Describe your working environment.
For years it was my kitchen table. The last year has been the Starbucks at Barnes & Noble. But since the beginning of June, this new coffee house, Café Amenity, opened up right by my apartment. I write there now. All the time. I use an iPod with earphones, volume up, and plug away for hours, several days a week.
Do you write non-stop until you have a first draft, or do you edit as you move along?
I believe in getting it all down on paper first. This could be because I hate the edit and re-write process with such passion that procrastination drives me, lol. Seriously, getting the story down is important for several reasons. First, it is too easy to lose momentum if you stop to edit. Second, it is too easy to delay the completion of the manuscript. And third, the sense of accomplishment that comes from finishing a manuscript give me the stamina to roll up my sleeves and edit. I have a great friend who has been writing his novel for 9 years. That’s too long. It’s the best half of a book I’ve ever read. Every word. Every period. Every character. All perfect. But the work’s not done yet. The time he dedicates to the editing and re-writing take away from the time he could be spending on simply finishing the story.
They say authors have immensely fragile egos… How would you handle negative criticism or a negative review?
I’ve never heard that. Not as a stereotype. I believe I — can’t speak for all — worry more about what people will think of my story, and not so much about actual negative criticism. Naturally, I want people to like what I’ve written. Over the years, one thing I have developed is a thick skin. I have enough rejections to wallpaper a home ten times. Never would have kept keeping on if I didn’t have a thick skin, or if I’d had a fragile ego. I don’t mind if someone doesn’t like what I’ve written, but I want to know why. Can’t improve my writing if someone just tells me the book stunk.
As a writer, what scares you the most?
Book signings where no one shows and I sit alone at a table for two hours trying to make my pen the most interesting object in the world…
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