So to make up for my months of not posting I decided to bring a very very special guest onto the blog.
Well.... not like on the blog but she wrote some stuff for the post and... yeah. You know what I mean.
Anywho, you may know by now that I'm a writer and so I thought it would be totally awesome to have an interview with an author. So I decided to interview the one and the only Kathryn Fogleman!
We actually met on the website Howrse while before I completely forgot about my account and then later I found out she was actually published!
I'm ready her book right now and it's absolutely amazing so I asked her some questions about writing and some other completely random questions ;)
- Did you have any struggles while writing your book, or just with writing in general?
Oh yeah. I still have trouble. My primary problem is that I get distracted by other shiny stories that pop up in my head.
It goes kinda like this:
Me: "I love this book, I love this book - writing, writing, writing, writing..."
Brain: BING! "Lookie at this new shiny story idea!"
Me: *Mesmerized* "I-I... I really need to stay focused on the story I am writing."
Brain: "Well, yes, but surely writing a few ideas down and translating a few scenes into the written word wouldn't hurt."
Me: "Oh, I guess it wouldn't hurt..."
- 3 days later -
My mom: "How far have you gotten on your book?"
Me: "Uuuuhh.... oops... I started another one and forgot about the old one."
Mom: *gives "The Look"*
So, yeah, that is my main problem. I have to work hard every day to ignore my impulses and stay focused on my main story. I will occasionally take a break and work on some of my others, and I will take notes down for other stories, but I work really, really hard to stay focused on the primary story. I pretty much fail at it, but at least I try, right? - What is your favorite part of writing?
I just love writing. Period. I particularly like moving the stories from my head onto paper (or the computer, whichever). Seeing my story unfold on paper is like watching a painting come to life. I love playing with words, tweaking sentences, and challenging myself to make the story come alive in the reader's mind. I love making my characters come alive with feelings and emotions. I like experiencing things with them.
I am a wordsmith, and, boy, do I love my job. - Do you have any advice for young aspiring authors/writers?
Do I have advice? Only a ton of it, but I will pick one thing out of the hat this time:
JUST DO IT.
Sit down, finish your story. FORCE yourself to finish it. Have someone who is really good with grammar look at your story and correct things in it (believe me, every author makes mistakes - don't kid yourself). Then, don't wait around: publish the blasted thing! If you can't find a publisher who will take it, publish it yourself. Self-publishing companies, like CreateSpace, are becoming increasingly popular, because they making publishing a book a breeze.
Who knows; once you've published a book or two yourself, maybe an literary agent will become interested in representing you and take your book to a real publisher. It's happened before! - What would you like readers to take away from your book?
I think what most people take from my book is that fantasy can be clean AND fun. The whole family can enjoy it, fantasy buffs or not. A fantasy book doesn't have to be chock full of magic. Characters can have flaws, and still be fun and clean to read about. There can be romance without it being too mushy. And dragons CAN be good guys. They can. Really. They are awesome good guys.
I love my dragons.
- If you could have dinner with any famous person (dead or alive) who would it be?
Oooooh... this is a tough question. It would either be Elijah, from the Bible, Leonardo da Vinci, J.R.R. Tolkien, or Bryan Davis (author of the Dragons In Our Midst series) - Who was your first or favorite celebrity crush?
I've never been a girl that had crushes on anyone. Ever. I just wanted to jump into the movies and go on an adventure with the characters.
But, that all changed when Hayden Christensen hit the big screen in Star Wars. And then Transformers came out, and Shia LaBeouf took over from there.
*Sigh* - What is your favorite animal?
Dragons. Oh, they're mythological? That's what you think.
Alright then: horses, dogs, and ferrets. All equal. I can't choose a favorite.
BIG THANK YOU TO KATHRYN FOR DOING THIS FOR ME!
Check out her book! It is AMAZING!!
Author of the fantasy series, Tales of the Wovlen, Kathryn Fogleman spends a great deal of time in the world of her imagination, having tea with fire breathing dragons, writing books on flying space ships, and practicing her mad scientist laugh with gusto.
Her Website: http://www.kathrynjfogleman. com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ KJFogleman