Answer Day

You know what’s coming out on May 10th?

The UK release of Magic in the Shadows, Magic on the Storm and Magic Without Mercy! I am so excited for these to be available with their beautiful covers through Berkley UK!  To celebrate, I’ll be doing a giveaway, of course. Stay tuned for that in the next few days!

Back in April, I opened up the blog for questions.  Several people stepped right up and lobbed some my way. (Thank you, readers!)  I thought it was about time I post some answers.

Readsalot81 asks:

1. First off, when things are a little more difficult (ie: sick, family business, bad news.. what have you) how do you motivate yourself to write? Do you stick to a schedule or a current project or do you let yourself do something else?

I think it helps in that this is my job. My full time job. Just like any other job, if I don’t show up and do the work, I’m not going to get paid, and I *like* having money for groceries.

Deadlines help too, and the sheer panic at the thought of missing them. Miss too many deadlines, and pretty soon you have worn out all your good will and possibly strained your working relationship with your editor. When a writer misses a deadline that means the editor has to juggle not only her schedule, but also the schedules of dozens of other authors, the editing team (copy editors, proof readers), art, marketing, sales, and more.

So..it looks like my main motivator is fear of unemployment. 😉

But really it is also this: I love writing. I love it best when the words are flowing and everything feels easy. But even when it is difficult and life is chaos, writing fulfills a need in me like no other thing I have found. For me, the world is made of words, and story is my solace.

And secondly (err ok, thirdly).. since you’re an established author with 2 series under your belt, how do you keep complacency at bay? I’m asking because I like your books and don’t feel like I’m getting the same thing over and over (which is not unheard of with authors).. and since *I’m* not a writer, I’m curious as to the process of how you make things happen.

Oh! Thank you!!  I looove to try new things.  And one of the great things about writing under the science fiction/fantasy umbrella is that I can always ask the “what if” question.  Every new book gets new “what if”s thrown at it. 

Also, with every story, I strive to make at least one part or aspect of it better or different than what I have done before. I want to reach into story and characters and get messy up to my elbows.  I want to explore worlds and ideas and hearts. 

I want to be *good* at this writing thing one of these days, and I know I’ll only get there if I keep challenging myself to learn, learn, learn and try, try, try. Which sort of puts me in a constant state of daring to improve, while simultaneously risking an over-reach of my skills. That, in turn, might mean I fail at what I’m hoping to accomplish. Or, you know, I might stick the landing.

It’s a tricky state to be in.  Sort of a held-breath hope with clear-headed preparations for disaster. But then, I’d rather have a book go down in a blaze of glory than a blaze of boring. 😉

Thank you, Readsalot81, for your questions!  I will be answering more tomorrow.