Chloe Testa asked G.K. Parks:

What's been the hardest part (so far) in your writing and publishing journey?

G.K. Parks I would say there are two equally difficult aspects to writing/publishing.

The first is not basing the worth of my writing on sales or reviews. Those are both factors completely outside of my control, and things that no writer should dwell on. What we do is create. We can control the world we write about, but we can't control any of the outside forces. That being said, I'm still learning how to let both good and bad reviews/sales roll off my back without having some type of emotional response to them because that's a rollercoaster of a ride that hurts productivity and detracts from time better spent writing.

The second hardest part to writing is finding a balance. Writing is all consuming. Even when I'm not typing away at the keyboard or rereading and editing a manuscript for the hundredth time, the storyline and character voices never stop playing through my head. While I'm doing other things, I'll suddenly realize how to improve a particular area of dialogue or decide what should happen next. Sometimes it's difficult not to drop everything and retreat to the laptop to continue writing. As far as I can tell, there's no off switch which is good and bad, I suppose. Writing is something I love, but it can interfere with time that might otherwise be spent with family and friends.

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