Hello everyone and welcome to The Reading Café's latest Awards show!
This is an awards contest to showcase writing talent of many genres. Here you will find amazing new stories and meet other authors with the same interests. Come on in!
2. When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?
I grew up in theatre. It taught me how to read people when they wouldn't or couldn't express themselves, and it taught me how to sympathize with them when they did. I've spent a lot of time playing characters, analyzing them, and understanding what it is that makes them all so unique. When I realized that I could portray all of that, and use it to help me in writing, I knew that I stumbled across something I just had to be a part of. Then I concluded that I could help others through stories. Since that moment, I've spent hours (I mean hours) honing-in on the craft, obsessing over it even.
3. Where do you get your information or ideas for your book?
I really hope nobody I know stumbles across 'Lydia' ... because they're most likely the inspiration for my nastiest characters! I actually live in the town where 'Lydia' takes place, and all the characteristics are ones inspired by the people I'm surrounded by. I'd say that eighty-five percent of the women in my book are just like people I've encountered. Outside of 'Lydia,' however, I usually find inspiration through things I see when I'm driving: advertisements, buildings, people. I don't know why, but I'm always coming-up with new, interesting tales to tell when I'm on the road.
4. What was one of the most surprising things you learned whilst writing your book?
The most surprising thing I encountered while going through this latest writing endeavor, was how much of my inner monologue I was sharing for the rest of the world to read. I learned a lot about myself and about the south throughout the entire novel. I didn't realize how much I loved a place I've grown up despising.
5. Do you have any suggestions to help others become better writers? If so, what are they?
This is kind of an 'easier-said-than-done' statement. But, don't be scared to put your heart on the line. Write what you feel, not what you're told to feel. Be beautifully, and inexplicably you when you're writing. Don't follow the trends that other authors are paving the road for, because there's no better story than the one that hasn't been told yet.
6. Do you hear from any of your readers much? What kinds of things do they say?
My readers are such amazing people! They constantly contact me, and we hold such wonderful, in-depth conversations. I haven't talked to a reader that I don't like, because they all have such a strong appreciation for the art of writing. Their devotion to 'Lydia' is so overwhelming and unexpected. I get asked a lot about a second book and my publishing desires, as well as my everyday life. I wish we could all sit in room together and have a writing session!
7. What do you think makes a good story?
I think honesty is what makes a good story. If you have honesty, you have trust, love, power, wonderment, and so many other lovely nouns.
8. Do you have any writing goals, and if so, what are they?
Actually, I just recently decided that I might want to be a journalist. Of course, I would absolutely love to publish every book that I write, and for them to make it big ... but let's not get my hopes up!
9. What helps or motivates you to write?
Stress motivates me to write. Most of the time, when I'm overflowing with unwelcome emotion, I start to write. I've written my best scenes when I'm not feeling my greatest.
10. What is your writing schedule like?
My writing schedule is sporadic and insane! I write for a minimum of three hours a day and the remaining hours are spent thinking about what I didn't write! Honestly, I don't feel like I can rest until I've done my writing for the day.
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