The Page Turners discussion

Our next Q&A is with Julie Tetel Andresen, author of MacLaurin's Lady.

Here is the synopsis:
Intrigue and adventure beckoned all who dared to enter the enchanted Castle Cairn . . .

But little did Elizabeth Cameron suspect that its winding passages also guarded the secrets to her own mysterious past. And would lead her to her one true love.

Ian MacLaurin had come to the Highlands to put to rest the demons of his youth. But the great stone walls of his ancestral home seemed unwilling to cooperate, until they drew him into the embrace of a most unlikely siren . . . the bewitching Elizabeth Cameron.

Please post questions by the 3 of November.

How did you begin to write?

Who inspires you to write?

What advice do you have for future writers?

How often do you write?

What is your favorite part if having a book published?

Do you ever get writers block? And if you do, how do you overcome it?

How did you come up with the idea to write MacLaurin's Lady?

Here are Ms. Andresen's responses!

Goodread Profile: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...

Thank you so much for asking the questions you sent JKS Communications. I have separated them into two categories: i) the ones directed toward me personally as a writer; and ii) the ones about the writing process and tips for future writers. I am particularly devoted to telling future writers what I’ve learned along the way because it is so wonderful to share my experience and to encourage others. I vividly remember all the difficulties and loneliness and insecurity I had early on and even sometimes still have, even after twenty years of writing on a nearly daily basis.

I separated the Q&As in case you want to put them up in two different places or installments or whatever.

I. Julie the Writer

1. How did you begin to write?

I began to write fiction at the same time I began to write my PhD dissertation in linguistics. A fellow graduate student lent me Georgette Heyer’s Cotillion. I ate it up! It reminded me of the kinds of stories I liked to read and that I had given up reading some years earlier when I thought I was supposed to read “better” fiction. The thing was, I had always had romantic stories in my head, and I would tell them to myself as I was going to sleep at night. I thought everyone did that, so I didn’t think there was anything else I supposed to do with those stories. However, when I encountered Heyer’s work as a young adult, I realized there was actually a genre out there for me, one that fit with my imagination. Encountering Heyer’s work gave me permission to write down my own stories.

2. What inspires you to write?

Getting up in the morning is pretty much the only inspiration I need. That and iced tea.

Another way to answer the question is by saying that I have these stories in my head, and they clog my brain until I write them down. So my inspiration to write is to get rid of the stories. It’s like a relief. As I’ve just said, it took me a long time to figure out that the only way to stop the stories looping through my brain is to tell them “out loud,” to put them into words (Thank you, Georgette Heyer!), which then makes space for the next story to come into my head.

It still sometimes takes me longer than it should to put pen to paper (fingers to keyboard). For instance, this past spring, I had a particular scene in my head. That was it, only one scene, and it didn’t seem connected to a bigger story. I don’t write short stories, so it didn’t occur to me to write this scene down. But there it was in my head every time I put my head to the pillow at night. Sometimes it would be there during the day, too. So finally I decided to write it down just to release it, figuring I would then throw it in the wastebasket. When I started out, I imagined it would be twenty pages, tops. But it turned out to be sixty pages (even my short stories are apparently on the long side). I must say that I had a ball writing it and ended up loving it! It’s an erotic gothic mystery that unfolds in one long scene, half from the hero’s POV, the other from the heroine’s. It entitled The Wedding Night, and my graphic designer did a lovely job dressing it up.

Check it out. I put it up for free at my website: http://julietetelandresen.com

The weird thing is, I’ve had another scene in my head for the last several months that I really don’t know what to do with. For some reason, I can’t think how or why I should write it down. It’s a puzzle.

3. What is your favorite part of having a book published?

What an intriguing question. I’ve never thought about it before. I don’t even have a ready answer. The first thing that comes to mind is: I love seeing what the designer does for the book cover. Another thing that comes to mind is: working with an editor. I love when an editor gets inside my story and sees what is and isn’t working.

Toni Morrison was an editor at Random House before she became a writer and a Pulitzer Prize and Noble Prize winner. She once said that her job as an editor was to get inside a manuscript and improve it without leaving her fingerprints. Now, that is talent. So I think working with a talented editor has to be the best!

4. How did you come up with the idea to write MacLaurin’s Lady?

I knew I wanted to set a story in Scotland – hey, men in kilts, and all that. I also like to play around with “bookishness,” so I made the heroine a member of a historical society. The story is set at one of the society’s meetings, and the setting meant that books in general – and one book in particular – would be crucial to the plot, which turned around questions of genealogy. The meeting takes place in an old castle, and somehow the castle came alive as I was writing about it. Suddenly a slightly magical element entered the story, and I went with it.

After having so much fun with MacLaurin’s Lady, I took the idea of the magical element further and finally, finally wrote out a story whose central scene had been stuck in my head for years. The plot revolved around the idea of reincarnation – I mean, what better purpose does fiction serve than to explore such a topic? – and it eventually became my first time-slip novel, The Blue Hour. After that, I wrote two more time-slips. I get a great kick out of exploiting the magical possibilities of fiction – unless you believe reincarnation isn’t magical but actually exists. I would love to think so!

II. Julie’s Advice to Future Writers

i. Find a writer whose work you admire and study how that writer structures scenes and plots, makes transitions, handles dialogue and characterization, and anything else you can think of. Do not try to imitate what that writer does. Come to understand it and creatively adapt it to your work and your voice.

ii. Honor your creativity. It is not silly or shameful to want to be a writer. This means being true to yourself. When you have honored your creativity and been true to yourself as a writer, you have probably produced something I would want to read.

iii. Be kind to yourself as a beginner. Maybe you will hit your story/novel out of the park on your first try (and lucky you), but mostly you will write drivel. It’s okay. George Gershwin said, “I write 6 songs a day just to get rid of the bad ones.” Allow yourself to get rid of the bad pages/stories/novels. My first novel ended in the wastebasket, a homely, unshapely mess. As they say in Russian: “The first pancake is never good.” Throw out your bad writing and celebrate the fact that you’re getting the first duds over with!

Also be kind to yourself when you are more experienced. The surest way to be kind to yourself is to be true to your vision. You will know when you have brought your true vision to the page. Whether anyone else likes it or not is not your problem.

iv. There is no such thing as writer’s block. It took me 10 years of writing before I could formulate the idea that writing is an aerobic activity. There is such a thing as being in writing shape. I remember when I first began writing, I would spend maybe 5 or 6 hours on perhaps 2 paragraphs, and at the end of the day, not only were the paragraphs bad but I was also exhausted by the effort. I clearly wasn’t in shape. You don’t just tie on a pair of running shoes and go out and run a marathon. You have to be in running shape, just like you have to be in writing shape.

So, to me writing is like breathing. There is no such thing as a breathing block – except for asthma or having a panic attack, I suppose. For writers, there is only being in writing shape – or not. If a writer is feeling asthmatic – to continue my analogy of the breathing block – then I would suggest the writer read his or her favorite books. Use them as inhalers, opening up the airways. Reading is always a remedy for whatever is ailing a writer. In my case, so is taking a walk.

I live by Fred Astaire’s motto: “If I don’t dance one day, I notice it. If I don’t dance two days in a row, my audience notices it. If I don’t dance three days in a row, I should get another job.” Fred Astaire was in some pretty good dancing shape.

v. Get used to being in the saddle (at your desk).

vi. Read The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. Seriously, read it.

vii. Surround yourself with people who support you and your work. This means that you have to be equally supportive of whatever they do, in return.

viii. Say what you write out loud. Hear how it sounds.

ix. Always, always work with an editor and a copyeditor. They have complementary talents to yours, and you need them.

x. Remember that many wonderful writers have day jobs. They may have them for any number of reasons, one of which may be that their day job feeds rather than saps their creativity (as is the case for me). Another reason may be they need the money. It is always helpful to have food on the table and a roof over your head. However, if you find you need more time to write and want to spend less time at a day job, then here is my advice: There are two ways to be rich: have a lot of money or want less. So, want less and write more.