About Elizabeth Guizzetti:
Elizabeth Guizzetti is an author, podcaster, illustrator, and a collector of dragons — the ceramic kind. She loves hiking, birdwatching, and horror movies. Elizabeth lives in Seattle with her husband and dog, Walnut.
What inspires you to write?
I often am inspired by a newsstory or something I see or hear. Sometimes my own work. For example, my latest novel, Accident Among Vampires (or What Would Dracula Do?) is part of a larger work of vampire books and backstories. The entire novel was based off two sentences in an earlier one and by hearing crows hunt a baby rabbit. I had strong ideas for a few scenes. However, the reason the book was written and released when it did was listeners of the Podcast voted for Norma's story. So I wrote Norma's story.
What authors do you read when you aren’t writing?
I have always loved Stephen King and Tanya Huff, but lately I've read Ruth Ware and T. Kingfisher. However, I read a lot of authors.
Tell us about your writing process.
I start with strong scene ideas and develop an outline in Word. I put this outline on a giant Post-it using little Postits which are colored coded per act and character.
I have ideas for characters: names, ages, job, places they were born, generalized knowledge/books/inventions/sayings that were around when they were born.
Each day I write the scene which was written on the Postit. I use Word for everything.
Something is always missing from my first draft, but I can normally can figure it out and fill in. Then my second draft is a grammar draft. Often then I do some rewriting, trying to add tension. Then I send it to beta readers who always find some plot hole I missed. Another rewrite. Another grammar draft. Then it goes to an editor for at least two passes.
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
Yes, I do listen to my characters' impulses. However, I do not talk to them while writing. That would distract me from writing. I do talk to them other times: driving or showering.
What advice would you give other writers?
Explore different processes: some things work for some people, other work for others. Just finish the projects you start. It doesn't matter if it sucks.
Finish it.
Then move on to the next thing or the next step.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
I suggest new authors explore all their options! The Publisher is simply the one who pays to bring the book to market.
If you have the knowledge and skills to bring a book to market, it can be a lot of fun and/or heartbreaking to do so. If you don't want to layout your book, pay an editor, etc, send the book out to publishers. See what they say.
I have been published. Two novels were at a small press; a comic and illustrated project were at another small press. I started self-publishing my passion projects. That being said, I LOVED working with the small presses, 48Fourteen and Apocalypse Ink. They were amazing and I learned so much from working with them. However, it is still fun and/or heartbreaking to bring a book to market.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
Independent authors will contiune to grow. We have lost a lot of smallpresses in recent years, but I believe we will see a rise of more solo-presses slide into the smallpress space as these author/publishers decide to publish friends, anthologies, or small niche genres, etc. Most often they will do this with crowdfunding. These small publishers will take bigger risks as smallpresses did in the past. Some will grow into midsize companies, some won't.
What genres do you write?: Horror, Fantasy, Science Fiction
What formats are your books in?: Both eBook and Print
Website(s)
Elizabeth Guizzetti Home Page Link
Link To Elizabeth Guizzetti Page On Amazon
Your Social Media Links
Goodreads
Facebook
Twitter
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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.
