Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Books? I’ve mostly written short stuff, even the fantasy I’ve published have been short stories and novellas.
Got a bunch of drafts that need to be revised and polished, maybe four or five books of Far Isle Half-Elven stories, the trilogy which is the main part of my Far Isle Half-Elven. The first part of the trilogy Dark Solstice is finished but I’m not marketing it at this time.
Also have four non-Elven fantasies completed, one of which — There Be Demons — is scheduled for publication by The Grumpy Dragon in 2014.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest published novella is Taking Vengeance. The whole Far Isle Half-Elven appeared in my mind one morning when I was petting Wiggles, my cat. Both of us were half asleep — when this image of a woman standing on cliff with the winds blowing her unbound hair behind her. Wind? Mariah? What can I say? Anyway I wondered what she was doing there, and Mariah got a telepathic message from her daughter about being ambushed. The story and the Far Isle Half-Elven developed from that image.
500,000 words later, I decided to do something with the saga. Did excise one book out of the mess … of which Taking Vengeance was an extended prologue. An agent, who still wasn’t interested in the rest of it, suggested I turn the prologue into a novella. Taking Vengeance first sold to WolfSinger Press, but rights have now reverted to me and I self-published it.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I try to resist playing Mahjong and write first thing in the morning. Sometimes I jump right into creating, but all too often I play with email … even though I know it’ll wait.
Walking around a lot is another distraction. If I sit too long, my hip ossifies.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Any thing and everything I read. Comics and the early Oz books hooked me on fantasy. I discovered used Ace Doubles in an used hardware store and authors like Leigh Brackett, Andre Norton, Fritz Leiber, C. L. Moore and A. L. Merritt among others. Still am reading fantasy and love it when I discover a new writer who gives the same- old, same-old at new twist.
What are you working on now?
Two things — when new ideas don’t intrude.
First, I’m writing about the origins of Far Isle Half-Elven with the arrival of Teemon in the Far Isles and his meeting with the two psychic sisters who had escaped persecution of magic workers in the Suderlands. It’ll probably be two novellas, but I might turn them into a novel.
Second, I’m waiting for edits for There Be Demons and taking plot notes for a possible sequel.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I don’t have a clue about promoting my books or anything else. I tend to be impervious to advertising. I try to follow the directions … but … *shrug*
Do you have any advice for new authors?
In the vein of “do as I say” rather than “do what I do” — write until you get and ending on your story before you start revising.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
The above
What are you reading now?
A YA historical “Cleopatra” about Cleopatra Selene, the daughter of Cleopatra VII and Mark Anthony.
What’s next for you as a writer?
I’ve got a middle grade novel set in 1950s Sacramento Valley about a girl who begins to see ghosts — Voices of Ghost Creek. I want to go back and revise it …
The Grumpy Dragon says they want a sequel to There Be Demons, but I’m still thinking about it.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
I’d cheat.
1. A comprehensive collection of the best poetry in the history of the world — translated into English.
2. A bound volume of all Tamora Pierce’s Rebecca Cooper books.
3. A bound volume of Tolkien’s Ring Trilogy.
4. A bound volume of Nora Loft’s Lonely Furrow trilogy or her House at Old Vine series.
You just reminded me I should dig out my Nora Loft books from my books shelves and re-read them.
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