Suzanne Van Rooyen comes to Trin Carl's Blog

I'm excited to inform that I will be posting interviews throughout the month. This is a chance for readers to get to know up and coming writers.

This month I'm interviewing Suzanne Van Rooyen.

Suzanne is the author of YA novels THE OTHER ME and I HEART ROBOT, and the Rainbow Award winning SCARDUST. Her work can be found Amazon or her blog suzannevanrooyen.com .

A tattooed storyteller from South Africa, Suzanne currently lives in Finland where she finds the cold, dark forests nothing if not inspiring. Although she has a Master’s degree in music, Suzanne prefers conjuring strange worlds and creating quirky characters. When she grows up, she wants to be an elf – until then, she spends her time (when not writing) rock climbing, buying far too many books, and entertaining her shiba inu, Lego.

Which writers inspire you?

So many! I think Neil Gaiman has been one of my biggest inspirations not least for how he manages to weave humor into his stories no matter how dark they are. Maggie Stiefvater is another inspiration. Her prose is always so poetic yet accessible without becoming overly purple, and she has this ability to make the magical seem so real.
Author Suzanne Van Rooyen (above) Interesting, I've heard recommendations of Neil Gaiman's work by many readers and I am hoping to pick up one of his novels soon. I myself love humor writing and enjoy works by Janet Evanovich, Tina Fey and Mindy Kaling.

How much research do you do?

It depends on the book and what the story requires. I usually end up doing a lot more research than might be evident on the final page, but I think it’s a good thing for the author to know a lot about their subject material even if they only include a small portion of it in the story.

How often do you write and do you have a special time during the day to write?

I try to write every day but life doesn’t always let me. I aim to write at least 3-4 days a week in 2-3 hour chunks. Mornings work best for me, but I also enjoy writing at night – just depends on what I’m working on. Some stories need sunshine, others need shadows ;)

Where do the your ideas come from?

A variety of places: from song lyrics, artworks, movies or TV series, other books, real life, a snippet of overheard conversation. Anything can trigger a story seed.
I love the fact that real life inspires your writing as well. Most of my own writing comes from my real life adventures, some of which are so off the wall I wonder how I even made it out of bed the next day.

What is your favourite motivational phrase?

Writing is rewriting!

Which famous person, living or dead would you like to meet and why?

Neil Gaiman. His words have had such an indelible effect on my own, I would love to meet the man behind my favorite books.

Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing as far as content?

Getting started. There is nothing more intimidating than a blank page. I don’t enjoy drafting – I find it rather stressful actually. I much prefer the revision and editing process when I already have something to work with and can shape the story into the form I really want

What do you do for fun?

I enjoy reading, gaming, taking long walks with my dog, Lego, and rock climbing. I find physical exercise to be a great cure for writer’s block or writer’s angst in general, so whenever I start feeling stressed out I always try to get my heart rate up.

Bloggers, this is all the time we have today. You can get in touch with Suzanne on twitter or facebook.  Suzanne is also doing a raffle give away for a $50 Amazon Gift card and a paperback copy of A Hold on Me, Of Scions and Men, Gyre and Scardust, enter the link for your chance to win. I’m wondering what other people think about whether I should do a giveaway and what that giveaway should be. Tell me what you think in the comments below.

Joy Held

"Women with clean houses do not have finished books."-Joy Held

Stealth car,

He had one.  He had the entire nation mad at him. But with the car, he escaped.  One single bullet shot in his direction alerted the sensors of his car, and he would be whisked away and sheltered like a genie in a bottle.

And boy did he disappear, quite a few times daily.

With his mass communication in the form of a tweet, he had a mob of people outside his home at any given moment.

And his decrees were outrageous.

Examples were as such:

The christians will have first access to the new healthcare initiative.

The foreigners will live on their own island starting January 10th,2016.

The naysayers will be banned.

Whoever dares to wear green on Thursdays will pay a tax.

He sent ludicrous and ambiguous decrees that haunted the people.

"It's a poor mind that can only think of one way to spell a word."-Andrew Jackson

When you forget

The Biggest lie I tell myself "I don't need to write that down, I'll remember it."

"The funny thing about writing is whether you're doing it well or whether you're doing it poorly, it looks exactly the same.That is actually one of the main ways that writing is different than ballet dancing." John Green (author of Paper Towns)

Are you wishing to write something?

I hope to someday write something worth plagiarizing.  -Unknown Author

From the Minnesota women's rally I attended.Great excitement.excellent messages.

---

Fyodor Dostoevsky spent four years in a Siberian penal camp for publishing anti-government pamphlets.

I’m not a very good writer, but I’m an excellent rewriter.” — James A. Michener

"The road to hell is paved with adverbs."-Stephen King

JRR Tolkien went to parties dressed up as a polar bear.

Stephen King got the inspiration for his novel Pet Sematary when his daughter’s pet cat was hit by a truck.

Interview with me Trin Carl

Author Shannon Leigh posted an author interview with me on her blog, find it at shannonleighrivera.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tennessee Williams died by choking on a medicine bottle cap.

    “A professional writer is an amateur who didn’t quit.” — Richard Bach  

The Library of Congress holds some 147 million items on 838 miles of bookshelves.

Amazon prime

I had to post this site.  It filters Amazon products more thoroughly. Find it at http://www.sortbyprime.com

"What makes the first sentence interesting?  

“What makes the first sentence interesting? Its exact shape and what it says and the possibility it creates for another sentence.” — Verlyn Klinkenborg, Several Short Sentences About Writing

What makes the first sentence interestin

Easy reading is damned hard writing.” — Nathaniel Hawthorne

Happy New Years Bloggers

May your new year be merry and bright. May you go into the next year with a lot of hope and ambition.  Ready to take life by it's reigns and ring it's neck until you squeeze every last drop of fun and progress out of it.  May you jump from roof tops and explore new worlds great and small, whether that's by plane or by imagination.  Smiling at little babies and kiddies alike.  Grinning until your half mad and kicking up the seasons, so they don't beat your behind.  That's all for now, till next year.

“Since I picked up your book, I couldn’t stop laughing. Some day I intend to read it.” — Groucho Marx

Turkey visits the Global Dig Blog

Here is another review of an expat blog, mytravelingjoys.com. A blog about Turkish food, traveling in Turkey, living as an expat in Istanbul, favorite restaurants, Turkish recipes and visiting the local markets.

The author of this blog Joy is an American expat currently living in London.  She has been to 30+ countries and is an avid photographer.  My favorite post from her blog had to be her hiking on phillip island .  Such beautiful pictures.  It sort of reminds me of my trip to San Diego and La Jolla two weeks ago.   During her travels in Istanbul, she mentions going through the Belgrade forest and hiking on a 6-1/2 kilometer trail which she says the trail is updated, meaning their are no potholes.  I can totally relate to potholes, Minnesota roads are filled with them thanks to the abundant snow and rain.  

Joy talks about her stay at Alaçatı Zeytin Konak Otel. The hotel looks like such a beautiful place to visit as a tourist.  The outdoor pool is one I could see myself jumping into.

Here is another Blog from Turkey called Turkish Life Cafe.  The Arslan family has been living in Turkey for ten years.  The mother is interested in teaching her son Turkish and currently uses Dinolingo.com.  Learning languages at a young age is so important.  I plan on teaching my own son, Zulfiqar: Arabic, Urdu, Amharic, and of course English.  Yum, there is even Turkish recipes including pogaca. and Chicken – Tavuk Yemekleri

"What makes a first sentence so interesting?  It's exact shape and what it says and the possibility to make another sentence."-Verlyn Klinkenborg

“There are three rules for writing. Unfortunately, no one can agree what they are.” — W. Somerset Maugham

“Too many people want to have written.” — Sir Terry Pratchett

“Any healthy man can go without food for two days—but not without poetry.” — Charles Baudelaire

After 20 years of correspondence, the editor of the Oxford English Dictionary learned that his major contributor, W.C. Minor, was an inmate at a lunatic asylum.

Interview with Fanni Sütő

I'm excited to inform readers that I will be posting an author's interview once a month. This is a chance for readers to get to know up and coming writers in the world of Young Adult books.


Fanni Sütő is a writer, poet, dreamer who believes in fairy tales even if they are dark,disenchanted and deconstructed. She writes about everything which comes in her way or goes bump in the night. She has been published in Hungary, the US, the UK and Australia.

She is very happy to do collaborations, art exchanges, cross-art projects, so if you’re interested in such things, please get in touch.

Website:www.inkmapsandmacarons.com

And onto the interview

What tense do you prefer to write in? Is there a reason behind your choice?

I prefer the past tense. I think it’s pretty difficult to write well in the present and I sometimes find it annoying.

Are there themes you’re trying to bring out in your YA/NA that you feel are

underrepresented?

I like to work with characters coming from different cultural backgrounds. I feel it essential

to write about the difficulties of finding your place in a new environment, the obstacles you

might have to face and the importance of having an open mind. Being of Hungarian origin, I

like to bring in the folk tales and the legends of my country because I know they are not very

well known.

What do you think makes a good story?

Characters and if it has a momentum, a force that doesn’t let you stop. I also like humour and

beautiful language.

How do you feel about endings? Is there a type of ending you strive for?

I like bittersweet endings because I think happy ends are very often dishonest.

Do you have a favourite word? Why do you like it?

I used to be a great fan of “swirl” and I put it in almost every one of my stories. I think I have

got cured out of it since then. Nowadays my favourite word seems to be ‘pumpkin pie’ for no

apparent reason.

This concludes the Interview with Fanni Sütő, make sure to check out her blog at :www.inkmapsandmacarons.com and her Twitter feed and Pinterest.  Please stay posted for next month's interview questions with another fabulous author.

Isaac Asimov has published books in nine of the ten categories in the Dewey Decimal System.

Shakespeare invented over 1,000 words, many of which we use today.

Everyday may not be good but there is something good in everyday.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge was once arrested as a spy while on a walking tour of Scotland.

“Writing is not necessarily something to be ashamed of, but do it in private and wash your hands afterwards.” — Robert Heinlein

"It took me fifteen years to discover that I had no talent for writing, but I couldn't give it up because by that time I was famous." Robert Benchley

It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves. William Shakespeare

Ken Kelsey was a state champion wrestler in High school.

“Writing is something that you can never do as well as it can be done. It is a perpetual challenge and it is more difficult than anything else that I have ever done—so I do it.” — Ernest Hemingway

Dante's love for Beatrice was one of the first examples of courtly love.

    “You expect far too much of the first sentence. Think of it as analogous to a good country breakfast: what you want is something simple, but nourishing to the imagination.” — Larry McMurtry  

    “Having imagination, it takes you an hour to write a paragraph that, if you were unimaginative, would take you only a minute. Or you might not write the paragraph at all.” — Franklin P. Adams  

Samuel Taylor Coleridge was thought to be an opium addict.

    The working title for The Waste Land was “He Do the Police in Different Voices,” a line from a Dickens story.

Robert Frost won four Pulitzer prizes in his life.

Controversy of Saudi Women's right to vote

I found this link on the Nytimes relating to why it's controversial for women to vote in Saudi.

Statistics say only 30,000 women are registered to vote in Saudi.

nytimes/ladies-first-saudi-arabias

“I’m writing a first draft and reminding myself that I’m simply shovelling sand into the sandbox so that later I can build castles.” — Rachel Stirling

Interview with Author: Becca Patterson

I'm excited to inform readers that I will be posting an author's interview once a month. This is a chance for readers to get to know up and coming writers in the world of Young Adult books.

Today I present to you Becca Patterson, a fellow writer hailing from Minnesota. Becca writes both Sci-Fi and Fantasy, she has been writing for as long as she can remember, and takes much of her inspiration from the teenagers she works with. In her spare time, Becca enjoys making her husband laugh, and playing string with her three cats. Becca is also an ASL (American Sign Language) Interpreter who mostly works in High School.You can follow her on her website at http://becca.mreauowpublishing.com/ , on Twitter @mreauow or on Amazon

And now for the interview. Becca, what advice would you give to your younger self?

Don’t give up. There was a time, shortly after high school, when I listened to the nay-sayers. People I thought I could trust who told me that I wouldn’t make it as a writer. They said that it was a silly dream, that I wouldn’t be able to support myself and all that other wonderfully practical advice.

The thing is that being a writer isn’t about being practical. It’s about listening to that quiet voice deep inside that says: You have a story to tell, so tell it.

The nay-sayers were right about all that practical stuff and completely missed the point. For a time I listened to them and gave up my writing. It was a dark time in my life. Now, I’m back to writing, even though I have to do all that adult stuff like paying bills and cleaning the house. I have a day job that brings in most of the money, and the time I need to put into writing.

It’s not supporting me yet. It may never reach that level, financially/practically, but it’s keeping me happy. That’s the important part. So don’t give up.

How often do you write, and do you have a special time during the day to write?

I write as often as I can. Somedays that can mean hours upon hours and some it means I scratch out a few notes in the 15 minutes before I go to bed. Most days I can pull together an hour or two to focus on writing.

I used to carry around a spiral bound notebook that I could write in whenever a few minutes presented themselves. Then my dear friend gave me a bluetooth keyboard that links to my phone. Now I can pull out that keyboard just about anywhere and type to my phone so I don’t use the notebook anymore. It’s given me the freedom to write anywhere and anytime, so I do. On good days I probably spend 5 or more hours writing, but it’s broken up into 15 minute spurts.

The only set time that I write is Tuesday Nights. That’s when my writing group meets. We meet at a little gaming shop called “Your Mom’s Basement”. We spend most of the night writing, and some of it reading what we’ve just written or asking for help getting out of a sticky corner. The rest of the time is spent laughing over just about anything that comes up. It’s my most productive time of the week. I never have to wait for my muse to show up, she’s usually already there waiting for me with a basket full of ideas.

Where is your favorite place to write?

I could tell you that Your Mom’s Basement is my favorite spot, but that wouldn’t be entirely true. That’s just my most productive spot, and that’s only on Tuesdays. My favorite spot is in my office.

That’s where I have my large monitor and the ergonomic chair and all my stuff. I don’t really need the stuff to write, but it makes me happy and when I’m happy writing is easier. It also has my cats. When I’m in there, at least one of them is sleeping on the side desk or the back of my chair. Sometimes they can be annoying, especially when they bump my hands to remind me that I’m not petting them enough, but there’s nothing quite like the sound of purring to keep me focused.

Of course, I have my favorite table at the library. And one at the local all night restaurant. I have my favorite coffee shop and my favorite place at work. I have a lot of favorite places to write.

How does real life impact your writing?

Real life seeps into my writing in many ways. I spend a lot of time writing in restaurants and coffee shops, and I eavesdrop. I pay attention to the kids at the school where I work. I watch for character traits I want to use. That’s the normal stuff that so many writers talk about. I don’t use enough of any one person for them to recognize themselves, so I don’t worry too much about that. The more interesting story is why I spend so much time writing in coffee shops, libraries and restaurants.

I live with three cats, and for the most part they are cool with my writing. When I’m sitting at my desk all day it provides them with ample lap and shoulder time. However, one of my darlings, Dawn, is very sensitive to my emotions. So much so, she won’t allow me to argue with my husband (which isn’t fair, because doesn’t care if he gets upset). It also applies when I’m writing scenes with high emotions. Love confessions, teary goodbyes and especially fight scenes. She gets so upset about it, she just can’t let me write in peace. Sometimes I can get away with closing the office door and putting in my headphones. Most of the time I just go somewhere else when it’s time to write those kinds of things.

There’s one character though, a bad guy, who’s so evil all he has to do is call my main character and Dawn’s going ballistic. Closing the office door doesn’t work, because she’ll just go get my husband. We decided that I’m not allowed to write this character in the house when Sweetie denied her entry to my office and she bit him. Not hard enough to bleed, but not a love nip either. So now, whenever he’s in play, I transfer the scene to Google Docs, pack up my little keyboard and phone and walk to the library or 24-hour restaurant to write. I come home when the scene is done.  

When did you decide to become a writer?

I think I was born that way. My favorite Sesame Street character was the typewriter. In second grade when the teacher handed out the journals and told us we would have to write five whole pages every week, I squealed while the rest of the class groaned. I filled that journal, and another one that year. In sixth grade I broke the school record for journals used (6 college ruled composition books) by the end of February. In May that year I turned in my ninth composition book and was told I didn’t need to continue the assignment. I’m not sure if it was because they didn’t want to give me a book I wouldn’t have time to fill or they were afraid I would fill by the end of the year 3 weeks away.

In high school I discovered the joys of word processors and continued to write. My English teachers encouraged me, read my work and offered advice, even when I wasn’t in their class that semester. I found out later they passed my stories around the staff room. The teachers predicted that I would learn to live on other worlds my senior year (the students said I would fall off the face of the Earth).

After high school, I listened too much to my family and stopped writing so I could concentrate on getting a good degree which would lead to a proper career. I fell into depression until an astute counselor told me to start writing again. Shortly after that, I had a professor who encouraged me to try publication. Then I started going to Sci-Fi conventions and found a lot more encouragement. My stories don’t fall neatly into genre boxes, so I never had much luck with traditional publishing. I didn’t let the ever growing stack of rejection letters stop me though. I’m a writer - I write.

This concludes the interview, but readers be sure to follow Becca on her blog at http://becca.mreauowpublishing.com/ . Thanks for reading.

"Eschew the monumental. Shun the epic. All the guys who can paint great big pictures can paint great small ones.” — Ernest Hemingway  

My Birthday Tomorrow

To Those of you who are unaware, it is Trin Carl's Bday.  My bday. Hooray!

 Wolf Brother by Michelle Paver

Listen to a free audio book without downloading.  Great narrator and great website at the guardian https://www.theguardian.com/books/audio/2007/jun/08/books1192

“A character is what he does, yes—but even more, a character is what he means to do.” — Orson Scott Card

D.H. Lawrence was married to to the sister of Baron von Richthoffen, AKA theRed Baron.