About Yza-Dora:
I live with my mom who’s Co-Author of my book series, Keeper of La Tecla (The Key). We live in Las Vegas with our 2 cats. I don’t have any journalistic experience or background in writing but since this is my first attempt, I’ve grown to love the process of creating the characters, places and scenes, bringing them all to life. It’s become a passion of mine and I have many other books and stories in mind for the future. In my spare time when I’m not writing, I enjoy spending time with my mom of course and our cats, talking with friends on Skype and playing video games on ps3. Yes. I’m also a gamer. Ask me or my mom anything about writing and the process and we can surely tell you everything that we’ve learned along the way. And P.S…the author name ‘Yza-Dora’ derives from both my name, ‘Yzavela’ and my mom’s ‘Doria’
What inspires you to write?
Reading. Definitely reading other author’s books inspired me, because I read their words and imagined the world and characters that they’ve created and I thought to myself, “Hey. If they can create this story, why can’t I create my own?” Also too, the inspiration for my book series came as a dream and I know that sounds familiar, but it’s true. I told my mom about it and she thought it would make an excellent story. So, after many edits and revisions and loads of research, the series was created. And don’t even get me started on how many times we’ve changed the book cover because that’s an entirely different subject 😉
Tell us about your writing process.
Wow. Our writing process is nuts! First, we think of all these scenarios and characters, then comes the setting, plot and story line. Or sometimes it’s the other way around. Whichever pops into our heads first. Both my mom and I get jumbled because we both come up with so much that it doesn’t all fit, leading to squabbles about what to keep and throw away. Eventually, we compromise and piece our ideas together. She does most of the research while I imagine the characters and how I want them to be. We don’t whiteboard our creations because it jumps from one thing to the next in the blink of an eye. But, we do have plenty of notebooks that are scattered everywhere with story lines, ideas, character names, etc. Eventually, once everything is perfected and set, that’s when we begin the typing, which just kills my hands.
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
Oh, I like this question. I really do. When we’re writing scenes involving our characters, we literally sit there and begin talking about them, as if they’re actual people whom we know. Then after awhile, we realize, “Hey….they’re not real. Why are we talking about them as if they are?” They say writers and authors are a crazy bunch and I guess that’s sort of true. We give all our characters realistic personalities according to each one. Sometimes, while watching T.V, there’s an actor or actress that reminds us so much of a certain character which leads to, yet again, talking about our characters once more. Sometimes, we say things like “Hey…he said that in our book. Or….that would be perfect for him/her to say.” It’s crazy. But in the end, we created characters that we can’t help but just love.
What advice would you give other writers?
Like an article I recently posted on Scriggler, we’d say DON’T GIVE UP and PERSEVERE! For the past 3 years now, we’ve both; my mom and I, have thought about giving up because we’ve thought our work wasn’t good enough, seeing all these other debut authors publishing work that feels far too similar to ours. There’s just so much competition, that we just wanted to say, “Screw it all! Forget it!” but then my mom would say to just keep on writing, because our story is unique with unique characters. Someone out there is bound to notice.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
For us, literary agents didn’t work but I’m not suggesting all new authors ignore that path, because it might work for them. Just not for some. We’ve chosen self-publishing because it works better for us, as we’re our own boss and publisher. We take our time. There are no rules or deadlines. Also, traditional publishers always edit manuscripts, deleting a lot of good information and writing. At least self-publishing, you can keep all that but it’s always good to go over your work several times, which is what we’ve done. Especially when you know what to look for. Plus, it’s a lot quicker to get your book out to the world and seen.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
Oh, I think traditional publishers are losing the battle. Everything is digital and Kindle or Nook so no one is really buying print editions anymore. I’ve read many articles online, as did my mom, pertaining to this and it’s kind of sad. Because all those authors that are choosing print publishing, are, in reality, losing venue. But then, there are those who make it simply for the fact they know someone, who knows someone. Maybe in the near future, if lucky, my books will be taken on by a traditional publisher. But for now, I’m happy with self-publishing.
What do you use?: Co-writer
What genres do you write?: Fiction, Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, YA
What formats are your books in?: Both eBook and Print
Website(s)
Yza-Dora Home Page Link
Link To Yza-Dora Page On Amazon
Link to Author Page on other site
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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.
