Author interview - Overcoming Writers Block & Other Obstacles

For Wannabe Authors - Interview with successful author T.C. LoTempio about overcoming Writer's Block and other publishing obstacles

So - you want to be an author but...oh, there are so many obstacles, so many opportunities to shelve writing projects or avoid writing altogether, or publishing, even if you've finished multiple books.  I'm doing a series of interviews with successful, published authors, asking questions about how they overcame their challenges, and I hope you'll find inspiration, ideas, and strategies to tackle your writing and publishing gremlins.  First up is T.C. (Toni) Lo Tempio, author of a number of published mysteries, including Bound By Blood, Ebony, and High Noon.  Enjoy!

Question:. In the process of writing, publishing and marketing your books, has procrastination ever affected you or an inner critic gotten in your way?  If not, how do you think you sailed through it?  If so, what did you do or are you doing to overcome it?  (Make sure to work in the titles of your books, a one or two sentence story synopsis of each, and where to buy the books and/or contact you.) 

 Answer:  I fight a constant battle with procrastination, or writer's block.  At times the words will just flow - at others, man-it's like wrestling a wet hen!  When it happens, i take a break, do something else, play with my cats, do  my checkbook (that usually tends to depress me) and soon after the juices start flowing again.  Bound by Blood, a story about witchcraft and tarot cards, came easily, as did Ebony (zombies) and A Spy in the Hand (two actors playing spies turn into spies for real).  Murder is Relative, a detective story, hit a lot of roadblocks but eventually came together.  The paranormal mystery I'm currently shopping, HIGH MOON, got stymied for two months as I switched beginnings back and forth.

Q: Tell us about how writing has empowered you in life, not only by becoming a published author, but in other ways?  What successes in your life do you attribute to being a published author and how are they connected? 

A: Writing has empowered my life in the sense that I can come home from my dreary seven to four job (which is turning into more like a seven to six job) and do something that I love.  It's taught me patience - a quality I've sorely lacked for over 50 years.  

Q:  Tell us about the most mortifying experience you've had as an aspiring and/or published author, how you've gotten over it, and what you learned from it. 

A: Over twenty years ago I wrote a novel called "TERROR" which I thought was the greatest thing since sliced bread.  I kept sending it out, it kept getting rejected, and i stubbornly kept sending it out again.  About five years ago, I started revising it according to some advice I received.  Ten rewrites later, it was picked up by Echelon Press LLC and will be released in 2009 as WITCH'S PAWN.  Once again, I learned the value of persistence and patience, and to be able to take constructive criticism and do something with it, not to be so vain and proud.   

Q:  What are your current and future dreams and goals as an author?  Why did you pick those goals and dreams?  What is your plan to accomplish them? 

A: My first goal was to get something published by a small press, which I've done (I don't count my first two books by Publish America - I start with Whiskey Creek Press and work up from there).  Now my goal is to get at least one book, or one series, by a traditional publisher before I die, which i figure gives me about 25 years.  I'd also like to get a really good agent.  Dream big, i say! 

Q: Tell us about your writing habits.  Do you know your story or concepts ahead of time, or do they just develop and evolve as you write?  Do you wait for the muse to strike or do you set a regular appointment with your self to write?  If the latter, how do you make sure you keep the appointment?  Do you structure the book ahead of time and fill in the blanks, or free-write and put it together later, or use some othe method?  Do you ever get writers block?  If so, what do you do to get through it?  How long does it take you to write a book, on average?  What else what you like us to know about your writing habits? 

A: Well, with some stories I know pretty much where i want it to go - others have a life of their own.  I work during the week, and like to save what little eyesight i have left, so i write on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, usually from 10-2.  If I'm rolling, it can take me 8-12 weeks to finish a book - others take years!  it all depends on my "muse".

 Interested readers can visit T.C.'s  website, www.freewebs.com/toni1953

these books are available now, through Whiskey Creek Press, Amazon and Fictionwise:BOUND BY BLOOD, EBONY