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What Writers Write (And How they Write It) - Judith Ann McDowell, author of Rougarou and Fated Memories
It's Autumn, the little ghouls and ghosts are putting together their wish lists for All Hallow's Eve, or as it is known in some parts of North America, Beggar's Night. It's time to pour great gobs of money into your local purveyor of sweeties and choccies to fill their grasping little fingers. It's time to listen for the hoot of a lone owl, to glance anxiously over your shoulder at that skittering sound behind you, it's time to fear the Reaper. Who better then to talk about the craft and process of writing this month than someone who writes about werewolves with affection? Judith Ann McDowell has written a love story full of howls, horrors and a need for flea collars. Judith....
My name is Judith Ann McDowell and I live in the Pacific Northwest with my husband Darrell and our two Pekingese, Tai and Chi and three kitties, Isis, Lacy and Reefer. When I am not busy writing, I like to travel and gather information about the paranormal. At first I was surprised to learn there are people, especially in Louisiana, who believe the werewolf actually exists. The Cajuns call it Rougarou. They aren't shy in talking about the creature. Thanks to their willingness to share their encounters, I now have a great picture for my next book cover on the sequel to ROUGAROU. This book is titled IN THE GLOW OF A FULL MOON RISING. ROUGAROU tells the story of Jonathan Hindel, a pillar of New Orleans' social elite and a werewolf. When Jonathan falls in love with the beautiful Angelia, the issue of Monsieur Devereaux and his mulatto mistress, he knows theirs is a union never to be sanctioned. A twist of fate presents itself, allowing Jonathan to change the course of their destiny. Jonathan is able to purchase his Angelia from Devereaux's embittered widow and spirit her away to his mansion in the bayous. All is bliss until the night Angelia stumbles upon Jonathan in the throes of satisfying his lust and hunger on the body of a young woman. When her screams of hurt and anger are at last silenced by the man who promised to love her throughout eternity, a strange ritual begins that is to prove his very words.
Thank you, Judith. Rougarou is available at Amazon. Judith's also written a more contemporary love story called Fated Memories, also available at Amazon.com.
Happy Hallowe'en, everyone.
My name is Judith Ann McDowell and I live in the Pacific Northwest with my husband Darrell and our two Pekingese, Tai and Chi and three kitties, Isis, Lacy and Reefer. When I am not busy writing, I like to travel and gather information about the paranormal. At first I was surprised to learn there are people, especially in Louisiana, who believe the werewolf actually exists. The Cajuns call it Rougarou. They aren't shy in talking about the creature. Thanks to their willingness to share their encounters, I now have a great picture for my next book cover on the sequel to ROUGAROU. This book is titled IN THE GLOW OF A FULL MOON RISING. ROUGAROU tells the story of Jonathan Hindel, a pillar of New Orleans' social elite and a werewolf. When Jonathan falls in love with the beautiful Angelia, the issue of Monsieur Devereaux and his mulatto mistress, he knows theirs is a union never to be sanctioned. A twist of fate presents itself, allowing Jonathan to change the course of their destiny. Jonathan is able to purchase his Angelia from Devereaux's embittered widow and spirit her away to his mansion in the bayous. All is bliss until the night Angelia stumbles upon Jonathan in the throes of satisfying his lust and hunger on the body of a young woman. When her screams of hurt and anger are at last silenced by the man who promised to love her throughout eternity, a strange ritual begins that is to prove his very words.
Thank you, Judith. Rougarou is available at Amazon. Judith's also written a more contemporary love story called Fated Memories, also available at Amazon.com.
Happy Hallowe'en, everyone.
What Writers Write (And How They Write It) - Steven L. Revare, author of Raw, a Novel
Steven is our newest Bean. His literary fiction, Raw, a novel, will be coming next week. We've teased him about it, calling it the Great Cheese Manifesto, but actually it's about so much more. It's about goals, growth and Getting There. And it's probably the first book since that little girl went over the rainbow that makes Kansas 'home'. Here's Steve....
What Writers Write and How They Write It
Kansas interests me. I’ve lived in the state my whole life. Sure, I’ve visited lots of other places: Paris, London, San Francisco... Branson. There are things I love about each of those places (try the gravy at Baldknobbers in Branson*), but Kansas inspires me with its geography, its people, and its overall feel.
I set my novel RAW in Manhattan, Kansas, right on the northern edge of the prairie. It’s not far from the geographical center of the contiguous United States. It’s about as far from the coasts as you can
get. That is its appeal. It’s not a location most people know.
Yet, it is worth knowing. There are few places as beautiful as the tallgrass prairie. It takes work to appreciate it. As one of the characters in RAW puts it, “It takes an active, advanced intellect to find beauty in grass and sky. It’s an exercise in appreciating minimalism. Everything else is lazy beauty.”
My book concerns a guy who moves from Manhattan, New York, to Manhattan Kansas. We all know the story of a small-town person seeking success in the big city. It’s like that, except in reverse. The two cities could
not be more different. The first is electric, exciting, crowded, confined, and squeezed tall by a scarcity of space. The latter is silent, flat, wide open, infinite, and sparsely populated.
Who settles in the middle of the country? Why did they go there in the first place? What keeps them there? To me, those questions offer interesting opportunities for exploration because the answers aren’t
easy to guess.
Once a guy told me it was “easy living” out in the middle of Kansas. Fewer hassles. It’s really just different hassles, I think. More likely, he prefers the pace of things in Kansas. It’s more deliberate than most
places. It makes for a completely different feel. It challenges your perception of how quickly you have to move to get things done.
While I have lived in Kansas my whole life, most of that time was spent in Kansas City. As I learn more about what things are like to the west, I’ve found that the people, the geography, and the general atmosphere
of the state has piqued my curiosity. It’s a complex place that deserves more exploration. Want to come along?
*Author’s note: Don’t really try the gravy at Baldknobbers in Branson.
Thank you, Steven. We're glad to have you here. Check out Raw, a Novel September 30 and learn the real difference between Manhattan, New York and Manhattan, Kansas.
To learn more about Steven Revare, check out his website Slugworth, Inc. If you happen to be from Manhattan, Kansas, read the article Kimber Wallace wrote about Steven and his book in the Manhattan Mercury.
To paraphrase a very annoying beer advertisement...Get thirsty, my friends.
What Writers Write and How They Write It
Kansas interests me. I’ve lived in the state my whole life. Sure, I’ve visited lots of other places: Paris, London, San Francisco... Branson. There are things I love about each of those places (try the gravy at Baldknobbers in Branson*), but Kansas inspires me with its geography, its people, and its overall feel.
I set my novel RAW in Manhattan, Kansas, right on the northern edge of the prairie. It’s not far from the geographical center of the contiguous United States. It’s about as far from the coasts as you can
get. That is its appeal. It’s not a location most people know.
Yet, it is worth knowing. There are few places as beautiful as the tallgrass prairie. It takes work to appreciate it. As one of the characters in RAW puts it, “It takes an active, advanced intellect to find beauty in grass and sky. It’s an exercise in appreciating minimalism. Everything else is lazy beauty.”
My book concerns a guy who moves from Manhattan, New York, to Manhattan Kansas. We all know the story of a small-town person seeking success in the big city. It’s like that, except in reverse. The two cities could
not be more different. The first is electric, exciting, crowded, confined, and squeezed tall by a scarcity of space. The latter is silent, flat, wide open, infinite, and sparsely populated.
Who settles in the middle of the country? Why did they go there in the first place? What keeps them there? To me, those questions offer interesting opportunities for exploration because the answers aren’t
easy to guess.
Once a guy told me it was “easy living” out in the middle of Kansas. Fewer hassles. It’s really just different hassles, I think. More likely, he prefers the pace of things in Kansas. It’s more deliberate than most
places. It makes for a completely different feel. It challenges your perception of how quickly you have to move to get things done.
While I have lived in Kansas my whole life, most of that time was spent in Kansas City. As I learn more about what things are like to the west, I’ve found that the people, the geography, and the general atmosphere
of the state has piqued my curiosity. It’s a complex place that deserves more exploration. Want to come along?
*Author’s note: Don’t really try the gravy at Baldknobbers in Branson.
Thank you, Steven. We're glad to have you here. Check out Raw, a Novel September 30 and learn the real difference between Manhattan, New York and Manhattan, Kansas.
To learn more about Steven Revare, check out his website Slugworth, Inc. If you happen to be from Manhattan, Kansas, read the article Kimber Wallace wrote about Steven and his book in the Manhattan Mercury.
To paraphrase a very annoying beer advertisement...Get thirsty, my friends.
What Writers Write (And How They Write It) - Barbara Silkstone, author of The Love Investigator.
Barbara Silkstone, author of The Secret Diary of Alice in Wonderland, has recently had her hands full rounding up naked men to write about. A lot of naked men. 527 of them to be exact. She's funny, just a degree or two off center, and with her head at that angle she sees the world in quite a wonderfully different way. Let her tell you about it. Barbara...
I enjoy doing playful things with language. I love blending two distinct words to create a new word. If I’m laughing out loud when I’m writing, then I know I’ve hit the mark. I’m working on Wendy & the Lost Boys right now. I laugh so loud while I’m writing that the neighborhood committee has asked me to move.
Attending parochial school honed my sense of humor and survival skills. In seventh grade I started an underground newspaper patterned after Mad magazine. It included a love advice column which as I recall was quite funny and very naïve. One day our nun took the girls aside to explain the facts of life. She told us that boys have their intestines in a bag between their legs. We were never to touch that bag. With material like that to work with I had a ball writing my newspaper. Until Sister Irma confiscated my last edition and sat on it. I had to go up to her desk and ask her in Polish (our school’s second language) for my paper. She kept pretending she didn’t understand that she was sitting on my latest news. She nipped my budding career in journalism.
Perhaps that was the origin of The Love Investigator, 527 Naked Men & One Woman. The one thing I learned from interviewing over 500 men is that life is one big game; we just don’t know the rules. It’s a Wonderland. That got me thinking about Lewis Carroll. How would he have written Alice’s adventure in today’s world?
In The Secret Diary of Alice in Wonderland, Age 42 and Three-Quarters, my Alice skates the edge of logic. She’s naïve and constantly forcing reason where there wasn’t any. She’s surrounded by sensible nonsense. Alice believes what is told to her but still tries to sort it out. And when she’s had enough jabberwocky, she turns and kicks butt. I’m a big fan of Janet Evanovich and my Alice would love to hang out with her heroine, Stephanie Plum.
I live in South Florida. Over the years I have taken writing workshops with some of the greats: Stephen King, PD James, Robert B. Parker, and James Michener. As a single parent it was hard to find the time to write; but now I’m on a roll. I’ve found Kindle to be an excellent venue as no one will sit on a Kindle.
Thank you, Barbara. If you'd like to know more about Barbara, her naked men, her chicklit column, and her future projects, just go down the rabbit hole to her website.
I enjoy doing playful things with language. I love blending two distinct words to create a new word. If I’m laughing out loud when I’m writing, then I know I’ve hit the mark. I’m working on Wendy & the Lost Boys right now. I laugh so loud while I’m writing that the neighborhood committee has asked me to move.
Attending parochial school honed my sense of humor and survival skills. In seventh grade I started an underground newspaper patterned after Mad magazine. It included a love advice column which as I recall was quite funny and very naïve. One day our nun took the girls aside to explain the facts of life. She told us that boys have their intestines in a bag between their legs. We were never to touch that bag. With material like that to work with I had a ball writing my newspaper. Until Sister Irma confiscated my last edition and sat on it. I had to go up to her desk and ask her in Polish (our school’s second language) for my paper. She kept pretending she didn’t understand that she was sitting on my latest news. She nipped my budding career in journalism.
Perhaps that was the origin of The Love Investigator, 527 Naked Men & One Woman. The one thing I learned from interviewing over 500 men is that life is one big game; we just don’t know the rules. It’s a Wonderland. That got me thinking about Lewis Carroll. How would he have written Alice’s adventure in today’s world?
In The Secret Diary of Alice in Wonderland, Age 42 and Three-Quarters, my Alice skates the edge of logic. She’s naïve and constantly forcing reason where there wasn’t any. She’s surrounded by sensible nonsense. Alice believes what is told to her but still tries to sort it out. And when she’s had enough jabberwocky, she turns and kicks butt. I’m a big fan of Janet Evanovich and my Alice would love to hang out with her heroine, Stephanie Plum.
I live in South Florida. Over the years I have taken writing workshops with some of the greats: Stephen King, PD James, Robert B. Parker, and James Michener. As a single parent it was hard to find the time to write; but now I’m on a roll. I’ve found Kindle to be an excellent venue as no one will sit on a Kindle.
Thank you, Barbara. If you'd like to know more about Barbara, her naked men, her chicklit column, and her future projects, just go down the rabbit hole to her website.
What Writers Write
If you're here looking for the naked men Barbara Silkstone promised us, they'll be here this weekend. Minor glitch in the publishing process, and we wouldn't want to tease you with her feature and not be able to give you a link to buy all those naked men.
What Writers Write (And How They Write It) - Kristie Leigh Maguire, author of Second Chances.
Welcome. She's smart, she's sassy, she has a pen that drips sizzling ink. If you like steamy stories or the Happily Ever After kind, then this is a name that belongs on your bookshelf. Author of Second Chances, among others, Kristie's got the pedigree for writing romantic fiction; she's been writer, a publisher, a designer, and a part of her own HEA for years. Kristie...
How Writers Write
By Kristie Leigh Maguire
I traded in my desk for a corner on the couch where I am comfortably ensconced with my laptop on my lap, my feet propped up and reclining back against a mound of pillows. I look out my windows and marvel at the scenery, which changes frequently.
I am a modern day pioneer traveling in a recreational vehicle instead of a covered wagon, escaping the brutal summer heat of the Mojave Desert in southern Nevada where my husband and I live during the winters.
This year we left our home in Nevada near the end of April and headed to Louisiana to visit my ninety-three year old mother and two of my four brothers who still live in the area where I graduated from high school too many years ago to count. Then it was on to Alabama for my granddaughter’s graduation from high school. Where does the time go? It seems only yesterday that I was holding her in my arms right after she came into this world.
Speaking of graduating from high school, my husband wanted to attend his high school reunion this year. It had been fifty-one years since he graduated and he had never been back to any of his reunions. The only problem was that he graduated from high school in Kansas and we were in Alabama for my granddaughter’s graduation. There is quite a distance between Alabama and Kansas and we only had a week to travel the great distance. We made it though and spent a week in Kansas in my husband’s home town.
With no particular destination or anywhere we had to be at any certain time, we decided to head north after the reunion and traveled through Nebraska and into South Dakota. As I write this, we are parked at a campground in the Black Hills area of South Dakota among the tall pine trees and huge granite boulders scattered around.
Today we are going to see the monument to Crazy Horse carved into the face of a mountain and tomorrow we are going to Mount Rushmore where the faces of great past Presidents of the United States are carved into a mountain.
There is so much to see around this area that we could spend a few weeks here. And who knows? We may do just that. We have no particular place to be and no particular time to get there.
Life is wonderful as a modern day pioneer, exploring new territories and soaking up inspiration and ideas for many future stories that I can write when I get back home this winter.
If you want to know more about Kristie, visit her at her website. Her latest release is Second Chances, a contemporary western romance set in Wyoming. It is available in paperback, e-book, and Kindle versions.
Thank you, Kristie.
How Writers Write
By Kristie Leigh Maguire
I traded in my desk for a corner on the couch where I am comfortably ensconced with my laptop on my lap, my feet propped up and reclining back against a mound of pillows. I look out my windows and marvel at the scenery, which changes frequently.
I am a modern day pioneer traveling in a recreational vehicle instead of a covered wagon, escaping the brutal summer heat of the Mojave Desert in southern Nevada where my husband and I live during the winters.
This year we left our home in Nevada near the end of April and headed to Louisiana to visit my ninety-three year old mother and two of my four brothers who still live in the area where I graduated from high school too many years ago to count. Then it was on to Alabama for my granddaughter’s graduation from high school. Where does the time go? It seems only yesterday that I was holding her in my arms right after she came into this world.
Speaking of graduating from high school, my husband wanted to attend his high school reunion this year. It had been fifty-one years since he graduated and he had never been back to any of his reunions. The only problem was that he graduated from high school in Kansas and we were in Alabama for my granddaughter’s graduation. There is quite a distance between Alabama and Kansas and we only had a week to travel the great distance. We made it though and spent a week in Kansas in my husband’s home town.
With no particular destination or anywhere we had to be at any certain time, we decided to head north after the reunion and traveled through Nebraska and into South Dakota. As I write this, we are parked at a campground in the Black Hills area of South Dakota among the tall pine trees and huge granite boulders scattered around.
Today we are going to see the monument to Crazy Horse carved into the face of a mountain and tomorrow we are going to Mount Rushmore where the faces of great past Presidents of the United States are carved into a mountain.
There is so much to see around this area that we could spend a few weeks here. And who knows? We may do just that. We have no particular place to be and no particular time to get there.
Life is wonderful as a modern day pioneer, exploring new territories and soaking up inspiration and ideas for many future stories that I can write when I get back home this winter.
If you want to know more about Kristie, visit her at her website. Her latest release is Second Chances, a contemporary western romance set in Wyoming. It is available in paperback, e-book, and Kindle versions.
Thank you, Kristie.
What Writers Write (And How They Write It) - Michael E. Benson, author of Openers
Welcome. Michael E. Benson has been writing for years. As a police investigator, as a police instructor, as an entrepreneur, as a hobbyist, as an artist, words have always taken up a lot of space in his bag of tricks. Openers is just one of the many stories he has to tell. Here is how he prepares to tell those stories. Mike...
I never do a plot outline for a story except in my head. Before I start to write I will spend days, months, years plotting the story in my mind as a sort of continuing daydream. I edit, revise and edit some more until I have a chronology and major turning points firmly fixed in my mind. Then it’s just a question of getting from point A to point B to point C and so on to the end, filling in the points with narrative and dialogue. My favorite place and time to do this “mind plotting” is when I’m driving down the highway alone. Another favorite place is in bed in the middle of the afternoon.
I am fortunate to have an office in my home and a computer. I’ve tried writing in longhand, but when the story is flowing it’s just too slow. I can hardly keep up with it by typing on the computer and I’m a very good typist.
When I was in the Coast Guard I was hooked up on a telephone line with four other people all talking at the same time. I had to listen to one particular voice in all that babble and translate what he said. Consequently, I developed the ability to shut out anything I don’t want to hear without having to wear headphones. When I am concentrating my wife now knows to make eye contact with me and make sure someone’s in there before she starts to talk. Otherwise, I won’t hear her. It’s a particularly useful gift to have when writing.
I thought I was a writer before I started working on my Master of Arts in History. I am a much better writer now than I was then, especially for that kind of writing where every word in every sentence is scrutinized. Passives are forbidden. When I’m writing history I examine every sentence to see if it is active or passive and throw out the passives. In writing fiction, however, passives can create tone so they are useful. For example, which sounds stronger of these two sentences: “Bat Masterson was elected city marshal.” Or, “the people elected Bat Masterson as city marshal.” The first is passive, the second active. In a history paper, only the second will do. In a novel, either will be useful depending on the context.
I am sporadic in my writing unless I’m facing a deadline. Some days I will sit at the computer all day long and write page after page. Other times, life outside writing takes over and I have to be away from the computer. On days when I can’t find time to write I will find time, usually just before bedtime, to edit which is equally important.
Here are a few hints for new writers:
1. A writer’s most important tool is the brain. Use it.
2. If you don’t respect your work, no one else will either.
3. Nothing happens until you initiate it.
If you want to know more about Michael and his works Openers and, coming soon, the second in the Frank Petrovic Series Alvarado's Woman, read his author page here at Inknbeans, or ask him a question in the comment corner.
Openers is available at Smashwords and Amazon.
I never do a plot outline for a story except in my head. Before I start to write I will spend days, months, years plotting the story in my mind as a sort of continuing daydream. I edit, revise and edit some more until I have a chronology and major turning points firmly fixed in my mind. Then it’s just a question of getting from point A to point B to point C and so on to the end, filling in the points with narrative and dialogue. My favorite place and time to do this “mind plotting” is when I’m driving down the highway alone. Another favorite place is in bed in the middle of the afternoon.
I am fortunate to have an office in my home and a computer. I’ve tried writing in longhand, but when the story is flowing it’s just too slow. I can hardly keep up with it by typing on the computer and I’m a very good typist.
When I was in the Coast Guard I was hooked up on a telephone line with four other people all talking at the same time. I had to listen to one particular voice in all that babble and translate what he said. Consequently, I developed the ability to shut out anything I don’t want to hear without having to wear headphones. When I am concentrating my wife now knows to make eye contact with me and make sure someone’s in there before she starts to talk. Otherwise, I won’t hear her. It’s a particularly useful gift to have when writing.
I thought I was a writer before I started working on my Master of Arts in History. I am a much better writer now than I was then, especially for that kind of writing where every word in every sentence is scrutinized. Passives are forbidden. When I’m writing history I examine every sentence to see if it is active or passive and throw out the passives. In writing fiction, however, passives can create tone so they are useful. For example, which sounds stronger of these two sentences: “Bat Masterson was elected city marshal.” Or, “the people elected Bat Masterson as city marshal.” The first is passive, the second active. In a history paper, only the second will do. In a novel, either will be useful depending on the context.
I am sporadic in my writing unless I’m facing a deadline. Some days I will sit at the computer all day long and write page after page. Other times, life outside writing takes over and I have to be away from the computer. On days when I can’t find time to write I will find time, usually just before bedtime, to edit which is equally important.
Here are a few hints for new writers:
1. A writer’s most important tool is the brain. Use it.
2. If you don’t respect your work, no one else will either.
3. Nothing happens until you initiate it.
If you want to know more about Michael and his works Openers and, coming soon, the second in the Frank Petrovic Series Alvarado's Woman, read his author page here at Inknbeans, or ask him a question in the comment corner.
Openers is available at Smashwords and Amazon.
What Writers Write - Lisa Hinsley, author of Coombe's Wood
Welcome. Those of you who recognize the name Lisa Hinsley know her as a gifted writer of downright spooky stories. These aren't your run of the mill vampyres and haunted castle stories; these are every day people in situations that run the gamut from good to bad and back again, touched by something...well...evil. Lisa does a good job of making you flinch.
Here's how she gets to that dark place that makes the rest of us shudder. You'll be surprised to know it's located in a surprisingly sunny place. Lisa...
Everyday I want to write. Even if I can’t figure out what I want to say, I’m thinking, plotting and planning what I will write when I’m able, organising in my mind until the story pops into perfect focus. Then it’s time to write. Having three children – at one point four as we had a foster child for a while – certainly curtails my ability to write when the muse strikes. Notebooks are excellent for catching those errant thoughts when there’s no time to flip up the lid to the laptop, to capture those perfect sentences that if not written somewhere will inevitably be forgotten. I have stacks of notebooks scattered all over the house (much to my husband’s annoyance). One day I must go through them all, figure out which are now defunct, and the book written. But I’m often thinking of several ideas at a time, and my notebooks are a collage of sometimes dozens of partly thought out stories.
The major rule my husband wisely imposed on me in regards to my writing is that our youngest son must be in bed before I begin for the night. I tend to get a little obsessive, especially when an idea is flowing, and I will ignore everything else in order to write. I have been known to cook with a notebook and pen beside me. I’ve even tried to use a Dictaphone, but the sound of my own voice creeps me out.
Unfortunately, I am still tied to a day job and supervise at a pharmacy four days a week. I originally trained as an interior designer, but worked as an architectural technician for many years. The downturn in the economy dried up my contracts, but I still have one client I draw for a few days a month. My dream is to be able to earn enough from my Amazon sales to give up the pharmacy position, and devote more time to writing.
My office is the left hand side of the sofa in our living room. If I really want to work, earphones are a requirement – the television is just too distracting. We’re moving up to the Wirral in the summer, the hope/dream is to get a house big enough for both of us (husband works from home) to have an office. When I’m in the zone, the music needs to be loud in my ears. It sort of focuses my mind. And each book needs a different artist (weird I know). Coombe’s Wood was Cold Play and Gomez. Another book of mine, Elective Suicide, was Elbow and Kasabian. I can’t work on them without playing one of their albums.
If you want to know more about Lisa and her books, Coombe's Wood and A Peculiar Collection, check out her author page at Amazon or visit her on Facebook.
One more note. Most of you recognize her picture above, but here's a completely different, and far less spooky picture.
Here's how she gets to that dark place that makes the rest of us shudder. You'll be surprised to know it's located in a surprisingly sunny place. Lisa...
Everyday I want to write. Even if I can’t figure out what I want to say, I’m thinking, plotting and planning what I will write when I’m able, organising in my mind until the story pops into perfect focus. Then it’s time to write. Having three children – at one point four as we had a foster child for a while – certainly curtails my ability to write when the muse strikes. Notebooks are excellent for catching those errant thoughts when there’s no time to flip up the lid to the laptop, to capture those perfect sentences that if not written somewhere will inevitably be forgotten. I have stacks of notebooks scattered all over the house (much to my husband’s annoyance). One day I must go through them all, figure out which are now defunct, and the book written. But I’m often thinking of several ideas at a time, and my notebooks are a collage of sometimes dozens of partly thought out stories.
The major rule my husband wisely imposed on me in regards to my writing is that our youngest son must be in bed before I begin for the night. I tend to get a little obsessive, especially when an idea is flowing, and I will ignore everything else in order to write. I have been known to cook with a notebook and pen beside me. I’ve even tried to use a Dictaphone, but the sound of my own voice creeps me out.
Unfortunately, I am still tied to a day job and supervise at a pharmacy four days a week. I originally trained as an interior designer, but worked as an architectural technician for many years. The downturn in the economy dried up my contracts, but I still have one client I draw for a few days a month. My dream is to be able to earn enough from my Amazon sales to give up the pharmacy position, and devote more time to writing.
My office is the left hand side of the sofa in our living room. If I really want to work, earphones are a requirement – the television is just too distracting. We’re moving up to the Wirral in the summer, the hope/dream is to get a house big enough for both of us (husband works from home) to have an office. When I’m in the zone, the music needs to be loud in my ears. It sort of focuses my mind. And each book needs a different artist (weird I know). Coombe’s Wood was Cold Play and Gomez. Another book of mine, Elective Suicide, was Elbow and Kasabian. I can’t work on them without playing one of their albums.
If you want to know more about Lisa and her books, Coombe's Wood and A Peculiar Collection, check out her author page at Amazon or visit her on Facebook.
One more note. Most of you recognize her picture above, but here's a completely different, and far less spooky picture.
Thank you for sharing with us, Lisa.
Boss Bean and the Inknbeans Grounds