Ask the Author: Sheila A. Nielson
Answered Questions (9)
Sheila A. Nielson
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Sheila A. Nielson
Fantasy worlds are my first love—but spooky stories would be a close second. And I’d never say no to a good mystery.
Sheila A. Nielson
I’ve actually got a Young Adult novel coming out real soon—so stay tuned. And I have a couple more middle grade novels in the works!
Sheila A. Nielson
I have lots of different methods that I use to get my head into the creative writing mood. Whenever I start a new book I always create a music playlist on my iPod first--which can be played whenever I need a little creative boost while writing a scene. I also like to draw character sketches of all my main characters. This helps me to picture them and focus in on their personality. On rare occasions, I have undertaken creative projects that helped me get into the proper frame of mind for a particular story.
For example: I wrote a book about a haunted doll. While I was writing the story, I created a doll that looked exactly like the one in the book. My mother (who was helping beta read the manuscript at the time) walked into a room where I'd placed the doll one day and nearly frightened herself to death. She wasn't expecting the doll in my made-up story to suddenly appear in real-life.
Another project I did was a miniature recreation of a scene from one of my books inside an pocket watch casing. I then wore the watch on a chain around my neck to help give me inspiration during the day.
Staying excited about a manuscript for a long period time can sometimes be hard. Special projects help a great deal.
For example: I wrote a book about a haunted doll. While I was writing the story, I created a doll that looked exactly like the one in the book. My mother (who was helping beta read the manuscript at the time) walked into a room where I'd placed the doll one day and nearly frightened herself to death. She wasn't expecting the doll in my made-up story to suddenly appear in real-life.
Another project I did was a miniature recreation of a scene from one of my books inside an pocket watch casing. I then wore the watch on a chain around my neck to help give me inspiration during the day.
Staying excited about a manuscript for a long period time can sometimes be hard. Special projects help a great deal.
Sheila A. Nielson
Thanks for the support! And for your kind words. The moment there are any details to share about future and forthcoming books written by me, I will post them both here and on my Facebook page. So make sure to follow me so you don't miss out.
Sheila A. Nielson
Thanks for your kind message! It is wonderful readers like you that make it so writers like me will never stop writing. I actually have a book manuscript out making the rounds with publishers right now. I have another manuscript that will be going out sometime in the next couple months. It is really close to being finished. I also have a third manuscript which I just started writing the rough draft for. So there are plenty more stories. Whether or not they get published depends on if I can get a publishing house to purchase the rights to those stories. Books that can't find a publisher to take them on are the ones that never get seen by the public. So keep your fingers crossed for me.
Sheila A. Nielson
I saw an news article about a very strange and unusual thing that had occurred recently. So strange that if I had come up with a story about something like that happening--people would have said, that would never happen in real life. But this really had happened, and it inspired me to write a whole book about a similar occurrence. And if anybody tells me that could never really happen--I now have proof that it actually could.
Sheila A. Nielson
Each character was created in a different way. Some had elements of real people here and there--others just came to life as the story and their part in it progressed. Getting to know a character in a story is a lot like getting to know a new friend. The more you hang around with them, the better you get to know their personality and how they would react in each situation. For Forbidden Sea I also drew sketches of the main characters which helped me to visualize and understand them better. I also created a music soundtrack with songs that represented each character. When I'd write a scene with that character, I would play their song.
Sheila A. Nielson
I am currently working on a sequel to my mermaid book, Forbidden Sea. For those who wanted to know more about the mysterious and handsome Sea Prince--this is the book for you. It will be released sometime later this year. Check out my author page for more details as they become available!
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