Ask the Author: Susan Roberts
Answered Questions (7)
Susan Roberts
I don't differentiate between summer and winter reading lists, I enjoy good books at any time of the year because I read all year long. My favourite reading is always something which is slightly historical and I especially enjoy books with dual timelines - a modern-day heroine trying to solve a mystery from history. I prefer standalone books, but I also enjoy books that are part of a series, as long as they don't have to be read chronologically. I'm constantly on the lookout for new books from my favourite authors, including Kerry Greenwood, Alexander McCall Smith and Kate Quinn.
Susan Roberts
I don't really get this because I don't have time. There's always another blog to be written and more research to be done on something else. Plus I work a full-time job in theatre so my writing moments are a snatched luxury and there are loads of notes in my notebook to be implemented when I get a chance. I don't worry much when the ideas for my next novel are not forthcoming because I have two trunk novels that I dig out every now and then. I try to rework one or the other, but they are both so awful that whatever I next dream up is always better than re-writing them. Who knows, though? They may both get published one day but I doubt it.
Susan Roberts
There are so many great things about being a writer, but perhaps the best is that I don't have to feel frustrated or angry - even at everyday banalities. I no longer go home thinking "I wish I'd said that" or "Why didn't I think of that?" Now I can turn life's disappointments into something positive. That snooty shop assistant, some petty bureaucrat and your mean ex-boyfriend can all get their comeuppance in your writing and that's a great feeling because you didn't have to hurt anyone and your blood pressure stays normal!
Susan Roberts
Writing is both an art and a craft. To feed the artist: read a lot, watch movies and never stop daydreaming or collecting ideas. To perfect the craft: read as many books on writing as you can find, do the exercises in them and brush up on your grammar. Start a daily journal and write anything - any nonsense that comes into your head at whatever time of the day you do it best - in order to get yourself thinking in sentences. Write your first novel and then bury it in a trunk and write something better. Bury the second novel in the same trunk and write the third. Trust me - the third will be so much better! (You can always dig out those first two and re-work them later.) Don't be discouraged if you can't find an agent or a publisher; there are other ways to get your work out there. Be patient and always take care of the details.
Susan Roberts
Final edits on my long-awaited fourth book, as well as reading and researching for my next project which hasn't quite taken shape yet. In between I keep busy with three blogs that I contribute to.
Susan Roberts
I never stop daydreaming. I carry a notebook and jot down ideas or things that happen which spark my imagination. When I was growing up, my father's hobby was making amateur movies and we all chimed in with ideas. Where other families might have seen something and talked about "Kodak moments" we had our own catchphrase: "That would make a good movie!" The movies didn't all get made, but that never stopped the ideas building up and today I still habitually collect them.
Susan Roberts
Same place as always - from the jumble inside my head. My ideas are all triggered by a place I've visited or a piece of history that interests me. It can be an event like the Trojan War or a single artwork I've seen. In my most recent book it was my first visit to Australia, combined with an idea I had thought up some years before.
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