Author Spotlight no.45 – Mia Johansson

Complementing my daily blog interviews, today’s Author Spotlight, the forty-fifth, is of Mia Johansson.

Mioara “Mia” Johansson is a civil engineer living in Sweden, author of the fiction novel “Unfinished discussion about God – The diary of a time traveller” expected to be published 2012, and a variety of short stories. She is an occasional photographer interested in the architecture of old and modern cities, street life, a good cup of coffee and jazz. I have recently joined Google+ (late to the party, I know) and Mia is already there; you can view her stunningly attractive albums here. You can read two of Mia’s short stories (which was/will be also podcasted) on the Flash Fiction Fridays page (‘On the Bridge’ and ‘The Jazz and the Blues‘).

And now from the author herself:

…how I became a writer?  Well…

I really don’t know… If I am a writer at all. I did write some pages, some thoughts. But does it make me a writer?

I never thought or wished or even dreamed to be a writer. It just happened.

One day, two years ago, I said to myself: “I will write a book” and the next day I started to write. I had an idea about what I wanted to write but I had no idea at all about how to write a book. Rules and stuff like that you know, about writing, not that I am that kind of person that follows the rules in general either.

I lost the text three times somewhere in the outer space, the virtual one, meaning my laptop so I had to remake the story three times. Or was it four? And I re-read it kind of “thousand” times each time becoming something else (lol! wonder how it will look in the end).  It took me two years to finish the material for the “Unfinished discussion about God – The diary of a time traveler”.

Almost the same time I finished the text for the book, the chance to take a writing class occurred so I took it.  And as in my book’s story, so even in reality, my reality, everything went the other way round.  How? Why? Maybe it’s time to re-read my story. Again!

And so I became a writer.

Thank you so much Mia, and I look forward to reading more of your writing.

The blog interviews will return as normal tomorrow with novelist and short story author Kimberly Todd Wade – the two hundred and thirty-fifth of my blog interviews with novelists, poets, short story authors, biographers, agents, publishers and more. A list of interviewees (blogged and scheduled) can be found here. If you like what you read, please do go and investigate further. And I enjoy hearing from readers of my blog; do either leave a comment on the relevant interview (the interviewees love to hear from you too!) and / or email me. You can read / download my eBooks from Smashwords.

 

Blog interview no.234 with writer Shah Husain

Welcome to the two hundred and thirty-fourth of my blog interviews with novelists, poets, short story authors, biographers, agents, publishers and more. Today’s is with Shah Husain. A list of interviewees (blogged and scheduled) can be found here. If you like what you read, please do go and investigate further.

Morgen: Hello Shah. Please tell us something about yourself and how you came to be a writer.

Shah:  I was born in Karachi, Pakistan.  We didn’t have TV when we were growing up but we had gardens, lots of dogs of different kinds, feral cats who had kittens in our creepers and a range of birds, butterflies and space in which to run about and invent worlds.  I can tell you if you burrow into a creeper to find your ball and see an enchanting little kitten metamorphose into a spitting, scratching monster in a few seconds flat, you experience true horror and it gets the imagination going.  Equally if you see a glittering spider-web stretched out between flowering bushes and at the centre a gold spider with a black frame-like pattern on its back, you can easily believe in magical worlds.  It all provides lots of theories on which stories can be built.  My environment nourished my imagination and provided worlds of experience, pleasure, fear, joy, pain…you name it.  My imagination flourished – I started writing at 5.

Morgen: It sounds wonderful, and inspiration indeed. What genre do you write?

Shah: Primarily, I retell traditional stories from around the world.  I grew up listening to fairytales, folk tales and fables both in Pakistan and from my family in India, on the other side of the border.  When I grew up I realised that they held meaning and significance for all ages.  I write screenplays, too – no particular genre, just try to make a good story.  I also write non-fiction and I’ve written a novel which I’ve just completed and sent on its journey.  Fingers crossed. It feels weird to be a ‘newby’ after 20 years of being commissioned.

Morgen: A very experienced ‘newby’. What have you had published to-date? How much of the marketing do you do?

Shah:  14 books for children (15 with the one out in a week or so) – the Wise Fool – 6 for adults.  I’ve also written 2 plays for kids and more than half a dozen commissioned screenplays.  I’ve been lucky to work with publishers who have marketing departments to handle publicity.  I try to be as accommodating as possible and ensure I can make time if they want me to write, do photo-shoots, radio interviews and personal appearances.  I confess, I loathe personal appearances unless they’re with kids.  But you have to be professional and do what you’re asked.

Morgen: I think most people reading this would be in awe of your experiences although understandably nervous of live events. I’ve done a few open mic nights and the audience was the mostly the same each time so less scary as I went along. Having done so much, do you have an agent? Do you think they’re vital to an author’s success?

Shah: I have been agented since 1986 though I’ve changed agents a couple of times.  They are actually harder to convince than publishers – or used to be.  Publishing is always changing.  With self-publishing and digital books on the increase, I don’t know how things are going to develop.  One thing I’ll say – as self-publishing gets professionalised and so much more respectable, traditional publishers may need to review their options; conversely, they may sit back and check out what comes on the digital market and then cherry-pick the best of the new talent.

Morgen: I have heard it’s more difficult to get an agent than a publisher and it’s certainly an interesting time. You mentioned digital books, are your books available in that format? Were you involved at all in that process? And do you read eBooks?

Shah: My publishers, Virago, have just suggested turning my titles into e-books and POD.  I’m very excited about that.  They soon will be available, with luck.  I love my Kindle, so, yes, I do read e-books.  The process:  haven’t been through it yet but am hoping to put together a couple of writing guides which I might put straight on Kindle, Nook etc.  They are based on courses I’ve taught many times and for which I’ve had great testimonials. I know from e-books I’ve read that there are a lot of badly produced, badly-written books around.  It’s really important to ensure that when we self-publish we do so to a high standard.  Traditional publishers spend a small fortune on getting it right – the least we can do is get our work rigorously edited.  If you’re selling something make it worth the money.  Graphics aren’t always necessary with e-books but the writing, editing and the formatting needs to be professionally done.

Morgen: There was an author on LinkedIn who said he could edit his own work and didn’t need a second opinion – needless to say everyone else (including myself) disagreed with him – we’re too close to our own work and need an editor (or equivalent) to not only pick out errors but give great suggestions (mine does). What was your first acceptance and is being accepted still a thrill?

Shah: Always.  My first book was a collection of Indian myths for 12+ readers: Demons, Gods and Holy Men from Indian Myths and Legends.  I was beside myself with excitement.  As I completed that, I was asked to write a children’s non-fiction book, Focus on India.  It was thrilling.  I never looked back.  And when Virago accepted my proposal for the Virago Book of Witches, I kept thinking they’d change their minds.  All these books are still in print, which is great.

Morgen: Virago does seem a very supportive publisher, and they produce some great books. Have you had any rejections? If so, how do you deal with them?

Shah: Most of us have had rejections – it’s the writer’s baptism of fire – but writers are dogged people who don’t let go because they can’t.  It’s in our blood and we have to keep going.  Personally, my energy and wellbeing comes from writing so I can’t stop.  Send something out and get right on to the next project.  If you’re passionate about it, you’ll get absorbed and it’ll get you through the tough times.

Morgen: I love your description of writers – it’s exactly how I feel. What are you working on at the moment / next?

Shah: I’m luxuriating at the moment in the joy of seeing my new children’s book launched into the world.  The Wise Fool, published by Barefoot Books.  Also, I’m devising a TV series and am in the middle of another novel.  I have the next goodness-knows-how-many projects carefully listed in a file along with notes and titles.

Morgen: I have more ideas than I have time (so far) to write but having different projects on the go certainly sounds like it suits you. Do you manage to write every day? What’s the most you’ve written in a day?

Shah: Most of the time, I do.  But I can be erratic sometimes.  I used to do 9.30-3.00 and then 4-6, like clockwork – that’s changed a bit.   Strangely since I’ve cut down on my other career, a private psychotherapy practice, I’m less disciplined.  I think the lack of structure lulls me into a false sense of time.  And I’m always taking time off to be with my grandchildren.

Morgen: Oh dear… not for being with your grandchildren, but I’ve just left my job and that’s what I’m dreading; I do find I get more done if I know that I have a limited time, more focussed I suppose so I do plan to have a… well, plan. I’m sure it helps. Do you ever suffer from writer’s block?

Shah: I have suffered from it and it was a shock because I didn’t believe in it.  The commonest cause is not knowing where to go next with a project – research helps.  I got rid of it by making myself sit down, read through what I’d written and then eventually just telling myself it had to be done and that if it was bad, I was enough of a professional to salvage it or rewrite it.  Over-planning can be a problem, sometimes, so simply getting started is a good way to get going.  Also, changing one’s energy.  I get up, walk around, cook, garden, watch TV, read a magazine, go for a walk – but I set a time limit for breaks.

Morgen: Absolutely, I’m sure variety keeps the brain active. You’ve just mentioned over-planning, do you plot your stories or do you just get an idea and run with it?

Shah: I do plot if it’s a longer work.  With short ones, I simply decide where I have to get my character in a particular section – how s/he gets there, or does what s/he must is often a surprise to me.  I have noticed recently that planning a screenplay works for me better than prose work.

Morgen: I don’t have much experience of script (just Script Frenzy in 2010) so that’s interesting you say that. Do you have pieces of work that you think will never see light of day?

Shah: There’s a semi-autobiographical novel written 20 years ago.  I occasionally dust it off and look at it but I’m not sure I have the will to do what needs to be done to fix it.  Maybe work with a good editor and turn it into an e-book?  Kindle, here I come.

Morgen: My last novel (for NaNoWriMo 2010) was a very dark therapeutic work so I know how you feel. What’s your favourite / least favourite aspect of your writing life?

Shah: The freedom, I think and the fact I can be as reclusive as I like, not have to socialise or hang out with people and not miss out on special events with my children and grandchildren.  I find it very hard to stay focused and finish without having a deadline.

Morgen: What advice would you give aspiring writers?

Shah: Write from passion.  It will shine through.  Don’t talk too much about the content until it’s written.  Be dogged.  Don’t give up.  Don’t let anyone tell you can’t do it.  Listen to constructive advice and keep revising and rewriting.  If one project doesn’t make it, put it away and get onto another. Learn from your mistakes.  Keep writing.

Morgen: Absolutely, if you don’t write it, you can’t edit / submit it. What do you like to read?

Shah: Everything.  My taste is eclectic. I’m not a reading snob – but I don’t read as much as I’d like to because I prefer to write.  Researching a project allows me to discover the most interesting things and find areas and worlds I had no idea about.

Morgen: Are there any writing-related websites and/or books that you find useful and would recommend?

Shah: Check out my website, coming soon: Narrativesonline.com.  There are endless writing resources on the internet – not all good – people promising that you can write a novel in a week and promising to make your book a best-seller if you do as they ask.  Sorry, but there are no guarantees about these things because there are just too many variables.  But read good writers.   Follow their attention to dialogue, point of view, structure.  ‘A Writing Life’ is a great work for all writers, David Lodge’s books ‘The Practice of Writing’ and ‘Consciousness and the Novel’ are worth reading.  Some screenwriting books are good such as Robert McKee and John Truby and Karl Iglesias on dialogue.   But you know what, I’d rather get down to writing than reading or thinking about it.  If you want to write, write.  And then when you’re ready to rewrite, you can consult the books.  Instinct is vital.  Learn to trust it – I truly believe the human mind is hard-wired to tell stories.

Morgen: We are, in a variety of formats; electronic, paper, verbally around a camp fire. Where are you based, Shah?

Shah: I feel really lucky I’m in the UK. London, my home, is so brilliantly well-connected and book focused in many ways with plenty of bookshops and literary venues and opportunities to be in touch with adult and child readers.

Morgen: London definitely has a strong literary scene. Northampton used to be good but sadly funding issues have changed that but I think that’s happening everywhere. Are you on any forums or networking sites? If so, how invaluable do you find them?

Shah: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and loads of others.  But I’ve not really made use of them yet.  Will try my hand at it this time round, though.  I’ll report back in a few months, to let you know.

Morgen: Please do as I’m planning the same and I think it’s definitely important for a writer to be on the networking sites (without too much touting of course). Where can we find out about you and your work?

Shah: You can check my personal website on www.ShahrukhHusain.com.  Google turns up quite a few hits and all the major online stores stock my work.  There’s an interview blog coming up on Barefootbooks.com and the Virago website has something up, too as does a site called WriteWords.  I’ll try to remember and compile a list of links when my own website gets going next month.  Remember: narrativesonline.com – and I’ll be checking in on this blog, so if you have any questions, I’ll try to respond.

Thank you so much Shah, lovely to meet you.

If you are reading this and you write, in whatever genre, and are thinking “ooh, I’d like to do this” then you can… just email me and I’ll send you the questions. You complete them, I tweak them where appropriate (if necessary to reflect the blog ‘clean and light’ rating) and then they get posted. When that’s done, I email you with the link so you can share it with your corner of the literary world. And if you have a writing-related blog / podcast and would like to interview me… let me know. You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything… and follow me on Twitter where each new posting is automatically announced. You can also read / download my eBooks and free eShorts at Smashwords.

Unfortunately, as I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t review books but if you have a short story or self-contained novel extract / short chapter (ideally up to 1000 words) that you’d like critiqued and don’t mind me reading it / talking about and critiquing it (I send you the transcription afterwards so you can use the comments or ignore them) on my ‘Bailey’s Writing Tips’ podcast, then do email me. They are weekly episodes, usually released Monday mornings UK time, interweaving the recordings between the red pen sessions with the hints & tips episodes. I am now also looking for flash fiction (<1000 words) for Flash Fiction Fridays.

 

Flash Fiction Friday 015: ‘That Old Feeling’ by JD Mader

Welcome to Flash Fiction Friday and the fifteenth piece of flash fiction in this new weekly series. This week’s piece is a 548-worder entitled ‘That Old Feeling’ by J D Mader.

That Old Feeling

Joe sat on the tired bench and watched the pigeons scuttle and peck, forging their way through the crowds of tourists.  His sunglasses, dark black, covered two eyes that had not “seen” for almost twenty years.  Since the accident.  But it did not lessen his ability to see the pigeons work their magic.  At times, he thought he could see more clearly now than he had ever been able to before.

The accident was one of those things.  One of those things you beat yourself up about until you’re on the ropes, until it doesn’t make sense anymore…until you have to forgive yourself.  Fireworks.  A dumb prank.  But it had cost him.

Ally had been so beautiful.  It made him do stupid things.  Jump over fire pits that spat embers into the night sky.  Write songs that never landed right.  Songs he was always convinced were brilliant.  He liked to practice and practice, imagining her reverent face…the love radiating from her smile.  The reality, a kind of awkward silence.  A thank you…the kind you give when you get a sweater you don’t like.  Well, it always made him up the ante.  And then it took his eyes.  And he grew up and she married and moved away, but, by god, he could still see her face, too.  As clear as if it was in front of him.  For years, it made him angry to think of her.  These days, it just made him sigh.

There was no one to impress, now.  He spent his days sitting in the sun, drinking in the noises of the tourists and the cries of the gulls.  The seals.  He often chuckled at how similar they sounded.  He could see himself, too.  The old blind man chuckling to himself.  He wondered if he looked the way he did in his mind.  He wondered if he was kinder or more harsh in his assessment of what the years had done.  He wondered what that said about him.  And he realized it did not matter.

Losing his eyes had taught him that…the most important lesson of all.  There was not a lot that did matter. There was sleep, a good meal, friendship and love.  It taught him that the things he focused on were not the important things.  Perhaps blindness had made him a better person.  Closing his eyes had opened other parts of him.

He did see her face this day.  And he felt those old urges.  To prove he could run the fastest, drink the most, be the…best, most daring…something.  Perhaps that was what propelled him forward.

Witnesses told the police the basics.  The old blind man…the one who always sat on that bench…out of nowhere – over the railing and seconds later screaming and flailing in the icy waters of the bay.  They did not realize that the screams were screams of joy, dredged from deep within him, tainted with years of…well, life.  They did not try to speculate about the smile, and he did not feel the need to explain.  They took him home.  And the next day, he was back at his spot, listening to the pigeons and children scuttle about.  Nothing had changed.  He felt younger.  Fresh.  He wanted to ask if he looked younger. But it didn’t matter.

I asked JD what prompted this piece and he said…

The inspiration for this story was lethargy.  I thought, “I haven’t written anything today”.  So, I started with an image and the story came.  I suppose I was probably reminiscing about something.  Reflecting on San Francisco since we have just moved east a bit, perhaps.  Not a very good answer, I know.  A lot of times the inspiration for my stories is, ‘you better get off your lazy butt and write something’.

A great answer! Thank you (again) JD.

J D Mader is a teacher and writer / musician based in San Francisco.  He has been fortunate enough to encounter many giving and inspiring people in his life.  He hopes to repay the debt.  And to make enough money with his writing to buy a house. You can help him buy a brick (although I think the eBook is actually cheaper!) by checking out his debut novel ‘Joe Café’ and there will be more soon. He’s done a lot for my blog so probably the easiest way is to read them all is via the ‘Contributors‘ page… just scroll down to the Js (although not too quickly in case there are some other authors you like the sound of ). 

If you’d like to submit your 1,000-word max. stories for consideration for Flash Fiction Friday take a look here.

The blog interviews will return as normal tomorrow with author Shah Husain – the two hundred and thirty-fourth of my blog interviews with novelists, poets, short story authors, bloggers, biographers, agents, publishers and more. A list of interviewees (blogged and scheduled) can be found here. If you like what you read, please do go and investigate further. And I enjoy hearing from readers of my blog; do either leave a comment on the relevant interview (the interviewees love to hear from you too!) and / or email me. You can also read / download my eBooks and free eShorts at Smashwords.

 

Blog interview no.233 with writer Malcolm R Campbell

Welcome to the two hundred and thirty-third of my blog interviews with novelists, poets, short story authors, biographers, agents, publishers and more. Today’s is with fantasy, magic realism and satire author Malcolm R, Campbell. A list of interviewees (blogged and scheduled) can be found here. If you like what you read, please do go and investigate further.

Morgen: Hello Malcolm. Please tell us something about yourself and how you came to be a writer.

Malcolm: Hello, Morgen. Now this is a rather broad, open-ended question that, if not carefully handled, might tempt me to write a short memoir here. I’ll resist that temptation—for now.

Morgen: Don’t worry, I can talk for England so it’s about time I met my match.

Malcolm: My father was a university professor, teaching journalism for many years while writing a number of textbooks and hundreds of articles about newspapers, reporting, writing styles and press freedom. That influence, plus the many shelves of books in the house, led me to decide that writing was a career I could not escape. I have tried to escape (can I say that here?)…

Morgen: of course

Malcolm: …but something, some paranormal force or being, keeps catching me and sitting me down in front of a blank screen or an empty sheet of paper.

Morgen: How horrible but we’re baring up, aren’t we? What genre do you generally write and have you considered other genres?

Malcolm: Two of my books are contemporary fantasy, one is magical realism, and one is satire. I’ve considered writing more nonfiction and—don’t tell my publisher this—doing mysteries that play mind-games with the readers about who might be guilty and where all the bodies are buried.

Morgen: Your secret is safe with me. What have you had published to-date? If applicable, can you remember where you saw your first books on the shelves?

Malcolm: Most of my writing career was focused on computer documentation and related training materials and press releases, so I came into the world of fiction relatively recently, beginning with the publication of “The Sun Singer”, a contemporary fantasy, in 2004. My latest novel, “Sarabande”, also a contemporary fantasy, was released by Vanilla Heart Publishing in August. While it’s the sequel to “The Sun Singer”, it can also be read as a standalone novel. “Garden of Heaven: an Odyssey” is magical realism and “Jock Stewart and the Missing Sea of Fire” is a comedy / satire. Seeing a book on a store shelf is a wonderful experience for an author; the first time I saw “The Sun Singer” in a store, I kept staring at it like it was a mirage.

Morgen: How much of the marketing do you do for your published works or indeed for yourself as a ‘brand’?

Malcolm: A recent essay in the “Los Angeles Review” suggested the idea that creating “literary space” might be more appealing to some writers than the idea of “Building a Platform” or “Creating a Brand”. I see literary space as an extension of my novels, while the platform and brand focus appears separate. When I worked as a corporate communications director for a computer software company, we focused on the features and benefits of the programs we sold. Our approach was that our product filled a prospective buyer’s utilitarian needs by automating what s/he hadn’t been able to computerize before and / or by doing tasks with greater speed and accuracy at a reduced cost. Now, bluntly put, one might say that a prospective reader looks at a book in a bookstore or at an online retailer and thinks (one way or another) “what’s in it for me?” While the book’s cost is a factor, the larger factor is the prospective reader’s investment in time—the number of hours or days it will take to read that book as opposed to reading another book or going to a movie or spending an evening at the bowling alley.

My novels and the characters in them are, in many ways, extensions of me in that they include myths and magic, a respect for the land, a forward-looking hope that all of us are capable of great things, and that sometimes a wild sense of humour is a good ally. It’s easy, then, for me to write posts, tweets, Facebook status updates from the point of view that I am creating literary space rather than selling a product. If I hadn’t written the novels, I would still be posting, tweeting and writing about conservation or about specific environmental issues in the Rocky Mountains where my books are set. I would still be commenting on blogs that focus on writing techniques, mythology and shamanism. So, just being myself indirectly creates this literary space because being myself tells people about the books. Writers who like the “platform” and “brand” concepts might say, “well, that’s what I’m going, too”. They’re probably right; I simply have a higher comfort level not thinking of my books as products with features and benefits.

Morgen: The quickest way to get de-followed on Twitter is for an author to do little else but tout their wares and making it less sales pitchy and more interactive is definitely the way to go. Have you won or been shortlisted in any competitions and do you think they help with a writer’s success?

Malcolm: The first edition of “The Sun Singer” was a named finalist in the ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Awards. First of all, it’s an honour winning a contest, receiving an award or being a finalist or one of those on the shortlist. Such honours can translate into book sales or an increased level of interest by editors, publishers and the media as well.

Morgen: Absolutely, it’s a nod from your peers and something for the CV. Do you ever use a pseudonym?

Malcolm: My novels are written under my own name. However, in 2006, I self-published a book called “Worst of Jock Stewart” written under the pseudonym of Jock Stewart. The book was a collection of posts from my blog Morning Satirical News. That blog features satirical “news stories” about real and imagined events written by my alter-ego persona Jock Stewart. Later, I used this same character in my novel “Jock Stewart and the Missing Sea of Fire.” I describe Stewart as an anti-establishment, film-noir-style reporter. Since my blog comments and Facebook updates often sound like my Stewart character’s pun-filled sarcasm, people keep asking me if I really am Jock Stewart. Naturally, I give them a firm maybe, often citing randomly informed sources in my answer.

Morgen: That sounds like fun. Are your books available as eBooks? If so what was your experience of that process? And do you read eBooks?

Malcolm: My books are available on Nook, Kindle and in multiple formats at Smashwords. Like the Borg in the “Star Trek” films, e-books are taking over the universe with a “resistance is futile” campaign aimed at removing paper books, libraries and bookstores from our consciousness. I do have Kindle for PC because it allows me to look at books I’m using for reference very quickly and cheaply. Otherwise, no, I don’t read e-books because I stare at a screen all day and don’t want to see another screen while reading the latest novel. Since my publisher took care of all the formatting and uploading, my experience of the e-book process was limited to saying, “wow, there it is in the Kindle store.”

Morgen: A high proportion of people I’ve spoken to still prefer paper books but like you are embracing (to whatever level) eBooks but think they’ll run alongside each other, as I do. Who designed your books’ covers?

Malcolm: My book covers are designed by Kimberlee Williams, my publisher at Vanilla Heart. She’s quite adept at finding the appropriate of type fonts and images to convey what my stories are about.

Morgen: What was your first acceptance and is being accepted still a thrill?

Malcolm: My first acceptance came from the former Sunday magazine of the Atlanta Journal & Constitution (AJC) in Georgia when they published a profile I wrote about my grandfather. My wife answered the phone and then turned to me, saying “It’s the AJC. They need to know your social security number because they’re publishing your piece about kite flying with your grandfather.” While I use my SSN so often, I have it memorized, I recall having a little trouble conveying that information to my wife. On the day the paper came out, we rushed out at midnight and bought a copy even though we had a subscription and would find the paper on our doorstep five or six hours later. Looking at the profile piece was another one of those this-has-got-to-be-a-mirage experiences. And yes, being accepted is still a thrill.

Morgen: What are you working on at the moment / next?

Malcolm: I’m contemplating (that’s a writer’s word for not yet doing anything substantial) another book with many of the same characters from “The Sun Singer” and “Sarabande”.  They’re so many stories I could tell about my look-alike world hidden in the mountains of Montana, that I’m having a little difficulty narrowing down my focus.

Morgen: Do you have to narrow it down? I love bringing back characters, especially where they were more of an incidental character before. What is your opinion of writer’s block? Do you ever suffer from it?

Malcolm: My friend Smoky Zeidel describes so-called writer’s block as a necessary fallow period in an author’s cycle of active projects. I see that as similar to the cycle of life that begins with a seed “waiting” deep in the soil until the time is right for it to put up its first shoots and leaves. One can only write what is within himself or herself. Sure, writer’s block can be an avoidance-of-work habit, but, like Smoky, I see it as a time for reading, getting out in nature, and more or less recharging my heart and soul so that when it’s time to start a new project, I’ll be ready for it.

Morgen: Variety can do wonders. A question some authors dread, where do you get your inspiration from?

Malcolm: I think one’s inspiration arises out of his or her passion for certain subjects, locations and types of characters. Writers are said to ask “what if” about a lot of things. That’s true. When you’re passionate about a place, you’re likely to think of all kinds of things that might happen there. My passions are the northern Rocky Mountains, nature, myths and legends, and transcendent themes. So, I put these loves together into contemporary fantasy set in a mountain environment. Now, I have a large cast of characters and numerous potential real and imaginary settings I can draw upon for prospective novels. In a way, I’m mixing what I know and love with a dash of imagination and a bushel of “what if” questions and turning it into fiction.

Morgen: Do you plot your stories or do you just get an idea and run with it?

Malcolm: When I have an idea for a novel, I start writing with only a rough idea in my head about the plot. Of course, I’ll delay getting started by doing research for a couple of weeks first. But once I start, the words come out of nowhere. Recently, I was asked what made me think of using a coyote as a character in “Sarabande”. I had to confess that I didn’t think about it. Coyote just showed up and pretty soon she was interacting with my protagonist and becoming an important magical character in the story. I don’t have a clue how the process works and so I just tell people my muse is dictating the work. Of course, that might actually be true.

Morgen: I love it when the characters take over. Do you have a method for creating yours, their names and what do you think makes them believable?

Malcolm: I “see” the characters in my fiction in the same way people “see” friends, family and co-workers in their memory when they’re thinking about them or telling stories about them to other people. Since I “see” these characters, I avoid making lists of traits, physical features, hopes and dreams, and other such details on sheets of paper. Doing that feels like wearing a straightjacket to me, though I know many find it helpful. Since the same characters are in multiple books, I do keep lists of timelines that include when the characters were born, got married, went on trips, etc. just to make sure that I never have anyone getting married in one book when another book says that in that year they hadn’t been born yet. I try to make all of the characters, including the minor ones, three dimensional. I do this by finding the things that characterize them the most and using those as themes. In “The Sun Singer”, for example, a minor character named Tor is always being stymied by the big words other people use, so he’s typically going to misunderstand something or inform others the latest new word he’s learned. This adds humour and, over time, gives readers a three-dimensional character without the need for wordy backstories and descriptions.

Morgen: One of the tasks I set my writing workshops are filling in character sheets with a dozen or so attributes from quirks to regular sayings, siblings etc and it’s wonderful what comes out. How much research do you have to do for your writing?

Malcolm: I like blending magic and reality. When you have both, they play off well against each other. Since my books are set in real locations, I try to be very careful about such things as temperatures, growing seasons, the times when flowers appear, the typical weather, distances between places, and other details. Glacier National Park in Montana, where my books are set, is over 1,800 miles (as the crow flies) from central Georgia where I live. Getting there is costly and time consuming. So, I rely heavily on mountain-related web sites and books to make sure the real world behind my magic is accurate.

Morgen: Do you write on paper or do you prefer a computer?

Malcolm: I have read that author Pat Conroy (“The Great Santini” and “The Prince of Tides”) writes the first drafts of his novels with a pen on yellow legal pads. My hand feels tired just thinking about this. I started out writing on a typewriter, but was more than happy to switch over to a computer. The computer lends itself to my no-outline, seat-of-the-pants method of writing because it’s so easy to move scenes around, go back and add material, and make other adjustments that are really tedious in longhand or with a typed manuscript.

Morgen: So many interviewees have complained about the legibility of their handwriting. Mine’s not bad but every Monday night workshop I realise (and sometimes get frustrated by) how slow it is, so definitely a computer for me. Some writers like quiet, others the noise of a coffee shop etc. Do you listen to music or have noise around you when you write or do you need silence?

Malcolm: While I usually like quiet, I wrote two of my novels while using music that fit the stories and that helped “channel” the information from my “muse” into the manuscript. While writing “The Sun Singer”, I listened exclusively to the new age instrumentals from Deuter’s “Nirvana Road” album; while writing “Garden of Heaven: an Odyssey”, I listened to the native flute music from Mary Youngblood’s “Beneath the Raven Moon”. The music became an important part of the writing process for those novels because, in hearing it, I immediately fell into what felt like a near trance and could see in my mind what was happening in the story.

Morgen: What point of view do you find most to your liking: first person or third person? Have you ever tried second person?

Malcolm: I write in third person restricted because I like to see an entire book as coming from the thinking of the protagonist. I made an exception to this in “Garden of Heaven: an Odyssey” where I not only had sections of omniscient narrator and second person, but had the characters talking about what point of view was best to be using at the moment. I’ve also experimented with some short stories written in the second person, basically implying that they were about whoever happened to be reading them. So far, magazines are not deluging me with offers to publish those stories.

Morgen: Snap. I think second person is incredibly difficult to place, although I was encouraged to see a competition second person runner-up and feedback on my second person eBook has been wonderful. What’s your favourite / least favourite aspect of your writing life?

Malcolm: My favourite part of the writing life is that moment of writing when I’m so connected to my characters and story that I feel like I’m watching it happen rather than making it up. My least favourite is trying to figure out how to answer the question “what are your books about?”

Morgen: Hopefully the former will solve the latter. What advice would you give aspiring writers?

Malcolm: Read every day. Find fiction that inspires you with its stories, characters and writing techniques. Find nonfiction that helps build up your store of knowledge about the locations, clothing, buildings, and career fields you are planning to use in your stories. I have a shelf of books about myths and legends and another shelf of books about Glacier National Park. Other writers collect books about police work or the legal system or about exotic locations.

Morgen: Or books about writing in my case. What do you like to read?

Malcolm: I read a wide variety of fiction and nonfiction and, depending on my mood, you might find me with Stieg Larsson’s “Millenium Trilogy” one week and with Téa Obreht’s “The Tiger’s Wife” a few weeks later. I enjoyed both authors’ work though they’re very different. In each case, the stories and characters were compelling and drew me into the world that began with the author’s imagination and that took shape so well on the printed page that the words and my imagination pulled me into the story. It’s difficult to list favourite authors, so I’ll just say the books that have made strong impressions on me include: “The Prince of Tides” by Pat Conroy, “The Shadow of the Wind” by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, “Memories of Rain” by Sunetra Gupta, “The Hero with a Thousand Faces” by Joseph Campbell, and “To the Lighthouse” by Virginia Woolf.

Morgen: Is there a word, phrase or quote you like?

Malcolm: Two quotes have always haunted me. The first comes from one of my favourite authors, Virginia Woolf: “Every secret of a writer’s soul, every experience of his life, every quality of his mind, is written large in his works.” The second comes from mythologist Joseph Campbell, a man whose work has had a great influence on my writing: “If you want the whole thing, the gods will give it to you. But you must be ready for it.”

Morgen: Are there any writing-related websites and/or books that you find useful and would recommend?

Malcolm: These days, Facebook, GoodReads, LinkedIn and Twitter have been valuable because they’re a way to meet and get to know other writers, and also because they are rich with links to interesting and helpful blogs, writers’ discussion groups, publishing news and reviews. Backspace, Funds for Writers, Query Shark and Smoky Talks are also very helpful.

Morgen: Ooh, I like the sound of those. Where are you based and do you find this a help or hindrance with letting people know about your work?

Malcolm: I live about sixty miles northeast of Atlanta, Georgia in the United States. This gives me the benefits of a small town and a large metro area.

Morgen: How valuable do you find networking sites?

Malcolm: Over the years, I’ve met a lot of friendly and helpful writers on the long-time CompuServe Books and Writers forum. If you want to participate, you’ll need to get a free AOL screen name.

Morgen: Where can we find out about you and your work?

Malcolm: You can learn more about my work on my Malcolm R, Campbell author’s and on my Malcolm’s Round Table weblog. I’m also on Facebook and Twitter.

Morgen: What do you think the future holds for a writer?

Malcolm: I think the world will always need storytellers even though the ways their works are read and/or viewed will constantly be changing. When I was in a college, it was a typewriter, magazine and printed books world. Today we have cell phone and Twitter novels and e-books. Right now, the Internet is providing writers with a lot of new ways of getting their stories seen and heard. At present, the danger comes not only from book and video piracy but from the fact people are coming to believe that material on the Internet is free or ought to be free. Writers can’t pay the rent that way, so figuring out just how to be compensated for one’s work is a bit of a challenge.

Morgen: Is there a question you’d like to ask me?

Malcolm: How in the world do you keep up with such a busy weblog?

Morgen: Not enough sleep and good secretarial skills I guess. I’ve recently discovered the scheduling option so I don’t have to be at my computer 7am / 7pm when the posts are supposed to go up… although I’m usually up / here anyway because I have just as scant a social life. I also do it all because I enjoy it. Thank you Malcolm.

I then invited Malcolm to include an extract of his writing and, in his words: “Here’s a short excerpt from ‘Sarabande’ in which my protagonist is floating down a river. ‘Mni Sose’ is the Lakota name for the Missouri River.”

She lost count of the men and their appetites long before she was discharged from the lake through a large pipe, and then it was the river again, cold and fresh in the company of trout until the water turned muddy. Soon, she heard a new voice and knew she had found the Mni Sose, happy here beneath the sandstone cliffs and the cottonwoods.

Men, some with women, paddled canoes and floated in odd-looking craft during the daylight hours. They talked about the wind, the scenery, and the rattlesnakes. When the moon rose at night, coyotes howled throughout the river’s wide, deep-walled valley. She loved the voices of coyotes and feared the voices of men. With her broken leg, bruised face and arms, and much of her stuffing pulled out, she was easy prey to the two-legged predators along the river.

Sarabande wedged herself between two branches of a floating cottonwood deadfall as the Mni Sose approached a bridge at the western edge of a reservoir. The relative calm she had experienced while passing the high canyons and breaks topped by Ponderosa Pine slipped away as the water eddied into twisted shapes beneath the cloud draped moon. She felt watched. The tree caught briefly on the bridge pier closest to the center of the river. Then she saw the silhouette of Danny Jenks’s truck. The velvet drapery of spider webs between the piers transformed into a trot line.

If you are reading this and you write, in whatever genre, and are thinking “ooh, I’d like to do this” then you can… just email me and I’ll send you the questions. You complete them, I tweak them where appropriate (if necessary to reflect the blog ‘clean and light’ rating) and then they get posted. When that’s done, I email you with the link so you can share it with your corner of the literary world. And if you have a writing-related blog / podcast and would like to interview me… let me know. You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything… and follow me on Twitter where each new posting is automatically announced. You can also read / download my eBooks and free eShorts at Smashwords.

Unfortunately, as I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t review books but if you have a short story or self-contained novel extract / short chapter (ideally up to 1000 words) that you’d like critiqued and don’t mind me reading it / talking about and critiquing it (I send you the transcription afterwards so you can use the comments or ignore them) on my ‘Bailey’s Writing Tips’ podcast, then do email me. They are weekly episodes, usually released Monday mornings UK time, interweaving the recordings between the red pen sessions with the hints & tips episodes. I am now also looking for flash fiction (<1000 words) for Flash Fiction Fridays.

 

Guest post: ‘Marketability – do you have enough to make a self-published book sell?’ by Bill Munro

Tonight’s guest blog post, on the topic of marketing is brought to you by author and publisher Bill Munro.

Marketability – do you have enough to make a self-published book sell?

Are you a marketable author? Will it be your name on the cover that makes someone take your book to the checkout? Or is poor or non-existent marketability a factor in your failure to secure a publishing deal? If you can’t get your book published, then self-publishing is a great temptation. But will your self-published book fail to sell because you are unknown in your genre? Can the public expect your work to be worth paying for?

Marketability is arguably the most important commercial criterion that a publisher looks for in an author. To understand why it is so vital, we must look at the book trade from the buyers’ end. The retail customer relies on the retailer to offer well-written, well-packaged books. In turn, the retailer relies on the expertise of the publisher to supply those quality books. The author’s name is of great importance in promising quality content. The bookseller will trust a known author, whether front- or mid-list fiction writer, authoritative non-fiction author or celebrity. But with unknown authors, a retailer trusts the publisher’s judgement that the work is worthy of investment, and therefore saleable: a publisher would not (or ought not to!) produce the book if it were not. Thus, to gain credibility with the bookseller and the book-buying public, you as an unpublished author must prove you are a good enough writer, both creatively and technically, can analyse your subject effectively and are capable of writing in a style that is right for your genre.

Against the resources of a traditional publisher, the self-published author will never be on a level playing field when it comes to marketing, but if you are considering self-publishing and want the effort to succeed, you should have those aforementioned writing skills, but you must gain some level of profile in the marketplace. This might be through blogging, magazine articles, competition success, your reputation as an expert in your non-fiction field or whatever it takes to get yourself a name amongst the book-buying public. Without it, your books may end up as expensive dust-gatherers.

Quality content and a sound reputation with the public are key ingredients in a successful book. Continue to improve the quality of your work, create something new and original for the market and keep building an audience by any method you can and you will improve your marketability and bookselling success through self-publishing. You will also greatly improve your chances of securing a traditional publishing deal.

As someone embarking on a freelance career, it’s perfect timing, thank you so much, Bill!

Bill Munro is the author of nine books in the motoring and military vehicle history categories, all published by traditional publishers. After successfully self-publishing a further book through his own publishing company, Earlswood Press, he took on a second author.

He has now signed up another and is moving the company from a part-time operation to a full-time one, as well as continuing to write and publish more of his own books. You can find him at www.billmunro.co.uk and http://cabdriverhistory.blogspot.com, and email him. Earlswood’s ebooks are available via Smashwords.

If you would like to write a writing-related guest post for my blog then feel free to email me with an outline of what you would like to write about. If it’s writing-related then it’s highly likely I’d email back and say, “yes please”.

The blog interviews return as normal tomorrow morning with fantasy, magic realism and satire author Malcolm R Campbell – the two hundred and thirty-third of my blog interviews with novelists, poets, short story authors, bloggers, autobiographers and more. A list of interviewees (blogged and scheduled) can be found here. If you like what you read, please do go and investigate further. And I enjoy hearing from readers of my blog; do either leave a comment on the relevant interview (the interviewees love to hear from you too!) and / or email me. You can also read / download my eBooks and free eShorts at Smashwords.

 

Blog interview no.232 with writer Shelley Harris

Welcome to the two hundred and thirty-second of my blog interviews with novelists, poets, short story authors, biographers, agents, publishers and more. Today’s is with novelist Shelley Harris. A list of interviewees (blogged and scheduled) can be found here. If you like what you read, please do go and investigate further.

Morgen: Hello Shelley. Please tell us something about yourself.

Shelley: I was born in South Africa (my mom’s South African, my dad’s British – they met on a Spanish campsite!). In the early seventies we came here because my parents couldn’t stand to live under Apartheid any more. I’ve done many jobs in my time: teaching, journalism, envelope-stuffing. I lived in Paris briefly, but have spent most of my life in the quiet of South Bucks, where Jubilee takes place. I set it in the village – and the street – where I grew up.

Morgen: South Bucks? I’m from South Bucks originally, how funny. I’ve not travelled as far as you though, 55 miles in my entire life… so far, anyway. After the thrills of envelope-stuffing, how did you come to be a writer?

Shelley: I think I came to it through reading. I have always read voraciously. I think many aspects of writing can be taught, except that ‘ear’ for language, which you only get from reading. Like a lot of writers, I wrote through much of my childhood (write early, write often), though it took many years before I was brave enough to plan, complete and submit a novel.  Maybe I should be more honest here. In the end I did it, not so much through bravery, as through a fear that I might go through life never having really tried to achieve my ambition.

The idea for the story came after I studied a photo of my dad at a V.E Day street party, and started to wonder about the tension between such a public event and the private lives of the people in the picture. But I wanted it to be about my generation’s great street party, the Silver Jubilee of 1977. That year was such a crucial one, so much cultural change, so many tensions. I put a boy right in the centre of that picture: Satish Patel, newly-arrived here from Uganda, and learning what it means to become British. In the book, he is the keeper of all the secrets.

Morgen: I’m surprised (not sure I should be) how many authors I’ve spoken to have written pretty much all their lives (which I think is great!). This is your debut novel, how much of the marketing do you do for your published works or indeed for yourself as a ‘brand’?

Shelley: Aaargh! Brand! Let’s deal with that one first. I live with a marketer, so these are conversations I have had before. I don’t really think of myself in those terms. If I did, it would stress me out massively – always trying to stay on-message! But I am happy thinking about marketing the book, because I know we now live in a world where you can’t just write and be done with it. So, I tweet and have a website and blog and those things are now a natural part of my working day. Writing can be extremely isolating, and I’m actually quite sociable, so I like being in contact with people that way. I also enjoy meeting people at events, and just have to make sure that I protect my writing time too.

Morgen: That’s the trick. I find ‘everything else’ so time consuming (although thoroughly enjoyable) – it’s all too easy to leave the actual writing ’til last. Do you have an agent? Do you think they’re vital to an author’s success?

Shelley: Yes, I do have an agent, the brilliant Jo Unwin of Conville and Walsh, and seeing her work has shown me how vital they are to an author’s success. She does things I just can’t do: she knows the industry, she’s a great negotiator, and she’s got a particular talent for casting an editorial eye over my work, long after I’ve stopped seeing the wood for the trees. She looks after me, rather than just the particular book I’m working on – no-one else will do that.

Morgen: That’s great. A lot of authors get the impression that they are a ‘brand’ (sorry to bring that up again) rather than a human. It sounds like you’re a great match. Did you have any say in the title of your book? How important do you think titles are?

Shelley: I think the title is key, and I wouldn’t say I was particularly skilled at choosing them. One of the last things Jo did before we submitted Jubilee was to insist on a title change. Its working title was something quite different, but I love it now, and can’t imagine it being called anything else. I’m just pondering now about brilliant titles: I’ve always loved Sarah Hall’s The Electric Michelangelo. There’s also a book called Memoirs of a Gnostic Dwarf by David Madsen, which is every bit as good as its wonderful title.

Morgen: I’m a big title fan and love those too. Do any of your books have dedications? If so, to whom and why?

Shelley: Jubilee is dedicated to my husband, and quite right, too. He was pretty self-sacrificial during the writing of my book, absolutely dedicated to my success. That’s true love. When I got the advance, I bought him a dinghy (he’s a sailor) and he called it Jubilee.

Morgen: Yes, I’d say that’s love. Do you manage to write every day? What’s the most you’ve written in a day?

Shelley: I try to write every weekday. Occasionally it’s not possible, because I’m doing something else for the book (and, let’s be completely truthful, occasionally it’s not possible because I take a day off), but by and large I need to write every day to feel satisfied and happy. It has taken me a very, very long time to work this out. I aim to write a thousand words a day; sometimes it comes like a gift, sometimes I wrench out 300 and am grumpy and self-pitying all evening. Not sure what the most I’ve ever written is, but it normally happens when I’m on retreat. Come to think of it, that’s quite worrying.

Morgen: Oh dear, sorry about that. Days off are good, as long as it’s only one or two. I’m terribly slack most of the time (at writing anyway) but knuckle down for the likes of NaNoWriMo, it’s just a pity it’s only once a year not once a month. What is your opinion of writer’s block? Do you ever suffer from it? If so, how do you ‘cure’ it?

Shelley: I would refer you here to the excellent The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron, which says more, and better, about this than I possibly could. I know it’s all a bit Californian. But it’s also spot-on.

Morgen: A highly recommended book. A question some authors dread: where do you get your inspiration from?

Shelley: Oh come on, Morgen – that’s the easy bit!

Morgen: True (for me too ) but some do struggle (sadly).

Shelley: There are stories everywhere. We’re tripping over them all the time. I carry a notebook with me, and write down things people are saying (horrible, but true); I keep news articles, I filch stuff I hear in the queue at the Post Office. A while back, I met a woman who told me the most brilliant story about how she courted her second husband. I’ve used it in Jubilee, and am really hoping I see her before she reads it and is horrified.

Morgen: I have a great t-shirt which says ‘Careful or you’ll end up in my next novel’. Maybe she’d be flattered (I’m intrigued as to her method now). Do you plot your stories or do you just get an idea and run with it?

Shelley: I’m a planner myself, and knowing what will happen doesn’t spoil anything for me. The pleasure is in making it come alive.

Morgen: It’s my favourite aspect. Do you have a method for creating your characters, their names and what do you think makes them believable?

Shelley: I’ve really tried all this writing workshop stuff: what’s in your character’s fridge, who was their best mate at school – all that. It just doesn’t work for me. I seem to understand them by understanding some underlying principles about them. Then everything else comes. I steal people I’ve met, sometimes. I usually steal bodies. I steal names all the time, because I pretty much loathe ‘meaningful’ names, ones which tell you something about the character. Our world is more arbitrary than that. So I steal names. In Jubilee, there are three friends, two students I used to teach, and an ex-colleague.

Morgen: Now that is flattering. How much research do you have to do for your writing?

Shelley: I do a fair amount of research. Because I’m a bit anal, I actually have to wean myself away from research sometimes, so the creative process can work. With Jubilee, I was writing as a 12-year-old, as a boy, as a British Asian. It was especially daunting to write outside my own heritage, and I interviewed several British Asian friends and acquaintances, some of whom were astonishingly generous with their stories. Then I sent the manuscript to a couple of them so they could spot the howlers.

Morgen: Hopefully they didn’t find many. What’s your favourite / least favourite aspect of your writing life?

Shelley: It’s all about the writing. The best thing is when it goes well. Just one hundred words – words I’m really proud of – can make my week.

Morgen: Me too. I’ve often sat clapping at a bit I like; just as well I only have a dog here to think I’m mad.

Shelley: Writing badly is unutterably miserable.

Morgen: I get frustrated too until I remember that it’s words on a page and you can’t edit a blank one, as a fellow Script Frenzyer said once. What advice would you give aspiring writers?

Shelley: The most important thing is to make your manuscript as good as you possibly can. When people tell you it’s all about contacts in the industry, give them a beatific smile – and then ignore them completely. You will be helped by being in an honest, supportive writing group. I’m also a real advocate for a good editorial service. It isn’t cheap, but you will gain hugely from having a professional eye cast over your work. If I’m allowed to, can I recommend two? The Literary Consultancy and The Writers’ Workshop are both really good.

Morgen: Of course, recommend away. And I totally agree about writing groups – I run a great one (because of the people in it) and belong to two others, each having such valuable input. What do you like to read? Any authors you could recommend?

Shelley: My favourite subject! Here are three wonderful books: Michael Chabon’s The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, Sarah Waters’ Fingersmith (or anything by her, let’s be honest), and for a complete treat, there’s Alan Bennett’s The Uncommon Reader.

Morgen: I loved ‘The Uncommon Reader’. I’d had it for ages but not got around to reading it and it was the first on a book club list and I enjoyed it so much that I bought the audio CD (also read by Alan Bennett). I’d love to know if the Queen has read it. Is there a word, phrase or quote you like?

Shelley: Yes. I have a particular affection for the word ‘theodolite’.

Morgen: <smiles> Where can we find out about you and your work?

Shelley: My website might be a good place to start: www.shelleyharris.co.uk. Thanks for having me, Morgen – it’s been a blast.

Morgen: You’re so welcome, Shelley, thank you for finding me / my blog, and all the best for you debut – feel free to come back for an author spotlight for book two.

If you are reading this and you write, in whatever genre, and are thinking “ooh, I’d like to do this” then you can… just email me and I’ll send you the questions. You complete them, I tweak them where appropriate (if necessary to reflect the blog ‘clean and light’ rating) and then they get posted. When that’s done, I email you with the link so you can share it with your corner of the literary world. And if you have a writing-related blog / podcast and would like to interview me… let me know. You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything… and follow me on Twitter where each new posting is automatically announced. You can also read / download my eBooks and free eShorts at Smashwords.

Unfortunately, as I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t review books but if you have a short story or self-contained novel extract / short chapter (ideally up to 1000 words) that you’d like critiqued and don’t mind me reading it / talking about and critiquing it (I send you the transcription afterwards so you can use the comments or ignore them) on my ‘Bailey’s Writing Tips’ podcast, then do email me. They are weekly episodes, usually released Monday mornings UK time, interweaving the recordings between the red pen sessions with the hints & tips episodes. I am now also looking for flash fiction (<1000 words) for Flash Fiction Fridays.

 

Bailey’s Writing Tips podcast ‘red pen session’ no.9

This week’s podcast was released yesterday, Wednesday 28th December, the ninth of my episodes dedicated to reading a short story or self-contained novel extract (with synopsis) and then talking about it afterwards.

I run a fortnightly critique group as well as critiquing other authors’ writing which I really enjoy so I thought I’d create podcast episodes doing this. Please remember that it’s only one person’s (my) opinion and you, and the author concerned, are welcome to disagree with my interpretation – I will never be mean for the sake of it, but hope that I’m firm but fair. I also type the critique as I’m reading the story for the first time so by listening to the episode you will have had the advantage of hearing the story in full before hearing my feedback.

Regardless of what genre you write I hope that this helps you think about the way your stories are constructed and that you have enjoyed hearing another author’s work, the copyright of which remains with them.

This episode’s was an extract, from London-based Danny Kemp’s second novel, entitled ‘The Desolate Garden’. I read a short synopsis, the extract, critiqued it and concluded with:

“The way this piece is written it’s easy to connect with our protagonist and we can feel sorry for how he feels for his father, although given the insight into his father I can see why.

It’s a very well-written extract with a good mixture of long and short sentences, keeping the narrative drive and providing the action is subsequently forthcoming, I can see it fitting the murder mystery genre and it be of appeal to readers of that genre.

Stories, whether short stories or novels, should start with the action and Danny also sent me the beginning of Chapter which does have action and the story progresses quickly so the extract I read today certainly avoids the dreaded early ‘info dump’. The beginning of a story is called the ‘hook’ and needs to hook in the reader, and although this isn’t the beginning I certainly would want to read on, so a success in my opinion.”

Danny Kemp is a 62-year-old man, but just change the numbers around to find his real personality. He is quick witted with a devilish sense of humour, socially interacting well across all generations. His writing comes from years of diverse experiences encompassing the Metropolitan Police and the Licensed Taxi trade in the Capital. His interests now are divided between his work, his family, especially his three grandchildren, and his new-found ardor of writing.

His second novel, The Desolate Garden, followed on quickly from his first, Look Both Ways Then Look Behind and a third Mitzy Collins is almost complete. It is the first to be published in what he hopes to be the beginning of a new career. He is a member of The International Thrillers Writers.

He says he came into writing literally by accident, or, more correctly as a victim of one. He was stationary in his London Black Cab, one sunny November morning five years ago, when a van crashed into him, effectively putting him out of work for three years. He had time on his hands and his imagination filled the void left empty from his normal days. The enjoyment he derived from the first story he wrote spread into every crevice of his mind and filled those worrying days, so much so that he fell in love with it, and does not want it to end. Me neither, Danny.

You can find out more about Danny and his writing at http://www-thedesolategarden-com.co.uk.

If you have any feedback on this episode or any other podcasts or aspects of my website or blog, I’d be delighted to hear from you – my email address is morgen@morgenbailey.com.

And if you’re feeling brave enough to email me a short story (preferred) or novel extract (with a brief synopsis please) of no more than 1,000-word for these red pen sessions then feel free. I suggest you listen to at least one of the red pen episodes to get an idea of what happens.

Bailey’s Writing Tips podcast is available via iTunes, Google’s Feedburner, Podbean (when it catches up), Podcasters (which takes even longer) or Podcast Alley (which doesn’t list the episodes but will let you subscribe). Episodes include hints & tips (currently episode no.44) and author audio interviews – see this blog’s podcast page for more information.

 

Author Spotlight no.44 – Tristram La Roche

Complementing my daily blog interviews, today’s Author Spotlight, the forty-fourth, is of Tristram La Roche.

Tristram La Roche is a British-born gay author who writes about male-male relationships. As a child he was dragged from pillar to post across Europe due to his father’s work. As a result, Tris says, he lacks the feeling of belonging to any particular place and describes himself as European rather than British. He knows his way around ‘Old Europe’ better than England and has spent much of his adult life living in Italy and France, and travelling extensively in Spain, Switzerland, Germany, Austria and Greece.

Tris has worked in tourism, yacht charter and journalism, and at one point dabbled in politics. He is a keen supporter of GLBT rights and takes a lively interest in current affairs across the board. Tris draws on his own varied experiences when writing, and when he isn’t writing he can be found reading, watching films, listening to music, cooking, wandering around art galleries, swimming and, erm, travelling. He currently lives between London and the north of England with his partner of fourteen years, and has a grown-up son.

And now from the author himself:

Some say you are the product of your upbringing. I suppose you can twist things to fit that. I was always drawn to the arts but my father, a dour and domineering Yorkshireman, said such things were for poufs and Nancy boys. Well, Dad, hey – look what I turned out to be! He wanted me to be a Clerk of Works or a Chartered Surveyor. Me? On a building site? As if! Mind you, some of those builders…

Even so, I floundered around a lot before finally deciding to write professionally. Yes, I had done some freelance journalism for a bit but I mean writing fiction – being artistic and creative. My first work, a novella entitled On My Knees, was published in June 2011 and became an instant Kindle genre bestseller. It’s a coming out story and, yes, somewhat autobiographical. Being my first published work of fiction it taught me a great deal, especially about how readers see your work. Thankfully, the vast majority of reviews were terrific but the ones that did criticise tended to do so because the very elements I had put in there that were true, the reader said ‘Tsk – just as if!”

I followed with another novella – in fact so far all my works have been novellas because I like them, both from a writing and reading point of view – called Lorenzo il Magnifico. This draws on some of my experiences in Florence, a wonderful city which you must visit if you haven’t already. The title plays upon the historic Medici figure after whom a street in the city is named. My Lorenzo inherits an apartment in that very street and it is the setting for some man-on-man romance.

Fixed was published in September and is about a successful chap who loses everything, including his partner, in the financial crash of 2008. Mike ends up back in the Yorkshire countryside living in a rented dump where he bumps into an old school friend, Pete. Pete is a plumber with a knack for fixing the broken.

My final offering of 2011 was something rather different, an historical gay romance called The Hun and The General. I took the old barbarian, Attila the Hun, and made him fall in love with Livianus, a fictional Roman general. It’s a story of political intrigue, masculinity and tenderness that shows how the course of events can be changed by love. It became an instant bestseller on ARe. My stories are erotic in parts – can I say that? – though I try to avoid writing porn. However, they are definitely adult material, so don’t buy The Hun and The General for your kids’ history homework.

Right now I am writing the screenplay for The Hun and The General. I loved writing the story so much that I’m pretty sure my next book will be another historical work, but I am contemplating doing some time travel and writing a sci-fi set far into the future. Whatever I write, the main characters will be gay and there will always be a message of hope.

Morgen: As a short story writer, I love novellas and yes, Tris, absolutely you can say erotic parts. Thank you. You can find more about Tristram and his work via… his website: http://tristramlaroche.com, Twitter, Facebook and his Amazon Author Page. And he came back on 7th January for a full interview which you can read here. 

The blog interviews will return as normal tomorrow with Shelley Harris – the two hundred and thirty-second of my blog interviews with novelists, poets, short story authors, biographers, agents, publishers and more. A list of interviewees (blogged and scheduled) can be found here. If you like what you read, please do go and investigate further. And I enjoy hearing from readers of my blog; do either leave a comment on the relevant interview (the interviewees love to hear from you too!) and / or email me. You can read / download my eBooks from Smashwords.

 

Blog interview no.231 with multi-genre writer Shannon Muir

Welcome to the two hundred and thirty-first of my blog interviews with novelists, poets, short story authors, bloggers, autobiographers and more. Today’s is with author Shannon Muir. A list of interviewees (blogged and scheduled) can be found here. If you like what you read, please do go and investigate further. You can also read Shannon’s author spotlight here.

Morgen: Welcome back Shannon. Please tell us something about you and your writing.

Shannon: I made some interesting self-discovery on that recently. I’ve always written a lot about women. When I first started writing I classified myself more as “women’s fiction”, though the more research I’ve done it appears that term is falling out of favour or considered too vague, so it’s not beneficial to use as a search category. Additionally, I never really read romances growing up – I was raised to casually read and appreciate science fiction and fantasy, trained in classical literature and poetry, and also enjoyed and learned how to write for television in a broad variety of styles (though my eventual first sale in that was to a quirky animation series). The one factor I never really considered until very recently would be the strong interest I’ve always had since a young age in the now fading breed of the American daytime drama, or soap opera as it also is known – though I know it still goes strong over there in the form of shows such as EastEnders. My writing feels like reading a soap opera on paper, but the bodice ripper aspects of traditional romance in what I’ve done so far are more subdued. Yet, it still matches most of the romance material in plot and theme (or at least in subplots and secondary theme) I found out as I networked with other authors, most of whom write romances. It’ll be interesting to see how my realizations about the market bear out in anything I do in the future. So at this point, I would say – much to my surprise – that I write books that can be characterized somewhat as romances.

Morgen: Romance is so popular, just look at Mills & Boon / Harlequin. It’s funny how you were “raised” for a completely different genre… there must be a rebel in you. How much of the marketing do you do for your published works or indeed for yourself as a ‘brand’?

Shannon: I’ve had a blog and a personal website for many years now, though the blog changed its home a few times. I’ve been freelance writing in some form or other, which started with monthly columns geared for non-artists (people who don’t draw) in the animation field in late 2000. As part of a final project for a project management class, I retooled both the website and blog as more of a marketing tool and created a Facebook page as part of my realistic application of a class project. Still, because of my job at the time, I had to stay pretty low key on promotion. When I published TOUCH THE STARS originally, my first self-published fiction, in print in February 2011 I only used these venues to promote because I was still employed in a situation where a lot of self-promotion wasn’t allowed me. Due to changing market conditions, in the United States, I found myself out of work in July 2011 and it freed me to be able to do more marketing again. I learned how to make ebooks and released TOUCH THE STARS in that format later, along with other titles. I also learned how to use and manage Twitter more effectively, and returned to regular posting on my blog instead of occasional posts.

Morgen: I think that makes such a difference. I had a (Blogger) blog but did nothing with it and had 370 visitors in a couple of years. Since launching this end March 2011 and starting the morning interviews mid-June (then evening content a short while after) I’ve had over 27,000 – just a slight difference. Have you won or been shortlisted in any competitions and do you think they help with a writer’s success?

Shannon: I have had some recognized success, but not in prose writing. I have a script that I am in the process of trying to convert to a novel, ETERNAL ENCORE, which got me honourable mention in a local competition when I was in grad school. I hope for an early 2012 release, but I am finding that converting from film to prose is harder than it looks! Someone who knew the movie read through the book version first draft and said many things just didn’t hold together in prose. Another film script I wrote years earlier made second round judging in the Austin Heart of Film Festival Screenwriting Competition in the mid-1990s which I also want to make into a book, but it is an intricate fantasy piece and a story very close to my heart that I really want to get right. Maybe someday I’ll be telling you more about it. The other short film scripts I got honourable mention for in my undergraduate college years I probably won’t be making into books, because I don’t think I can expand them enough and keep the story intact; I tried it with one of them expanding to a full length screenplay with mixed results.

Morgen: I wrote 102 pages of script for Script Frenzy in April 2010 and didn’t particularly enjoy scriptwriting but liked the story so converted into the beginning of a novel – you’re right, it’s not simply a case of changing the stage direction to description and dialogue tag positions. Because script relies on the actors moving and speaking it’s a different animal to the reader doing some of the visualisation. Do you write under a pseudonym? Do you think they make a difference to an author’s profile?

Shannon: I use my own name, mainly because I never saw myself doing anything else but also because I have established credits in television using my own birth name. It’s one of those things that when I finally manage to get married, I will still use my birth name professionally. “Shannon Muir”, that specific name, has become part of my brand.

Morgen: That’s the thing, it’s really just about getting people to know your name. You’ve done so many thing, do you have an agent? Do you think they’re vital to an author’s success?

Shannon: I do not have an agent at this time. At one point, when I was more active in television, I did have an entertainment attorney. It’s nice to have an extra set of eyes to look over contracts and the like, but in the United States attorneys and managers (unlike agents) are not allowed to solicit work. I still found my own work. From people I’ve talked to that do have agents, they can take up looking for some of the work for you but you really can’t expect to sit back and have them do it all. You really need to find the leads and form the relationships and have the agent or lawyer, or whomever, be the follow-up person. I’m not sure completely how this compares to literary agents, but I would think to a degree you still need to be your own networker, especially in this new social age.

Morgen: Absolutely. There have been few interviewees who’ve said they’ve done no marketing. Speaking of a new age, you said earlier that you “learned how to make ebooks”, what was your experience of that process? And do you read eBooks?

Shannon: Most of my self-published (or indie, as some prefer to say) titles are available in both print and ebook. My two lower-priced short story and poetry anthologies – which are closer to novella length – are only available in ebook as they don’t have sufficient page count to merit a print format. I’ve worked with a number of computer programs and learned a number of technical things in recent years – for example, I even tried, and struggled hard, to learn how to program in the programming language PHP a couple years ago. In that respect, I’m always eager to learn new things. Once I understood the specific settings that Calibre, Sigil, and Mobipocket required for the specific software to do the needed job, most of it became pretty easy for me. Then all I had to do became to focus on where the small things went wrong and improve the issue. Ebooks are still relatively unfriendly to poetry and you have to get pretty creative with that in terms of layout, using hard returns versus soft returns, and other means to get it right on the page. I’m doing well enough that people are starting to hire me to format their books to get them indie self-published; I appreciate their trust in me with their work.

Morgen: It sounds like your Calibre (etc) experience was similar to getting my eBooks on Smashwords. I went with them first because of their 70+ page style guide and it was so user-friendly that it didn’t seem that long. I now have a template in which to slot the text so it’s easy ongoing. Who designed your book’s/s’ cover/s – if you did it/them yourself how did you choose what to go with?

Shannon: I had no control over the shared world anthology or the textbooks that I appeared in prior to doing indie self-published books. Of my indie self-published titles, one of my titles, FLYING GLORY FLASHBACK, had the cover created by my collaborator on the webcomic and fiancé in a barter situation because we work together on the webcomic. For my other titles, currently I design my own covers in Photoshop, with some occasional advice from my fiancé who is both an artist and a writer. I firmly believe one should hire a good cover artist if one can; my sad reality is that my income at this time does not allow it, and the idea of asking someone to do a cover for free doesn’t work because this is part of an actual business for me (I have a home occupation business license as a writer) and not just a hobby so I can only justify it with barter. I have a similar problem with hiring an editor, and must try to do the work myself along with the help of anyone kind enough to betaread. I try to think of a color scheme that fits the book’s theme, as well as what shapes or designs I can use for matching patterns. I’m leery of using photographs because of all the rights issues involved, and I’m a huge stickler for that. Even if you take the photographs yourself you must still have the signed rights of the subjects. Doing all the design work on my own removes those concerns as well as hiring a lawyer to write the legal clearances. Having said that, I do realize that my cover choices probably have an impact on my sales due to a lack of photographs and graphics; my choices were to accept that or say that I couldn’t self-publish at all because I couldn’t afford it. I don’t like taking no for an answer, I suppose. I’ve also had to go on the defensive for this choice, which is a frustrating waste of my time. I’ve accepted it.

Morgen: I did my own (people-less) covers and had great fun. They went through a few drafts with help from fellow authors and my editor, Rachel, but I loved having control and the final say… the joy of self-publishing the titles and content too. What are you working on at the moment / next?

Shannon: Having been out of work since July 2011 at this writing, I am looking for full-time work but it can’t fill every minute of every day. That said, I am in edit stages with ETERNAL ENCORE, which I mentioned earlier has made a first draft conversion from screenplay to novel but right now I have someone looking at it with a fine tooth comb because some things do not convert well from one format to the other – a lot needs to be added and adjusted and it’s a matter of figuring out where. I’m also working on another piece about romance in a library setting, probably more closely resembling a traditional “romance” than the other pieces I’ve done to date. I’m letting myself have a little more fun with the genre and escaping my classical training in some ways. I would like to get that done in early 2012. Plus there are five years of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) manuscripts I haven’t released yet, most of which are related, that I need to decide what to do with. The only ones released to date are TOUCH THE STARS (from 2005) and HALF TRUTH AND FULL LYE (from 2011).

Morgen: I have four NaNoWriMos under my belt and those are next on the hit list. I have short stories (four free plus an anthology) and a writers’ block workbook available but that doesn’t help those who like novels so have two novellas (c. 40,000 words) almost ready to go to Rachel so hope to get those out first quarter 2012. Having been so prolific, especially with NaNoWriMo, do you manage to write every day? What’s the most you’ve written in a day?

Shannon: I don’t manage to write every day, but I do most days, especially at the moment while unemployed. This became very clear while participating in National Novel Writing Month 2011. Since I’ve been unemployed (as of this interview) I had more time in a day to write than ever before. Usually I don’t count my words, but for NaNoWriMo, you do have to count them. I don’t remember the most for any specific day, but at times I regularly crossed over the 2,500 words per day mark and I’m not accustomed to that. Usually to hit NaNoWriMo’s average of 1,667 can be a stretch for me.

Morgen: Each time I did NaNoWriMo I kept a nerdy Excel spreadsheet so a constant reminder of how many days I did nothing and therefore how many days I slogged. What is your opinion of writer’s block? Do you ever suffer from it? If so, how do you ‘cure’ it?

Shannon: I may be “blocked” on a specific thing I’m writing, and if all the things I’m writing are ultimately for self-publishing I just switch projects for a while; if, however, I’m writing for a deadline that doesn’t work as well. For me the best way to become “unblocked” is to totally not think about something for a while and then I usually can think of what will fix the issue.

Morgen: Variety, that does seem to be a key. A question some authors dread: where do you get your inspiration from?

Shannon: Things around me in life that make me ask “why” followed by “what if” most often are it. I’ll see a situation and think “why is that happening” followed by “what if it was happening for this reason”. Then off I go. Let me deconstruct TOUCH THE STARS. “Why would someone else raised all her life in a small town stay in Hollywood?” was the base question (the “else” is because this also applies to me). “What if her hometown no longer felt like home?” was the follow-up question. Sometimes I plot it out first, or just run with the idea, depending on the situations surrounding how the questions are set up. Though in doing self-publishing projects (or NaNoWriMo works) I have been known to end up off-outline. More often than not I end up running with ideas.

Morgen: We’ve not really touched on characters yet, do you have a method for creating yours, their names and what do you think makes them believable?

Shannon: My character creation comes out of the scenario I want to explore. This at times runs the risk of them being less than three dimensional or not believable, though I try to find subplots past the theme to help flesh out the characters and bring more to explore. THE HEART’S DUTY was a case of that – the “why” for that book began as “is it truly possible to completely run away from your past” but without spoiling anything, based on what feedback I did receive on it, one particular subplot seems to be rising above the original “why”; stories do that sometimes, and it effected how the characters evolved. As to the naming part of the question, pretty much I just go with what feels right. If a character’s name needs to have a certain meaning for thematic reasons, like Firinne (Truth) Solas Knox in HALF TRUTH AND FULL LYE then some name research is involved. I try not to have two people in the same work with names that start with the same letter, or names of people I actually know – but with the more people I get to meet this does become harder to do!

Morgen: It’s a good idea to avoid same initials and shouldn’t be difficult given 26 letters to choose from. The only story I struggled with was ‘The Serial Dater’s Shopping List’ (my second NaNo novel) because I had 40-something character (43 I think) so had to have an E1, E2 etc., writing them all down so I didn’t end up with a dozen of one letter. They’re all very different characters so hopefully stand out but even though they only appear for one chapter each (with a dozen at a speed dating event mid-month) I don’t want them to be confused. It was great fun, and easy, to write (117,540 words in the month) but is probably going to end up as selected short stories (featuring the best characters as the protagonists rather than the original main character, Issy, leading them but have her as the first / last story protagonist)… if that makes sense. Do you write any non-fiction? If so, how do you decide what to write about?

Shannon: The only non-fiction I’ve done was my two textbooks on the animation industry. My motivation there was to spend time in an industry I’ve worked in quite a bit and love, and a desire to pay it forward and teach the next generation. Unless someone actually approached me to write about my own life (you never know), I have no strong desire to go into this field again.

Morgen: Text books are fun – I enjoyed writing a writer’s block workbook so much that I ended up caling it volume 1 and am already planning a volume 2. You write poetry, please tell us more about that.

Shannon: I write a lot less than I used to, and mainly free verse though I tend to focus on doing my syllables in patterns. In poetry, you need the skill to say a lot in a little space and it really captures the imagination. Both my ebook only anthologies – SEARCH FOR A WOMAN and AT THE END OF INNOCENCE’S ROAD – contain a bunch of poetry I’ve done over the years. Sadly, I also think a lot of people don’t appreciate what goes into making a stellar poem, because there are less words involved, I wonder if it is perceived as easier. Also some people see poetry as nothing more than greeting card material. It’s often more than that, though greeting card sentiments have their place too.

Morgen: You mentioned earlier that you’ve written some short stories, apart from the word count, what do you see as the differences between them and novels and why do you think they’re so difficult to get published?

Shannon: I only recently got back into this, which is why my ebook only anthologies I mentioned in the poetry question are also the only place you’ll find these works. You have to be able to set up characters, situations, and come up with something that has a quality payoff in a very short space. That’s extremely hard to do. That’s why I don’t charge much for my short story and poetry anthologies. I think what I’ve done people may enjoy, but I know it’s not strong enough to compete in those limited slots for paid published material. It takes a real craft for this that must be honed.

Morgen: Many of the interviewees who write novels and short stories have said how much harder shorts are to write. I find the threading of novels much harder but it could be because short stories are my first love. Who is your first reader – who do you first show your work to?

Shannon: My fiancé is offered first read at everything. As he tends to be a slow and meticulous reader, sometimes this hasn’t worked well if I’ve had a deadline (usually imposed by an external force like needing to be ready for a sale). He is, however, the first one I trust with anything. If I’m going to get a kick in the emotional gut for getting something wrong, he’s the one I want it from. I do the same for his stuff. I’m glad he can make the time as he not only does artwork for FLYING GLORY AND THE HOUNDS OF GLORY, plus has a part time job, but is an indie self-published writer in his own right. He’s Kevin Paul Shaw Broden, author of THE CLOCKWORK GENIE.

Morgen: Would he like to be interviewed? Do you do a lot of editing or do you find that as time goes on your writing is more fully-formed?

Shannon: With the National Novel Writing Month stuff, editing is inevitable because you are going for speed and word count initially to make a time frame. HALF TRUTH AND FULL LYE, for example, I didn’t actually completely remove material, but I made a conscious effort to change some choices on descriptions where I felt I might have gone into too much detail in some areas where the story did not require it.

Morgen: That’s the thing about NaNoWriMo, it’s very tempting to write anything regardless of whether you think it’ll end up in the final version or not because you just have to get it down on paper (screen) but I do it anyway (but score it out) because I think it’s easier to remove it later than not include it and then wonder whether I would have kept it anyway.

Shannon: THE HEART’S DUTY, as well as several short stories in the anthologies, required trying to make sure that past release excerpts synced up with the rest of the product. Usually I am a very detail oriented person, which is why I tend to get asked to edit or proofread people’s material, and sometimes I surprise them with what I come back with. I’ve done this professionally too, not just in my job description but just wanting to understand what I’m doing – I can think of two occasions on an early animated series I worked in production on, that they needed to change dialogue in a script because I caught something that got missed. However, if I’m enjoying what I’m doing, I’m finding I can easily miss stuff in my own work! I’m really good at taking feedback when couched to me nicely; condescending and judgemental feedback is bad for anyone. I think that’s true of any of us and at least a second set of eyes is always a good thing.

Morgen: It is. We know the meaning behind something so even having a reader (rather than another writer) read something is vital because they don’t know the thought processes and it’s amazing how much my writing group can pick up on (certainly in my early years) that I’d not thought of. How much research do you have to do for your writing? Have you ever received feedback from your readers?

Shannon: The two self-published novels out to date were both set in Hollywood where I’ve worked for 15 years so research on those was minimal, but I am not afraid to research when required, as I needed to for my NaNoWriMo attempt this year since I don’t normally interact with tarot readers or spiritual mediums, for example. I haven’t received any feedback – reviews or personal emails – from any of my fiction readers and would love to, as of the time of this interview. I have received compliments and praise for my textbooks and how they have encouraged or influenced people regarding the animation field, and that praise feels good. I’ve also received feedback from a couple trusted friends and betareaders too. I don’t even mind constructive criticism because that helps me grow, but the silence of no comments is awkward, I must admit.

Morgen: I get that sometimes with my critique group but often leave myself ’til last so wonder if they can find no alterations or are just tired and want to go home. Do you write on paper or do you prefer a computer?

Shannon: I’ve primarily used a computer, and more recently my Smartphone or tablet, for years. My longhand was always bad, and got worse when I crushed my right index finger in a door in junior high. Handwritten notes truly look like the stereotype of “doctor’s handwriting” for me and at best work as triggers to try and reassemble the jigsaw puzzle later. I have no idea how they appear to anyone else.

Morgen: I’ve had a few interviewees say that too – mine’s quite legible but very slow compared with my typing speed. Some writers like quiet, others the noise of a coffee shop etc. Do you listen to music or have noise around you when you write or do you need silence?

Shannon: Usually I need music and sometimes have had the TV on as white noise. Part of this may be that I live alone and just can’t stand the silence all day every day. If I lived in a household with other people, perhaps my approach might be different. Because I use the Smartphone, I also write on the bus, at some restaurants, all over the place; people by nature are noisy. That’s my big source of those “why” and “what if” opportunities I talked about.

Morgen: I love people-watching and one of the great things about being a writer is that we get to call it research / character-building / idea gathering. What point of view do you find most to your liking: first person or third person? Have you ever tried second person?

Shannon: Because I majored in English for my undergraduate years (studied both British and American literature), I have tried all person perspectives. I default to writing in third person perspective. I like the challenges and the limits of first person, but when I try it and just start writing without thinking I end up with a first draft all in third person I have to go fix.

Morgen: Third person is more flexible, and popular. Do you use prologues / epilogues? What do you think of the use of them?

Shannon: As much as I try not to use them, they’ve shown up in everything I’ve self-published. Because my primary focus in my writing to focus the evolution of people, I feel I need this snapshot of seeing where they’ve been instead of forcing flashbacks in later or a few lines of passing dialogue. Therefore the prologue becomes necessary. I’m also a strong believer of matching bookends, in that if there is a prologue there must be an epilogue or it seems unbalanced. So I end up with both.

Morgen: What’s your favourite / least favourite aspect of your writing life?

Shannon: I love that I can build any world, any time, any place, and figure out how anyone might live. My least favourite is that while I do make some money, I haven’t been able to make enough to help me live on yet in lean times – when my writing business happened on the side while I had full time work this mattered a little less. For the record, I’m not talking solely about the self-published books; I’m also mentioning scriptwriting and the textbooks. I do still continue to pitch for animated series when the opportunities arise. I have a couple of premises for an animated series that I pitched and I’m waiting to hear back on as of this interview. I guess that makes another thing I love being able to work in so many media.

Morgen: Fingers crossed for those. What advice would you give aspiring writers?

Shannon: Do not give up. People may not like what you write topically, but keep working and honing your vision and your voice; however, if the issues are spelling, grammar, or tools of the trade work on improving those. Get a good sense of what matters to you in that vision when it comes to your own material. However, if you intend to be writing for others such as going into scriptwriting, learn the tools of the trade and be prepared to compromise some – you bring your unique voice to the script you pitch but it is a team effort and other people are needed to finance and make it happen so pick your battles. Be prepared to take constructive criticism in any case. All writers continue to grow and improve, and experience is the ultimate teacher.

Morgen: It is. I’ve been studying and writing for six years and it’s taken a while for me to feel confident about it all now… and we’re all still learning. You mentioned that you’re based in the U.S., do you find this a help or hindrance with letting people know about your work?

Shannon: Since English (and this seems true whether we mean American or the British English) is readily accessible in most of the world as a language of commerce, I think it helps. Many people can read my website, blog, Tweets, and other information and locate what I write and also be able to read my work.

Morgen: We are fortunate that English is so widely-used. Where can we find out about you and your work?

Shannon: My personal website at www.shannon-muir.com is the best place for an overview. However, I also post to my blog at http://shannonmuir.wordpress.com, usually twice a week. Currently it tends to be writing excerpts on Sundays, and regular blog postings on Mondays to match certain Twitter hashtag trends. However, interestingly enough, I recently got more response to a blog I posted on a Thursday because of an issue I needed to address than going with the trends.

Morgen: Twitter hashtag trends are something I need to use more and look into the ‘trending’ aspect. I’m pleased with my following (over 2,100) but I am conscious that I don’t make full use of Twitter especially looking at what others are saying and retweeting if of use. If you could have your life over again, is there anything you’d have done differently (writing-related or otherwise)?

Shannon: I would start by telling you what I would not do over and that’s the path that led me into writing and all the incredible opportunities that have come my way. Going back to my initial fandom of the animation medium, and the courage it gave me to reach out to production companies as a teenager; my interest goes back twenty five years in that area; if you count the poetry and stories in elementary school, my writing interest goes even longer. So basically, writing is the undercurrent of my entire life and I regret none of that. However, concentrating so much on wanting to be a writer, I made more than a few life mistakes, some financially and some with relationships with people. I’ve lost – and not in the physical sense – some people I really cared about due to decisions I’ve made, and time only serves to make that clearer and remind me I miss them. Now that said, there are also people that I wish I never dealt with. Of course, remove any one of these factors and a writer is not the person he or she is today. So, though one might want to do them over, it could be ill-advised because who knows what other good stuff might change? Not to mention, the journey a person has been on forms what he or she becomes as a writer and the unique perspective each person can bring.

Morgen: Absolutely. I thought I was late coming to writing in my late 30s but really I think it’s a good thing because I have all those years’ experience (now mid-40s) that I can write about, plus I think I have a better imagination, although I’m pretty sure that writing about the weird and wonderful has enhanced this. This has been a really interesting chat, thank you Shannon.

Shannon Muir knew she wanted to write since the age of ten, inspired by teachers who considered her elementary school work worthy of being displayed among the school’s best at local mall exhibitions. She learned to perfect her craft at both scriptwriting and prose, earning a double BA in Radio-TV and English from Eastern Washington University. She moved to Los Angeles in 1996, where she worked on various animated properties. From those experiences, Shannon wrote the books ‘Gardner’s Guide to Writing and Producing Animation’ and ‘Gardner’s Guide to Pitching and Selling Animation’.

In 2005, Shannon Muir received her MA in Communications from California State University, Fullerton, where her thesis explored the effectiveness of animated characters as spokespeople, and its TV-Film Society gave honorable mention to her live action screenplay ‘Eternal Encore’ – now to be adapted as a novel. For a decade she’s been the co-writer of the webcomic ‘Flying Glory and the Hounds of Glory’; lyrics and history of the webcomic are covered in the book ‘Flying glory flashback’.

Shannon is a member of the Animation Writers Caucus of the Writers Guild of America West, and worked as one of two non-Japanese writers on the series ‘Midnight Horror School’. Her production positions on animated series include ‘Jumanji’, ‘Extreme Ghostbusters’, ‘Invader Zim’, and the ‘Say it with Noddy’ interstitials for the PBS version of ‘Make way for Noddy’.

If you are reading this and you write, in whatever genre, and are thinking “ooh, I’d like to do this” then you can… just email me and I’ll send you the questions. You complete them, I tweak them where appropriate (if necessary to reflect the blog ‘clean and light’ rating) and then they get posted. When that’s done, I email you with the link so you can share it with your corner of the literary world. And if you have a writing-related blog / podcast and would like to interview me… let me know. You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything… and follow me on Twitter where each new posting is automatically announced. You can also read / download my eBooks and free eShorts at Smashwords.

Unfortunately, as I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t review books but if you have a short story or self-contained novel extract / short chapter (ideally up to 1000 words) that you’d like critiqued and don’t mind me reading it / talking about and critiquing it (I send you the transcription afterwards so you can use the comments or ignore them) on my ‘Bailey’s Writing Tips’ podcast, then do email me. They are weekly episodes, usually released Monday mornings UK time, interweaving the recordings between the red pen sessions with the hints & tips episodes. I am now also looking for flash fiction (<1000 words) for Flash Fiction Fridays.

 

Guest post: ’Tis The Season To Write Short Stories by Helen M Hunt

Tonight’s guest blog post, on the topic of writing seasonal stories is brought to you by short story author Helen M Hunt.

’Tis The Season To Write Short Stories

Women’s magazines all want stories that mark special events and occasions – both annual things such as Christmas, and one-off events such as the Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics. It means they get the chance to offer their readers something relevant to the season and topical which will chime with what their readers are thinking and talking about.

For the writer there are lots of positive opportunities here, as well as a few drawbacks. Let’s start with the positives.

Writing a story to fit in with a season such as Christmas gives you an opportunity to add an extra element to your writing that will make your story sparkle. A very simple ‘boy meets girl’ plot can be lifted out of the ordinary if they meet in Santa’s grotto. Or maybe they meet in a shelter for the homeless where they’ve both given up their own Christmas to help others. Or maybe they’re both nurses and they’ve pulled the short straw and got night duty on Christmas Eve. The possibilities to add poignancy and raise the stakes of your story are endless.

If you’re going to write seasonal stories, you need to remember that magazines work well in advance. How far in advance depends a bit on the magazine, so you’ll need to read their guidelines, but typically several months. This means one of two things. Either you write your Christmas stories in the middle of the summer when everyone else is sunning themselves and drinking lemonade by the pool, or your write your Christmas stories now while you’re still eating your way through the leftover turkey and picking tinsel out of the carpet, and then sit on them for a few months. Different writers work in different ways so the choice is yours.

There are some drawbacks to writing Christmas stories, or stories written for Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day or Easter. What happens if you don’t place your seasonally sensitive story?

Don’t worry; all is not lost. If you don’t sell your Christmas story in 2012, you can hang on to it and send it to a different magazine in 2013. Don’t forget, in women’s magazine writing selling a story can sometimes be a very long game. In fact, last year I sold a spring story just as spring was coming to an end. The story had missed the slot for spring 2011, so now it’ll be published in spring 2012 – getting on for eighteen months after I wrote it.

But what if you don’t want to wait that long? Or even worse you’ve written a story for a one-off event, such as the London 2012 Olympics, that isn’t going to happen again?

In that case your only option is to see if you can deconstruct your story. How integral was the event or season to the plot? Would it work if you pegged it to another event? Or what about if you can find a more universal activity or theme to pin it to? Could you rewrite your spring story, taking out the daffodils and replacing them with autumn leaves? Sometimes a bit of ingenuity is required to rework a story that might otherwise have reached the end of the line.

The other thing to remember is that if you’re going to write a Christmas tale, or any other seasonal stories, you need to avoid the clichés and well-worn themes around that event. Magazines are looking for a new take on the subject, so try to avoid being too predictable. We’ve all read stories featuring the turkey being burnt, the dog eating the presents and the fairy lights fusing, so see if you can come up with something a bit different. It’s often useful to jot down all the ideas you can think of that fit in with your theme, and then discard the first six or so. The more obscure ones you’ve come up with are much more likely to produce a story that is fresh and different.

Last year I sold a ‘Christmas’ story called ‘A Second Christmas’ which was set a few days after Christmas. Setting it just after Christmas took it out of the normal run of seasonal stories and made it different enough for the Fiction Editor to accept it and run it in the first issue of the New Year. Try to think laterally and it might just pay off!

But whatever you do, try to keep your short story writing fun, and above all inventive, that way you’ll be coming up with stories that are a pleasure to write and also a pleasure to read, no matter what season it is!

If you’re interested in writing short stories for women’s magazines you may find some of my courses helpful.

New for 2012 is my online short story writing course, the ‘Hop On, Hop Off’ course. You can find details on my website www.helenmhunt.co.uk.

You might also be interested to know that I run workshops for people who are interested in writing for the women’s magazine market. (Dates for 2012 will appear on my website soon.) And I also offer email short story critiques.

You can read two of my stories, along with stories by other writers including novelists Cally Taylor and Tamsyn Murray and women’s magazine favourites Kathleen McGurl, Bernadette James and Karen Clarke, in the ‘Tears and Laughter and Happy Ever After’ anthology which is now available Amazon for Kindle.

Thank you Helen, lovely to have you back!

Helen Hunt writes short stories and features for magazines. Her short stories have appeared in Woman’s Weekly, My Weekly, The Weekly News, People’s Friend and Take A Break Fiction Feast in the UK, and That’s Life Fast Fiction in Australia. She also writes articles for Writers’ Forum and Writing Magazine. You can find her website at www.helenmhunt.co.uk.

If you would like to write a writing-related guest post for my blog then feel free to email me with an outline of what you would like to write about. If it’s writing-related then it’s highly likely I’d email back and say “yes please” (while quietly bouncing up and down in my seat with joy!).

The blog interviews return as normal tomorrow morning with women’s / contemporary romance author, story development consultant and animation producer Shannon Muir – the two hundred and thirty-first of my blog interviews with novelists, poets, short story authors, bloggers, autobiographers and more. A list of interviewees (blogged and scheduled) can be found here. If you like what you read, please do go and investigate further. And I enjoy hearing from readers of my blog; do either leave a comment on the relevant interview (the interviewees love to hear from you too!) and / or email me. You can also read / download my eBooks and free eShorts at Smashwords.