Ask the Author: Alicia Butcher Ehrhardt
Answered Questions (12)
Alicia Butcher Ehrhardt
I didn't make the cut - standards are standards, and they had so many people to choose from - so no, no training - but will never forget that week in Houston when my cohort went through the mill in testing!
I would have learned to fly if I'd been selected, probably. But I ended working at the Princeton Plasma Physics Lab, in my field, and that didn't happen - but I got to do what I had been trained for.
I would have learned to fly if I'd been selected, probably. But I ended working at the Princeton Plasma Physics Lab, in my field, and that didn't happen - but I got to do what I had been trained for.
Alicia Butcher Ehrhardt
What would have happened in my life if I had not learned to sail in the summer of 1974 - and married my sailing instructor. That wasn't the plan.
Alicia Butcher Ehrhardt
That's easy: Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane. Does it show?
They are both too intelligent and too stubborn for their own good. And they make each other so truly happy when she finally can resist no more.
Yours?
They are both too intelligent and too stubborn for their own good. And they make each other so truly happy when she finally can resist no more.
Yours?
Alicia Butcher Ehrhardt
Hi, Cindy.
Thank you - and I'm glad you're enjoying Pride's Children.
For me, the critical part about serializing was that, since I'm very slow to write and edit, and I didn't want work going out that wasn't finished and up to standard, I had to have a buffer of finished scenes (40 when I started - which almost turned out to not be enough) for those weeks in which I wouldn't finish a whole scene.
At that point (Aug. 25, 2014), I had already created a Wattpad account, so I started putting text into a new 'work' and publishing it.
It's that simple. Each week I'd update with a new 'chapter' and send out a short notice to my followers that it was up.
Then, if I got notice that there were comments, I'd read my feedback and comment back where appropriate.
It was an experiment. It worked for me because there was feedback, and several of the older Wattpad writers were more than kind. Little by little, followers accumulated.
The beginning chapters (about the same amount as what is in the preview here, the Look Inside on Amazon, and on my blog, liebjabberings.wordpress) are still on Wattpad.
It couldn't be simpler, and I suppose the main difference from those who develop their stories there is that I was putting up finished work. It took me about two years to put up all the scenes on my blog, and I stopped putting them on Wattpad around chapter 14 - I just left a link to my blog there. The process of formatting was taking time I needed to write and polish those last scenes.
Thank you - and I'm glad you're enjoying Pride's Children.
For me, the critical part about serializing was that, since I'm very slow to write and edit, and I didn't want work going out that wasn't finished and up to standard, I had to have a buffer of finished scenes (40 when I started - which almost turned out to not be enough) for those weeks in which I wouldn't finish a whole scene.
At that point (Aug. 25, 2014), I had already created a Wattpad account, so I started putting text into a new 'work' and publishing it.
It's that simple. Each week I'd update with a new 'chapter' and send out a short notice to my followers that it was up.
Then, if I got notice that there were comments, I'd read my feedback and comment back where appropriate.
It was an experiment. It worked for me because there was feedback, and several of the older Wattpad writers were more than kind. Little by little, followers accumulated.
The beginning chapters (about the same amount as what is in the preview here, the Look Inside on Amazon, and on my blog, liebjabberings.wordpress) are still on Wattpad.
It couldn't be simpler, and I suppose the main difference from those who develop their stories there is that I was putting up finished work. It took me about two years to put up all the scenes on my blog, and I stopped putting them on Wattpad around chapter 14 - I just left a link to my blog there. The process of formatting was taking time I needed to write and polish those last scenes.
Alicia Butcher Ehrhardt
It is jarring to see other people have your same name - in books and in real life. I've had that happen with a character in a novel I'm writing; fortunately, a friend caught it. I don't know how I'm going to deal with it, since the first name at least is critical to the story, and I'd chosen the last name with several purposes in mind.
Better before than after publication! I hope mine doesn't interfere with yours.
And many thanks for the lovely review.
Better before than after publication! I hope mine doesn't interfere with yours.
And many thanks for the lovely review.
Alicia Butcher Ehrhardt
Hi, Mary - just saw this. I've been wondering how you were. Hope you're writing.
Alicia Butcher Ehrhardt
When I'm stuck somewhere, I don't call it that. I just keep asking my subconscious questions: Why am I stuck? What is missing from this scene that I can't finish it (I work in scenes)? What does he/she want here? The actor's question: What's my motivation as this character? How does this connect? What came before and what comes after?
I have a template of questions I answer before I even start to write - I review them if I get stuck. 'Stuck' doesn't usually last long, and what comes out of those questions is much deeper - and I realize why my subconscious wouldn't let me finish: we were both not ready.
I have a template of questions I answer before I even start to write - I review them if I get stuck. 'Stuck' doesn't usually last long, and what comes out of those questions is much deeper - and I realize why my subconscious wouldn't let me finish: we were both not ready.
Alicia Butcher Ehrhardt
Being alone in a universe where you are God. It is scary - and your material is yourself, transmogrified into the universal experience of humankind - but you can do literally anything.
Writing is a place where you work with everything you have and are.
Writing is a place where you work with everything you have and are.
Alicia Butcher Ehrhardt
There is NO 'one way' to write. Read widely about writing, but keep only what works FOR YOU - and don't be afraid to discard advice from superstars. They might write entirely wrong for you.
It turns out I'm an extreme plotter - and I had great books from dedicated pantsers (seat-of-the-pants writers) as my first advice. I'm surprise I survived - their advice was completely wrong - for me.
It turns out I'm an extreme plotter - and I had great books from dedicated pantsers (seat-of-the-pants writers) as my first advice. I'm surprise I survived - their advice was completely wrong - for me.
Alicia Butcher Ehrhardt
Book 2! I just published Book 1. I'm almost done with the promotional efforts I've planned (a couple of ads and a Kindle Countdown), and the thing that should help the most is revising the very rough draft of the next volume in the trilogy.
I took time off from writing to publish - loved it, learned a lot - but Book 1 is out in ebook and print, and writing is a lot more fun.
I took time off from writing to publish - loved it, learned a lot - but Book 1 is out in ebook and print, and writing is a lot more fun.
Alicia Butcher Ehrhardt
Writing is the one thing I CAN do. It takes a while for my brain to kick on, but when it does, I know I only have a few hours. There's always a next step to take. I block the internet - and take it.
When I get stuck, I write myself out of the hole by asking myself questions ABOUT the hole. Hasn't failed yet.
When I get stuck, I write myself out of the hole by asking myself questions ABOUT the hole. Hasn't failed yet.
Alicia Butcher Ehrhardt
Several things came together in mid-2000: a fascination with how celebrities choose their mates, the idea for an epic movie, and the realization that disabled people are actively discouraged from wanting what 'normal' people want. The story came in one piece, and hasn't changed since. It will take three volumes to tell in full.
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