Ask the Author: Nan Sampson
Answered Questions (10)
Nan Sampson
This is something I am just now looking into. The hardest part is finding a good narrator! I will keep you posted. Thanks for letting me know this is something folks are interested in.
Nan Sampson
Hi Kristi! I have a dear friend who lives in Southwestern Wisconsin and I visit frequently. I absolutely love the hills and bluffs and rolling green pastureland that I see on my way up there. And the people are so friendly! Plus... there's cheese! Lots and lots of cheese! :)
Nan Sampson
Oh wow. That's a toughie. So many to choose from. I guess if I choose from books, I'd pick either Vicky Bliss and John Smythe or Amelia Peabody and Emerson, both by Elizabeth Peters. Both couples are both passionate and yet practical about their limitations as people and as a couple. If I choose from a movie, it would be Isabela and Navarre from Lady Hawke. Oh SO romantic. Love can survive no matter what the obstacle in that story. Yes, I'm an incorrigible romantic!
Nan Sampson
So glad you asked! Book #2 will be coming out in May! If you'don't like, hop on over to my blog and sign up for email, and I can let you know when pre-orders start!
Nan Sampson
Inspiration can come from anywhere - a snippet of an overheard conversation, a dream, an odd image. But my biggest inspiration has always been music. I'll hear a song and a scene or character will form in my mind. I listen to a lot of instrumental music, and songs by David Arkenstone, Chris Spheeris and David Lanz have been instrumental - heh heh - in inspiring some of my favorite written moments.
Nan Sampson
Actually, the idea for the murder in the upcoming Ellie Gooden mystery (Office Heretics, coming late spring), was inspired by my Evil Day Job. There was a person I used to work with who used to make me want to murder them. And voila! Just goes to show you, be careful when you anger a mystery writer. You may wind up as a victim in their next book!
Nan Sampson
Oh my. I've got a lot of irons in the fire at the moment. I fully admit to being very ADD when it comes to writing. I have the first book in a steam punk series that I'll be completing the first draft of in April. Then in July, I'll be starting on the third book in the Ellie Gooden mystery series. This time Ellie and crew will be in the Wisconsin Dells (what, your family vacations don't come complete with dead bodies?) And in November, Gods willing and the river don't rise, I'll be working on a fantasy series.
Nan Sampson
Just. Keep. Writing. Everyday. Every day. Every. Day. Was it Heinlein who said your first million words are crap? I used to have a heck of a hard time finishing things. But you can't possibly make something better if you never finish it. Make sure you're writing what you love, what you're passionate about. Don't let others tell you what you "should" be writing.
Nan Sampson
Um... getting to go to work in my bunny slippers? :)
Seriously though, wardrobe issues aside, the best thing is being able to create worlds you want to live in. I would be in hog heaven if I could just move to Horizon, Wisconsin! Or live at the Inn at the Crossroads (a location in my Gatekeeper's Saga fantasy series, coming soon!). I LOVE world building.
And my characters are my best friends and favorite family members. I'm sure the nurses in the old folks home will be driven insane by my constant conversations with all my imaginary friends (characters). I swear sometimes they're more real to me than the folks I see every day at the Evil Day Job!
Seriously though, wardrobe issues aside, the best thing is being able to create worlds you want to live in. I would be in hog heaven if I could just move to Horizon, Wisconsin! Or live at the Inn at the Crossroads (a location in my Gatekeeper's Saga fantasy series, coming soon!). I LOVE world building.
And my characters are my best friends and favorite family members. I'm sure the nurses in the old folks home will be driven insane by my constant conversations with all my imaginary friends (characters). I swear sometimes they're more real to me than the folks I see every day at the Evil Day Job!
Nan Sampson
Sometimes, it's just a matter of using some good old butt glue. For me, I find a lot of my resistance comes from all the other things I "should" be doing. Cleaning house, focusing on the Evil Day Job, walking the dog. Comes from my good old Protestant Work Ethic, and the fact that until recently, I haven't really made my writing a real priority. That's a mind set I'm working to change.
Other times, if I find I'm resisting working on something, it's because I know I've taken a wrong turn - that something is wrong and I'm headed down a path away from where the story needs to go. If a character is steadfastly refusing to take a course of action, and I get stuck, I find that if I examine the story carefully (and often, have a heart to heart with the character), I can usually spot the place where I went off the rails. The good part is that this will typically get me unstuck. The bad part of course, is that I may end up ripping out a good deal of work. Always painful!
I wills ay that when I make the effort to write every day (except for weekends - I give myself weekends off), then the writing does flow more easily. It's when I'm sporadic about it, that getting blocked tends to happen.
Other times, if I find I'm resisting working on something, it's because I know I've taken a wrong turn - that something is wrong and I'm headed down a path away from where the story needs to go. If a character is steadfastly refusing to take a course of action, and I get stuck, I find that if I examine the story carefully (and often, have a heart to heart with the character), I can usually spot the place where I went off the rails. The good part is that this will typically get me unstuck. The bad part of course, is that I may end up ripping out a good deal of work. Always painful!
I wills ay that when I make the effort to write every day (except for weekends - I give myself weekends off), then the writing does flow more easily. It's when I'm sporadic about it, that getting blocked tends to happen.
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