It's Alive! (a.k.a. The Liebster Award 10 Question Blog Hop)

No, I am not dead.  Yes, I have been absent for a very, very, very epically long time.  There are excuses, and crazy stories, something about saving the world, and maybe a fairy-tale wedding, but the fact is, life happened.

That said, thanks to Beth Salmon, a new writing friend I met at the Florida Writer's Association conference in October, for enticing me to reanimate this blog (is it now a zombie blog??).   She has tagged me to answer 10 questions in a blog hop.  I’m not entirely sure what a blog hop is, but because it sounds like a bar hop (and those are fun), I decided to give it a try.  So, without further ado, here are my answers to her questions:

1)  What genre(s) do you write, and why?

Right now I am writing YA historical fiction that strays into the land of historical fantasy.  Why?  Because I love historicals.  I love the romance and grittiness of the past, the ultimate escape from the hectic modern world.  I haven’t always written historicals, but that’s another story…

2)  Do you mostly read within your own genre, or do you read others as well?

I read pretty much anything.  I love historicals (both YA and adult), so they make up the bulk of what I read these days, but I read a lot of other genres, too.  My only criteria for loving a book is that it has characters that stick with me and a story that makes me think.   And I am always on the hunt for a compelling story, no matter what its genre.

3)  What have you learned as a writer that you wish you knew when you first started?

My mother is an author, so I thought I knew everything when I started as a teen (don’t we all!), but I have learned that although I knew the journey would be hard, I didn’t know how hard or how disappointing or heartbreaking it could be.  That said, I wish I had known then to relax and be patient.  And enjoy the journey and each book as it comes.  Not all books are going to be awesome and that’s okay.  Learn what you can and move on.

4)  What author or book speaks to you the most and why?

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo.  I have long been a Hugo fan, but this particular novel touched me so deeply the first time I read it.   There was something about Jean Valjean’s loneliness and his emotional separation from society that spoke to me.  I own three copies, in fact (two in English, one in French).  For the same reasons (themes of loneliness), Smilla’s Sense of Snow by Peter Hoeg is a very close second.  These are two books I come back to time after time because I can relate to the emotional plight of these characters.

5)  Do you have word/page count goals?

I try to write at least 500 words per day during the week and more on the weekends.  Sometimes this is not a very realistic goal given that I work full time, have a crazy commute, and a family.

6)  Where do you do most of your writing?

I write everywhere.  I write while driving (not literally, usually); I hide in my car at lunch and write; I write in the evening after everyone is in bed; and I get up crazy early and write before going to work.  I write in notebooks, on scraps of paper, on the voice recorder on my phone, and on my computer.  That said, I have a favorite armchair in my office at home that seems to be the place where everything writing comes together.

7)  If you could disappear somewhere for a few weeks to completely immerse yourself in writing, where would you choose?

I am a hermit by nature, so that favorite armchair in my office at home.  And of course, all this would happen in a magical world where there is no cooking, no cleaning, no work, no internet, and possibly no sleep…

8)  Pick one of your main characters.  If his/her house were on fire, what would he/she choose to save and why?

I will choose the main character from my last novel, a sci fi flop that I still enjoyed writing.  If Mara could save anything, it would be her sister.  She cannot imagine life without her.  If her sister were safe, she’d save her pet rat!

9)  What’s your bad writing habit?

I have several.  I love –ly adverbs, so those get culled in the first round of revision.  I also love the words “just” and “only.”   I have a penchant for long sentences.  I’m also not very stellar with the world building the first time (or two) around.  But that’s what revision is for!

 10) What is your writing goal for 2015?

I would like to finish and polish my current WIP.

Now, I would like to tag long-time critique partner Linda Sandifer to answer these 10 questions:

1) What genre do you write and why?

2) What is the best book you’ve read in the last year and why did you enjoy it?

3) What is the most valuable thing you’ve learned as a writer?

4) Who is your favorite author and why?

5) Where and when do you prefer to write?

6) What’s your bad writing habit?

7) Christmas is coming up.  What is the one thing your main character would ask for?

8) Is there any genre or book that you would love to write but are too intimated to?

9) How did you get started writing?

10) Are you able to write during the holiday season?

Happy Holidays, everyone!