Ask the Author: Lyz Russo
Answered Questions (11)
Lyz Russo
This is a hard question for me, emotionally.
I have been asked to write about what happened to us in South Africa. I'm not sure that I will, on its own. But I've been considering writing about my soulmate Iain, because simply from the point of view of a varied life and interesting character, he was unique. He lived larger than life and died a hero. His life story is would inspire and give people hope.
I have been asked to write about what happened to us in South Africa. I'm not sure that I will, on its own. But I've been considering writing about my soulmate Iain, because simply from the point of view of a varied life and interesting character, he was unique. He lived larger than life and died a hero. His life story is would inspire and give people hope.
Lyz Russo
:) It is in honour of my friend Noko, who has an amazing sense of humour and would love a blue yacht (he also named the yacht of Captain Ali - Ali being short for Albert). Noko will know the connection with Captain Ali... (it's an interesting question, actually! I'd be curious to know what caused you to ask...)
In South Africa, the Africans of Gen X and older had the habit of taking a "white" first name alongside their birth name. I suspect it is because such a lot of school teachers and employers, who were at the time mostly white (this was pre 1994), couldn't pronounce the African names (sheer laziness where I'm concerned, people can grow up and learn to pronounce names from other cultures. No judgement... ).
Ali Hlabane has a cameo appearance really, in Solar Wind 1, we meet him again briefly in one of the sequels, but the connection to Federi is never really explained in the Solar Winds. He first meets Federi in Durban during Federi's teenage years. The Prequel "Southern Free" is also half-written, hovering waiting for me to return to writing...
In South Africa, the Africans of Gen X and older had the habit of taking a "white" first name alongside their birth name. I suspect it is because such a lot of school teachers and employers, who were at the time mostly white (this was pre 1994), couldn't pronounce the African names (sheer laziness where I'm concerned, people can grow up and learn to pronounce names from other cultures. No judgement... ).
Ali Hlabane has a cameo appearance really, in Solar Wind 1, we meet him again briefly in one of the sequels, but the connection to Federi is never really explained in the Solar Winds. He first meets Federi in Durban during Federi's teenage years. The Prequel "Southern Free" is also half-written, hovering waiting for me to return to writing...
Lyz Russo
Aisling locked the doors and windows, hesitantly switched off the lights and went to bed. She never checked inside the wardrobe...
Lyz Russo
New ones, that I don't even know the titles of yet.
Lyz Russo
I'd like to travel to Middle Earth and become a Ranger there. Forever roaming and seeing new places. Bit of elf magic wouldn't hurt either. Or I might apprentice to Gandalf.
Lyz Russo
I don't "do" Writer's Block. Well unless it's a block of paper for me to make notes on. But I do write myself into dead-ends, and then it's a challenge to get out (sometimes it takes erasing some scenes first); and I also find in some stories that I lose interest. This is probably because the story idea wasn't all that fantastic in the first place. Not every little plant must become a tree. If I find that happening, I move on from that story.
To stay inspired it helps to have a lot of other, varied experiences. Look for inspiration. And relax.
To stay inspired it helps to have a lot of other, varied experiences. Look for inspiration. And relax.
Lyz Russo
Aw man! The way a story can take you away into its world, and you can watch it unfold, and go off the rails, and pull a halt to it, and sit your characters down and have that critical conversation with them ("listen, Ailyss, do you really want to continue working for the Unicate? Or do you need to be rescued?"), and erase the bad bits and do it again, this time better, and...
Sometimes, the way you can torture a character to absolute breaking point, and then let something most unusual happen to save their hide.
Sometimes, the way you can torture a character to absolute breaking point, and then let something most unusual happen to save their hide.
Lyz Russo
Three things.
1) to paraphrase the immortal Dexter Yager: "Never let anybody steal your dream."
2) Be prepared to listen to crit. After all we write for our readers. If someone points out a logical hole or a weakness, for heavens' sakes, revise! It can only improve your work. The absolutely best favour someone did me early in the game was to absolutely pick the Solar Wind apart to its bones and drag it through the ditch. Why didn't I just ignore his crit? Because step-by-step, he had a point, and because he (the son of a well-known Scifi writer) headed off his crit with the unforgettable words: "Can write."
3) Edit, edit, edit! A book is not a Manga painting; not editing a book is the same as not practicing for a concert. Editing refines the work. Your first draft is even in the best cases in such a way that you'll be embarrassed to re-read it yourself, two years down the line. So, edit! And get a professional editor. You won't regret it.
1) to paraphrase the immortal Dexter Yager: "Never let anybody steal your dream."
2) Be prepared to listen to crit. After all we write for our readers. If someone points out a logical hole or a weakness, for heavens' sakes, revise! It can only improve your work. The absolutely best favour someone did me early in the game was to absolutely pick the Solar Wind apart to its bones and drag it through the ditch. Why didn't I just ignore his crit? Because step-by-step, he had a point, and because he (the son of a well-known Scifi writer) headed off his crit with the unforgettable words: "Can write."
3) Edit, edit, edit! A book is not a Manga painting; not editing a book is the same as not practicing for a concert. Editing refines the work. Your first draft is even in the best cases in such a way that you'll be embarrassed to re-read it yourself, two years down the line. So, edit! And get a professional editor. You won't regret it.
Lyz Russo
Aside from my music studio & getting other authors published, I am writing on the "Shooting Star" series, the follow-up to the "Solar Wind" series. It's a lot of fun, the dynamics are somewhat different and there is a lot more space travel in it than ocean-going stuff.
Lyz Russo
I've been writing since I was 7 or 8. It's part of my identity, my relaxation, and of course it helps having friends and family appreciate the stories. Sometimes I dream an entire story from beginning to end, or the germ of a story.
"Solar Wind" 1 had various such dream-germs, with innocent teens having to escape the authorities being hunted for their lives; with a beautiful red-haired daughter of a Pirate Captain; and on holiday, watching the rainbows in the waves at 4h pm and wishing I were indeed on a ship. But once I started, the characters took over the plot and I couldn't stop.
"Solar Wind" 1 had various such dream-germs, with innocent teens having to escape the authorities being hunted for their lives; with a beautiful red-haired daughter of a Pirate Captain; and on holiday, watching the rainbows in the waves at 4h pm and wishing I were indeed on a ship. But once I started, the characters took over the plot and I couldn't stop.
Lyz Russo
:-) My most recent book is "Arcana", written under the pen-name "gipsika". I delved quite deeply into the workings of Wicca when I was younger, and with Nanowrimo coming up, someone challenging me to participate, I just felt like writing something that plays around with the concepts of Wicca. Arcana also borders on fantasy, it doesn't stay strictly in the realms of Wiccan fiction.
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