Pen or type writer or computer?

Pen for the brain farts, I mean, ideas. Then when I have a folder full just for one book, then I cross over to the computer, type it up into a summery, and work from there. I use to print the book out in it’s end form and go through by pen but now I’m finding that I don’t need to in the last few books. The process is getting easier.

What made you want to become an author and do you feel it was the right decision?

I always wanted to become an artist. I love exploring the world through visual arts and being creative. It is my life’s purpose. But as I became a mother, I found I didn’t have the time or energy to devote all of my life to art. So I put it aside for a while. Then I discovered writing. It was great because all it required was a pen and paper and there was no huge mess to clean up afterwards. It was my practical art while being a parent.

A day in the life of the author?

Coffee gets me out of bed because I usually stay up too late reading. I am a natural night owl but as the children get up early, it’s better that I’m up first just incase I get pushed out and so coffee is a better way to start the day.

I do the emails first because this can either take ten minutes or two hours.
Kids up and out of the house. Back to the computer and writing commences.
I have no idea where the time goes then. There can be words and then there might not be words. Writing isn’t easy so don’t let anyone convince you of that.

Kids are home and in my hair. This is when they are either too tired to do anything and retreat which allows me to write more. Or they didn’t use all of their energy, so I’m left to use the remaining of mine to extract theirs.

Dinner, regular night time mode. And then I have this extra spurt of energy which all night time owls do. It kicks in after a long day where you’re emotionally tired and a regular person would head off to bed exhausted.

But not me. Instead, my brain goes, oh no! it’s the end of the day and I begin thinking I had all day to read a two hundred page non-fiction book, but instead I’ll sacrifice my sleep in order to devour it in one setting.

Pass out. Wake up to coffee and repeat.

Advice they would give new authors?

Don’t listen to advice! Ha!

I found that there are two types of people. One, you should only devote your time that will make money – writing, apparently, isn’t one of them. And two, the over enthuastic people who will support you but in no way will buy your book.
It doesn’t matter either way. Instead, write your own rule book. Pretend you’re giving yourself advice – that’s the advice you need to hear.

You can become a writer over night if your have the natural talent, or it can take tens years, like me, where nothing is natural and you have to worked for it. Doesn’t matter either way too. Because you are your own boss, advice giver, and therefore your know your own rules.

Describe your writing style.

I’m not a natural writer. The first book I wrote was horrible and will never see the light of day. It was fantastic to write because my mind thought I was getting it all down on the page. It was like watching a movie play out in my imagination and I was dictating it all.

I thought I needed a publisher straight away. The excitement was crazy! I was practically manic.

But then I read it back to myself and I nearly died. Who wrote this garbage? Damn. It was me.

I crashed. Emotionally, physically, you name it and I crashed.

How was it that my story looked so terrible on the page?

That’s because I didn’t know how to write. Of course I could tell a story. Yes, I know what the characters were like and how interesting the world would be. But I didn’t have the ability to create poetic language, form paragraphs. I couldn’t even write dialogue. And that was okay because everything just took practice. I didn’t give myself a timeline or even a deadline. I let this practice dictate itself and led it down an organic path, learning what I had to when I had to.

What makes a good story?

For me, its all about the worlds! I love exploring endless possibilities and trying to imagine that in our own world. Strong characters are a must too. Because why would you want to follow a boring character through a fascinating world? You wouldn’t! Plus when we get to experience these great worlds and follow these interesting characters, then we want something important to happen.
So for me, that’s three components: World, character and events, which you can call plot. These three components as weaved together from beginning to end and that’s how I approach story writing.

What are they currently reading?

I’ve just started Ross Kingston’s Awakening. It’s epic fantasy and the prologue was just amazing!

I’m half way through Erich von Daniken’s The Gold of the Gods.

And I’m nearly finished a huge witchcraft encyclopedia.

Yes, I’m that type of reader! One book is never enough, it’s like my mind needs to cross threat the ideas.