About LG Surgeson:
I am an author and teacher who lives in a cottage by a river in the Wilds of Wales, because I prefer to live there rather than the real world. I write fantasy and fiction novels and articles about education, mental health and social issues in the free time I create by avoiding housework and not sleeping properly. I have two cats who like to help; they aren’t very good at it.
What inspires you to write?
I write because I can’t help it. The types of stories I tell come into two categories. My fantasy work – which is available on kindle – are stories about people who find themselves living in difficult times and the choices they face. These are inspired by all sorts of things bits of real history, things people say and conversations I have with friends – I drive a lot through the Welsh country side for work, so I have plenty of time to think. My fiction stuff is based around my work – I write about teachers in difficult situations or working with vulnerable young people so my inspiration is mainly from first hand experiences.
Tell us about your writing process.
A book starts with an idea or some times a title. Then I look at the beginning point and the end point, before I sit down and map out the middle. I use a grid to plan my story and I note important scenes and key plot points in the boxes. I don’t put much details on the plan and rarely map out the scenes that occur between the key points. I used to write books out of order, but these days I find I’m happier writing from beginning to end. I have learnt that it’s better to think out a scene before sitting down to write as the frustration of staring at a page wondering where to start just compounds. However, when I start writing and I’m in the zone I can produce a few thousand words in a day. I listen to music and eat marshmallows whilst writing.
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
I do listen to my characters, sometimes they do things I wasn’t expecting. I find it’s often better to let them go their own way – as though they have a clearer idea of how they would respond in a given situation than I do.
The biggest problem I have is when I have to write a situation that will upset the characters – it’s like deliberately making your friends unhappy. It takes me a while to work myself up to writing arguments and confrontations between two characters I like a lot.
What advice would you give other writers?
Iris Murdoch once said ‘Don’t start writing until you can’t believe your luck’. She’s right. You are better off thinking everything through and telling yourself the story in your head and then trying to commit it to paper rather than sitting down to ‘write’ and staring at a blank page.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
I self-published because I didn’t know enough about indie publishing at first to do it any other way. Now I’m trying to win a contract with SOOPLLC.com – an ‘author-driven’ indie publisher that asks authors to collect votes to prove their book has an audience. Booktrope is another ‘author-driven’ publisher that allows the writer to be a big part of the creative and promotion process. I would advise looking in to author-driven and indie publishing if you want to sell more than a dozen or so copies.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
The rise of e-books and indie authors has already changed the way people can acquire books to read. The big traditional publishing companies are fighting it at the moment, but its not going anywhere. They need to embrace this change. The music industry has already gone through this kind of change, and they’ve had to adapt, publishing will have to follow suit.
What genres do you write?: Fantasy, Fiction
What formats are your books in?: eBook
Website(s)
LG Surgeson Home Page Link
Link To LG Surgeson Page On Amazon
Your Social Media Links
Goodreads
Facebook
Twitter
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.
