Interview with Victoria Simcox

Interview with Victoria Simcox

Have you ever gotten an idea for a book or part of one of your novels from something or somewhere unexpected?

I would have to say that most of my ideas are unexpected. I rarely plan too far in advance what I'm going to write. My ideas come to me as I write.

Did you always know you would write a novel? Why did you finally decide to write one and when?

Though I've always been creative, mostly in painting watercolors, I didn't think I would be a writer. It was actually a vision I had while sitting in a movie theater watching a flick the inspired me to start. I only saw the first scene of my story, probably half a page of writing.  Then when I started writing the story, it just started flowing to me.

Is there anything you’d like to go back one year to tell yourself?

I don't think so. Part of life is to learn from my past mistakes, also I challenge myself to walk by faith and trust that what is to come is meant to be. I believe there is purpose to all I go through whether good or bad, and in the long run it will be to my benefit and make me a stronger person.

Who are the writers who've inspired you the most?

 C.S. Lewis, J.K. Rowling, Lemony Snicket. There are more but these are the first that come to mind.

Was there ever a time you felt like giving up? Why didn't you?

Sure. There are times when fear tries to creep into my mind and tell me that all I have written and will write in the future is in vain, but the joy of writing, inner inspiration, and fan letters letting me know that they love my story, out weigh the fear.

Who is one person in the past or present who you felt was truly visionary?

J.K. Rowling: Her mind is labyrinth of creative ideas.

When you were growing up, what did you want to be?

A zoo keeper; I actually took one of those aptitude tests as an adolescent and zoo keeper is what it suggested I become.  I was like "YES!" this is a sign from God, lol. I've always been a big animal lover. But then when I became a teenager, my passionate love for animals some how mellowed and like most teenybopper girls of the 80s, boys became the main focus.

Check out Victoria's personal Blog @ www.victoriasimcox.blogspot.com

Interview with AG Bellamy

 

Hey all you readers and writers! Emma Michaels here to introduce our guest author of the day:

AG Bellamy

Hello AG and welcome to The Writers Voice!

Is there anything you’d like to go back one year and tell yourself?

“Don’t write in first person present- you haven’t got enough experience to write like that. Besides, it’s not right for the story you’re trying to tell. Save yourself some embarrassment and have the courage to ask people for their absolute honest opinion.”

Who are the writers who've inspired you the most?

JK Rowling. I grew up with Harry Potter and come from a similar background to JKR. She made wizards cool again and she’s part of the reason I use magic in The Nightmare Man. He’s not technically a writer, but I have to give some credit to my childhood imaginary friend Richard. When I was little, my father wasn’t around so my mind created a father figure for me until I was thirteen when I started to pen the stories that would eventually become The Nightmare Man; he used to tell me stories about his family, his friends and the job he had. There’s a small part of me now which is happy that his stories are out there to be read.

Was there ever a time you felt like giving up? Why didn't you?

A lot of stuff happened during college, mainly the fact that I was stupid enough to enter into scamming publishers but smart enough to get out just before anything more happened. I was also being bullied a lot. This may sound like it should have put a stop to my writing, but I needed an outlet for my depression and anxiety which almost drove me to suicide. I started thinking about Richard and the stories he used to tell me.

Who is one person in the past or present who you felt was truly visionary?

There are so many… Can I pick twenty? Since I can only pick one I guess it’d be Seth MacFarlane; I love Family Guy and American Dad and a lot of the satire in my book came about because (although he did rip off The Simpsons in many ways) I admired the jokes he writes. He’s also a trained musician, singer and gets his friends and family involved with his work. I’d like it to be this way in the event that my book becomes a film; my friends getting involved with the filming and my family being there to see it filmed and probably having cameos.

J.K. Rowling and other authors are known for the ‘Easter eggs’ they hide in their books. Do you have any Easter eggs in your stories?

Yes. I’m quite political although I don’t support a political party; there’s a scene I wrote around the time the ConDem Coalition was announced, and the way David Cameron manipulated and continues to manipulate Nick Clegg astounds me! When you get to the scene, you’ll understand what I want to do to Cameron. There is another little Easter egg, but before I tell you here’s a little back-story: in college, I had a horrible time in class because it was my classmates were the same people over and over again for every lesson. As a result, I started hating them and they started hating me, which meant that none of us were friends. Due to this, I befriended some of my teachers. Two of them I can’t technically call ‘friend’ because with one I had a semi-awkward relationship and the other was a hippy and therefore was friendly to everyone. I named two characters after them: Anna Jackson and Demitri Henshaw. Of course, I made the names slightly different to their namesakes. I’m also making one character’s personality similar to that of my Theory of Knowledge teacher – Mr. B – who was probably the best teacher-friend a girl could ask for! I absolutely loved him and would occasionally leave strawberries for him (as a sign of friendship and nothing more). He was the sweetest guy on the planet and the character I have is going to have a carbon copy of his personality. Mr. B is also the reason why there are so many references to strawberries in The Nightmare Man *nervous chuckle*

When you were growing up, what did you want to be?

I thought I was going to be everything *laugh* I was really good at art and drama when I was in primary school, but halfway through the teachers- in addition to the students- started to bully me and I lost enthusiasm for drawing and acting. In secondary school I got into science and started hating most of the arts (the art teacher was a bitch, dance teacher bullied me, music teacher told me my fingers were too short for me to ever be a successful musician and drama teacher was racist to the white students). At that point, around 13, I started writing and intended to be a nuclear physicist/science-fiction author. But then I entered college on the IB Diploma and one of those dreams went down the drain, and I found myself getting back into art, theatre, music… and regretting the time I wasted poring over science books when I should have been practicing the guitar and piano, reciting Ibsen and tapping along to the soundtracks of Fame and The Phantom of the Opera and proving those teachers wrong! I guess it wasn’t too bad though, because I’ve come up with a scientific basis for several of my creatures.

To all our readers out there, thank you for following The Writers Voice and happy reading!

Interview with Constance Sharper

 

Hey all you readers and writers! Emma Michaels here to introduce our guest author of the day:

Constance Sharper

Hello Constance and welcome to The Writers Voice!

What part of your first novel did you find hardest to write?

Everything. Absolutely everything seemed impossible to pound out the correct way. It’s odd that I’ve read hundreds of novels but creating a coherent world with believable characters and events is very difficult. My first novel, which I didn’t publish, is a testament to how far I’ve come over the years and how everyone struggles the first time. In my more recent novels, I find the ending the most difficult part to write. Tying up loose ends is a mental game and trust me, I’m not the puzzle type.

What scares you most?

Well, learning to swim has been on to-do list for a long time so I am probably still afraid of drowning. Mostly though, it’s the lack of control that is scary. That’s why the publishing industry also manages to scare the hell out of me. You have very little control after you put your book out there. Luckily, it has worked out for me so far as well as handling the fear of lack of control. And I will learn how to swim one of these days...

Do you start writing when you have a plot mapped out or start plotting when you have started writing based off a spark of inspiration?

Plotted out. While I jot down scenes and pages based off of inspiration, I’ve never managed to use these in a logical plotline. The idea for Airborne came from a spark of inspiration but the novel itself was structured carefully. Also, plotting out an entire novel makes me more obligated to finish it. It helps prevent me running against a wall or needing to be crazy creative all the time. With the outline it’s simply time to sit down and work. Kind of like coloring between the lines.

Was there ever a moment when you wouldn’t trade what you do as an author for the world? What was that moment for you?

I actually feel like I’m having that moment in my life right now. I recently decided to go back to school full time and work part time (at a non-writing related job). I found out in the past few weeks that it was nearly impossible to keep my schedule and fitting time in to write. Doing so would downright kill me. But then I can’t not write. It’s an obsession. So at this moment I’ve been pulling ridiculous hours to still do what I love. The three a.m. coffee runs and occasional breakdowns are totally worth it.

Aspiring writers often hear, "Read what you want to write," "Hone your writing craft." and, above all else, "Be patient." What other advice would you give them?

Honestly, stop listening to other people’s advice! Don’t take this as me saying the advice you’re given is no good. This is far from the truth because all the quotes above are very true. But it seems like the newbie writing world is filled with nothing but advice, so much so that new writers don’t think for themselves and are filled with loads of self doubt. I tried to follow every rule I was given and was unsuccessful. Then I made my own rules and did it completely differently (I am an Indie author btw) and this worked for me. The main point is: don’t let other voices drown out your own. Jump in and learn how to sink and swim on your own. That way you’ll learn more than what the advice could teach you.

Is there rhyme and reason to how you choose character traits?

For my harpie characters--absolutely. Their race absolutely must predispose them to traits of pride and bad temperament. Cue Mason, the cocky bad boy harpie. But since not every harpie is the same, they still develop their own personalities. I don’t micromanage my characters. They just manage to grow on their own I think. I don’t like perfect characters. My favorites are the flawed ones.

To all our readers out there, thank you for following The Writers Voice and happy reading!

The Heart of an Indie Author

The Heart of an Indie Author

As some of you know my name is Quinn Loftis and  I am the author of The Grey Wolves Series. I published my first book in June of 2011 and since have published 2 others. The fourth in the series will be coming out in 10 days. I am still very new to the world of Indie Authors but I have come to realize already what an amazing community it is. I have "met" so many awesome authors and heard their stories on how they came to be authors. We have shared frustrations, triumphs, fears, failures, joys, success, and our stories with one another. I have learned more about writing through these other authors than I ever did in a class room or book and I have been blessed to get to see them each be successful in their work. 

One of the things that I don't think readers understand (and I don't say this to be disrespectful) is the hard work that and Indie Author puts into one book. The hours of writing, the proofing, the cover, the publicizing, altering the website when necessary, blogging, responding to email, face book and twitter- all for the love of putting out a book that will bring a reader joy, sorrow, anger, passion, redemption, jealousy, fear, love. I can attest that there is nothing greater than finishing a book after all of the work, putting it out there and then getting positive reviews. When that happens all the hard work is more than worth it. The most amazing thing about Indie Authors is they don't resent the work, they don't hate doing all their own leg work and footing out all the money for give away's and swag and book tours. They do it because the genuinely love the art of writing.They do it because to them, to us, their is nothing more satisfying than writing a book and knowing you have invoked emotions for a reader, that you have created a world that they want to escape to and hate having to leave even if only long enough to put the clothes in the dryer.

The world of an Indie Author is exhausting no doubt. It is at times very painful when you read a harsh review. It is rewarding, but sometimes that reward is bitter sweet. Above all the world of and Indie Author is a dream come true. Thanks to the awesome invention of the internet, and then the electronic readers it is now possible for people to make their dream of being published a reality. I will not say that what I do now as an Indie Author is harder than being a nurse. But just as being a nurse had it's difficult points so does writing.
 I am so thankful to be able to share with other writers what it's like to do this day in and day out. I have a new respect when I read a book especially by and Independent Author for how much work goes into a novel and when I read a review that attacks the author I try to remember that if you have never written a book then you can't possibly understand the vulnerability and humility it takes to do so and to put it out there for the world to see. I believe Indie Authors are the future in literature. There is so much raw talent out there that gets over looked by agents and publishers who are in a hurry to find the next best seller. When you download an Indie Authors book, I hope that you will think back on these words and smile knowing that the persons heart was poured into the pages and it was done knowing they wouldn't become rich from it, they probably wouldn't become a New Your Times bestseller, they might not even sell more than a few dozen copies, but to have one person read their book. To have one person be affected by their words is enough. That is the heart of the Indie Author.

Thank you so much for your time, 

Quinn Loftis

Exciting News!

I have some exciting news. If you missed it, I've been working on a WIP titled STEEL LILY. I actually posted a short teaser from it in this post on my personal blog, so if you're curious, go check it out! :) Well, I'm excited to say that Steel Lily landed me an agent!!! ::does a happy dance::

I am officially represented by Lauren Hammond of ADA Management! ::throws confetti::

When I tweeted about it, I had a friend ask if I would blog about it. While I hadn't planned on it, it seemed like a good idea, so here we are. :)

When I started querying, I had a friend of mine go over my query with me. She helped me make it shine. When we were finished, I thought we had put together a pretty darn good query...definitely the best one I've submitted with. So, with much trepidation, I hit the "send" button to agents. But this time, unlike the others, I only queried agents I *knew* were people I liked. People I knew would be great to work with, had qualities I wanted, and that were well versed in the literary world.

I thought it'd take a while to get bites, but thankfully, I was wrong. I queried Lauren on April 12th, and got a request for the full the same day. I was beyond thrilled! I also got other requests (8 total, I believe) for fulls as well, so I was pretty excited!

Then came the first email. The agent was VERY excited about my book, but wanted some revisions. I agreed with them, so I set to doing them. I got a couple declines, and then it came.

"The Call."

I missed it, because my phone was on silent.

OH. MY. GAWD.

I checked my voicemail and there it was, Lauren Hammond telling me she wanted to talk about representing Steel Lily. I squealed. I scared my 9 month old child with my giddiness.

And I called her back. :)

We talked for quite a while, and it was great to chat and hear her vision for Steel Lily, as well as get to know her style as an agent. I got off the phone wanting to tell her yes, but wanting to give the other agents time to read, as well as sleep on the decision. (ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS give the other agents that have your MS time to read. It's just the nice thing to do. If you physically/emotionally/mentally cannot do that, then at least email them and tell them you're pulling it from consideration. Don't waste their time by having them read something they won't even be able to acquire if they do like it.)

We agreed we'd reconvene in two weeks. I notified all the agents that still had my MS. But...I started to really look into Lauren's other clients. Talked to a few of them. They were all super positive about their experiences, and Lauren's deals on Publisher's Marketplace made me confident in her abilities (ALWAYS check your agents on PM. If they're not recording deals, then will they be able to land one for you??). I talked to my husband, my writer friends, heck, even non-writer friends about it. I really liked what I was seeing, but I thought I should wait.

I made it through the weekend.

After an email came from an agent who declined, I breathed a sigh of relief. I had told my husband I was going to feel bad having to tell them no, because I wanted Lauren. He looked at me, with all his sensibility (God love him), and said, "If you know who you want, then why don't you just accept her offer?"

Made sense to me.

So I emailed the remaining agents and let them know that I was going to accept Lauren's offer. I couldn't wait. I knew who I wanted.

I called Lauren, we chatted, and I said "HECK YEAH I WANNA BE ON TEAM HAMMOND!"

Or something of that derivative. :)

So that's my story. I'm thrilled to have Lauren as an agent, and I can't wait to see what she does with Steel Lily. Hopefully in the future I'll be able to tell you that it has a home, and you'll be able to pick it up in a bookstore near you!

As for any writers that may be reading who are still looking for an agent, don't give up. It only takes one yes. :)