Author Spotlight

Questions & Answers

1. How long have you been writing?
   I think I was writing even before I knew what it was or how do to it. When I was little, as early as two, I used to sing people songs, which I believe turned into my writing poetry later. I've also always had a number of worlds inside my mind and a load of imaginary friends. I think my love of writing started when I was about eight. I started keeping a journal and from there I created poetry books.
2. Where do you get your ideas?
   This is an interesting questions. To be honest, I am not entirely sure. I suppose that I get some of them from things that are going on around me or in the world. Others must come from things I read or movies I watch. Like I said, I've always lived in various fantasy worlds. Plus, I love to watch people. It is always interesting to guess what they do, where they came from, or where they are going.
3. How do you develop your plot?
   I often start with an idea and then brainstorm around it. I'll look at possible themes for chapters and try to develop a conflict from there. I don't often write from start to finish. I tend to have a file with various pockets, and I write chapters and ideas as they come to me. In fact, often I have an ending before I have a beginning.
4. Do you have a set timeline/deadline when writing?
   I try to have some sort of target in mind. It doesn't mean that I always meet it. Writing is a process and each piece is different. A lot of it depends on how much research needs to be done. I do tend to procrastinate when it comes to the editing.
5. Are your characters based on people you know?
   I suppose to some degree they are. I mean it would be impossible to not to take traits from people we are constantly surrounded by. That being said, the characters are also completely independent. I am often just as surprised as my readers by some of their actions. I've even found myself yelling at characters for their choices or crying when something bad happens to them.
6. What is your favourite style of writing?
   I wish I knew. Like so many things in my life, I love a wide variety. I tend to enjoy writing tween novels: middle readers and young adult. Although, some of them cross over into teen novels. I would say that most of them tend to have some element of surprise or twist. I generally fall back onto more the true-to-life plot lines. However, I am currently writing a fantasy and a science fiction.
   
   I go through periods where I write a bunch of poems and then for years not a single one.
   
   I love to write picture books. I just wish that I could find someone to illustrate them.
   
   I am also writing an autobiography on living with mental illness. I am having a hard time with it though. How does when end a book, when the main character, in this case me, is still evolving?
   
   Add to that a couple of educational guides, letters to the editor, blogs, and magazine articles.
7. What do you enjoy reading?
   I've never been a big romance or western reader, but otherwise I pretty much like it all. I have a habit of reading a lot teen books, but perhaps that is because I find myself writing for that audience.
   
   I like a book that will make me feel something, no matter what the emotion is. It has to have a strong story line and well developed characters. It is also helpful if I can create the images in my mind or actually find myself becoming one with the book.