About Christine Larsen:
I am Christine Larsen and first and foremost I am a writer (after my words spent 30+ years tucked away on the back shelf of a cupboard of our various homes – thanks to the rejections of hard-nosed editors and my lack of self-belief).
I am also a farmer, wife, mother, grandmother, in the process of editing the second book of farming memoirs of our 40+ years of farming in Australia. I have self-published eight small children’s eBooks, and I’m working on a couple of collections of vignettes and short/short stories.
The joy of being at this end of my life is that fame and fortune are unimportant compared to the value of achieving my dream to help create a brigade of small besotted bookworms, and to share tales of other times and other places.
What inspires you to write?
My inspirations come from a multitude of words, situations, people, places, memories and stories I’ve been told.
This fickle and fertile brain absorbs all and nurtures some to emerge as the bare bones of a story… then the real work begins.
Tell us about your writing process.
For a long time I wrote my first and roughest drafts by hand and first edits too, before setting stories up as Word documents on my computer.
Most often now the largest part of creating is done on my Scrivener writing program on my computer. I like the ability to easily check spelling, grammar, etc. and research anything I choose – all at the click of my computer mouse.
I’m a ‘pantser’, most definitely. A seed of inspiration is planted, nurtured and grows… and is pruned, and rewritten, and edited, repeat, repeat.
I do gather a lot of research on whatever might apply to my story, and weed through it all and decide what I want to quote or paraphrase, or mostly, be inspired by.
You can follow the journeys my writing is taking me on by reading my works in progress for free on Tablo Publishing
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
Whether I’m writing non-fiction (mostly) or fiction (occasionally) I love using dialogue and ‘out loud’ thinking to inject personality into my characters.
This involves much reading out loud to ensure I’m getting the tones and accents I imagine or want for my ‘folk’.
When my husband is too bored and the cat goes to sleep with my reading, I use a voice recorder and read my words on computer screen as I listen to playback. Amazing how many typos and rhythms (or lack of them) are picked up this way.
What advice would you give other writers?
Never – ever – give up, or stop believing in yourself, or stop learning or stop trying to improve.
A wonderful source of feedback on your works at all stages can be received generously from other writers (also in all levels of development) on WriteOn for Kindle. It’s free reading and writing and you only need to join to be able to build your own stories, ask for suggestions and edit accordingly – and join in the most helpful forum. You may have guessed, I love it.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
Too many rejections by ‘traditional’ publishers three decades ago saw me ‘shelve’ my creative writing. But a writer MUST write and I eventually started submitting to a couple of writing platforms (Squidoo, bought out by HubPages, and Ezine Articles) to hone my skills and build my confidence. When I learned about self-publishing, I tried out the first of my eBooks for children. Although some of my earliest writing is ‘cringe-worthy’ now, still it is a testament to where I’ve come from and how I’m developing.
I recommend the path of these last two answers to all budding and wannabe writers – WITHOUT the ‘giving up’ bit.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
I want to believe there will always be a place and a space for both electronic AND paper books.
I love the convenience and ease of transporting countless books on my Kindle and I love that self-publishing is easy digitally.
But I’m a traditionalist and nothing will ever replace the smell of a paper book, whether brand-new or old and a bit musty. And the crackly sound of pages turning, and the unique ‘feel’ of a book in your hands. Mmm…
What genres do you write?: Memoir, Short/short story collections, children’s books
What formats are your books in?: eBook
Website(s)
Christine Larsen Home Page Link
Link To Christine Larsen Page On Amazon
Link to Author Page on other site
Your Social Media Links
Goodreads
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
LinkedIn
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.
