About Susan McDonough-Wachtman:
I’ve been writing since grade school. I’ve written children’s stories, short stories, romances, historicals, essays, fantasies, mysteries, science fiction, numerous letters to the editor and a blog called Renaissance Sue.
I’ve been a burger tosser, customer service rep, ad taker, curriculum developer, parent, teacher, reader, and gardener. I live in the Pacific Northwest with one cat, one son and one husband.
What inspires you to write?
I can’t not write. I’ve been writing since I was in second grade, and EVERYTHING inspires me: things I read, things I see, things I hear — I have far, far more ideas than I will ever be able to write about in one lifetime.
Tell us about your writing process.
I usually have a sentence or a paragraph that I can’t get out of my head, so I write it. Then I continue whenever I think of something related to that story or essay. If I get stuck, I switch to something else. I always have several things going at once, fiction and non-fiction. When I go back to a project, I often go back to the start and rewrite until I get caught up. Sometimes there is a hole I need to fil and I will be struck with the answer to a problem and have to scribble notes for myself until I have the time to type it all out.
I hate outlines, but I make them as I go because I have to. I just type them. I do character sketches sometimes when I’m stuck, but mostly I don’t. I prefer to have characters reveal themselves as I go.
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
I listen in on my characters talking to other people. I don’t usually interact with them directly. I’ve never had a character introduce himself like JK Rowling says Harry did with her.
What advice would you give other writers?
Write. Read. Listen. Write.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
I tried for years and years to get my books published traditionally. I won some contests, had an agent, got some editors interested, bt somehow never broke through. So when Amazon started Create Space, I said, “At last!:
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
It’s fabulous! Everyone is writing, and those writers are readers! People will always love stories, they just get them in many different ways.
What do you use?: Beta Readers
What genres do you write?: Sci-fi, fantasy, mystery, romance, historical, YA, paranormal
What formats are your books in?: Both eBook and Print
Website(s)
Susan McDonough-Wachtman Home Page Link
Link To Susan McDonough-Wachtman Page On Amazon
Link to Author Page on other site
Your Social Media Links
Goodreads
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
LinkedIn
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.
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