About Sydney Paige McCutcheon:
Hi, my name is Sydney Paige McCutcheon and “Henry” is my debut novel.
I have been writing since I was a little girl, starting out with poetry and short stories, and wrote my first completed book over the course of my Senior year in High School. That summer I wrote the first draft of “Henry”.
I love books of many genres, Historical Fiction, Mystery, Young Adult, and some Fantasy. I also like to write with many different genres in mind and I am excited to be working on a Historical Fiction novel of my own.
Poetry is still something I love and I want to publish my own poetry book! That is something I am currently working on. What will be published next, God only knows, but I am excited for it!
When not writing I love spending time with my family, and also playing card games and board games. To rate my competitiveness, I guess it is a 5 from a 1 to 10 scale with potential to increase. (Okay, make it an eight).
Now in sports, unless it’s tennis, I’m not competitive at all, haha. And when other people get competitive, I like to skip the drama and do something else. Adding to that, my sister is competitive. We kinda balance each other, which makes sense because we are also best friends.
I am on Goodreads Author page and I have a blog through them. I love coffee, I just finished a cup now, and I also love action television shows and all things superhero!
Thanks for reading about my book and checking out Bookgoodies!
What inspires you to write?
Different things in life, sometimes people watching. I one time met a guy who had a glass eye and instantly thought of a cool action-y character who had a glass eye like his. From there it branched out a story I have in my collection.
Music inspires me too, and I use music sometimes to help me focus when writing a scene. Movies inspire me, dramatic moments on the screen that makes you feel something. Books, of course, inspire me to achieve things my favorite books have achieved to me.
Most of all though, God inspires me. He breathes into me ideas, He makes straight the paths that are confusing, and He helps me constantly as I go through this process of life, and writing. I wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for His Son, Jesus.
Tell us about your writing process.
I like to work early in the day, and I like to start it by going out to buy a coffee. It’s refreshing to go outside, get some air, and maybe even a few ideas during the drive.
I like it to be quiet around me but that can’t always be helped lol, so I listen to music sometimes. And I like only natural light.
For my first book, I wrote all the exciting scenes I wanted in the novel and then after those less than a hundred pages, I printed them out, went back and filled in the details. It kept the writing fun and made it exciting to get to the next scene so filling in the details wasn’t drudgery.
For “Henry”, I wrote in chronological order but for my other books I have scenes written out of order.
Try different techniques and see what you like, even reading what your favorite authors do. Sometimes it helps when stuck in a rut.
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
Sometimes I talk a loud dialogue scenes. I put myself in my characters shoes, watching their facial expressions, listen to what they are saying compared to what they are really thinking. I also try to remember that first person is limited, so it’s all a guess and some intuition for the main character when speaking to others (because the reader is limited to that one perspective while the author can see all perspectives and motives. While I’m writing I also have to think of it as a reader, what am I thinking, how does the twist turn so hard that it takes me off guard? How, as a reader, could I have caught the signs/How as a I writer can I lightly conceal those signs?
What advice would you give other writers?
Don’t give up. No matter what avenue are you taking with your purpose in life, whether it be writing or something else. If you know that you know that you know it is what you are called to do, meant to do, then hold onto to that thing and don’t let the world kill it. Because the world will try.
In school I made the mistake of telling people (who weren’t my friends, just fellow peers) about my dreams with writing and other things. They said I could never do the things I wanted because I wasn’t going to college, among other things. I had half the classroom telling me I never could (the other half wasn’t involved). Then they started attacking me personally, who I was, what I was wearing. I went home and cried.
Rejection hurts and it will always hurt to some degree but don’t let it make you callous. Let it not stop you. Don’t listen to naysayers. Great advice I have been given is this: “Don’t answer your critics.” And it’s so true. It’s hard, but it’s true. We think if we explain then they will see but sadly, it’s just fuel to their fire. I’ve experienced this first hand.
That wasn’t the only time people tried to crush my dream. But the point is, I’m still going for it. Sure, there have been times when I wanted to give up but something wouldn’t let me. Something always pulled me onward, because that’s what callings do. They draw us forward, draw us onward, draw us to come.
The world pulls us one way, but the call draws us another.
That’s why I love music. Great voices, whether famous or never heard of before, when they sing ears perk and heads turn and something deep within us is drawn to the voice. Drawn to the call.
So don’t give up. Your gift is needed.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
At a young age, I had a plan for my life. Some of it involved writing books. The plan for the books was to send a query to the top guns in New York, get my yes letter, and begin the journey of being a breakout new author like I had seen for so many other authors I admired.
That didn’t happen.
I sent my letter for a different book I had written and got rejected. I was eighteen and had a lot of passion. One rejection letter wasn’t going to stop me. So I sent more, even getting an agent’s assistant to write me back with interest. It was Christmas time, and in my excitement I think I sent the reply on Christmas Eve where I quickly got an auto-response that they would be closed for the holidays, including New Year but that they received my email.
I waited about a month before sending a follow up and when I got an email back they apologized for the long delay but that they were not suited for my book.
That hurt. The hope and excitement I had went out. It was a really bad and frustrating day at work and that night I was venting to my family about it when the letter holding interest came. It turned the entire day around, I was so happy. And then, to have that taken away, it sucked. Because it meant nothing. At least, that’s how I took it.
For over two years my writing life had radio silence, except for a monthly blog I did.
Then in June 2013 I left my ‘grown up’ job for part time so that I could focus on my writing career. I chopped ten thousand or so words from my second novel “Henry”, and sent out twenty or letters, and more online. To this day I haven’t received all of the replies, and ones I did get were rejections.
I had been told about Self Publishing a long time before but I had a plan, I was determined to go through with my plan, until suddenly I realized that my plan wasn’t going to happen how I thought. So I packed “Henry” away and made the hard decision to move on.
Months later in June 2014, I was sitting down at my computer thinking of what to do with my life and my writing, when the notion of Self Publishing came to me. And I decided to do it. I researched for hours all night and that weekend, searching for the right websites, asking questions and getting advice.
I credit God to how it all worked out smoothly from getting an editor to getting a professional cover to getting it on a great self-publishing website, and later on Kindle. I started researching Self Publishing in June 2014 and on August 26,2014 my debut novel “Henry” was published.
For advice to new authors, I think you go with what you want, try it out, and if it doesn’t work, then try the other way. If you want an agent, then research how to write great query letters, polish your book to its best, and send them to hundreds of reputable agents. Keep sending them. If for some reason you don’t get a ‘yes’, then look into self publishing or maybe write a different book idea you have and try that out. It’s up to you what you do.
Each have their perks, research those, and see which pros and cons weigh out the other. But most all, enjoy it.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
I think print books (bookstores) need more support. E-Books are great for those that love them and is a way to reach a wider audience, but there is still something about having the weight of a book in your hands, the smell of paper fresh in your nose as you turn the page, the sweat of your fingerprint marking the edges, the rippled lines where tears fell because of a particular scene. The joy of being in your room and seeing your book shelf full of your favorite reads. For some though, they have that same joy on their E-Reader/Kindle. Everyone is different.
Point is, there shouldn’t be a divide between those all for E-Book and those all for Print. As readers we should come together, we want the same thing – good books – and we should support each other to keep both versions in stock. Including still having bookstores, because I love to walk into a bookstore and explore.
So readers of all kinds, and writers, let us support each other!
What do you use?: Professional Cover Designer
What genres do you write?: Historical Fiction, Suspense, Young Adult, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Cozy Mystery, Christian Fiction, Women’s Fiction
What formats are your books in?: Both eBook and Print
Website(s)
Link To Sydney Paige McCutcheon Page On Amazon
Your Social Media Links
Goodreads
