entries. At Romance at Heart we were running writing contests.

How have they been received by readers?

So-so, but then I wasn't expecting any great gushing of appreciation. I do understand A Wild Love: Escape is doing O.K., and I have been asked if there will be a sequel, and will it be longer... *sigh* I can promise only to try my best.

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

Significant achievement? Having Lavender Isis Press publish my writing.

How did you get there?

As I said, it was a dare, and I was proven wrong. Someone did actually want to publish what I wrote, and I am grateful for their faith in my work.


This article was first published by Blogcritics.org 

[Interview] Marilyn Meredith

Marilyn Meredith is the author of the Tempe Crabtree series of mystery novels and the Rocky Bluff P.D. series of police procedurals.

Her books have won awards that include the 2006 American Author Association’s Best Thriller Award as well as the 2006 USA Book News Best Book Award, which went to her psychological thriller, Wishing Makes It So (Hard Shell Word Factory, 2006).

In addition to working as a writer, Marilyn Meredith is a member of Sisters in Crime; Mystery Writers of America; EPIC -- Electronically Published Internet Connection and the Public Safety Writers Association. She has also served as an instructor at the Maui Writers Retreat and other writer’s conferences and was, for ten years, an instructor with the Writer’s Digest School.

In a recent interview, she spoke about her writing.

When did you decide you wanted to be a writer?

I don't know that there was a particular moment… I started writing from the time I could pick up a pencil and put words on paper… Actually I started before that because, before I could write, I drew pictures to tell stories.

My first published books [Trail to Glory (Leisure Books, 1986) and Two Ways West (Northwest Publishing, 1994)] were historical family sagas based on my own family genealogy. The books were fiction because I tried to fill in all the blanks… What happened to this person? Why did they move here or there?

It was like solving mysteries because I had to do a lot of research into the time period and places where my family members lived. When I'd written about both sides and trying to decide what to write next, I realized I was reading a lot of mysteries and supernatural stories. So the next book I wrote was The Astral Gift, a mystery with a bit of the supernatural. From there I moved on to the mysteries I'm writing now.

Who would you say is your target audience?

Anyone who loves mysteries… though my Deputy Tempe Crabtree series has a touch of Native American supernatural elements. I’m also writing the Rocky Bluff P.D. series, which is also mystery but in the police procedural category.

Judgment Fire and the other Deputy Crabtree mysteries can be read by young teens on up. The Rocky Bluff P.D. series, Fringe Benefits is the latest, is darker and geared more [for] adults.

Who would you say influenced you the most?

All of the great mystery writers -- Agatha Christie, Edgar Allen Poe and the new greats like Sue Grafton and Mary Higgins Clark.

How have your personal experiences influenced the direction of your writing?

Our first home was in a housing development where you could buy a house for $100. (This was a long, long time ago. Everyone who lived there had low-paying jobs: sailors (my husband was a Seabee), firemen and policemen. We were friends with and partied with them all. I knew the wives and the kids [and] was privy to the problems they faced.

Later, one of my sons-in-law became a police officer. My daughter didn't like to hear about his work so he'd come to my house after his shift for coffee and say, "Well, mom, do you want to hear what I did last night?" And I listened. Once he took me on a ride-along -- that was an experience.

A few years later, I went on other ride-alongs, once with a female officer who was the only woman on the department and a single mom. From about 2:30 a.m. until 6, she didn't have a single call and she poured out her heart to me.

During this time period, I was writing personality pieces for the local paper and I interviewed our resident deputy -- also a woman in a mostly male department. She told about the problems she had because of this. I wrote the article but feared she might lose her job because of what she told me. I had her read it and she said, "It's all true, print it." She did lose her job. Fortunately, she got a better one right away.

I met and became friends with a young Native American woman who grew up on the reservation near where I live.

I grew up in Los Angeles, but after I was married, lived mostly in small town. The mystic of a small town intrigues me, so most of my books are set in small towns… fictional ones -- I draw upon all I know about the small towns I've lived in. Bear Creek, the setting in my Deputy Crabtree mysteries is remarkably similar to where I'm living now.

What are your main concerns as a writer?

Letting people know about my books is always in the forefront of my mind. Being published by small, independent publishers, I have to work harder at bringing my titles in front of readers.

What would you say are the biggest challenges that you face?

Having enough time to do all the things I want to do. For instance, today one of my granddaughters who is planning a family reunion wanted me to make the invitation -- one with family portraits on the front and the back. While I was working on that, another granddaughter faxed me a letter written by one of the chairmen of the board for the country club she works for and asked me to edit it. Of course, I did.

And I had to stop and do the mundane every day things like wash clothes and cook dinner.

I also finished reading a manuscript for a good friends who wanted some feedback.

Because I do some other writing jobs that pay, I had a couple of phone calls about them.

What I wanted to be doing was getting started on my next book.

How do you deal with these challenges?

One at a time. That sounds simplistic, but that's really how I handle it. I try to prioritize -- but sometimes that's difficult when you've got the people who want something waiting right in your office. Oh yes, and there is my dear husband who would like some attention every now and then.

Do you write everyday?

I do write everyday, but it's not always on fiction. Mornings are my best times for creating and I do other things in the afternoons, like rewriting or promotion chores.

What is your latest book about?

Judgment Fire is about the murder of an abused wife. While investigating, Tempe comes to terms with her unhappy high school days and the reason why she ignored her Native American heritage for so long.

It takes me about six months to write a book and two to three to edit and rewrite.

Which aspects of the work that you put into Judgment Fire did you find most difficult?

I always try to find some Native American spiritualism to weave into the plot.

Because I don't want to offend anyone, I try to fictionalize everything that I use while keeping it as real as possible. I also want Tempe to grow in each book, to learn more about her heritage and herself.

I read every book to the critique group that I've attended for over twenty years and get feedback from them.

Which did you enjoy most?

I always enjoy finding out what Tempe is going to do next. Of course I always think I know, but when I get to the writing, Tempe always surprises me.

What sets Judgment Fire apart from the other things you have written?

Because this is an ongoing series, I think what's new in this one, is the unpleasant memories that come back to Tempe, which explains some of what has gone on in other books.

In what way is it similar?

Tempe and her husband Hutch have a really strong love relationship -- but this is strained in nearly every book when she goes against his wishes and dabbles in Indian spiritualism. Hutch always fears that Tempe may lose her soul.

What will your next book be about?

The next book is done and with the publisher. Tempe helps investigate the murder of an artist and, to do this, must take a trip to Crescent City where she learns about the Tolowa, and to Santa Barbara where she's nearly murdered.

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

I've had many high points along the way. My books have won several awards. But the most significant is when a reader tells me how much they enjoyed one of my novels. Feedback from readers is always great.

How did you get there?

I'm not sure how to answer this except to tell you how I've gotten where I am today and that is through a lot of hard work, making myself write even when I didn't want to, and never giving up.

This article was first published by OhmyNews International.

[Interview] Sandy Lender

Sandy Lender has been on a virtual book tour to promote her debut fantasy novel, Choices Meant for Gods, (ArcheBooks Publishing, 2007). The tour, which started on May 21 and ran until July 21, saw her being featured as, among other things, a guest blogger on sites that included Pump Up Your Online Book Promotion; Spiritual Visitations and The ArcheBooks Publishing Blog.

In a recent interview, Sandy Lender spoke about her writing.

What would you say are the biggest challenges that you face?

Can I choose stability? I think the biggest challenges I face as a writer are: finding time for all the things I want to do with my writing career and not letting the negative voices drag me down.

How do you deal with these challenges?

First, finding time for all the things I want to do with my writing career means staying extremely organized. Because I balance my second career (writing), which doesn't pay anything yet, with my first career (I work in a magazine publishing company), which pays some of the bills, I have to be very cautious with my time. My days are packed with commuting, working, marketing/promoting, writing, preparing and sending press releases, editing, maintaining the current blog tour, etc. If I didn't keep everything organized and prepared ahead of time, I'd probably lose my mind.

Second, keeping the negative voices from eating away at my positive energy is a challenge. There are many people who don't understand the publishing industry, and they say things like, "Oh, wow, your ranking on Amazon is at 200,000 today. What on earth will you do to improve that?" What they don't understand is that the ranking on Amazon is a bogus number that anyone can pay a PR company to inflate for him or her; and it was probably around 40,000 three hours prior. And 200,000 is actually nothing to sneeze at.

Or a family member will tell me I'm overworked and I need to make a decision as to whether I'm going to continue working so hard at marketing my book or just concentrate on my "real" career. I made the decision when I signed the contract with ArcheBooks Publishing. And here's how I deal with this challenge: My writing career is my passion, and even if no one else understands it, I'm in it for the long haul

What are your main concerns as a writer?

My main concerns as a writer center on building an audience. I want to write stories that captivate and inspire and bring more readers into the core group so that the audience of people who love my characters expands with each release.

How would you describe the genre in which you do most of your writing?

Speculative fiction is the catch-all umbrella under which I'd classify my writing because I have a vampire trilogy under way and I've completed a bizarre little paranormal romance novel, but my true passion and the true genre that my Choices Meant for Gods trilogy fits beautifully into is high fantasy. This is where the heart of my fiction writing lies. I've already begun a prequel for the Choices trilogy and what could be two novellas and a volume of short stories centered on the world, characters, and history I created for the trilogy, so I'd have to say high fantasy is where my muse likes to direct me.

Anyone who has ever watched the SciFi channel or enjoyed a gothic novel like Jane Eyre or Wuthering Heights is in my audience. For a majority of my work, my target audience is mid to upper teens on up through adults and senior citizens.

Being a Christian, I try to keep my content clean enough that it's not embarrassing or distressing to anyone who reads it -- in language, romantic elements, or violence. The first book of the Choices Meant for Gods trilogy received a PG rating for violence, which surprised me until someone started asking me questions like, well, does anybody die in the book? Oh…

What motivated you to start writing in this genre?

This evil sorcerer named Jamieson Drake visited me back in 1982-83 and showed me the most beautiful, most independent, strongest, kindest, most endearing woman I'd ever seen. Her name is Amanda Chariss, although, at the time, I couldn't get her name quite right. I don't know how many people out there have had experiences with evil sorcerers (or fantasy characters of any kind), but they can be very persuasive in getting you to write down stories…

In the writing that you are doing, who would you say has influenced you the most?

Different forces influence writers at different stages in life and in projects, and my experience is no different. I would say that as I was writing the first of the Choices Meant for Gods books, different songs and sources of inspiration influenced me more than people. When you're a career-minded person married to a computer geek, no one supports the idea that you're writing a book. When you tell someone that you're sending a query letter to a literary agent, they glaze over, not understanding what that means or caring what the outcome may or may not be. So my "influences" on my writing were the deceased Charlotte Bronte, anything Old English or Anglo-Saxon, the incredible lyrics and music of Duran Duran and Arcadia, and the muses like Nigel Taiman that keep me from sleeping.

[Also] I believe the axiom that every work has a touch of autobiography in it. But then I look at Chariss, the main character in Choices Meant for Gods, and think I must be extremely arrogant to think any aspect of her reflects me because she is just so good. For a 20-year-old Geasa'n, she's got an amazing maturity about her. I can't possibly be "in" there anywhere. Yet she's flawed, too, so…maybe I am in there somewhere. But she says some things that are directly out of my personal experiences. So even though I write high fantasy that takes place in a made-up world with dragons and ryfel and edras popping in to threaten the characters, challenges that I've overcome in my life present opportunities for my heroes and heroines to shine.

Here's a big example that hadn't occurred to me until I needed text for some marketing materials (read: after the novel was at the printer). Amanda Chariss and her wizard guardian have been on the run from Jamieson Drake for 16 years when the reader picks up the story. They've been on the move from place to place to place, literally picking up and moving from one homestead to another, making berth in whatever household would take them in, finding new benefactors for Chariss all her life. This completely mirrors my life. My father was in the military when I was born on Homestead Air Force Base and my family and I moved 18 times prior to my move to college. (I'm preparing for a move right now…) So I subconsciously let that personal experience influence one of the main plots of Choices Meant for Gods.

Which aspects of the work that you put into Choices Meant for Gods did you find most difficult?

Keeping track of the names of the cities. I swear…I have a yellow sticky note taped to my phone that reads: "Lenors -- on the continent to the north."

Which did you enjoy most?

Dialogue. I absolutely LOVE it when one character realizes another is teasing him or her. Love it!

What sets the book apart from the other things you have written?

The articles I've been writing for the magazines I've edited and published over the past 15 years have ranged from animal husbandry and agriculture to asphalt mix design and road construction to uber-Catholicism. Believe me when I say writing high fantasy fiction about a polytheistic society about to be thrust into a war for a dragon's social domination of an entire continent sets this book miles apart from other things I've written.

In what ways is it similar?

I just can't think of any.

What will your next book be about?

After the Choices Meant for Gods trilogy and prequel, I've got that crazy paranormal romance novel ready to go. Then I've got the vampire trilogy in progress. And I've got a sci-fi/fantasy novel in my head, too...

Do you write everyday?

I write everyday. Because I work for a magazine company, I spend time writing and editing at that job. Then I write press releases, marketing materials, short stories, and character blogs, as well as my writing and marketing blog at www.todaythedragonwins.blogspot.com, in the evenings in support of Choices Meant for Gods. I also write an online serial novel for a small group of folks. I've completed Book II of the Choices trilogy but I am writing Book III. (I'm also working on the aforementioned vampire trilogy, but that takes a back seat to Choices.)

This article was first published by OhmyNews International.