A good friend of mine, Macie Carter is here today telling us a little bit about her writing life. Let’s here what this fabulous TWRP author has to say about the way she works through the writing process.
Thank you for joining me today for my Wednesday Writer’s Write series!
What is your brainstorming process for a new book?
As a matter of fact, I’ve just been doing that – brainstorming for NaNo. I think of an idea and then “roll “ it around in my brain. I do a lot of “thinking” and imagining scenes and “what-if’s” even before I start to write. But sometimes a scene (usually an opening scene) comes to me and I write it without knowing where the story’s going. I did that with a short story that was part of the Deadly Ink 2008 collection. I knew I wanted two detectives and I knew I wanted to use an idea from an “X-File” episode then I suddenly found myself combining it with an Amish quilting bee. The story just wrote itself.
Can you explain your typical work week day?
I work at my day-job from 7:30 until 5 or 5:30, run errands if I have to and then collapse when I get home. I’m the Vice President of Nursing for a company that manages nursing homes in Pennsylvania, so the job can be intense. If I have the energy (I AM sixty-two years old, too), I will try to take some time to write after work. I watch little TV at night, usually recording anything interesting for the weekend because I would rather read after work. The weekends seem to be my prime time to write. I write in the morning and read or go to the movies in the afternoon.
Tell us about when you made the decision to write.
There really was no “decision”. Well, maybe after I read the pivotal scene in Du Maurier’s Rebecca, ( I had to read it several times, I was so shocked by it), that I felt I wanted to be able to do that – to lead a reader down one path and then drop the over a cliff – figuratively, of course. I was writing seriously at twelve when I got my first rejection. I wrote through high school. Even in nursing school, I would write short stories and plays instead of taking notes. My nursing career, marriage, motherhood and then being a single mother interfered with my writing for a while. But losing the man I loved at forty-two made me realize that we all need to follow our dreams before it’s too late. After his death I decided to go back to writing seriously – for publication.
What suggestions do you have for aspiring writers?
Read, read, read, write, read and read some more. Read out of your genre. Write out of your genre. That’s how I got a contract with The Wild Rose Press – I wrote an erotic romance. I usually write mystery, paranormal or a combination of both. Don’t be afraid to stretch and to test yourself.
One book that I consider necessary for every aspiring writer is Stephen King’s On Writing. I have the audio version and I listen to it at least yearly. I love hearing his story in his own voice. And it’s good, solid advice for writers working in any and every genre.
Tell us about what you’re working on right now and what we can expect from you in the near future.
Write now I’m doing the final edits on my erotic romance, Teasing the Muse I’m working on a second erotic novella for them. I’m also rewriting an Arthurian time travel. I have too many projects at times and have to set priorities – which is hard when you’re interested in everything.
I will be doing National Novel Writing Month – NaNo – and working on a vampire paranormal set in the Civil War or maybe a coming of age story (an older woman’s coming of age), or maybe…I better quit while I’m ahead.
That’s fabulous, Macie! So looking forward to ‘Teasing the Muse!’ For those of you who want to know more about Macie’s book and her release date, check out her website here. Thanks for joining us on WonW!
Tags: writers on writing
Hi Macie,
Nice interview and very sound advice. Your books sound intriquing.
Regards
Margaret
Nice post Macie. Great advice for aspiring writers and I love Stephen King’s book. One of my fav.