Goodreads asked Lea Beall:

What’s your advice for aspiring writers?

Lea Beall Write with your heart and don't be afraid of critics. Don't be too harsh with yourself or take yourself too seriously.
(That doesn't mean you don't need an editor)!!
Write because you love it and don't take advantage of your reader. He might not pick up your next book!
I think a writer should be trying to share something important, even if it's a laugh, or creating an escape from the world for a moment.
I think fantasy is vital to the human spirit. It is a temporary escape. I think that's why God gave us dreams.
That's not to say that writing cannot be didactic and we certainly need historians that can recount biographies accurately. That is an art in itself.
Now Patches is probably not in the accurate historian department. You might even call him an unreliable narrator!
But I love the character I created in him: a rather overconfident persona, who thinks he can't err and yet does so regularly! A dog who loves and tolerates his owners in spite of their failure to understand true nature of doghood.
I think an author should understand and love his characters, as if he knows them personally. Of course, a writer can create an evil character, but he should love the creating of the character. If I don't know my character, the character won't, um, stay in character!

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