About G.G. Silverman:
G.G. Silverman lives north of Seattle with her husband and dog, both of whom are ridiculously adorable.
When she isn’t writing, she loves to explore the mossy woods and wind-swept coast of the Pacific Northwest, which provide moody inspiration for all her stories. She also enjoys bouts of inappropriate laughter, and hates wind chimes because they remind her of horror movies.
Ms. Silverman has won three short story awards, and is currently working on the followup to “Vegan Teenage Zombie Huntress” as well as a short story collection called “Saints & Monsters”.
She is a member of SCBWI and PNWA, and has served as a judge for the PNWA literary contest for the short story category.
What inspires you to write?
I’m inspired by things that have happened to me in my own life, or feelings I’m trying to process. For instance, in Vegan Teenage Zombie Huntress, the main characters are experiencing the difficulties of female friendship, and dealing with bullying, as I have in real life. They are also experiencing challenges that require them to be really brave, which all of us do in our lives. It’s so cool that writing allows us to try out different facets of our personalities, and become better versions of ourselves.
Tell us about your writing process.
I used to write by the seat of my pants, but that only resulted in horrendous first drafts, only good to line hamster cages with. Now I’m a fan of plotting because it keeps me from wasting time when I’m writing. I like using the Snowflake Method, which help breaks down the process of plotting. Plotting helps me write faster, and better. I’m all for it!
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
I definitely listen to to my characters. My favorite thing is to take long walks and imagine what kind of dialogue they’re having, and sometimes I record that into a voice recorder app on my phone. Without the voice recorder app on my phone, I would look like a crazy person, talking to myself. Ha!
What advice would you give other writers?
Don’t wait too long to fulfill your dream of writing. And don’t be afraid to be yourself. It’s the only way to develop your own unique voice, and the people who are meant to be your fans will appreciate you for who you are.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
Because my book is a girl-power story, I decided to do the feminist thing and empower myself to take the entrepreneurial route, by publishing the book myself. As a branding consultant/marketer/graphic designer by day, I had a good deal of the skills to bring this book to market myself. I definitely had help though—I had beta readers and critiquers, and hired a web designer, professional editor, and an ebook formatter. I would say to new authors that if your decide to self-publish, definitely build a team to help you with whatever is not your core competency. DON’T try to do everything yourself.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
I think we’re in exciting times. Technology has enabled so many previously marginalized voices to have an outlet, and I think that’s tremendous. I think things are changing almost daily, and it’s really difficult to predict the future, but ultimately, at the end of the day, I think there’s a lot of room for new voices.
What do you use?: Professional Editor, Beta Readers
What genres do you write?: Young Adult, Horror, Action/Adventure, Thriller
What formats are your books in?: Both eBook and Print
Website(s)
G.G. Silverman Home Page Link
Link To G.G. Silverman Page On Amazon
