Critique_This_WIP

Today's Author Interview is with CritqueThisWIP member, Jill Callahan. To read a little bit about Jill, click here or on the tab at the top of the page. 

Courtney: Hi Jill! Thanks so much letting me pick your mind today. Let's get right to the good stuff, shall we? My favorite opening question… to pen name, or not to pen name? Is Jill Callahan your “real” name or an acquired one?

Jill: What’s in a name? I googled myself and found that my name is not the least bit unique and even found an author. So I have to say I’m still undecided on this one. I’d like to have my name in print, but if there are a thousand other me’s, perhaps it is not so special. Also, I do have a day job; I’m not sure how well it would go over for corporate execs to find out about my hot torrid love scenes :-)

Courtney: I know exactly what you mean! It’s a tough decision. So, when did you start writing?

Jill: In the eighth grade a very special English teacher, Mr. Elliot, brought me into his office at least once a month to tell me how much I could accomplish if I focused on learning versus class clowning. He challenged me to apply myself in an oratorical contest and I came in second. From that point on I believed in myself, and from that point on writing became a passion whether it be a diary entry (which I’m now embarrassed about as my teenage daughters have found and read them all), love letters, a story, an email, a poem, or business writing.

Courtney: Oh no! I can only imagine the laugh-fest that came with reading your old diaries…but to have your girls read it *shudders*. What’s your favorite genre to write?

Jill: I like contemporary romance/woman’s fiction and usually find myself drawn to the coming of age story when romantic love is full of tension and passion and faith and hope. I fell in love when I was seventeen. Perhaps that is why this age is where I’m drawn to. My husband thinks I’m just stuck in adolescence.

Courtney: Who isn’t? We all think about what it would be like to go back to those high school years. Right? Right?? Where have some of you best ideas come from? (dreams, real life, music, tv, books, etc…)

Jill: Definitely dreams. I’ve also gotten some ideas from the news when I hear an interesting story and wonder how the person could have gotten to that point in their life or had a certain experience. If I see a story about a plane that almost crashed, I might think about what if they were flying over a vast ocean and an island pulled the plane and it crashed and the others were there and the survivors had to…oh wait, that one has been done already.

Courtney: Are you a plotter or a pantser?

Jill: A bit of both actually. The general idea gets me started and then I get to thinking about the journey and try to throw in the elements of a good story.

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

Jill: I’m working on a contemporary romance set on the coast of New Hampshire where a young girl comes of age and faces head on the twists and turns life throws her way. I’m falling in love with my heroine and my hero and the story that is evolving.

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

Jill: Not yet :-) Though I did have a chapter of a book published as part of an SMU (Southern Methodist University) publication. It sold at a local Barnes and Nobles and it was great fun seeing my name in print.

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

Jill: I think there is a piece of me in most of my characters, or a piece of what I’d like to be or wish I was. I’m writing about a heroine much younger than me right now so I’m not sure I relate to her in a let’s go for coffee type of way. But I think if I were sixteen or seventeen again, I’d want her as my friend.

Courtney: What’s in a name? (How important is it for a character to have the right name, or will any name do?) Do you spend much time finding your character’s names?

Jill: I think character’s names are quite important, I’m not really sure why but I know I went through several names for the characters in my current work before the right one stuck.

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?

Jill: I can work in a coffee shop, on an airplane, in my office, in a doctor’s waiting room. I get into the zone and everything else fades away. I haven’t tried writing to music or getting inspired by art. The only time I can’t write is when my children are tired of seeing me glued to my keyboard and start having a sock war around me. When I get a pair of socks thrown at my head, I know it’s time to start paying attention to the family :-)

Courtney: I am SO jealous! If only I could work with distractions all around me… How do you respond to criticism? Love it? Hate it? Learn from it?

Jill: I can’t read the criticism too soon after I’ve written a chapter, it’s too new, too fresh. But when I have a work well in progress and a good bit of material, the red pen and scissors don’t hurt so much and I enjoy and learn from it.

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?

Jill: I’m a monogamous writer. I can’t have more than one love at one time. I stick with one project until its done.

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

Jill: When an idea is there and the story takes hold there is nothing quite like seeing it come to life.

Courtney: Least favorite part?

Jill: I don’t like to come to a stop without knowing where I’ll go next.

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

Jill: When I’m not working I spend time with family and friends. My kids are amazing, my husband keeps me interested, and we have a handful of family friends who help cushion the bumps and celebrate the successes. I enjoy a good bottle of red wine. Oh, and girlfriends rock!!

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

Jill: If you’ve made it this far into my interview, thanks for taking the time and may you have luck, love, prosperity, health and happiness :-)

Courtney: Thank you, Jill. I really enjoyed getting to know you better =)