Critique_This_WIP

You guys know how much I love to do the author interviews, right? Last week, I reigned in my excitement and gave Margaret a go at it—and she did phenomenally. But this week, we’re going to do things a little differently. Today, I get to interview Margaret! I know, I know—brilliant! So lets get this thing started, shall we?

Courtney: So Margaret, tell us a little about yourself, eh?

Margaret: Well, for my bio I refer you to the link above with my name on it.

Courtney: Easy enough ;) Okay, so now to the interview questions… First off—to pen name, or not to pen name? Which side are you on?

Margaret: I still haven't resolved this question for myself, actually. Because I want to write in several genres, I've been leaning toward using pen names. But honestly, I'm afraid I'll forget who I'm supposed to be. I know. It's sad. The other problem is I don't really like my actual name – It's not snazzy or fun or cool. It sounds like an old lady, not an author you want to read. So I guess I'll have to come up with something that's close to my real name so I won't forget it, but still sounds less granny and more "author."

Courtney: Less granny, huh? Margaret, you crack me up. So, when did you start writing?

Margaret: I started writing when I was a teenager. I wrote the standard angtsy teen poetry and some really crappy short stories. Okay, so the style and form were crappy but there's still a kernel of something good in some of them (and yes, I have saved many of them). Then, sadly, when I graduated high school and went to college my parents discouraged me from pursuing writing as a career because it wasn't "practical" enough and since they were footing the bill for my education, I listened to them. *sigh* I ended up dropping out of college and didn't start writing again until about 5 or 6 years ago when I decided to finish my degree. All those years of aimlessness and when I started writing again it felt like I had finally come home.

Courtney: What’s your favorite genre to write?

Margaret: That's a tough question because I want to write as much of everything as I can. I really like to experiment and try new things. Right now, romance is my favorite because that's what I'm writing. But I think my favorite will always be whatever genre I'm writing at the moment.

Courtney: What’s your favorite genre to read?

Margaret: I don't have a favorite to read because I'll read almost anything. I can tell you my least favorite – horror. I don't like to be frightened or grossed out. Otherwise, I'll read anything else.

Courtney: *snorts* I love horror stories—and movies! Okay, so here have some of you best ideas come from? (dreams, real life, music, tv, books, etc…)

Margaret: All of the above! I've always got my senses on high alert looking for ideas from any possible situation or medium. As it turns out, my Hubby is an awesome idea man, too. We often have really productive brainstorming sessions. He's working on a physical education degree, but he likes to write too. We work pretty well together and we are pretty good at bouncing ideas off each other.

Courtney: Are you a plotter or a pantser?

Margaret: It depends on the project. The paranormal romance I'm working on now is mostly plotted because it's a 5-novel series I need to have some concept of the overall story and the plot for each individual novel or I'd go insane trying to keep it all straight. The sci-fi adventure/romance I'm working on is, at least so far, completely panster. I have absolutely no idea what's going to happen until I sit down to write on it, and I think that's working well to keep it edgy and fresh.

Courtney: What project or projects are you working on now?

Margaret: Well, I kind of previewed this answer in my answer to question 7! I'm working on a 5-novel series of paranormal romance. I have complete first drafts for 2 of the novels done and I'm in the editing/revision process for book one. I'm hoping to meet with an agent at my next MFA residency in August and I'm crossing my fingers that will go well! My other project is a sci-fi adventure/romance which was generated as part of the creativity workshop I started but had to drop out of because my life is so ridiculously busy I couldn't squeeze in one more thing. So far I'm really liking the sci-fi story. It's totally different from the paranormal romance.

Courtney: Are you published? If so, what is the name of the novel?

Margaret: I don't have any novels published...yet. But I've written a number of short plays and one of my monologues was published in an anthology by the International Center for Women Playwrights. I've also had several of my short plays produced. I know it's not publication, but it's production of something I've written! Live on the stage even!

Courtney: How exciting! Which of your characters do you most relate with (please give a brief explanation of why you relate to him/her)?

Margaret: I think all of my characters have a little piece of me in them, so I guess in that sense I relate to all of them (how's that for a cop-out?!). I have favorites in my series, though. I love Rand because even though he's the bad guy, he's misunderstood. And Dusty is so sweet and funny, but he's in for a huge heartbreak. And Bamboo, of course is my kitty buddy who was named after my actual kitty who recently passed away from kidney cancer. So I have a special place in my heart for him.

Courtney: What’s in a name? Do you spend much time finding your character’s names?

Margaret: Shopping for character names can be both frustrating and fun. Some characters I really don't care about their names, especially if they're secondary or tertiary characters, any name will do. But for other characters, names need to have a certain feel to them. They need to say something about the character's personality and they need to "fit." Have you ever been to the site, www.seventhsanctum.com? It's an amazingly fun site for writers where you can generate names, plot ideas, and all kinds of stuff. A lot of times I use that site to generate names or find ideas for names.

Courtney: How do you “get in the zone” when writing? Do you listen to music? Look through art? Something else? What is your writing environment like?

Margaret: I have 3 kids ages 17, 13, and 11, plus my Hubby. My writing environment is wherever I can find a corner. I always plug my brain into an MP3 player if nothing else to block out the family noise. As far as getting into the zone, that's often very difficult. Sometimes I reread the last chapter I wrote, then read through e-mails, blogs, check out twitter...trying to ease into it. Other times I have limited time to write so I have to just attack it.

Courtney: Oo! The teenage ages—have fun with that ;-P Do you use critique partners, groups, or beta readers to help you with your story? Why or why not?

Margaret: I love critique partners/groups, etc. Especially my girls on CritiqueThisWIP. When you write in isolation it's easy to think everything you write is perfect. Critique partners and groups help you to get a clear picture of how your writing is perceived by real readers as well as helping you with form and style. In the end, as a writer, you want to have a novel that people want to read and unless you're a writing savant you'll need input from other people to help you accomplish your goal.

Courtney: How do you respond to criticism? Love it? Hate it? Learn from it?

Margaret: Sometimes it hurts to have someone criticize your baby. But as the writer you're allowed to accept what you agree with and ignore the rest. So far everyone I've turned to for critiques has been very professional and none of the criticism has been cruel or hurtful. It's always been respectful, which helps me to learn and make my baby better!

Courtney: How many projects do you work on at once? Do you write one book at a time, or do you have a few going at once?

Margaret: I used to think I had to finish one before I could start another. But then I got kind of burned out on editing and revising my paranormal romance and started the sci-fi novel, and it's actually been a really good thing. It helps to be able to work on something different. It's like exercising a different muscle instead of the same one over and over and over.

Courtney: How about Blogfests? Do you participate? If so, do you write a new scene for the fests or do you use scenes from your WIPs?

Margaret: I love blogfests and I try to use scenes from my WIPs because it's a good way to get a broad spectrum of feedback on scenes, character, etc.

Courtney: What’s your favorite part of being a writer?

Margaret: Making up people and worlds and stories. It's more fun than should be legal. It's my crack.

Courtney: What’s your least favorite part?

Margaret: The reality of revisions. Writing a shiny, sparkly first draft is such a wonderful high and then you come down and have to face the reality of editing. It can be a frustrating challenge sometimes.

Courtney: Do you ever have trouble with writers-block?

Margaret: Oh, god, yes. It's the thing I dread most - staring at the intimidating blankness of the screen, watching that cursor mocking me. It's blinking, saying "write something, write something, write something." But I find that if I let the characters and story stew long enough, an idea will come to me and I'll be over the block.

Courtney: Most of us write part time. How do you spend your time when you aren’t writing?

Margaret: Struggling to make a buck. I do medical transcription, which I've done so long that I hate it now. And this summer I'm driving the beer cart at the local golf course. That is a load of fun. I'm also working on my Master of Fine Arts degree in creative and professional writing and if all goes well I should graduate May 2011.

Courtney: Favorite books? Authors? Movies? Songs?

Margaret: Like I said, I'm not much of a music person, so I don't really have any musical faves. My favorite novel (series) of all time is Stephen King's Dark Tower series. My favorite movie of all time is Galaxy Quest. I don't really have a favorite author because it would be impossible to narrow it down. There are too many good ones! The same for books, I really read anything I can get my hands on and although Dark Tower is my fave, there are so many I love.

Courtney: Want to share a favorite line from one of your books?

Margaret: It's nearly impossible to choose a favorite line! Okay, this one is from the pantser sci-fi adventure/romance. It's near the very beginning.

"Her green eyes gauge my reaction and when she sees me perk a satisfied smile slides across her red lips. I curse under my breath. I've really got to work on my poker face."

Courtney: Would you like to share anything else with the readers?

Margaret: Ummmm. Some drunk guy on the golf course was flirting with me the other day and said, "hey, can I give you a tip?" By the look on his face I knew it wasn't going to be a monetary tip, but probably something really stupid. He says, "don't fry bacon in the nude." See? I knew it was going to be stupid.