Q: Why do you write?
A: Writing reminds me of traveling. It helps me express my thoughts and also helps me explore fundamental aspects of the world, just wrapped up in fantasy most of the time. One of my published stories is about building up the courage to speak with and ask someone out. The novel I am currently writing explores friendship and needing to start over. Another short story in the works explores both love and the darker aspects when love shatters. Writing lets me live more lives than I will ever live and explore more lands than I will ever see. And this is why I write.
Q: Where do you get your inspiration?
A: I'm inspired by other writers but also books and movies that pose questions like "What would the world be like if I was never born?" I enjoy questions that make me envision a new world based on similar pillars but fundamental differences. And maybe that's why I lean towards fantasy. :)
Q: What is your favorite book and why?
A: My favorite book is probably "The Hitman's Guide to Finding Love and Making Friends" by Alice Winters because it's one of the funniest romance and adventure stories I've ever read and I love the audiobook.
Q: After the basics, what is your approach and philosophy towards writing?
A: Write at the pace you need to--fast, slow, in-between--because I've written at all of them. It's the revisions where magic happens but what you write the first time should be something you're happy enough about on its own. So my approach is to write line-by-line and chapter-by-chapter with some sort of critique process in place for each completed chapter. This helps me feel like I'm making progress rather than zipping through, disliking my entire 80k+ word draft, and then being too exhausted to edit such a large piece. So I take it one chapter at a time while plantsing (semi-planning, semi-pantsing) my way through the rest.
Q: What is your stance on pumpkin flavor vs. peppermint flavor?
A: Ah yes, good question. :) Both are delicious but I mostly eat things with pumpkin flavor from October through November while peppermint sits comfortably in December. As for an ice cream flavor, my favorite is teaberry followed by chocolate chip cookie dough, mint chocolate chip, and vanilla.
Q: Which authors inspired your writing voice?
A: Karen Chance, Dean Murray, and Dean Koontz. I love their sense of urgency while still tugging the reader through a captivating story. So I try to do that with my own works as well.
Q: What is your #1 piece of writing advice?
A: I'm going to combine my top two pieces of writing advice: 1) Find a writing community who can help inspire you and nudge you along and 2) Don't push yourself so hard that you burn out (I've burnt out before...it's not fun).
Q: Tell us about your cat! Does he sit with you when you write?
A: His name is Caesar and his birthday is in April. It'd be great if he curled up with me when I write but he likes to bite my computer if he thinks I've been on too long or he'll step on the keyboard. He's a great helper.