About Darlene Foster:
Darlene Foster is a Canadian author who has written the popular Amanda Travels series, featuring a spunky twelve-year-old who loves to travel to unique places where she encounters mystery and adventure while learning about another culture. Readers of all ages enjoy travelling with Amanda as she unravels one mystery after another in various countries. Darlene has won prizes for her short stories and a number of them have been published in anthologies.
Darlene grew up on a ranch near Medicine Hat, Alberta, where her love of reading inspired her to travel the world and write stories. Over the years she held rewarding jobs such as an employment counsellor, ESL teacher, recruiter, and retail manager, and wrote whenever she had a few spare minutes. She is now retired and has a home in Spain where she writes full time. When not travelling, meeting interesting people, and collecting ideas for her books, she enjoys spending time with her husband and entertaining rescue dogs, Dot and Lia.
What inspires you to write?
My travels and the people I meet inspire me to write.
What authors do you read when you aren’t writing?
Lucy Maud Montgomery, Jane Austen, Alexander McCall Smith, Alice Monroe, Louisa May Alcott
Tell us about your writing process.
I am a seat of the pants writer and do not outline. I do, however, create a mind map with locations for each chapter as the setting is important in my stories. I tend to sit down in front of my computer and start typing. I let the story go where it wants. This requires more editing but it is the only way I can write a book.
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
I definitely listen to my characters as they know more about the story than I do. I only talk to my characters in my head, not out loud. At least I don't think I talk to them out loud.
What advice would you give other writers?
Write every day because practice makes perfect, and never give up. With practice and perseverance, you will be a published author.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
It took me five years to find a publisher, but I am glad I persevered as the small independent publisher I have is wonderful. It is difficult to find a traditional publisher and I think there is nothing wrong with being self-published as long as you make sure the book is well edited.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
People are still reading, in fact, more than ever. When I visit schools and libraries, the children are excited to tell me about the books they are reading. I think book publishing is here to stay.
What genres do you write?: Middle Grade
What formats are your books in?: Both eBook and Print
Website(s)
Darlene Foster Home Page Link
Link To Darlene Foster Page On Amazon
Your Social Media Links
Goodreads
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
LinkedIn
Instagram
YouTube
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.
