1. What is the name of your latest book, and if you had to summarise it in less than 20 words what would you say?
Diamond Sand is my latest published book. It's really doing its own thing, but it fits in both science fiction and crime/mystery; it’s also very satirical. I published it as Pia, the protagonist (because I often fantasize that I live in another layer of the Universe, doing clandestine work for a huge government organization). In less than 20 words: Pia's hired to do one dangerous job but finds herself working two dangerous jobs that don’t fit together.
2. Do you have plans for a new book? Is this book part of a series?
Right now I'm working on the second planet-Diamond-related book. But I plan on writing at least four Diamond books. I’ve also got many not-related-to-Diamond story ideas; recently I started blog-posting my novella, Island Seed. Depending on whether enough readers are interested in the story, I might post the whole book for free-reading.
3. How long have you been writing, and who or what inspired you to write?
I’ve been writing seriously for 18 years. No one really inspired me. Guess I inspired myself because I tend to be very autonomous. I’m also a very picky reader; I had great difficulty finding the kinds of stories I wanted to read the most. So I sat down and began writing them. That was over forty stories ago. Do you think I’ve taken my to-satisfy-myself-as-a-reader quest too far :)?
4. How do you come up with the Titles for your book/books?
My book titles come from the contents of my stories; I usually create a book title only after I’ve written down at least some of a fictional world. I don’t believe in just pasting on titles. I think each part of a written work should be related to the whole, should serve the whole. I often call myself a “wholistic" writer, especially a wholistic novelist.
5. Which format of book do you prefer, ebook, hardback, or paperback?
I’ll read a book in any format—including on a roll of paper towels! Words are words—I don’t care where they’re “printed” or where they’re said. The text itself is everything to me. With respect to my own fictional works, I only have ebooks available now.
6. What piece of advice would you give to a new writer?
Write from the inside-out, not from the outside-in. Avoid following trends, and don’t copy other writers. Great writers don’t copy; great writers invent. Reach for greatness. And uniqueness. Basically, just walk your own path—I mean if you’ve got the stamina for that, because doing your own thing does require a huge amount of stamina.
7. Where can readers follow you?
Here’s my main blog, which contains images from Diamond: http://dsworld24.blogspot.com
I’m also on Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/5457246-pia
8. And any other information you wish to supply?
I just want to close with: thanks a bunch to Jeanz for giving my voice space on her nice blog:)!
Thank you for taking the time out from your writing schedule to do this interview, allowing us a glimpse of you writing world.
No comments:
Post a Comment