Ask the Author: Tanya Sousa
Answered Questions (10)
Tanya Sousa
If I told you, I'd have to tie you up and keep you in my basement. ;-) After all, there might REALLY BE a good plot for a book in there, and it would be a shame to see someone else write it!
Tanya Sousa
I would love to go to Narnia and simply travel around meeting people (I include talking animals in that category), tasting the amazing foods, and feeling the "magic".
Tanya Sousa
Oh, my answer is going to be boring! LOL Always and forever, it will be Ms. Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy. Why? Because they overcome misunderstandings, social standing, and more to be together. I love happy endings. I dislike stories that are so "real" they make me feel as if I've simply taken a walk into another dirty reality. This romance lifts me and takes me away. The story, and the two characters, make me feel that all things ARE possible. I need that.
Tanya Sousa
I honestly don't have a favorite. I adore starlings for their pluck and intelligence. The way they succeed despite any odds is almost human-like (which is probably why so many humans dislike them, ironically!). I love the mourning doves for their zen-like attitudes and their deep connections to each other. I adore the American robin because they are so no-nonsense and lively too. Cedar waxwings are so apart from humans unlike the others I list. They are ghost-like in a sense - coming in a quick mass to pick a berry bush clean and then disappearing from view. For years, growing up, I didn't even know there were such things as cedar waxwings as they were so shy and didn't come to feeders. Crows are magnificent - as are all corvids… Oh, I could go on and on. The birds I liked least for years were the raptors everyone else seems so crazy about. Then one day I came to the aide of an osprey wounded by a cruel person's gun. I waded into the swamp to retrieve him, and after an initial struggle to get away, he relaxed and gazed into my eyes with his own - those deep golden eyes - and I felt like my soul was searched in a way I'd never experienced before. He didn't stare, his eyes moved across mine and really "searched". Looking for my intentions? I don't know, but it changed my feeling towards raptors overall. Long answer to a short question! Ha-ha-ha!
Tanya Sousa
Sometimes I just have to wait it out and do some other things. I find if I don't push it and indulge in other things that relax and revitalize me, my brain and creativity loosen up again on their own.
Tanya Sousa
The best things (plural) about being a writer are having a flexible schedule and the amazing feeling of having characters become alive - so alive they nearly tell you want they are going to do next rather than the other way around. :-). Birthing these new lives is spectacular.
Tanya Sousa
Write what you are passionate about and develop your own voice. It is important to read a lot and practice other people's styles when you're a young or beginning author, but at some point you need to pull away from the pack and just do your own thing without allowing yourself to be distracted from the growth of your own style. Once you feel comfortable in your own writing skin, then you can venture out again and tweak your work based on things you read and feel are exciting other styles. That's not a common bit of advice and probably flies in the face of what most people say, but it's worked for me.
Tanya Sousa
I always work on several kinds of projects at the same time. I'm working hard on promoting The Starling God (because promotion is a huge part of writing as well!), I write various articles all the time, so those are ongoing - and I'm in the process of researching/percolating three different novel ideas. They are all hugely different from each other, and I'm waiting to see which one jockeys to the top of the "write now" pile. I'm feeling the urge to decide soon.
Tanya Sousa
I spend time in nature. I research and read about the topic or characters I'm thinking of writing about. When things have percolated long enough, I picture myself looking very professional and inspired and working at my laptop! Imagining it gets the gears turning in a similar way to how watching a food commercial can make a person hungry.
Tanya Sousa
The Starling God is my most recent book, and the idea was sparked by observing birds and thinking about how we behave towards them. I watched birds act like they were peeking into my windows as they were feeding - occasionally saw single birds of differing kinds together for extended periods of time as if they were having a conversation or meeting. Then I thought about the orphaned or injured birds who are taken in by rehabilitators. What must they think? What do they "tell" others when they're released or re-released? The "What must they think of us" really loomed in my mind. I started thinking about all the things humans do - how we manipulate the environment around us - and imagined what it must seem like to other species not understanding our language and our ways. A book was born!
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