About Alicen Scott:
I was born in the south. Disabled and loud-mouthed nothing and no one could stop me from doing what I was going to do. My love of writing didn't develop until after my mom died suddenly when I was 21. I started with a blog and moved on to reviewing indie books. After brain surgery and a difficult divorce, I started focusing more on my writing. Earlier this year I published my first book, The Mythical Universe: The Beginning, a new adult fantasy story I plan on making into a 20+ book series. Writing is isn't just a love or a passion, it's my soul.
What inspires you to write?
I get inspired by everything. I know that sounds cheesy but it's the truth. Someone can say something to me or I'll hear a line in a song or in a movie or I'll witness something and a few seconds in time will create an entire story in my head.
Most of my stories and characters have some element of my real life in them. All of my characters have elements of myself. Even two characters as different as Aria and Ekon are both have elements of myself in them. I think writing this way helps me make characters with more depth. I understand them to their cores because they're a part of me, albeit very different parts in the case of those two.
What authors do you read when you aren’t writing?
Stephenie Meyer, Jaymin Eve and Lois Lowry come to mind. I really like a long list of different genres and authors. I've been reading a lot of Siobhan Davis lately too.
Tell us about your writing process.
I tend to write late at night while everyone is asleep. If I'm writing a serious scene I need total silence, but if I'm unsure how the scene will play out or if it's a more lighthearted scene I'll play music loud in my ears. The most important thing to me is to be able to mentally dive into my world without distractions.
I usually have a vague outline with the major points of the book I'm working on, but for the most part I just let the story flow the way it wants to. I don't get upset if something in my outline doesn't happen or happens differently than I planned.
Some of my characters have been planned, some have not. Aria was planned long before I ever wrote a single word. A lot of her story (but not all) is a fictionalized version of my own. Milly was formed in my head seconds before she entered the story. She's one of my favorite characters even though she wasn't someone I planned to create before she existed.
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
I absolutely listen and talk to my characters. There's a pivotal scene in The Showdown where Milly confesses something and she was telling me I needed to write that scene for three days before I sat down and wrote it out. It's one of the reasons why I switch POV throughout my books. A lot of times I'll write everything from one POV and then another character will step up and say "my turn" and I'll have to do it again from their POV. Tyler did a lot of this in The Beginning and The Showdown. He wanted me to understand how he felt about what was happening too. There's also a chapter in The Beginning where Eugenia demanded to be heard.
What advice would you give other writers?
Persistence is key and nobody is perfect. (No matter how hard they pretend to be.) Do your best and make something you're proud of. It won't be for everyone, and that's okay. The people who need to read what you write will find you.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
I knew from the moment I started writing my books with any level of seriousness I was going to have to self-publish them. Being disabled, I knew the odds of getting a book deal where I would keep control over how I was marketed were impossible. I refused to be marketed as "the disabled author". I don't hide my disabilities and my frustrations with the ablelists in the industry but I don't want pity. I don't need the bar lowered for me and I refuse to become some kind of inspiration porn story. I want people to love my writing because I'm a good writer, not because I sit down when I write. So to keep control over my voice and how I'm promoted, I self-published. It's meant doing everything myself from writing and editing to promotion because there is no huge company with a lot of money behind me, but it's worth it to me.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
I think like most things over time things change and over the last ten years or so, the publishing industry has had some major changes. It's become possible now for people like me to do what we love.
What genres do you write?: paranormal romance, fantasy, urban fantasy, new adult
What formats are your books in?: eBook, Print, Both eBook and Print, Audiobook
Website(s)
Alicen Scott Home Page Link
Link To Alicen Scott Page On Amazon
Your Social Media Links
Goodreads
Twitter
Instagram
All information in this post is presented “as is” supplied by the author. We don’t edit to allow you the reader to hear the author in their own voice.
