Ask the Author: Jennifer Sowle
Answered Questions (5)
Jennifer Sowle
Just write! It doesn't need to be perfect. The rewriting will come later, believe me.
Jennifer Sowle
Boy, I've had writer's block off and on for some years now. But maybe it's really procrastination, ;-) You simply have to sit down at some point, during each day, and write something, even if it is one sentence, one fragment of thought that you've had about your current plot, characters, etc. And if you're not feeling really creative, then do some of the background research that goes into most novels. Just don't do only research, and not writing (kind of like me right now...). And if you have serious block, it's okay; let it go for a few days and I bet you'll suddenly be inspired again. Your mind will have worked out the problem, and away you'll go.
Jennifer Sowle
Different things inspire different people to write. In my case, it can be a beautiful phrase in a book that I'm reading; I'll think, "That's a stunning image!" Then I'll try to create my own stunning images as I write (and rewrite and rewrite). I can also be inspired to write by a moving story on the news or in an article, or by suddenly thinking, "What if..." and coming up with fantastic scenarios (again, the rewriting of these will always occur); I can also be inspired just by seeing a gorgeous sunset.
Jennifer Sowle
I'm currently working on the seventh novel in my Animal Guild series, which may or may not be the last, as well as working on the first novel of a concomitant series. This concurrent novel will be about a group of (human) kids involved in adventure and magic, that will segue into the Animal Guild world in some weird and intriguing ways. Ambitious, I know. We'll see... But the characters have their own stories to tell, and I try not to get in their way. :-)
Jennifer Sowle
My most recent book is really the 4+ books of the series that I started writing when I was 13 years old. I grew up in southern California, with desert chaparral on one side and ocean on the other, like living between two worlds. The daughter of a scientist and an artist, the imagery of different worlds found its way into my childhood writings and continues today. My young-adult fantasy series The Animal Guild combines the rich "reality" of the California geography with the fantasy of animals living in that geography in secret societies, having adventures that stray into the realm of magic.
The plots of The Animal Guild Series have borne many revisions over the years (I won't say how many years, but the key word is "many"). The first four books in the series—The Animal Guild, Monsters in the Territory, The Marrhob War, and The Nhorn—are available, and several other novels will be published in the future. While The Animal Guild is a self-contained book, the trio of Monsters in the Territory, The Marrhob War and The Nhorn are a trilogy within the series, complete with cliff-hanger endings. The plot in these books veers toward the fantastic, but the crux is the bond between the two main characters, Corto (a dog) and Renard (a fox), their loyalty to their friends, their sacrifices, their teamwork, and their tolerance toward those who are different.
The plots of The Animal Guild Series have borne many revisions over the years (I won't say how many years, but the key word is "many"). The first four books in the series—The Animal Guild, Monsters in the Territory, The Marrhob War, and The Nhorn—are available, and several other novels will be published in the future. While The Animal Guild is a self-contained book, the trio of Monsters in the Territory, The Marrhob War and The Nhorn are a trilogy within the series, complete with cliff-hanger endings. The plot in these books veers toward the fantastic, but the crux is the bond between the two main characters, Corto (a dog) and Renard (a fox), their loyalty to their friends, their sacrifices, their teamwork, and their tolerance toward those who are different.
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