Writing takes a lot
of solitary time. It is a one woman/man endeavor. I suppose if you received monetary
rewards per word divided by the time spent writing those words you would get
about $.00005. So writing has to be about something else. For me it just has to
come out. I’ve loved writing since I was a child. A new spotless notebook was
like emotional ambrosia to me. Something just had to be written there and I, of
course, was elected to do it.
Loving to write fiction has both its joys and its frustrations.
I never tried any drugs in my former
years, there was never a need. My drug of choice was to leave this world
through writing. If you have never left this world that way you should try it
some time.
You can go anywhere; become anything/anyone you want. There are
no limitations. The only thing limiting you is your imagination. I have found writing to be also very therapeutic.
Strange as it sounds, journaling has never been one of my fortes. You would
think it would be. Fiction on the other hand afforded me innumerable
opportunities for mental travel.
Writing becomes addictive. When I start a new book (at the
present I have 16 in files) I become attached to the characters. My very first book
was January Sky. I slept, ate, and
breathed those characters. I stayed up late and got up early just to get back
to them. When I finished the book I felt
lost for days. I had spent so much time in the world I created for them that I
felt I had lost friends when it was finished.
Unread fictional characters hiding in closets, dresser
drawers, cabinets and attics are like the falsely accused screaming to be
freed! The publishing industry has
banished many a good character to those lonely places. When self-publishing became an option I think
the doors of many a tortured fictional character slowly opened.
Today a much appreciated door opened for me through what I call
“site sharing”. Linking is the appropriate
term, but ‘sharing’ seems to express more thankfulness for me. This is an interview done for me and posted
with another self-publishing author.
My
cousin Susan Todd is also a writer. She has both fiction and non-fiction
published, and recently started a blog titled, No Rhyme or Reason.
She and I have discussed writing for many years, and have read each other's
writing. She recently served as a beta reader for me on my second novel,
providing me with excellent character feedback in addition to proofreading. Among
Sue's books is one titled Five Smooth Stones. It sounds like it would be
a non-fiction work about a biblical theme, but let Sue tell you about it.
ST: It’s about five women who start out thinking that they are each unique in
their own way, and they are. But they soon learn through an unexpected
prolonged stay at a Bed and Breakfast just how much they have in common and the
commonalities bond them together.
AATTA: How did you choose the characters?
ST: The characters really chose themselves out of a rich abundance of human nature. Just looking around us at the variety of people we meet, friends and often times family, we probable know someone like these ladies.
AATTA: What was your intention is writing this book?
ST: It was an interesting challenge personally to interact with characters that I had to create with personalities that differed from my own. I started out, as I hope the reader will, having likes and dislikes in the beginning. After all, not everyone is our cup of tea. But the more I got into each quirk the more I began to shelve some of my own judgments. As I wrote I began to see a link between their differences. I began to write from the perspective that possible what one saw in the other, that they didn’t like, was either a similarity or something they lacked. Then I began to wish these charming characters could see what I was seeing. And so they did.
AATTA: What do you want the reader to take away from Five Smooth Stones?
ST: I hope that if they see themselves or someone they know acting like these five, and that they will take another look. . Because in the end we are not really all that different in the area of basic needs. There is something to be said about reconciliation. Everyone has some redeeming quality. I once worked with a very contrary lady that I thought that God had not given one good quality. Even though I could not find one on a personal note about her, I came to appreciate the fact that she knitted beautifully!
You can find Five Smooth Stones at CreateSpace, an Amazon company, and on Amazon as well.
Her other published books are:
God said, "Tell Them I Am"
Eternity's Portal
Whales in the Pond
AATTA: How did you choose the characters?
ST: The characters really chose themselves out of a rich abundance of human nature. Just looking around us at the variety of people we meet, friends and often times family, we probable know someone like these ladies.
AATTA: What was your intention is writing this book?
ST: It was an interesting challenge personally to interact with characters that I had to create with personalities that differed from my own. I started out, as I hope the reader will, having likes and dislikes in the beginning. After all, not everyone is our cup of tea. But the more I got into each quirk the more I began to shelve some of my own judgments. As I wrote I began to see a link between their differences. I began to write from the perspective that possible what one saw in the other, that they didn’t like, was either a similarity or something they lacked. Then I began to wish these charming characters could see what I was seeing. And so they did.
AATTA: What do you want the reader to take away from Five Smooth Stones?
ST: I hope that if they see themselves or someone they know acting like these five, and that they will take another look. . Because in the end we are not really all that different in the area of basic needs. There is something to be said about reconciliation. Everyone has some redeeming quality. I once worked with a very contrary lady that I thought that God had not given one good quality. Even though I could not find one on a personal note about her, I came to appreciate the fact that she knitted beautifully!
You can find Five Smooth Stones at CreateSpace, an Amazon company, and on Amazon as well.
Her other published books are:
God said, "Tell Them I Am"
Eternity's Portal
Whales in the Pond
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