Ask the Author: Laine Cunningham
Answered Questions (6)
Laine Cunningham
Wow, what a question!
Actually, there was a mystery, or really a collection of events, that turned into a book. I rented several rooms in a large cabin set on 400 acres of fallow farmland for a time. The landlord also lived there.
Many very, very strange things happened during that time. The reasons why were always a puzzle. For ten years, I wanted to write a fictional story based on a handful of those events. I finally did!
That book is currently being shopped around to agents.
Actually, there was a mystery, or really a collection of events, that turned into a book. I rented several rooms in a large cabin set on 400 acres of fallow farmland for a time. The landlord also lived there.
Many very, very strange things happened during that time. The reasons why were always a puzzle. For ten years, I wanted to write a fictional story based on a handful of those events. I finally did!
That book is currently being shopped around to agents.
Laine Cunningham
For me, it's not about inspiration so much as maintaining my ability to access the creative flow. That requires a healthy diet, plenty of rest, exercise, and staying connected to my community and to the natural world.
Laine Cunningham
Never stop. Don't let rejections, time issues, finances or other elements make you stop writing.
This life needs one thing more than any other: Passion. With passion, you can overcome any obstacle. With passion, you can move forward despite the odds. With passion, you realize that no matter what barrier is there, you will be able to surmount it in time.
This life needs one thing more than any other: Passion. With passion, you can overcome any obstacle. With passion, you can move forward despite the odds. With passion, you realize that no matter what barrier is there, you will be able to surmount it in time.
Laine Cunningham
The creative flow. It's very meditative. I find my writing is an almost spiritual activity. I feel very connected, very in the moment when I write.
Laine Cunningham
I don't get true writer's block, where you're totally snarled up and can't write a word worth the ink in the pen. But I do find times when I'm struggling with something, usually related to a character's actions or motivation.
At those times, I take walks, hike with my dog, or pop out into the garden to weed and tend the plants. Speaking with the natural world gives me the freedom to let my mind wander over the issue without the pressure of facing the page.
Often I discover that the issue is tied to something in my own life. I'm struggling with something from my past, or an unresolved element in my current life is linked to the character's issues. So I have to solve it for myself before I gain the insight needed to help my character solve the issue.
At those times, I take walks, hike with my dog, or pop out into the garden to weed and tend the plants. Speaking with the natural world gives me the freedom to let my mind wander over the issue without the pressure of facing the page.
Often I discover that the issue is tied to something in my own life. I'm struggling with something from my past, or an unresolved element in my current life is linked to the character's issues. So I have to solve it for myself before I gain the insight needed to help my character solve the issue.
Laine Cunningham
Um, well, actually I'm working on 7 books right now! So I'll have to answer this question by selecting my favorite.
The TIpping Time is the first in a five-book New Adult fantasy series. A Puritan woman coming of age discovers that she has magical abilities...which she needs to untangle a web of false charges against a lover who jilted her and the murder plot against her lover's father.
This idea came to me over the course of three days. I woke one morning with a name in my mind: Cornelia Laulo. I wrote it down, wondering who this person (character) might be. Two mornings later I woke with the first sentence: They killed the unicorn today. The TIpping Time was off and running!
The title comes from Cornelia's belief that dusk and dawn are special times of the day. They mark the time when the creatures of light and dark battle for their portion of the world, just as the creatures of magic battle for their right to exist in a world where nonmagical settlers are taking over.
The TIpping Time is the first in a five-book New Adult fantasy series. A Puritan woman coming of age discovers that she has magical abilities...which she needs to untangle a web of false charges against a lover who jilted her and the murder plot against her lover's father.
This idea came to me over the course of three days. I woke one morning with a name in my mind: Cornelia Laulo. I wrote it down, wondering who this person (character) might be. Two mornings later I woke with the first sentence: They killed the unicorn today. The TIpping Time was off and running!
The title comes from Cornelia's belief that dusk and dawn are special times of the day. They mark the time when the creatures of light and dark battle for their portion of the world, just as the creatures of magic battle for their right to exist in a world where nonmagical settlers are taking over.
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