Tell us a little about yourself!
I am a new author and I write things I want to read. I am 27, I paint and drink coffee a lot. If you want to make me miserable, all you have to do is put me somewhere in the country, with no buildings, no asphalt and no service. I’ll probably bring my laptop and write there anyway, and my shoes will be totally inappropriate.
I didn’t know I wanted to be a writer before I finished my first book. This is a beautifully consuming, miraculously rewarding thing. It’s nice to know what you want.
Tell us about your book? How did it get started?
I always wanted to write one, but it wouldn’t just write itself, you know J It takes sitting down and actually putting your hands on a keyboard especially for that. My best friend triggered it, and she is the N. in my dedication. She started writing a novella for fun and begged me to write something too, so we could read each other’s stuff and laugh about it, no pressure, no strings attached. It took me months to actually start the first sentence.
I have a book now.
How do you create your characters?
Being surrounded by unique characters in real life does help when writing a book. I haven’t copied a real person completely, but I do borrow from many important people in my life, using their most significant traits (and very often I am not even aware that I steal from people’s personalities, until after I’ve read my WIP).
And I think my general attitudes about life influenced how I write the main characters. But half-way through the process they continue on their own J
What inspires and what got your started in writing?
Woody Allen. Other books in the genre. Related TV shows or movies. The city of Paris and all its colorful creatures. My life.
Where do you write? Is there something you need in order to write (music, drinks?)
If there is a socket to plug my laptop in, then I can write there, and I don’t really care if it’s noisy or not. I don’t do it in public, though, I’m scared of nosy people peeking in my screen, so if I get an idea, I write down in a notebook or my phone. As for the props, I’m not very unique there. Not having coffee and cigarettes when I’m writing is a serious problem. I am able to stop writing, to go get any of these, or chocolate.
How do you get your ideas for writing?
The shower magically becomes a working environment when I’m in there. The only drawback is that I can’t write anything down, or record my voice. I might get a waterproof marker or something and write on the tiles. Yes, that’s what I’ll do. The weird encounters I’ve had definitely made it in the book. Like that time a man on Pigalle in Paris asked me to be a show girl. I declined politely, but imagine that book! Maybe some day…
Also, sometimes you’re not inspired. Sometimes you just force yourself, and then you get the juices flowing.
What do you like to read?
My first book is Chick Lit / Romantic comedy, and I wrote it because I felt like reading something like that. I always enjoy this genre, its pink covers with fancy girls on them and the lightness and relaxation it offers. But I discovered Vlad: The Last Confession by C.C. Humphreys some time ago, and it instantly became my favorite book, which apparently means that I like historical fiction. I also think Tolkien is God, and G.R.R. Martin could, maybe, finish no. 6, while we’re still alive. No pressure though.
I love a good horror story. And a meticulously written thriller is always fantastic to read, but thrillers grow more and more predictable every day so I catch myself avoiding them.
What would your advice to be for authors or aspiring in regards to writing?
Don’t think about it, don’t talk about it, don’t wish you could do it. Just sit down and write it. It’s the only way to write a book. And then (for the aspiring ones), go online, and google EVERYTHING. Your genre, the community, the publishing world, the drawbacks, the tips, the everything. Find your peers. Learn from them.
And edit your book more than three times. I ASSURE you, there will be a new typo or ‘what in God’s name is that’ every time. My book is published, yet I know that if I read it again, I could find something I’d like to change, even now.
Anything else you’d like to share?
My book J