About S C Green:
S C Green in an off-grid house on a slice of rural paradise near Auckland, New Zealand, with her cantankerous drummer husband, their two cats, and their medieval sword collection. She writes about metal music, her books, living off-grid, and her adventures with home-brewing on her blog www.steffmetal.com. She writes humorous fantasy under the name Steff Metal, and dark, dystopian fantasy under S. C. Green. Her latest novel, The Sunken, explores an alternative Georgian London where dinosaurs still survive.
Tell us about your writing process.
I write for a living, so I have to write, or I don’t eat. I get up in the morning, feed the animals, get my breakfast, turn on my computer and write until my husband comes home. With fiction I am a chronic pantser – I figure out the setting in some amount of detail, drop a character in there and see what they do. I’m writing a new novel right now which is a mystery, and that requires planning, which is a very interesting process for me. Let’s see how it goes 🙂
I don’t listen to music while I’m writing, but I do use music to inspire my writing, and often while I’m editing. I even make playlists for my books – you can listen to them on my website 🙂
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
When I write, I put myself inside the character’s head. I try to see the world through their eyes, touch what they touch, feel what they feel. For this reason, I don’t have conversations with that character, because I AM that character. After reading my books, psychologists will have a field day analyzing THAT little nugget!
What advice would you give other writers?
You learn from every book you write, but not every book you write should be published. I have a whole series of adventure novels I wrote as a teen that I won’t publish. I have 1.5 adult vampire horror novels I wrote as an adult that will never be published. The experience of writing those books taught me what I need to know to write my current books.
With self-publishing, you can be a published writer, all of your own accord. There’s power in that. Being published won’t mean you are automatically rich and famous, however. But you will be published, and people will read your words, and there’s something very wonderful about that. Be proud of what you’ve achieved, and don’t lose perspective by chasing those elusive dollars. Just publish more.
Seek advice from people who are extremely honest, extremely well-read, and extremely blunt. Their feedback may sting a little, but you need that constructive criticism before the book hits the market. I’d rather have an editor who’ll tear my manuscript to pieces in the early stages, than a reviewer tear it to pieces later.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
I’ve been pursuing publication from traditional publishers for nearly ten years. I even had a book deal at one point that fell through. I started reading self-pubbed books on my ereader and realised it was possible to create a high-quality product without a publisher, and … the truth was, I was sick of waiting. I figured my books would be better out in the world, even if they only earned me a few cents, then gathering dust on my computer. So I started self-publishing the books I’ve already written. And I am addicted. I love having control over the cover, the plot, the marketing.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
It’s good! I’m excited about it! Never before has so much control been in the hands of the author. It’s an awesome thing.
What do you use?: Professional Editor, Professional Cover Designer, Beta Readers
What genres do you write?: steampunk, dark fantasy, science fiction, humour, alternate history, dystopian
What formats are your books in?: Both eBook and Print
Website(s)
S C Green Home Page Link
Link To S C Green Page On Amazon
