This week’s questions are from the lovely Tessa Gray.
I hope you found your way here from S.C. Mitchell’s blog. He just won a writing award. Woot!
Here are the mind-benders for today:
1. Do any characters you’ve written into your books remind you of yourself?
Explain which ones and why.
I’ve been asked this before and my first, instinctive response is no.
But that’s not the truth. Little bits of me, especially expressions, do appear in my characters.
Explain which ones and why.
But that’s not the truth. Little bits of me, especially expressions, do appear in my characters.
I distinctly remember starting to talk like Yvette Stapleton from Highlander’s Hope when I was writing that book. I caught myself one day, and it shocked me. A few of my friends swear she is me.
She is not!
Today, I used an expression Adaira Ferguson used in The Earl’s Enticement.
Shaking my head here.
I really need to separate reality from fiction.
2. Was there a teacher or mentor in your life who helped nurture your writing?
Actually, no.
I did have a professor in on of my master’s courses who told me I was a writer, but at that time, I was completely focused on becoming a teacher.
Funny thing is, after I got my teaching license and started substituting, that’s when I started to dabble in writing. Now, my focus is on writing, and I’ll be doing very little teaching from this point onward.
I have two cousins who are authors, and an uncle, Brian Cameron, who’s written a children’s book though he’s better known for his artwork. Perhaps there’s an author gene somewhere in the family tree. I’m the only female one though!
Actually, no.
I did have a professor in on of my master’s courses who told me I was a writer, but at that time, I was completely focused on becoming a teacher.
Funny thing is, after I got my teaching license and started substituting, that’s when I started to dabble in writing. Now, my focus is on writing, and I’ll be doing very little teaching from this point onward.
I have two cousins who are authors, and an uncle, Brian Cameron, who’s written a children’s book though he’s better known for his artwork. Perhaps there’s an author gene somewhere in the family tree. I’m the only female one though!
3. Every author has that moment when they doubt their ability to write. When that happens to you, how do you pull yourself up by the bootstraps and continue? What do you do to inspire YOURSELF?
So, so true, especially after the contest circuit or when a particularly nasty review comes in.
I honestly think it’s healthy to have some degree of doubt. I causes me to work harder, to constantly be polishing my craft, to become a better writer with each book.
When I have those moments where I think about giving up, I usually step back and take a break. I ask myself, “Why am I writing?”
To get rich? Falling off my chair laughing here.
Fame? Recognition? Not really. Sure a little recognition is nice but people in the lime-light have so little privacy and everyone thinks they have a right to know your business.
Because I want to bring moments of joy and escapism to readers? That part is true.
Mostly, I write because I love what I do, and I cannot imagine not writing.
I’ve had a lot of people look at me in wonder and say, “You really love to write.”
Like it’s some tremendous feat or weird perversion.
Only a writer understands another writer’s drive to weave words onto a page.
And, now it’s time to tootle over to the amazing Beth Carter’s.
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