Ask the Author: S.A. Monroe
Answered Questions (10)
S.A. Monroe
My grandfather abandoned my father and my grandmother when my father was four, then went on to marry somebody else and had more children. That means I have uncles and aunts and cousins I've never ever met. My grandmother's story with my grandfather would make a good plot for a book, not only because of the plot, but because my grandmother was strong, and witty and would make a great character.
S.A. Monroe
To be honest, nothing recent. I've so many books on my TBR shelf, that I really need to make a dent on it. To be fair, I am more of an avid consumer of stories, than strictly books, so now I've been dragged down to the world of Webtoons, and it's quite adictive!
S.A. Monroe
That's a really, really hard one. I'm a big Harry Potter fan, so that one is easy. I'd just try to teach in Hogwarts. Magical Literature, is that a thing? Somebody ask JK Rowling... I've also loved The Watchmaker of Filigree Street. I'd love to just sit with Keita Mori and listen to him talk about... anything. And maybe I could practice my Japanese.
S.A. Monroe
I went to the book store. All the shelves were empty!
S.A. Monroe
Across the Line came up from the idea of the sexy secretary trope. Except that what if the secretary doesn't know she is sexy. What if the secretary is a bit naive and finds herself working in a not so naive business, with an experienced man who is as handsome as it gets. Adam has dark hair and blue eyes now, but when the story occurred to me first, some... ten years ago, probably, he looked a lot like Charles, from the Webtoon Let's Play. I love that comic, and there are some commonalities between Sam and Jo, less so, in personal issues, between Adam and Charles. Funny though, you find a lot of the same stories in many places.
S.A. Monroe
Mostly other stories inspire me. It's often that a small detail from a book, a movie, or even a comic, makes me think, well, what if this other thing happened... and then it all begins. My personal experience, to some extent, too. My imagination, in the most part. And music too.
S.A. Monroe
I am editing the second book of the Southwater series, about where Anna goes from the end of Across the Line, and I am also writing book 3, which goes on from the end of book two, but gets back to Jo and Adam, the protagonists of Across the Line. I am also drawing a lot. I'd love to provide some illustrations for any interested readers :)
S.A. Monroe
Write. Keep writing. Write some more. Write a word, ten, fifty, five thousand. It doesn't matter how much you write, but write. Write in your head, too. When you're not writing? Read. And don't give up. It's easy to get wrapped up in the miracle, first book, success stories, but success stories take many shapes. Yours might not be like Lucy Score's, but that doesn't mean it won't happen.
S.A. Monroe
It's a step up from reading. It's like role-playing, I suppose. As a reader, you get to experience the story in the shoes of the characters, but the story is already predetermined. As a writer, you do the same, but you make all the decisions (kinda, sometimes the characters have pretty clear ideas of what they are going to do).
S.A. Monroe
I keep writing. Writer's block is only a problem when you're drafting, and your first draft can be up to 30% rubbish. It doesn't matter if it's bad now, it can go later. It can be re-written. My other option is to move to the next thing I am excited to write, whether it's a completely different thing, or an idea. Worst case scenario, I plug in my earphones and go for a walk and spend some time focusing my imagination on my work in progress. Things happen then.
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