Ask the Author: Sue Fagalde Lick
Answered Questions (8)
Sue Fagalde Lick
I'm planning to meander through whatever books appeal to me. Right now, I'm reading Elderwoman, a guide for women like me of a certain age. I've got Jody Picoult's Mercy coming up next. After that, we'll see. I'm on a quest to read or get rid of the many books piled up to be read.
Sue Fagalde Lick
I love that I don't have to trapped at a desk or workstation in a building all day, that I can use my time as I choose. I love it when people read what I write, especially if they like it. But the best part for me is having a place to put my feelings, observations and experiences. I don't know how regular people who don't write stand it!
Sue Fagalde Lick
I have to say the same thing Stephen King said in his book On Writing. Write a lot and read a lot. Also, don't expect to get rich any time soon. Write, study your craft, rewrite, revise, study the market, submit, then write something new. Ignore all the fools who say you're wasting your time. It's not about money or prestige--although most of us want both. It's about capturing your view of the world in words. There's a lot to capture, so click off the Internet and get to work.
Sue Fagalde Lick
Gil, your art is beautiful. I really like it, but it's overwhelming the writing part of your website. On the home page, the first impression is great, but then the giant picture of the Madonna covers some of the words and overwhelms the information about the book. You need to make it smaller or take it out. The art slide show that follows is so eye-catching it takes my attention away from the words. Then the ocean scene is so large, and it's not clear that it goes with the poem that follows. I would suggest putting most of the art on a separate portfolio page, so that you can make your writing stand out more. On the "about" page, we have the same problem of more art than writing information. Also, there are many errors in the text. If you're trying to make a good impression as a writer, your text needs to be error-free. On the plus side, when I looked at your site on my phone, things lined up much better. Overall, if your site is about writing, you have to de-emphasize the art and put the reader's attention on the writing.
Sue Fagalde Lick
I'm never working on just one thing. I recently completed a new novel, Being PD, for which I am seeking a publisher. It's about a young widow who wanders west to start a new life on the Oregon coast and pursue her dream of being a singer. But things happen, including an earthquake and tsunami. I'm also working on a memoir I'm calling Alzheimered: He's Demented, She's a Little Nuts, and The Dogs are All Little Marleys. The challenge is to shape more than a thousand pages of notes into a reasonable-sized book. In addition, I'm always dabbling with poems, essays and other writing projects.
Sue Fagalde Lick
Inspiration comes from everywhere: a memory, a word, a person I see walking down the street. Whenever an idea strikes me, I write it down so I have something to work with when I sit down at my desk. If it's just not flowing, I walk away for awhile. This morning, feeling sleepy and blocked, I took a break to bake a coffeecake. While I was busy mixing flour and eggs, I started thinking about something that happened recently and that led me to an idea for my blog. Before I put the cake in the oven, I ran to my computer and started typing.
Sue Fagalde Lick
Childless by Marriage came out of my own life. When I first got the idea, I was working on a book about Portuguese-American women (Stories Grandma Never Told). That one had come out of my realization that my Portuguese background played an important role in who I was and what I did in my life. In a similar way, I realized my childlessness made me different from most other women.
At the time I started research for this book, my childless state was very much on my mind. Married twice, with three stepchildren but no children of my own, I saw the doors closing forever on my chances to be a mom. I grieved the loss and felt the world was constantly reminding me that I was different. I found very few books about childlessness and none that addressed my particular situation. Most focused on infertility. A few were about people who consciously chose not to have children. My situation was different. I was childless not because I didn’t want children or because I was unable to have them, but because my husbands didn’t want to have babies. I soon discovered I wasn’t alone. I needed to tell our story about what it’s really like to be childless by marriage. It took many years to get it published, but I’m glad I did it. The thousands of people who have read and commented at my Childless by Marriage blog show that this is a subject that needs to be addressed.
At the time I started research for this book, my childless state was very much on my mind. Married twice, with three stepchildren but no children of my own, I saw the doors closing forever on my chances to be a mom. I grieved the loss and felt the world was constantly reminding me that I was different. I found very few books about childlessness and none that addressed my particular situation. Most focused on infertility. A few were about people who consciously chose not to have children. My situation was different. I was childless not because I didn’t want children or because I was unable to have them, but because my husbands didn’t want to have babies. I soon discovered I wasn’t alone. I needed to tell our story about what it’s really like to be childless by marriage. It took many years to get it published, but I’m glad I did it. The thousands of people who have read and commented at my Childless by Marriage blog show that this is a subject that needs to be addressed.
Sue Fagalde Lick
I find that it’s not so much that I can’t write as that I’m not sure what to write. I’m really not afraid of the blank page. After all, if my first words don’t work, I can cross them out or delete them and start over. But sometimes I don’t know where to start or which project to work on. Lists, pieces, and the kitchen timer get me past the writing block. Ideally, at the end of a writing day, I make a list of what I’m going to do at my next session. Then all I have to do is start at the top of the list. If project seems so big, I don’t know how to tackle it, I break it into pieces, assuring myself I don’t have to know how to do the whole thing right now. I can just write one scene or one section of an article or just try to write one stanza of a poem. And then there’s the kitchen timer. If I just can’t make myself write, I set the timer for 15 minutes and tell myself I just have to write that long. Then if it still isn’t working, I can quit. Ninety-nine percent of the time, when the timer buzzes, I turn it off and keep writing.
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