An Author Weighs In
...about my writing...
1. One of my vivid writing memories is seeing a comic book about vampires at the newstand -- the cover art was ladies in their torn underwear struggling to get away from a vampire - and going home and writing and illustrating a story about it. I must have been...um...five? six? The next stories I recall writing were based upon Homecoming by Ray Bradbury and Star Wars. :)
2. I am a fast writer, when possible. I can, on a good day, write 5500 words. I could do that most days, if I had the time to devote to it. Mostly I write 3250 words a day but not every day.
3. I write best while listening to music. My favorite place to write is at Mary Catherine's coffee shop in Annville, PA, with a cup of coffee and my iPod. I use my Alphasmart, called Alfie.
4. I have written short fiction, novella length fiction, novel length fiction, newspaper articles, press releases, newsletters and screenplays. I've sold short, novella and novel length fiction and newspaper articles.
5. I've written: mystery, horror, science-fiction, contemporarary romance, historical romance, futuristic romance, fantasy romance, fantasy, erotic romance (in many sub-genres). My favorite is SF with fantasy a close second. Oh, I've written paranormal, too.
6. I write on an iMac when not using my Alfie. I love it. I LOVE IT.
7. I have my own writing office, which is gorgeous, and you'd think it would be a great space. It is. It's so great everyone loves to come in and hang out and throw their crap all over the place. Nice.
8. I don't write every day, but every day I think about writing.
9. I love the editing process.
10. I decided to become a writer when I was 12. I credit Stephen King's The Stand for making me certain that's what I wanted to do with my life. I wrote SK several letters over the years, the first at age 12. He sent me a printed postcard. I wrote a letter to Clive Barker and Jean Auel over the years and they both sent me personalized, signed letters.
11. I don't know a damn thing about writing. Don't ask me to point out my Black Moment, or my character motivation; don't ask me to tell you what GMC is or whether my books have it. I don't know. I can spell and know where to put the periods. Otherwise, I just tell the story the best I can.
12. I outline very, very lightly.
13. I wrote my first "book" at age 17 -- it was about 80 double spaced pages long. It later became An Exaltation of Larks. I finished my first 100+ page novel at age 27, ten years later. It was about 400 pages long and called...An Exaltation of Larks. It was also the first book I published.
14. I firmly believe the world needs a glamorous author, and I'll do my best to fill that need.
15. I have written a story so offbeat it will never see publication unless I become famous -- like Stephen King's famous desert island story that nobody would buy until he became a superstar. I have an idea for a story so gross, so outrageous, so...over the line...that I haven't even written it because I know it will never see publication. But if I hit fame? Oh. It's so there. :) I mourn the loss of shows like Tales from the Darkside, because it would totally be great as a script, too. Heeeee!
M
1. One of my vivid writing memories is seeing a comic book about vampires at the newstand -- the cover art was ladies in their torn underwear struggling to get away from a vampire - and going home and writing and illustrating a story about it. I must have been...um...five? six? The next stories I recall writing were based upon Homecoming by Ray Bradbury and Star Wars. :)
2. I am a fast writer, when possible. I can, on a good day, write 5500 words. I could do that most days, if I had the time to devote to it. Mostly I write 3250 words a day but not every day.
3. I write best while listening to music. My favorite place to write is at Mary Catherine's coffee shop in Annville, PA, with a cup of coffee and my iPod. I use my Alphasmart, called Alfie.
4. I have written short fiction, novella length fiction, novel length fiction, newspaper articles, press releases, newsletters and screenplays. I've sold short, novella and novel length fiction and newspaper articles.
5. I've written: mystery, horror, science-fiction, contemporarary romance, historical romance, futuristic romance, fantasy romance, fantasy, erotic romance (in many sub-genres). My favorite is SF with fantasy a close second. Oh, I've written paranormal, too.
6. I write on an iMac when not using my Alfie. I love it. I LOVE IT.
7. I have my own writing office, which is gorgeous, and you'd think it would be a great space. It is. It's so great everyone loves to come in and hang out and throw their crap all over the place. Nice.
8. I don't write every day, but every day I think about writing.
9. I love the editing process.
10. I decided to become a writer when I was 12. I credit Stephen King's The Stand for making me certain that's what I wanted to do with my life. I wrote SK several letters over the years, the first at age 12. He sent me a printed postcard. I wrote a letter to Clive Barker and Jean Auel over the years and they both sent me personalized, signed letters.
11. I don't know a damn thing about writing. Don't ask me to point out my Black Moment, or my character motivation; don't ask me to tell you what GMC is or whether my books have it. I don't know. I can spell and know where to put the periods. Otherwise, I just tell the story the best I can.
12. I outline very, very lightly.
13. I wrote my first "book" at age 17 -- it was about 80 double spaced pages long. It later became An Exaltation of Larks. I finished my first 100+ page novel at age 27, ten years later. It was about 400 pages long and called...An Exaltation of Larks. It was also the first book I published.
14. I firmly believe the world needs a glamorous author, and I'll do my best to fill that need.
15. I have written a story so offbeat it will never see publication unless I become famous -- like Stephen King's famous desert island story that nobody would buy until he became a superstar. I have an idea for a story so gross, so outrageous, so...over the line...that I haven't even written it because I know it will never see publication. But if I hit fame? Oh. It's so there. :) I mourn the loss of shows like Tales from the Darkside, because it would totally be great as a script, too. Heeeee!
M
posted by AuthorM at 1:30 PM
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