This topic is currently marked as "dormant"—the last message is more than 90 days old. You can revive it by posting a reply.
1zette
Really. What is it you'd like to know? I think most of us are guessing here, and we might be aiming at things that interest us as writers, so perhaps we're missing some key items we could talk about here.
2MerryMary
How early in life did you know you were a writer?
What did you read as a child?
Can you trace any direct influences on your style, your interests, your approach?
What did you read as a child?
Can you trace any direct influences on your style, your interests, your approach?
3rtkaelin
zette - A fantastic idea for a thread.
MerryMary - Great questions...I'll take a first stab.
How early in life did you know you were a writer?
I didn't know...it wasn't a goal of mine, honestly. I had enjoyed writing when I was younger, and did a bunch of short stories in high school, but I had a big problem then: I hated to read my own writing. So, as much as I enjoyed coming up with stories and getting them out on paper, I could never bring myself to review them - I suppose it was an insecurity thing.
For me, writing seriously did not happen until later in life. My imagination has always been active and runs non-stop, and a few years ago - after reading a few 'bad' books - I said to myself, "I can come up with a better story than that." I sat down and did it. Granted, the edges were rougher than new sandpaper, but practice, time, practice, editing, practice, and practice helped soften them. Oh, and I had to get past the whole 'I cannot read what I wrote' thing.
Now, I am proud to call myself an 'author.'
What did you read as a child?
Awesome question.
Hardy Boys (I'm only 34, so both the old ones and the "New Hardy Boys), Encyclopedia Brown, Choose Your Own Adventures, Chronicles of Narnia... eventually I graduated to Lord of the Rings and some other fantasy authors.
Can you trace any direct influences on your style, your interests, your approach?
Style - not that I am actively aware of. Although to pretend one is not influenced by his or her surroundings is silly. I like to write as though I'm almost directing a TV show or movie - movie, preferably (it is epic fantasy, after all). I like to guide the reader's eye around during conversations...
Interests - Well...as a fantasy author, I like to read fantasy novels. Although, not when I'm actively writing or editing. I would say Raymond Feist is a big influence on me initially. I loved the fact that his world felt like a living, breathing place over the two dozen novels he's written. World building is very important to me - I want my readers to love the world I create for them as much as I do.
Approach - I don't really have any influences of which I am aware. For me, my approach is an ever evolving process. There are few things that work well for me (ensuring I have a singular focus with each editing pass I do), but for the most part I like to write my characters into difficult situations and then write them back out (sometimes).
I hope I didn't bore anyone with this...Questions are fun to answer. I'll get out of the way and let someone else say something now.
MerryMary - Great questions...I'll take a first stab.
How early in life did you know you were a writer?
I didn't know...it wasn't a goal of mine, honestly. I had enjoyed writing when I was younger, and did a bunch of short stories in high school, but I had a big problem then: I hated to read my own writing. So, as much as I enjoyed coming up with stories and getting them out on paper, I could never bring myself to review them - I suppose it was an insecurity thing.
For me, writing seriously did not happen until later in life. My imagination has always been active and runs non-stop, and a few years ago - after reading a few 'bad' books - I said to myself, "I can come up with a better story than that." I sat down and did it. Granted, the edges were rougher than new sandpaper, but practice, time, practice, editing, practice, and practice helped soften them. Oh, and I had to get past the whole 'I cannot read what I wrote' thing.
Now, I am proud to call myself an 'author.'
What did you read as a child?
Awesome question.
Hardy Boys (I'm only 34, so both the old ones and the "New Hardy Boys), Encyclopedia Brown, Choose Your Own Adventures, Chronicles of Narnia... eventually I graduated to Lord of the Rings and some other fantasy authors.
Can you trace any direct influences on your style, your interests, your approach?
Style - not that I am actively aware of. Although to pretend one is not influenced by his or her surroundings is silly. I like to write as though I'm almost directing a TV show or movie - movie, preferably (it is epic fantasy, after all). I like to guide the reader's eye around during conversations...
Interests - Well...as a fantasy author, I like to read fantasy novels. Although, not when I'm actively writing or editing. I would say Raymond Feist is a big influence on me initially. I loved the fact that his world felt like a living, breathing place over the two dozen novels he's written. World building is very important to me - I want my readers to love the world I create for them as much as I do.
Approach - I don't really have any influences of which I am aware. For me, my approach is an ever evolving process. There are few things that work well for me (ensuring I have a singular focus with each editing pass I do), but for the most part I like to write my characters into difficult situations and then write them back out (sometimes).
I hope I didn't bore anyone with this...Questions are fun to answer. I'll get out of the way and let someone else say something now.
4NineTiger
1. How early in life did you know you were a writer?
I hated writing as a kid. I drew. I never got into writing until the ripe old age of about 30, by way of Thundercats no less, and fan fiction. I guess the ground work for all of this was being a DM, and all through my life, I was a big daydreamer. I guess, eventually, the pot came to a boil.
2.What did you read as a child?
Comic books. We had no money to spend on books to buy, and if I wanted to go to the library I had to walk a couple of miles myself. When I was a teen, I started to pick up paperbacks :) and attend SF conventions. As an adult, I devoured SF for years. But I have also always read a great deal of non-fiction too.
3.Can you trace any direct influences on your style, your interests, your approach.
Not consciously. I just started writing. Since I never let anyone have a read until after the work is done, it is all me, the good, the bad, and the indifferent. My Thundercat stuff is very long, and in 2008, I went back to read it from the beginning. I discovered then recurring patterns in my work, especially as it related to characters. From that distance in time, I saw the story under the story.
MGP
I hated writing as a kid. I drew. I never got into writing until the ripe old age of about 30, by way of Thundercats no less, and fan fiction. I guess the ground work for all of this was being a DM, and all through my life, I was a big daydreamer. I guess, eventually, the pot came to a boil.
2.What did you read as a child?
Comic books. We had no money to spend on books to buy, and if I wanted to go to the library I had to walk a couple of miles myself. When I was a teen, I started to pick up paperbacks :) and attend SF conventions. As an adult, I devoured SF for years. But I have also always read a great deal of non-fiction too.
3.Can you trace any direct influences on your style, your interests, your approach.
Not consciously. I just started writing. Since I never let anyone have a read until after the work is done, it is all me, the good, the bad, and the indifferent. My Thundercat stuff is very long, and in 2008, I went back to read it from the beginning. I discovered then recurring patterns in my work, especially as it related to characters. From that distance in time, I saw the story under the story.
MGP
5reading_fox
Definetly what influences you and how you come up with ideas, how stories and series develop and grow - not having written I struggle to imagine how ' characters come alive and take the story in their own directions'
Some of the more mundane featutes as well though, how do you cope timewise, do you have a day job? Funny things that publisher and editors say how hard ti is to get published, what you are authors want/expect/woudl ike from your readers.
Some of the more mundane featutes as well though, how do you cope timewise, do you have a day job? Funny things that publisher and editors say how hard ti is to get published, what you are authors want/expect/woudl ike from your readers.
6NineTiger
@5 I wrote most of my fan fiction when I was employed. I'd carve out a half hour here and there. I was also in two APAs, and they had deadlines. That was a great motivator :)
MGp
MGp
7zette
1. How early in life did you know you were a writer?
I wrote my first 'book' when I was about six. It was about a little girl witch and her cat, and I drew the pictures for it as well. Unfortunately, it disappeared when my mother died.
I wrote my first full original novel at 13 and I still have a later version of it along with a few sequels. I did not ever consciously think about myself as a writer, though. It just happened. Part of it came because my parents moved every few months and writing was something I could hold on to as a continuation from one place to another. The stories stayed rooted in the world of their pages, even while mine seemed to be in constant chaos.
A couple years later, a teacher told me that no one could be published unless they had a college education. I think she might have been encouraging me to go to college, but I came from a very poor family and I knew this was never going to happen. I gave up the idea of publication but I loved writing too much to stop. It wasn't until many years later after I married that my husband convinced me I was wrong.
2. What did you read as a child?
I read anything I could lay my hands on. My parents did not read to me, and though my mother was an avid reader, we rarely had books for kids in the house. I do remember sometimes picking out a picture book if I had been good during grocery shopping, but that stopped when she started leaving me to watch my younger sister in the car. I remember friends giving me books at Christmas, and rereading those until they fell apart. Most of my earliest reading of books came through school, though, so it became a hodgepodge of whatever reading assignments my current school had. As I got older, it became difficult to stay in one place long enough to actually finish a book from the school library. I learned to read faster.
At some point, one of my cousins gave me a few Nancy Drew mystery books, and I really enjoyed those, too. I picked up a few more now and then, and I found something interesting. I enjoyed the original 1930's editions better than the later, updated ones. I think this has affected my reading habits more than I thought. What drew my notice was the historical things which had changed from one version to another. Now I read far more historical nonfiction than I do fiction.
There is one book, though, that I had managed to hold on to because it had such a profound effect on my life. Are you ready? Goody, a Mother Cat Story. LOL. Cats and kittens! Oh my! I held on to that one well into my 20's, but my younger sister decided to give it to her daughter and it disappeared. I tracked down a copy on the Internet and bought it for me.
I'm not certain when I discovered science fiction and fantasy, but once that happened, there was no stopping me. I devoured Heinlein and Andre Norton from school libraries and moved on to Samuel R. Delaney (an odd, wild leap in the types of sf stories he wrote). Once I went to work at about 15, I began to save up funds for books. When I took a job in a bookstore, I knew I was in heaven! Books and a discount! And I met my husband there, too!
3. Can you trace any direct influences on your style, your interests, your approach?
Yes, actually, I can.
Over the last few years, as I looked over the book market for fantasy and science fiction, I realized why I couldn't sell my work to publishers. I was writing 'Andre Norton' adventures in a 'Laurell K. Hamilton' market.
I write adventure stories. There isn't always a love interest in my story, let alone sex. And while I know that's a wild, sweeping statement about the market, it does say something about the market's focus, though I think it might be swinging back more towards the middle again.
I can clearly see where Andre Norton and Mary Stewart both had a profound effect on the types of storylines I write. C. J. Cherryh's work later showed me the more complex, deep story and world building that can create fantastic stories, though I don't believe I will ever equal her mastery.
When I realized how much the market had changed, I had to make a decision on whether to pursue the market, or write what I loved to read. I decided on the second choice, of course. I'm still following the adventure.
And later questions:
4. Definitely what influences you and how you come up with ideas, how stories and series develop and grow - not having written I struggle to imagine how ' characters come alive and take the story in their own directions'
Coming up with ideas is easy once you get into the habit of accepting them. They're everywhere and can be really -- SQUIRREL! -- distracting if you don't learn how to control them. I see many writers leap from idea to idea without finishing anything.
One of the major ways I come up with ideas (even when I don't need them) is by reading history books. There is a lot of fantastic material out there to play with, especially for science fiction and fantasy authors who are looking at creating new and different societies. I gather little tidbits for background material, but I don't have anything like a story until a character arrives.
Character creation is the hardest thing to explain. I will suddenly see a character in a situation (always in some sort of trouble) and the story emerges as I figure out how and why he or she is there. Sometimes the character is obviously settled into some sort of world I recognize from things I've been reading. Other times, I spend a lot of time creating that world around him.
Characters are always alive in the writer's head. The problem is that we don't always inform the reader of what we see. But even with the best writing and descriptions, it's still up to the reader to make the character come alive. This relies a great deal on reader expectations, and not always on how well the writer has done, creating the character.
I know many writers plan to do a series from the start, but for me, I might write the first book and have a long period of time before I realize I want to revisit those characters and write more about them. Once I decide on a second story, though, I begin to see more possibilities almost immediately. I don't write traditional trilogies very often, but I do write sets of books that are all stand-alone stories, but use the same characters and have some things that tie the books together, like a larger problem looming out there that is hinted at now and then.
5. Some of the more mundane features as well though, how do you cope time wise, do you have a day job? Funny things that publisher and editors say how hard it is to get published, what you are authors want/expect/would like from your readers.
Even when I had a regular day job (factory work, then a book store), I always made certain I had writing material with me so that I could jot down notes during the day. I would write in any free time I could manage. Writing is what I have always loved to do, so it has never been difficult for me to make the time.
Now I have it easier. I have several jobs, but they are all from home. I often write during the day while waiting for emails and late at night when I'm done with other things. I can set aside something to finish a scene. As long as I get the work done (which, yes, I should be doing right now), it doesn't matter.
I'm not sure about anything funny publishers have said. I know when I worked as the head of an imprint for a small press/ebook company, I tried to give people some hints and directions on why their book wasn't accepted. Quite often those won rude notes in return, though. I think the most amusing thing I've ever heard from a would-be author was how he had no intention of editing his work until someone bought it. I heard this from a couple different people, in fact. Explaining how an editor's first job isn't to find a book to publish, but rather to toss out all the easy stuff to get rid of -- including things that were not edited -- didn't seem to get through to them.
What would I like from readers? I'd like to see more reviews from people who have enjoyed my work. I also enjoy emails and messages at my blog and such. I enjoy talking to the people who enjoy my writing and seeing what draws them to it.
I wrote my first 'book' when I was about six. It was about a little girl witch and her cat, and I drew the pictures for it as well. Unfortunately, it disappeared when my mother died.
I wrote my first full original novel at 13 and I still have a later version of it along with a few sequels. I did not ever consciously think about myself as a writer, though. It just happened. Part of it came because my parents moved every few months and writing was something I could hold on to as a continuation from one place to another. The stories stayed rooted in the world of their pages, even while mine seemed to be in constant chaos.
A couple years later, a teacher told me that no one could be published unless they had a college education. I think she might have been encouraging me to go to college, but I came from a very poor family and I knew this was never going to happen. I gave up the idea of publication but I loved writing too much to stop. It wasn't until many years later after I married that my husband convinced me I was wrong.
2. What did you read as a child?
I read anything I could lay my hands on. My parents did not read to me, and though my mother was an avid reader, we rarely had books for kids in the house. I do remember sometimes picking out a picture book if I had been good during grocery shopping, but that stopped when she started leaving me to watch my younger sister in the car. I remember friends giving me books at Christmas, and rereading those until they fell apart. Most of my earliest reading of books came through school, though, so it became a hodgepodge of whatever reading assignments my current school had. As I got older, it became difficult to stay in one place long enough to actually finish a book from the school library. I learned to read faster.
At some point, one of my cousins gave me a few Nancy Drew mystery books, and I really enjoyed those, too. I picked up a few more now and then, and I found something interesting. I enjoyed the original 1930's editions better than the later, updated ones. I think this has affected my reading habits more than I thought. What drew my notice was the historical things which had changed from one version to another. Now I read far more historical nonfiction than I do fiction.
There is one book, though, that I had managed to hold on to because it had such a profound effect on my life. Are you ready? Goody, a Mother Cat Story. LOL. Cats and kittens! Oh my! I held on to that one well into my 20's, but my younger sister decided to give it to her daughter and it disappeared. I tracked down a copy on the Internet and bought it for me.
I'm not certain when I discovered science fiction and fantasy, but once that happened, there was no stopping me. I devoured Heinlein and Andre Norton from school libraries and moved on to Samuel R. Delaney (an odd, wild leap in the types of sf stories he wrote). Once I went to work at about 15, I began to save up funds for books. When I took a job in a bookstore, I knew I was in heaven! Books and a discount! And I met my husband there, too!
3. Can you trace any direct influences on your style, your interests, your approach?
Yes, actually, I can.
Over the last few years, as I looked over the book market for fantasy and science fiction, I realized why I couldn't sell my work to publishers. I was writing 'Andre Norton' adventures in a 'Laurell K. Hamilton' market.
I write adventure stories. There isn't always a love interest in my story, let alone sex. And while I know that's a wild, sweeping statement about the market, it does say something about the market's focus, though I think it might be swinging back more towards the middle again.
I can clearly see where Andre Norton and Mary Stewart both had a profound effect on the types of storylines I write. C. J. Cherryh's work later showed me the more complex, deep story and world building that can create fantastic stories, though I don't believe I will ever equal her mastery.
When I realized how much the market had changed, I had to make a decision on whether to pursue the market, or write what I loved to read. I decided on the second choice, of course. I'm still following the adventure.
And later questions:
4. Definitely what influences you and how you come up with ideas, how stories and series develop and grow - not having written I struggle to imagine how ' characters come alive and take the story in their own directions'
Coming up with ideas is easy once you get into the habit of accepting them. They're everywhere and can be really -- SQUIRREL! -- distracting if you don't learn how to control them. I see many writers leap from idea to idea without finishing anything.
One of the major ways I come up with ideas (even when I don't need them) is by reading history books. There is a lot of fantastic material out there to play with, especially for science fiction and fantasy authors who are looking at creating new and different societies. I gather little tidbits for background material, but I don't have anything like a story until a character arrives.
Character creation is the hardest thing to explain. I will suddenly see a character in a situation (always in some sort of trouble) and the story emerges as I figure out how and why he or she is there. Sometimes the character is obviously settled into some sort of world I recognize from things I've been reading. Other times, I spend a lot of time creating that world around him.
Characters are always alive in the writer's head. The problem is that we don't always inform the reader of what we see. But even with the best writing and descriptions, it's still up to the reader to make the character come alive. This relies a great deal on reader expectations, and not always on how well the writer has done, creating the character.
I know many writers plan to do a series from the start, but for me, I might write the first book and have a long period of time before I realize I want to revisit those characters and write more about them. Once I decide on a second story, though, I begin to see more possibilities almost immediately. I don't write traditional trilogies very often, but I do write sets of books that are all stand-alone stories, but use the same characters and have some things that tie the books together, like a larger problem looming out there that is hinted at now and then.
5. Some of the more mundane features as well though, how do you cope time wise, do you have a day job? Funny things that publisher and editors say how hard it is to get published, what you are authors want/expect/would like from your readers.
Even when I had a regular day job (factory work, then a book store), I always made certain I had writing material with me so that I could jot down notes during the day. I would write in any free time I could manage. Writing is what I have always loved to do, so it has never been difficult for me to make the time.
Now I have it easier. I have several jobs, but they are all from home. I often write during the day while waiting for emails and late at night when I'm done with other things. I can set aside something to finish a scene. As long as I get the work done (which, yes, I should be doing right now), it doesn't matter.
I'm not sure about anything funny publishers have said. I know when I worked as the head of an imprint for a small press/ebook company, I tried to give people some hints and directions on why their book wasn't accepted. Quite often those won rude notes in return, though. I think the most amusing thing I've ever heard from a would-be author was how he had no intention of editing his work until someone bought it. I heard this from a couple different people, in fact. Explaining how an editor's first job isn't to find a book to publish, but rather to toss out all the easy stuff to get rid of -- including things that were not edited -- didn't seem to get through to them.
What would I like from readers? I'd like to see more reviews from people who have enjoyed my work. I also enjoy emails and messages at my blog and such. I enjoy talking to the people who enjoy my writing and seeing what draws them to it.
8MerryMary
This is all fascinating!! Thank you so much for all the wonderful answers. I hope some more pop up.
11LShelby
Am I an "other author"?
I don't have a little yellow badge on my profile, but I'm traditionally published, and I've written a lot of books. (I just haven't managed to co-join the two previous statements yet.)
1) I think of myself as having started writing stories when I was about 12 or 13, (I definitely wrote stories before that, for school if for nothing else, but not with any kind of regularity). I dumped a novel length manuscript that was almost completed when I was about 15, because I thought the main character was too Mary Sue (although I didn't think of it in those words, not yet being familiar with the term.) But during Jr. High/High School I started many, many things, and only the shorter ones were ever completed. And I didn't "know I was a writer" because I never thought about it like that. Writing was just something I did: like going to school, and taking swimming lessons, and singing in choirs. Gradually during my last years of high-school it dawned on me that writing was a potential career, and when I dropped out of college (due to health issues) I finally decided I was going to take the whole thing seriously. I completed my first novel when I was 20, and I made my first pro sale when I was 24.
2) As a child I read almost everything. My mother took our family to the library regularly. She never censored our reading, but made it pretty clear that she would be disappointed if she caught us reading erotica/porn. I started reading early, without formal instruction, and read well above my age/grade level throughout my school years. I was introduced to science fiction and fantasy wayyyy early via an uncle and older sister who also liked those genres. My sister read me the Lord of the Rings as a bedtime story when I was about 6. She also read me Keith Laumer's Retief stories at bedtime. I also really enjoyed mysteries, historical adventures (including westerns), stories about artists and performers, animal stories and humor. I remember doing a reading log in... grade 2 or 3. At that time I was going through the Chronicles of Narnia at a rate of about one book a day. At that reading rate I couldn't afford to be picky.
3) Tracing influences is tricky. The story I consider "my first story", (it wasn't, it's just the one that started me writing regularly) was a Star Wars fanfic, and my second was Anne McCaffrey's Pern fanfic. (I was not at that time familiar with the term fanfic, and I didn't know anyone who was writing anything of the sort.) I got a ways into those two stories (I was writing them concurrently) and the thought came to me that since I was inventing most of my own settings, and most of my own characters... was there really any point to using someone else's universe? I've never written any fanfic since, but many of the stories I started during the next couple years were things I thought of as "My Edgar Rice Burroughs" story, or "My Noel Streatfield story", etc. (If anyone is familiar with both of those, I guess they'll have some idea of just how widely ranging my interests were). By the time I was sixteen half of the stories I started were regency romances, and my favorite regency author was Georgette Heyer, so it's probably safe to say that she was an influence. :)
But it was always the type of story that I was imitating, not writing style. I had no real concept of writing style, and I was writing so very many, very divergent things all at the same time that I would to have to have been some kind of incredible child prodigy to have copied all the various writer's styles whose stories had inspired me. Which brings us to...
4) Where do my ideas come from? Um... everywhere? Movies I watch, books I read, dreams, songs... I don't know how to NOT get story ideas. For years now I've been trying to not have any new ones, and I'm having no luck with that. (If I get plots from history books, I don't know about it, though. I do read history books, but I've always considered that a worldbuilding thingy, not a plot thingy; but maybe I'm wrong.)
Both characters and plots, for me, are handled by my backbrain. I don't deliberately develop either, they just happen. When revising, I can nudge scenes around, and rewrite dialog so that it goes in a slightly different direction, but I can change neither my character's character and backstory nor my major plot points. As a result the "characters who come alive and take stories in their own directions" thingy has always been a source of bewilderment to me, because of course the characters are alive, and the story is what the character did/will do because of who and what they are. In order for the story to be changed, the characters would also have to be changed. For me the whole concept is just non-applicable.
5) Other than motherhood, writing is the only job I have. I think this technically makes me unemployed.
...
I wouldn't mind having readers. But I'm not too thrilled with prospect of taking on the extra work involved in self-publishing, and I've had no luck getting traditional publishers interested in any of my longer stories. I think maybe I have a similar problem to Zette's. (I figure Zette and I must have a lot in common, not only do our answers to a lot of questions sound similar, but we keep bumping into each other all over the internet too... but since I'm not all that consistent with my handles, she may not be aware of that fact. :) She writes a lot faster than I do, though.)
I don't have a little yellow badge on my profile, but I'm traditionally published, and I've written a lot of books. (I just haven't managed to co-join the two previous statements yet.)
1) I think of myself as having started writing stories when I was about 12 or 13, (I definitely wrote stories before that, for school if for nothing else, but not with any kind of regularity). I dumped a novel length manuscript that was almost completed when I was about 15, because I thought the main character was too Mary Sue (although I didn't think of it in those words, not yet being familiar with the term.) But during Jr. High/High School I started many, many things, and only the shorter ones were ever completed. And I didn't "know I was a writer" because I never thought about it like that. Writing was just something I did: like going to school, and taking swimming lessons, and singing in choirs. Gradually during my last years of high-school it dawned on me that writing was a potential career, and when I dropped out of college (due to health issues) I finally decided I was going to take the whole thing seriously. I completed my first novel when I was 20, and I made my first pro sale when I was 24.
2) As a child I read almost everything. My mother took our family to the library regularly. She never censored our reading, but made it pretty clear that she would be disappointed if she caught us reading erotica/porn. I started reading early, without formal instruction, and read well above my age/grade level throughout my school years. I was introduced to science fiction and fantasy wayyyy early via an uncle and older sister who also liked those genres. My sister read me the Lord of the Rings as a bedtime story when I was about 6. She also read me Keith Laumer's Retief stories at bedtime. I also really enjoyed mysteries, historical adventures (including westerns), stories about artists and performers, animal stories and humor. I remember doing a reading log in... grade 2 or 3. At that time I was going through the Chronicles of Narnia at a rate of about one book a day. At that reading rate I couldn't afford to be picky.
3) Tracing influences is tricky. The story I consider "my first story", (it wasn't, it's just the one that started me writing regularly) was a Star Wars fanfic, and my second was Anne McCaffrey's Pern fanfic. (I was not at that time familiar with the term fanfic, and I didn't know anyone who was writing anything of the sort.) I got a ways into those two stories (I was writing them concurrently) and the thought came to me that since I was inventing most of my own settings, and most of my own characters... was there really any point to using someone else's universe? I've never written any fanfic since, but many of the stories I started during the next couple years were things I thought of as "My Edgar Rice Burroughs" story, or "My Noel Streatfield story", etc. (If anyone is familiar with both of those, I guess they'll have some idea of just how widely ranging my interests were). By the time I was sixteen half of the stories I started were regency romances, and my favorite regency author was Georgette Heyer, so it's probably safe to say that she was an influence. :)
But it was always the type of story that I was imitating, not writing style. I had no real concept of writing style, and I was writing so very many, very divergent things all at the same time that I would to have to have been some kind of incredible child prodigy to have copied all the various writer's styles whose stories had inspired me. Which brings us to...
4) Where do my ideas come from? Um... everywhere? Movies I watch, books I read, dreams, songs... I don't know how to NOT get story ideas. For years now I've been trying to not have any new ones, and I'm having no luck with that. (If I get plots from history books, I don't know about it, though. I do read history books, but I've always considered that a worldbuilding thingy, not a plot thingy; but maybe I'm wrong.)
Both characters and plots, for me, are handled by my backbrain. I don't deliberately develop either, they just happen. When revising, I can nudge scenes around, and rewrite dialog so that it goes in a slightly different direction, but I can change neither my character's character and backstory nor my major plot points. As a result the "characters who come alive and take stories in their own directions" thingy has always been a source of bewilderment to me, because of course the characters are alive, and the story is what the character did/will do because of who and what they are. In order for the story to be changed, the characters would also have to be changed. For me the whole concept is just non-applicable.
5) Other than motherhood, writing is the only job I have. I think this technically makes me unemployed.
...
I wouldn't mind having readers. But I'm not too thrilled with prospect of taking on the extra work involved in self-publishing, and I've had no luck getting traditional publishers interested in any of my longer stories. I think maybe I have a similar problem to Zette's. (I figure Zette and I must have a lot in common, not only do our answers to a lot of questions sound similar, but we keep bumping into each other all over the internet too... but since I'm not all that consistent with my handles, she may not be aware of that fact. :) She writes a lot faster than I do, though.)
12MerryMary
Thanks. These answers are like peeking in the window and seeing just a little of how you work. (I was going to say "...how it all works..." but the process is different for all you.)
I am loving this thread!
I am loving this thread!
13MarysGirl
Oh no! Found this thread at the end of my allotted "internet" time...have to get back to writing...I'll come back tomorrow to answer.
14JannyWurts
How early in life did you know you were a writer?
I was a rabid reader, first - rabid to the point of trying to hide library books behind my text books in class - and discovering how huge an overdue fine can be when the teacher confiscated said book, and did not return it until the end of the school year. After that incident, doodling in class was Much Safer, but the repercussions of that came much later. (Nothing wasted, since I went on to illustrate book covers as a professional).
If anyone had ever dared to suggest (then, in the days when I was addicted to the outdoors, as well as an insatiable bookworm) while I was screaming-fit allergic to homework that had written assignments - that I would Ever Willingly Write hundreds and hundreds of pages, and even, (shock me silly) LOOK UP a word in a dictionary....I'd have shot the fool for a liar.
Writing Happened - at least, the Author light went on - due to one enterprising English teacher, senior year in high school, who did a mini course in creative writing....I sat down to do her exercises and found I could not stop. The stories just started pouring out. By the time I left home for college, I had FOUR finished novels that I would shoot myself in the head AND both feet, before allowing anyone to EVER exhume....these finished novels were never submitted. They were 'too young' and not based upon enough life experience.
Which I got, through determined travel/Outward Bound/offshore sailing and other insane endeavors - by end of college, I was well on the way to mapping the series in progress, which is in print and being wrapped up some fourteen (and then some) published novels and thirty short stories later. (The greater series was NOT sold until after print with two stand alones and two complete trilogies).
Strange to look back - I never considered myself a 'career' writer until I cleared the 'be a scientist' bug out of my system - I thought I was headed that way - astronomer, oceanographer, biologist - with a side kick interest in art - but the 'career writer' light went on because Science as a professional is as restrictive as a straight jacket - the idea of becoming an Intellectual Specialist on just one slice of life threw me into hair tearing fits, since I could not decide between the fascination of about eight different fields. Since fiction writing quite happily pushes the envelope no matter what eclectic freedom I chose - here I am, and here I stay. Nothing else, yet, has so elegantly answered my curiosity and skill set.
What did you read as a child?
My parents read aloud, first - Treasure Island, The Jungle Book, Oliver Twist and many another classic. I dove into Walter Farley and The Black Stallion, Narnia, the Oz books, fairy tales and myths, and every sort of mainstream or historical fiction. By the end of high school, I had quartered my small town's local library, length and breadth. Since the shelves there had very little SF or fantasy, I read almost nothing but J. R. R. Tolkein andRoger Zelazny in the field, until college.
Can you trace any direct influences on your style, your interests, your approach?
Every book I ever read, in its way, became an influence. Some impressed me more deeply:
Tolkein, not for the story line, which has suffered terribly for the mass of inferior imitations - but because he was bold ENOUGH to create his own world and populate it with an INVENTED myth. That opened the floodgates of possibility.
Roger Zelazny, for his fearlessness/invention with formatting and style, and for his incredible wealth of imagination.
Dorothy Dunnett - for frankly shoving me in way over my head - by her wealth of research, and about the most fascinating set of plot and characters, twists, and explosive endings - EVER. This woman dared to use the full range of her intelligence, wit, and invention - with breath taking results, even if the work she produced sometimes misses the common audience.
Last word on influences - Dick Francis, and every other author along the way who, not only could open a book with a hook and snag my interest, but who followed through and knew how to FINISH a book with the sights set far higher than just posing an intriguing opening scenario. Many authors write satisfying starts - very few know how to deliver a resounding FINISH.
For #5 - writing is done in intuitive leaps. Pose the problem, chuck in a left turn sort of complication, THEN sweat over it until that leap of inspiration closes the gap. Plots NEVER are worked out 'by logic' - only by flights of imaginative problem-solving - the 'logic' works with stunning brilliance in hindsight - and if there are plot holes, you tweak until the gaps are sealed shut, then yank your head out of the clouds and pray for all you are worth to your muse that some clever reader doesn't discover a loose end or inconsistency you didn't think about.
On the 'difficulty' getting published saw - at risk of getting clubbed for setting peoples' hair on fire - it takes, not talent, not time, but YEARS of meticulous practice to hone the aspects of craft tightly enough to reach print by a traditional house. This has always been true. More always have failed than succeeded. And of those who reached print, fewer still stayed afloat. It's a hard field, and always has been. The most profound difference now: the internet makes alternative venues not only too easy, but possible. Yes, there are books that fall in between established lines, that are well conceived and brilliantly executed that indeed would have a tough time being targeted for the market place. These would be the exception. If any established writer spoke of how many YEARS it took them to sharpen their craft and develop their talent - it would come as a shock to many, perhaps. I could tell you how many submissions I sent - insisting my work was 'ready - but the self evaluation of starting authors is too often faulty - what incentive is left to WORK OUT THE KINKS, given there's so much whinging over 'the state of the market' today.
This statement is food for thought and discussion, of course, and not any disparagement of the choices made by others - your mileage may vary. However, I have heard quite a few editors state clearly that 'they have bought every novel they ever found that was publishable' - perhaps, from their perspective, they had a point. Alternative publishing is here to stay. To my mind, if it is to evolve for new authors, the need lies in establishing some way to lay down a bench mark so that the cream of such works can be picked out of the morass.
I was a rabid reader, first - rabid to the point of trying to hide library books behind my text books in class - and discovering how huge an overdue fine can be when the teacher confiscated said book, and did not return it until the end of the school year. After that incident, doodling in class was Much Safer, but the repercussions of that came much later. (Nothing wasted, since I went on to illustrate book covers as a professional).
If anyone had ever dared to suggest (then, in the days when I was addicted to the outdoors, as well as an insatiable bookworm) while I was screaming-fit allergic to homework that had written assignments - that I would Ever Willingly Write hundreds and hundreds of pages, and even, (shock me silly) LOOK UP a word in a dictionary....I'd have shot the fool for a liar.
Writing Happened - at least, the Author light went on - due to one enterprising English teacher, senior year in high school, who did a mini course in creative writing....I sat down to do her exercises and found I could not stop. The stories just started pouring out. By the time I left home for college, I had FOUR finished novels that I would shoot myself in the head AND both feet, before allowing anyone to EVER exhume....these finished novels were never submitted. They were 'too young' and not based upon enough life experience.
Which I got, through determined travel/Outward Bound/offshore sailing and other insane endeavors - by end of college, I was well on the way to mapping the series in progress, which is in print and being wrapped up some fourteen (and then some) published novels and thirty short stories later. (The greater series was NOT sold until after print with two stand alones and two complete trilogies).
Strange to look back - I never considered myself a 'career' writer until I cleared the 'be a scientist' bug out of my system - I thought I was headed that way - astronomer, oceanographer, biologist - with a side kick interest in art - but the 'career writer' light went on because Science as a professional is as restrictive as a straight jacket - the idea of becoming an Intellectual Specialist on just one slice of life threw me into hair tearing fits, since I could not decide between the fascination of about eight different fields. Since fiction writing quite happily pushes the envelope no matter what eclectic freedom I chose - here I am, and here I stay. Nothing else, yet, has so elegantly answered my curiosity and skill set.
What did you read as a child?
My parents read aloud, first - Treasure Island, The Jungle Book, Oliver Twist and many another classic. I dove into Walter Farley and The Black Stallion, Narnia, the Oz books, fairy tales and myths, and every sort of mainstream or historical fiction. By the end of high school, I had quartered my small town's local library, length and breadth. Since the shelves there had very little SF or fantasy, I read almost nothing but J. R. R. Tolkein andRoger Zelazny in the field, until college.
Can you trace any direct influences on your style, your interests, your approach?
Every book I ever read, in its way, became an influence. Some impressed me more deeply:
Tolkein, not for the story line, which has suffered terribly for the mass of inferior imitations - but because he was bold ENOUGH to create his own world and populate it with an INVENTED myth. That opened the floodgates of possibility.
Roger Zelazny, for his fearlessness/invention with formatting and style, and for his incredible wealth of imagination.
Dorothy Dunnett - for frankly shoving me in way over my head - by her wealth of research, and about the most fascinating set of plot and characters, twists, and explosive endings - EVER. This woman dared to use the full range of her intelligence, wit, and invention - with breath taking results, even if the work she produced sometimes misses the common audience.
Last word on influences - Dick Francis, and every other author along the way who, not only could open a book with a hook and snag my interest, but who followed through and knew how to FINISH a book with the sights set far higher than just posing an intriguing opening scenario. Many authors write satisfying starts - very few know how to deliver a resounding FINISH.
For #5 - writing is done in intuitive leaps. Pose the problem, chuck in a left turn sort of complication, THEN sweat over it until that leap of inspiration closes the gap. Plots NEVER are worked out 'by logic' - only by flights of imaginative problem-solving - the 'logic' works with stunning brilliance in hindsight - and if there are plot holes, you tweak until the gaps are sealed shut, then yank your head out of the clouds and pray for all you are worth to your muse that some clever reader doesn't discover a loose end or inconsistency you didn't think about.
On the 'difficulty' getting published saw - at risk of getting clubbed for setting peoples' hair on fire - it takes, not talent, not time, but YEARS of meticulous practice to hone the aspects of craft tightly enough to reach print by a traditional house. This has always been true. More always have failed than succeeded. And of those who reached print, fewer still stayed afloat. It's a hard field, and always has been. The most profound difference now: the internet makes alternative venues not only too easy, but possible. Yes, there are books that fall in between established lines, that are well conceived and brilliantly executed that indeed would have a tough time being targeted for the market place. These would be the exception. If any established writer spoke of how many YEARS it took them to sharpen their craft and develop their talent - it would come as a shock to many, perhaps. I could tell you how many submissions I sent - insisting my work was 'ready - but the self evaluation of starting authors is too often faulty - what incentive is left to WORK OUT THE KINKS, given there's so much whinging over 'the state of the market' today.
This statement is food for thought and discussion, of course, and not any disparagement of the choices made by others - your mileage may vary. However, I have heard quite a few editors state clearly that 'they have bought every novel they ever found that was publishable' - perhaps, from their perspective, they had a point. Alternative publishing is here to stay. To my mind, if it is to evolve for new authors, the need lies in establishing some way to lay down a bench mark so that the cream of such works can be picked out of the morass.
15rtkaelin
Janny –
I cannot help but read your last two paragraphs and come away with a slightly uneasy feeling that you look upon the shift in publishing as a bad one. I disagree.
First off—so you understand where I am coming from—I am an indie author. And by that I mean, after writing for pleasure over a number of years, I decided to write a novel. I spent well over a year on my manuscript, and ultimately ended up hiring my own editor, copyeditor, and layout person. I made the conscious, informed decision to publish under my own press. I did not smack the keyboard, dub myself Tolkien, and hit the ‘Make Kewl Book Now’ button.
While I had interest from agents on my manuscript, all I heard back was “we like it, but it’s too long, the publishing world is in flux, we don’t want to take any risks.”
Fine.
Agents/publishers want sure things now. They are scared…I understand. Travel agents were scared, too, when people could start booking their own flights online.
I had made a few contacts (authors, other people in publishing) through various places and asked for feedback on the content of my work. The response was universally positive (I also received some invaluable criticism).
So, here I was: an unknown with a great, very-long story that had no chance of ever sniffing a traditional publishing house because of skittishness flittering about the industry.
Going the indie route was my intentional, professional choice. The reviews, accolades, and fans I have garnered tell me it was the right one. Had I not, Progeny would be sitting on my hard drive still, the nine short stories of the Terrene Chronicles would never have been written, and the manuscript I am editing for the second book in the series would have been non-existent.
For authors like me, these are exciting times. Doors are opening for us that would have remained closed for an indeterminate amount of time. I would have languished for at least as long as the publishing industry figures out what in the hell they are going to do now that they are not the sole gatekeepers.
I strongly agree with you that that it would be wonderful if there were some sort of benchmark to identify the ‘cream from the morass.’ However, what could that possibly be? Perhaps there could be some sort of vetting process (sort of like a credit rating agency) for indie authors. But if you do that, you are again consolidating the power to ‘make or break’ authors in the hands of the very few.
I have said before in other posts/blogs that I think the traditional publishing houses are missing an opportunity to explore a new ala carte services market, whereby they sell editing, copyediting, marketing, regional distribution, etc. services for authors.
Luckily, I have found some kindred souls in this process—some are indies like me, others are multi-NYT bestsellers—that have been nothing but supportive and encouraging.
Yes, publishing is changing. But in my mind, this is a good thing.
I cannot help but read your last two paragraphs and come away with a slightly uneasy feeling that you look upon the shift in publishing as a bad one. I disagree.
First off—so you understand where I am coming from—I am an indie author. And by that I mean, after writing for pleasure over a number of years, I decided to write a novel. I spent well over a year on my manuscript, and ultimately ended up hiring my own editor, copyeditor, and layout person. I made the conscious, informed decision to publish under my own press. I did not smack the keyboard, dub myself Tolkien, and hit the ‘Make Kewl Book Now’ button.
While I had interest from agents on my manuscript, all I heard back was “we like it, but it’s too long, the publishing world is in flux, we don’t want to take any risks.”
Fine.
Agents/publishers want sure things now. They are scared…I understand. Travel agents were scared, too, when people could start booking their own flights online.
I had made a few contacts (authors, other people in publishing) through various places and asked for feedback on the content of my work. The response was universally positive (I also received some invaluable criticism).
So, here I was: an unknown with a great, very-long story that had no chance of ever sniffing a traditional publishing house because of skittishness flittering about the industry.
Going the indie route was my intentional, professional choice. The reviews, accolades, and fans I have garnered tell me it was the right one. Had I not, Progeny would be sitting on my hard drive still, the nine short stories of the Terrene Chronicles would never have been written, and the manuscript I am editing for the second book in the series would have been non-existent.
For authors like me, these are exciting times. Doors are opening for us that would have remained closed for an indeterminate amount of time. I would have languished for at least as long as the publishing industry figures out what in the hell they are going to do now that they are not the sole gatekeepers.
I strongly agree with you that that it would be wonderful if there were some sort of benchmark to identify the ‘cream from the morass.’ However, what could that possibly be? Perhaps there could be some sort of vetting process (sort of like a credit rating agency) for indie authors. But if you do that, you are again consolidating the power to ‘make or break’ authors in the hands of the very few.
I have said before in other posts/blogs that I think the traditional publishing houses are missing an opportunity to explore a new ala carte services market, whereby they sell editing, copyediting, marketing, regional distribution, etc. services for authors.
Luckily, I have found some kindred souls in this process—some are indies like me, others are multi-NYT bestsellers—that have been nothing but supportive and encouraging.
Yes, publishing is changing. But in my mind, this is a good thing.
16MarysGirl
How early in life did you know you were a writer? (I posted a version of this answer to another thread "How the heck did you get into writing?")
I came late. Like many people, I got to writing through reading. (Mumble, mumble) years ago I read my third bad fantasy novel in a row, threw it across the room and declared, "I can write better than that!" Read a book on writing. Wrote a truly terrible fantasy short story. Took a class. Sold my second story. Joined a group, sold my 3-Nth stories. Went to Judy Chicago's feminist art exhibit "The Dinner Party" and fell in love with the story of Hypatia, Lady Philosopher of Alexander. Read everything I could get on her life and times. Wrote a novel. Revised, revised, revised. Pitched it. Fell in love with the story of Galla Placidia, Augusta in Western Rome during the 5th Century. Researched. Wrote another novel. Revised, revised, revised. Pitched it. Made a living writing non-fiction while trying to sell my fiction. Found that agents and publishers wanted "marquee names" and Hypatia and Galla Placidia weren't. Sighed. Hired a copy-editor, cover designer and printer. Indie-published to a small audience, but very good independent reviews (4.11 average on LT.)
I'm not a "compulsive" writer. Writing isn't my life. I've been a lifeguard, paralegal, HR executive and college professor; all of which I truly enjoyed. Writing is one way I can "give back." I love history and know that the way it's taught in school kills any enthusiasm a child might have for it. When I run across people/stories that I think are remarkable and little-known, I want to share them with others. Maybe my readers will want to know more and look up the history. If not, at least they enjoyed a good story!
What did you read as a child?
I was horse crazy as a young child and read every book at the library that featured a horse or pony. (All of Walter Farley's The Black Stallion and The Island Stallion books, among many. I'm still a sucker for a good horse book/movie. Just reviewed Writing Horses: The Fine Art of Getting it Right by Judith Tarr as an ER.) As I got older, I got into westerns (logical outcome of horse mania?) and read all of Zane Grey's oeuvre. When I visited my cousins, I devoured their Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew's. We didn't have much money or many books in our house so I got to be really good friends with the bookmobile ladies and they let me into the "adult" stacks at the local library. There I discovered Mark Twain and James Thurber. High school started an enduring passion for SF with Asimov and Heinlein.
Can you trace any direct influences on your style, your interests, your approach?
Style: no. I'm an eclectic reader and am sure there are some influences, but I can't trace them.
Interests: definitely! I love history. I've been reading historical fiction for decades, then looking up the history behind the story. It's my favorite way of learning. My historical periods have ranged over millennia.
Approach: I'm an academic at heart and start all my novels reading as much as I can about the person and time. I take notes, make outlines, then dream the story.
I came late. Like many people, I got to writing through reading. (Mumble, mumble) years ago I read my third bad fantasy novel in a row, threw it across the room and declared, "I can write better than that!" Read a book on writing. Wrote a truly terrible fantasy short story. Took a class. Sold my second story. Joined a group, sold my 3-Nth stories. Went to Judy Chicago's feminist art exhibit "The Dinner Party" and fell in love with the story of Hypatia, Lady Philosopher of Alexander. Read everything I could get on her life and times. Wrote a novel. Revised, revised, revised. Pitched it. Fell in love with the story of Galla Placidia, Augusta in Western Rome during the 5th Century. Researched. Wrote another novel. Revised, revised, revised. Pitched it. Made a living writing non-fiction while trying to sell my fiction. Found that agents and publishers wanted "marquee names" and Hypatia and Galla Placidia weren't. Sighed. Hired a copy-editor, cover designer and printer. Indie-published to a small audience, but very good independent reviews (4.11 average on LT.)
I'm not a "compulsive" writer. Writing isn't my life. I've been a lifeguard, paralegal, HR executive and college professor; all of which I truly enjoyed. Writing is one way I can "give back." I love history and know that the way it's taught in school kills any enthusiasm a child might have for it. When I run across people/stories that I think are remarkable and little-known, I want to share them with others. Maybe my readers will want to know more and look up the history. If not, at least they enjoyed a good story!
What did you read as a child?
I was horse crazy as a young child and read every book at the library that featured a horse or pony. (All of Walter Farley's The Black Stallion and The Island Stallion books, among many. I'm still a sucker for a good horse book/movie. Just reviewed Writing Horses: The Fine Art of Getting it Right by Judith Tarr as an ER.) As I got older, I got into westerns (logical outcome of horse mania?) and read all of Zane Grey's oeuvre. When I visited my cousins, I devoured their Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew's. We didn't have much money or many books in our house so I got to be really good friends with the bookmobile ladies and they let me into the "adult" stacks at the local library. There I discovered Mark Twain and James Thurber. High school started an enduring passion for SF with Asimov and Heinlein.
Can you trace any direct influences on your style, your interests, your approach?
Style: no. I'm an eclectic reader and am sure there are some influences, but I can't trace them.
Interests: definitely! I love history. I've been reading historical fiction for decades, then looking up the history behind the story. It's my favorite way of learning. My historical periods have ranged over millennia.
Approach: I'm an academic at heart and start all my novels reading as much as I can about the person and time. I take notes, make outlines, then dream the story.
17Marissa_Doyle
How early in life did you know you wanted to be a writer?
I didn't. I wanted to be a historical archaeologist, and started a doctoral program in it until after a year I ran out of (a) money and (b) desire to be an academic. I'd always been a good writer--prizes in high school and all that--but didn't think about creative writing until my twenties. After leaving grad school I worked in fund-raising for several years, and think that writing fund-raising newletters and reports and annual appeal letters is a great training ground for writing fiction. :) I'm only half-joking--writing fund-raising material involves writing persuasively, writing to hit emotional buttons (but subtly).
I had story ideas bouncing in my head for several years, but didn't have time to think about them (the arrival of three children saw to that) until the year I turned 40. My two younger kids were in 5th grade and didn't need as much hands-on attention, and I decided that if I was ever going to write, I'd better buckle down and give it a try for six months--and if it didn't work, I'd go back to fund-raising or museum work. So I buckled down and wrote, and six months later, had a book written. It was quite horrible, but writing it hadn't snuffed the urge to write, so I wrote another (slightly less horrible) one. And another. That third one nearly sold (I shelved it after it didn't make it through acquisitions, but it's back on submission now five years later). The fourth one got me my agent, who sold it to Henry Holt BYR in a two book deal a couple of months later. A third book is due out from them next summer.
What did you read as a child?
I loved SF/fantasy and historical fiction as a kid--in 4th grade I was fixated on Laura Ingalls Wilder, in 6th grade on Edgar Allen Poe and Ray Bradbury (definitely did the book concealed on lap during class thing then!), and by 8th grade on Heinlein and Asimov. I also discovered Jean Plaidy and her alter-ego Victoria Holt, and to this day anything I write has to have a mystery element to it.
Influences?
Because of my history geek background, I write historical settings...and my love of fantasy means I write some fantastical element into my stories. I write YA because my core story always seems to be one of self-discovery and finding one's place in the world. I write the books I wish I could have read when I was in high school or college and was swamped with work and desperately needed to escape for a few hours into a fun, exciting-but-not-too-harrowing story that I knew would have a happy ending.
I didn't. I wanted to be a historical archaeologist, and started a doctoral program in it until after a year I ran out of (a) money and (b) desire to be an academic. I'd always been a good writer--prizes in high school and all that--but didn't think about creative writing until my twenties. After leaving grad school I worked in fund-raising for several years, and think that writing fund-raising newletters and reports and annual appeal letters is a great training ground for writing fiction. :) I'm only half-joking--writing fund-raising material involves writing persuasively, writing to hit emotional buttons (but subtly).
I had story ideas bouncing in my head for several years, but didn't have time to think about them (the arrival of three children saw to that) until the year I turned 40. My two younger kids were in 5th grade and didn't need as much hands-on attention, and I decided that if I was ever going to write, I'd better buckle down and give it a try for six months--and if it didn't work, I'd go back to fund-raising or museum work. So I buckled down and wrote, and six months later, had a book written. It was quite horrible, but writing it hadn't snuffed the urge to write, so I wrote another (slightly less horrible) one. And another. That third one nearly sold (I shelved it after it didn't make it through acquisitions, but it's back on submission now five years later). The fourth one got me my agent, who sold it to Henry Holt BYR in a two book deal a couple of months later. A third book is due out from them next summer.
What did you read as a child?
I loved SF/fantasy and historical fiction as a kid--in 4th grade I was fixated on Laura Ingalls Wilder, in 6th grade on Edgar Allen Poe and Ray Bradbury (definitely did the book concealed on lap during class thing then!), and by 8th grade on Heinlein and Asimov. I also discovered Jean Plaidy and her alter-ego Victoria Holt, and to this day anything I write has to have a mystery element to it.
Influences?
Because of my history geek background, I write historical settings...and my love of fantasy means I write some fantastical element into my stories. I write YA because my core story always seems to be one of self-discovery and finding one's place in the world. I write the books I wish I could have read when I was in high school or college and was swamped with work and desperately needed to escape for a few hours into a fun, exciting-but-not-too-harrowing story that I knew would have a happy ending.
18JannyWurts
#15 rtkaelin - by all means, follow your own convictions.
My -suggestion- that the publishing to reader interface needs to evolve further was not meant as a blanket statement of good or bad. Neither was my suggestion that some writers may leap into alternatives too fast meant to refute another's informed exploration. I had no intent to negate the values of others who had explored and decided what was best for them; only to make the note that too many (perhaps) leap into the choice out of ignorance.
The internet (right now) is very shrill on this sensitive subject. SOMETIMES the ignorant voices are loudest.
It might be noted that: altogether too many traditionally published authors with 'big' houses have no clue, even, how the industry works.
Back to topic!
#16 and # 17 - thanks for sharing! I've shared some favorites with both of you. If not for Walter Farley, believe it or not - I may have dumped reading altogether...seriously. The teaching material was SO dull in early grade school, it almost killed my interest. And Jean Plaidy/Victoria Holt - such warm memories.
My -suggestion- that the publishing to reader interface needs to evolve further was not meant as a blanket statement of good or bad. Neither was my suggestion that some writers may leap into alternatives too fast meant to refute another's informed exploration. I had no intent to negate the values of others who had explored and decided what was best for them; only to make the note that too many (perhaps) leap into the choice out of ignorance.
The internet (right now) is very shrill on this sensitive subject. SOMETIMES the ignorant voices are loudest.
It might be noted that: altogether too many traditionally published authors with 'big' houses have no clue, even, how the industry works.
Back to topic!
#16 and # 17 - thanks for sharing! I've shared some favorites with both of you. If not for Walter Farley, believe it or not - I may have dumped reading altogether...seriously. The teaching material was SO dull in early grade school, it almost killed my interest. And Jean Plaidy/Victoria Holt - such warm memories.
19oldstick
I enjoyed reading more than writing as a child, although I was always happy writing essays at school and disertations for college. I n later life I just wrote poems. Then, when I retired I went from short stories to novels.
Childhood reading was everything and anything from Winnie the Pooh to Treasure Island,The Pit and the Pendulum to The Idiot
I guess I was influenced by most of the classics but my writing had to change as modern novels are much tighter with more action and less description. A publisher told me to write in scenes so I tried to base my style on 'Neighbours.' The subject matter is not the same but I admired the way they covered so much in each episode. I tried to make something happen on every page. It was a very different style from my favourite authors but it makes easy reading.
As to what makes an author happy - it has to be someone taking the trouble to say they enjoyed the book.
oldstick.
Childhood reading was everything and anything from Winnie the Pooh to Treasure Island,The Pit and the Pendulum to The Idiot
I guess I was influenced by most of the classics but my writing had to change as modern novels are much tighter with more action and less description. A publisher told me to write in scenes so I tried to base my style on 'Neighbours.' The subject matter is not the same but I admired the way they covered so much in each episode. I tried to make something happen on every page. It was a very different style from my favourite authors but it makes easy reading.
As to what makes an author happy - it has to be someone taking the trouble to say they enjoyed the book.
oldstick.
