This is an interview I did with Samantha March from the Chick List Plus blog and CLP blog tours. I liked her questions so much, I wanted to include it here too.
When did you know writing was for you?
I’ve been a writer for most of my professional life, so there really hasn’t been a time that I haven’t been writing. Like the main character in my novel Chez Stinky, I was a technical writer and I worked at magazines. Then I did editorial work, freelance writing, marketing writing and graphic design for years. I also wrote a couple of nonfiction books for big publishers and then transitioned my business into a publishing company. We published 12 nonfiction books of mine. More recently, in 2013, I decided to try my hand at writing novels after my company published my husband’s first novel. I figured if he could do it, I could do it 😉
Why was Chez Stinky a book you wanted to write?
You’ve probably heard the often cited writing advice that you should “write the book you want to read.” I like light romance, humor, and books that have funny animal stories. Chez Stinky has all of those.
What is the hardest part of the writing process for you?
I’m a die-hard plotter, so mapping out the story can be a challenge. There’s a point where I look at the beginnings of the outline and it feels like every idea I have is just stupid. Usually that means I haven’t developed the characters enough yet. Eventually I get over myself, discover what my characters are like, and the plot starts to reveal itself.
What are your favorite genres to read?
I enjoy well-written romance and have read a whole lot of mainstream romance novels by authors like Nora Roberts and Susan Wiggs. I also love Janet Evanovitch’s books because they are so funny. On a vacation with my family, I remember sitting in the living room reading with my mom, my husband, my sister. We were all reading Janet’s early “numbers” books and one or the other of us would burst out laughing. Very, very few books have ever made me laugh out loud. But the scenes with Stephanie Plum and Bob the gastrointestinally challenged dog absolutely crack me up.
What do you want readers to take away from your story?
That sometimes what seem like awful changes in your life can end up turning into something great.
How important do you think social media is for authors these days?
I think social media is less important than writing. If you “don’t have time” to write your book because you’re spending too much time on Twitter, you’ll never finish or publish anything. I see this type of thing happen a lot, unfortunately. Many writers spend a lot of time talking about writing, instead of actually writing.
What would be your advice to aspiring writers?
It sounds completely obvious, but if you want to be a professional writer, you need to actually write something. Sometimes that means you have to write when you don’t feel like it. Writing is work and sometimes it’s no fun at all. But if you wait until the mythical “muse” strikes you to write something, it’s unlikely you’ll end up with many words on the page. Keep track of your word counts and pay attention to the times you write the best. Maybe it’s in the morning. Maybe it’s at night. But you won’t know if you never just sit down and write something first.