Ask the Author: Bobbie Groth
Answered Questions (6)
Bobbie Groth
The short answer is: I get inspired to write by life. I love weird news articles, weird gossip, and weird history. I love weird old buildings and weirdly awesome folklore--all of these things inspire me to write, trying to start from that little grain of an idea and expand it into a whole person, or a whole life.
Bobbie Groth
Currently I am poised to upload the second book of The Saga of the Heroine--the story of Ronnat Rua which begins with my recent publication DOG MAIDEN MOONS--to Amazon, and have the third book waiting in the wings as well. At the same time I am working on the final touches to a historical novel concerning the life and adventures of an abolitionist in the American Civil War period.
Bobbie Groth
The only advice I have is to write, keep on writing, and don't let anyone else stop you from writing: find opportunities to share your work with others--not just in writer's groups, but also in volunteering to write pieces for newsletters and small venues that may not pay, but can give you good experience in polishing your pieces for the world at large.
Bobbie Groth
Hands down, the best thing for me about being a writer is that it fits in just about anywhere, and it lets you live several lives in addition to your own. I've had a habit of writing things down since I first began to write, (hence, at busy mother/work time I could still gather writing ideas and information) and carrying a little notebook everywhere (nowadays it's more likely to be my iPhone) lets me save all those interesting bits I've run across. When I have the time to write, I often choose to write about things that give me a doorway into another life--and in doing so, I live another life with them.
Bobbie Groth
Tired, grouchy, overstressed, distracted, not really clear about how I feel on an issue, intimidated by saying something edgy, and "just can't get going" are only a few of the things that give me writer's block. So, if I'm tired, I sleep. If I'm grouchy I take a nice long walk--preferably under trees or along bodies of water, or treat myself to something good to eat, or watch a ridiculous movie, or listen to my favorite Youtube comedians. If I'm overstressed I cancel things and pamper myself--a hot bath or long shower, playing on Facebook, doing Sudoku forever, attending a concert, or just going to a bookstore and sitting there sipping my macha green tea almond milk latte and looking at whatever I want to. If I'm too distracted, I carve some alone-time--either with my dogs, taking a walk or sitting and petting and talking to them for a long time, or in the worst cases, without my dogs if they are the main reason I am distracted; if what's distracting me is a dreaded task, I just go do it. If I'm stuck on an issue I spend time with one of my wild women--the one most likely to be able to talk frankly about whatever it is I'm stuck on. I'm a firm believer in "good friends make good writers." If I'm intimidated about writing about something edgy, I'll often take it to several different people who I know have different points of view, and ask them how they would handle it--I usually come away feeling very freed-up to do it the way my instincts first told me to. If I "just can't get going" here are a few things I use over and over again: 1. I clean (which I hate, so it gives me a lot of inspiration so I can stop doing it). 2. Do the hardest thing FIRST. Often, I can't get started because I am dreading one particular thing about what I have to write. If I do it first, it generally unplugs the waterfall--and I can go back later to rewrite that part. 3. I write a letter to my Mom about it, explaining the writing I need to do to her, and some of the ideas I've had on how to do it. My Mom passed away in 2012, so in my mind she has a certain cosmic objectivity that I find helpful in getting me thinking about the big picture of what I'm writing, and that generally gives me a good starting point for either fiction or non-fiction. Writer's block is awful! Almost all of us get it from time to time. When I look over what I just wrote, I realize most of my fixes involve me getting ACTIVE, so I guess that's my general solution when I'm stuck!
Bobbie Groth
I wanted to write a book about a culture that was peaceful--rather than competitive or warlike. I found models for that culture when I read Lithuanian anthropologist and archaeologist Marija Gimbuta's works on her findings on the ancient woman-centered religions of Europe. I made my protagonist female, basing her personality on my own memories of childhood and strong girls and women I have known. Then I chose my time period as the one which seemed to have many cultures which encouraged strength in women--the time when people were just beginning to add gardening to hunting and gathering with stone and wood tools. Then, to flesh out my culture I added in what I knew from my own artistic interests, my lifelong love of folk culture in Scandinavia and the islands off Ireland and Scotland, and the memories I had of traveling to those places.
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