Last week I interviewed T.C. LoTempio about her experience writing.  This week I have the pleasure of interviewing Christine Verstraete, author of The Witch Tree and In Miniature Style.  Coming Spring 2008 her new book is titled: Searching for a Starry Night.  It's about a nosy Dachshund digs up a family curse... is Sam's quest to find the missing miniature art, and save her longest friendship, doomed?  Christine's website is http://cverstraete.com/.  The pubilsher is Quake/Echelon Press - http://www.quakeme.com/

A. My inner critic is always at work whispering in my ear. I have to ignore it and with the positive comments of other writing friends, I am able to move on. I've been trying new marketing avenues as I gear up for the release of my first young adult mystery, Searching for a Starry Night, coming in Spring '08 from Quake/Echelon Press, http://www.quakeme.com/. The book combines several of my favorites: mystery, miniatures and dogs.  I also have a nonfiction ebook, "In Miniature Style," with projects, interviews and photos from Writer's Exchange. Links for available books are on my website, http://cverstraete.com/.

I've also just started a blog, Candid Canine, http://candidcanine.blogspot.com/, with authors Lee Barwood and Lydia Filzen, which will feature dog and book news, features, dog short stories, miniatures, and other guest bloggers - anything dog related as a tie-in  to my  fictional Dachschund, Petey, in Searching for a Starry Night. I have some neat things lined up, so it should be a lot of fun!

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. I've been writing for as long as I can remember, getting a degree in journalism and writing nonfiction for newspapers and magazines. I then began to write fiction and so came the urge to write a book. (Well, of course, I have several in the works, who doesn't? :>) ) My fiction ebook, The Witch Tree, won the first Fast and... contest from Echelon Press and really gave me a boost. Finishing my young adult mystery, Searching for a Starry Night, having expanded it from its initial 20,000 words to 50,000 words was a valuable lesson in adding story lines and expanding the plot. Writing, to me, is more than work; it is something I feel I need to do. When a story comes out as I wanted, it's a great feeling.

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. Luckily I haven't been too embarassed - yet. ha! I did have a string of rejections, with no end in sight. That really made me question what I was doing, but the key is perserverance. You simply can't let one or 10 or 50 rejections stop you from what you want to do. 

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 goals are to keep learning and improving. I hope to next finish a nonfiction book project, I need to query it again, and finish my adult mystery. I believe a writer should always have goals, meaning you always have projects to finish. You always need to look ahead.

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. I write daily, a lesson I learned long ago from newspaper work. There is no such thing as waiting for inspiration to strike or "writer's block." You simply write. If one thing is not working, there are always other projects, other sections, other stories to work on and then go back to the project you were "stuck" on. I am an outliner. I like to know where I am going in a story, although that doesn't mean I don't get stuck sometimes. Ten what helps is to mull it over in my sleep. Usually a new idea or a way to fix something comes to me by morning.  

Just wanted to invite you to hear an interview I'm giving on the Balance and Wisdom Internet Radio Show for Women.

I'll be talking about the power of procrastination - how it can both help you to and hinder you from achieving your goals.

The show will be posted this (Friday) morning at http://www.balanceandwisdom.com/.

 Please tune in at your convenience and listen to the show.  Your feedback is very important to me.  Please leave your comments right below my interview on the Balance & Wisdom blog (http://www.balanceandwisdom.com/).

Happy listening, and I'd love to hear from you with your thoughts about the discussion.

Best Regards,

What inspired you to write your first book?

I've been asked this many times, and I can't really say. I'd been creating stories for my sister even as an adolescent, and one day, I realized the story I was working on was getting so complicated in my head it needed to be written down. It was supposed to be a short story. It grew. I was reading a lot of romance at the time, some great, some unbelievably bad. Like many authors, I thought I could do better.

How long did it take you to write it?

STARCROSSED HEARTS was my first book. It took about a year to write it, and another year to re-write it, and another six months to polish it. It's a very long book, actually two books in one, at 144K words.

Have you written any other books, and is there any common theme, thread, or concept behind your books?

STARCROSSED HEARTS is a contemporary romance, with lots of plot and a variety of locales. The characters are entertainers, there is a love triangle, some crime, some world travel, heartache, adventure. Its ending is a sort of non-ending, with the reader wondering just what will happen to the characters after the last page. A sequel, A HERO'S PROMISE, picks up a few years later. A third book, THE GYPSY IN ME (in progress,) culminates the trilogy ten years later.

This year, I ventured onto a different path with my first paranormal mystery, POINT SURRENDER. I've always been a lighthouse nut, and it seemed a natural location for a romantic mystery with a few ghosts hanging about. POINT SURRENDER is a fictional California lighthouse with a past filled with love, hate, jealousy and... murder. Fans began asking for more of this genre, so I am working on CAPE SEDUCTION, a story that will tie together events occuring at a lighthouse in both 1948 and 2008. The research for this book is a lot of fun!

How did you accomplish the writing of the books?  Did they just flow out of you without any effort, or did you have to work at it, or something else?

Almost all of my books have been the free-flowing kind. Given the free time to write, I'd be able to complete books fairly quickly. The more I write, the more complete my ideas have become. They seem to come to me as total concepts now. In the early days, I sort of rambled through them, which created headaches later as I tried to pull the stories together. I actually did some real outlining on POINT SURRENDER.

What kind of obstacles have you encountered in writing and publishing your book(s)?

Personally, having time to write is my biggest obstacle. I do not include writing time in my daily routine. I have a family and a business to run. I tend to rip off chunks of time here and there to write. When I am really on a roll, I will cancel all appointments and just write all day.

Professionally, my biggest obstacle had been finding an honest, fair and stable publisher to work with. Publishing is a tremendously difficult business, so full of Catch-22's I don't know how they manage to stay afloat. Many don't. There is a fine line between making it and disappearing. I am thrilled to be working with Karen Syed of Echelon Press. She is professional, hard-working and she goes the distance to support her authors. We understand each other and the business in general.

Today, the challenge has evolved. You think, as an author, that getting published at all is the best. You've made it. Then reality sets in, because you still have so much to learn. Does your publisher provide quality editing, cover art, formatting? Is your publisher recognized as a stable, professional entity? Is their product attractive and durable?

All that given, a new list appears: does the publisher have good distribution? Can people find your books at Amazon? Can bookstores order the books once they are printed? Ah, good. At this point, you are sure you have it all. Good story, good cover, good reviews, nice books, a warehouse full of them as a matter of fact, and distribution availability to any store who wants them. Now the challenge is - getting them sold! So the obstacles continue. As authors, we must continue to push.

What one or two key pieces of advice do you have for people who want to write?

Hate to sound cliche, but "just do it" comes to mind. Write a lot, read a lot, read more. Always maintain your integrity, don't let the set-backs get you down--there will be many. The first publisher I ever worked with was an ebook-only pub. I was floating on air that he wanted to publish my book, IN TOO DEEP. I waited on needles and pins for him to edit it; I should have been tipped off when he said it was great the way it was, with one or two typo corrections. Not long after this book was published on CD, it made an internet bestseller list of ebooks. My head was so swelled I could barely hold it up! I printed up all kinds of promo items displaying my bestseller status. Told everyone I knew. Put it on my website. Then, my first royalty statement came. With it, an attachment I wasn't supposed to see, which clearly indicated that the publisher, under a different name, had purchased a large number of downloads of my book. Enough to place it squarely at the top of the aforementioned list.

I was heartbroken. Embarrassed, mortified and humbled. I quietly removed all mention of the bestseller list. The publisher was disappointed in me for not taking advantage of his little scheme. I took my rights back at the first opportunity. I've worked with a number of publishers since then. Two of them went under, and one of them was a great stepping stone for me. Right now, Echelon is my home.

Tell us a little more about your books - genres, titles, storylines, interesting tidbits:

Tidbits. Hmmm. While writing POINT SURRENDER, I had the exquisite opportunity to stay in a Washington State lighthouse for several days. Talk about inspiration! I was all alone there with my laptop, and that is where I finished the last four chapters of the book. It was an awesome experience, one I'll never forget. There were no ghosts present, but I like to say that the muse was defininately in residence. 

Can you share with us what you are working on now, and when will it be published?

CAPE SEDUCTION is in the works and will hopefully be contracted next year. I truly believe it will be my best work yet. I also write young adult mysteries under the name Pam Ripling, and LOCKER SHOCK! will be published by Echelon Press this fall. LOCKER SHOCK! is about a middle school boy who discovers a gun in his school locker, and the challenges he encounters trying to find out who put it there. A timely issue.

Where can we learn more about you and buy your books?

www.BeaconStreetBooks.com is my website. I can also be "experienced" at www.myspace.com/starcrsdone, and my blog address is www.beacon-street.blogspot.

All of my books are available for download at Fictionwise: http://www.fictionwise.com/ebooks/annecarterebooks.htm

POINT SURRENDER is available at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Point-Surrender-Anne-Carter/dp/1590805143/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-4608012-3020657?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1173981999&sr=8-1

and a myriad of other places online!

This week I interview Margot Justes. Margot is the about-to-be-published author of A Hotel in Paris, a writer who started writing as an outlet, not expecting to be published. I'm sure many of you can relate to her writing and publishing stories. Meet Margot:

Q. What inspired you to write your first book?

A. The proverbial tough day in the office. I had never before attempted to put words on paper, but I started with Dickens' quote from A tale of Two Cities "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times," It worked for Dickens so why not me. That is exactly what I felt at that point in time. I will say it was memorable, to this day I still think about it. By the time I finished A Hotel in Paris, my perspective had changed quite a bit and I was told that Dickens could afford to muse but I could not. That was the beginning of learning how to write.

Q. How long did it take you to write it?

A. It took me about four years from start to finish and one more year to sell it. I re-wrote it completely, had to learn what point of view (POV) and head hopping (HH) really meant, that is a tough concept to learn and apply. I can't tell you how many times I edited it, it is a continous process. Even now it is ready to go to the Sr. Editor at Echelon and I am re-reading it one last time before I send it off.

Q. Have you written any other books, and is there any common theme, thread, or concept behind your books?

A. A Hotel in Paris is my first book, my second A Hotel in Bath is a work in progress. I do have a common theme, it is art and travel. I love both, so it was easy.

Q. How did you accomplish the writing of the books? Did they just flow out of you without any effort, or did you have to work at it, or something else.

A. It didn't flow, it was hard work. The musing went incredibly well, dialog was difficult, show don't tell was even worse. I've been very lucky in the people I have met through Sisters in Crime and Romance Writers of America. I will say that writers are very generous with their time and advice. The Chicago North RWA chapter, is primarily a critique group,and it is a wonderful way to learn your craft and the encouragement received is unbelievable.

Q. What kind of obstacles have you encountered in writing and publishing your book(s)?

A. I really never, ever expected to get published, so I didn't really see any obstacles. It was therapy, it helped me unwind. But as I went further into the process, and everyone kept telling me I had something there, I decided to learn as much as I could and make the story as good as I could. By the time I started to send out query letters, every time I got a rejection I felt validated.

Q. What one or two key pieces of advice do you have for people who want to write?

A. Don't give up and learn as much as you can about the craft. Join organizations, writers are awesome. I honestly have yet to meet a writer that has not taken time out to help a fellow writer.

Q. Tell us a little more about your books - genres, titles, storylines, interesting tidbits.

A. I have only the one, A Hotel in Paris, and of course I had to go back to Paris to do some research. What a job. My heroine is a painter, living in Paris where she meets murder, mayhem and a certain Inspector from Interpol.

Q. Can you share with us what you are working on now, and when will it be published?

A. I am working on A Hotel in Bath. I went on a tour a few years ago and fell in love with that city. The history is simply amazing. I went back last November and can't wait to go again.

Q. Where can we learn more about you and buy your books?

A. I have a website http://www.mjustes.com/ and A Hotel in Paris is coming in June 2008, Echelon Press LLC is the publisher.

Overcoming Writers Block - Author Interview - Week 5

This week I interview Mary Cunningham, author of the successful Cynthia's Attic series. 

KK. What inspired you to write your first book?

MC: I'd just finished telling my best friend, Diana, about the recurring dream I'd had for almost 20 years, when I had a "light-bulb" moment. It occurred to me that the dream took place in the attic of my childhood friend, Cynthia. "Hmmm..." Diana remarked, "Cynthia's Attic. What a great title for a book!" The dreams stopped and the writing began.

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KK: How long did it take you to write it?

MC: It took about 3 years to complete the first two books in the series, The Missing Locket and The Magic Medallion.

KK: How did you accomplish the writing of the books?  Did they just flow out of you without any effort, or did you have to work at it, or something else?

MC: The first two books came easily, especially the first one. I laugh thinking about my fingers flying on the keyboard and my husband standing over my shoulder reading as I typed! Curse of the Bayou, Book Three, has been a struggle. I've known the plot for some time (about 3 years!), and the first half the book came quickly, but I've changed directions several times with the 2nd half. I'm very pleased with the finished version, though.

KK: What kind of obstacles have you encountered in writing and publishing your book(s)?

MC: By far, the biggest obstacle is marketing. It's frustrating to see the big box stories dictating, more and more, what is being written and accepted. I've also been frustrated by the lack of reviews by major reviewers, such as, Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, Kirkus. But, I keep plugging away, one library at a time. It's exciting to get national exposure, such as, The Magic Medallion being a finalist in the USABookNews Children's Book of the Year.

KK: What one or two key pieces of advice do you have for people who want to write?

MC: I keep going back to some great advice I got early-on. "Write what you know." It's so much easier to write about familiar topics. 

Since the original setting for the books is in my hometown, ..:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Corydon, Indiana, and takes in many childhood memories, much of the research was already in my head. All three books in the series are loosely based on stories I remembered hearing about my parents and grandparents, and great-grandparents. In fact, many of the characters in my book are based on Cynthia's and/or my family members.

For instance, Book Three, Cynthia's Attic: Curse of the Bayou, is about the disappearance of my great-great-grandfather, who vanished while taking a flatboat full of produce down the Mississippi River to New Orleans. In the book, Cynthia and Gus travel back in time in order to find him, encounter ghost pirates, shape-shifters, and even some old friends.

My second piece of advice is much less glamorous: Edit, edit, edit!!

KK: Tell us a little more about your books - genres, titles, storylines, interesting tidbits:

MC: Disappearing stairs and a spooky attic filled with dusty antiques-what more could two adventurous young girls ask for?  Best friends, Cynthia and 'Gus' are as  "different as bubble gum and broccoli." They discover a mystical trunk in Cynthia's attic, and are swept through the trunk back to 1914, into the lives of their twelve-year-old grandmothers.

The books are targeted toward young readers, but readers of all generations have come to know and love Cynthia and Gus and their adventures. Cynthia's Attic: The Missing Locket, is book one. Book two in the series is Cynthia's Attic: The Magic Medallion. Curse of the Bayou, Book Three, is scheduled for release by Quake, NOV 2007. Although I love all three stories, I believe this is my favorite. I think that's why it was such a struggle to finish. Maybe I didn't want to "let go!" (lol)

KK: Can you share with us what you are working on now, and when will it be published?

MC: I've been asked by my publisher to write Book Four! I'm working on the storyline, but it's too early in the process to reveal much. I don't even have a working title yet! I'm also working on an adult time-travel. It's less fantasy, though, and more real-live experience. Yikes! I'd better end this interview and get busy writing!

KK: Where can we learn more about you and buy your books?

MC: Cynthia's Attic series is available on Amazon, Fictionwise, all major online bookstores, and through my publisher, Quake.

Please check out my website: http://www.marycunninghambooks.com/, and also my blog http://www.cynthiasattic.blogspot.com/

Thanks, Kerul! It's been fun!

The adventure continues in Cynthia's Attic! Curse of the Bayou - Dec. 2007 Have you checked out Fictionwise?   Mary Cunningham Books