Guest Blogger: Anne Carrole

You’re in for a treat today! In honor of the Sony e-Reader Giveaway at the Wild Rose Press in December, I’ve lined up some of the participating authors for a writerly gab session to chat here about their writing and their work throughout the month.

First up is contemporary and western historical author Anne Carrole–who I must say has a gorgeous web page design! (www.annecarrole.com–check it out).

Here are Anne’s thoughts to my questions…enjoy!

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Anne Carrole, author of: Re-ride At The Rodeo at The Wild Rose Press

www.annecarrole.com

When did you know you were a writer// that writing was what you wanted to do?

I was always making up stories and as soon as I could put pen to paper, I was writing them down. As you might have guessed, I was an English Major in college much to my parents’ chagrin because they thought I should be taking something more practical like accounting. I didn’t get the opportunity to pursue writing as a profession until a few years ago when life’s road had evened out some—meaning my daughter was out of elementary school.

What is the best part of being a writer?

Being able to create is the best part. But there are so many great things about being a writer that should be mentioned.

-You can do this in your pajamas w/o putting on make-up or brushing your hair!

-Eating chocolate can be rationalized because, of course, it helps the muse-lol.

-You will become the most technologically able person in your household—out of necessity. For instance, I’ve built a website, a blog, and a MySpace page. I’ve created a book trailer. I even learned a little html. These are things I never would have had occasion to try in my day job.

-Your teenager will think you’re cool because she can find you on Facebook, Twitter and MySpace. These are places I would have never explored if I weren’t a writer. And would have missed out on connecting with some very fine people.

-You get to meet some of your very favorite authors.

-You have a built-in reason to bury yourself in researching what you love. It’s for your book of course. I’ve uncovered so much wonderful information that I would have never delved into if it weren’t for my writing.

-No one thinks you’re crazy when you talk about the people running around in your head. Bringing my characters to life is the most rewarding part of writing for me and when a reader tells me my writing touched them—well that’s probably the best part of writing.

In short, being a writer is the best job ever.

What is the worst part of being a writer?

Well, writing can be a very isolating experience. It’s you and your computer and your books for the most part of any day. For a social person that can be difficult. And it requires a lot of self-discipline to sit down at the computer on a beautiful day. But then I start writing and my characters do a great job of keeping me company.

What is your typical writing routine?

Because I’m self-employed, I schedule writing time, in essence making an appointment with myself. On a writing day, my routine isn’t all that exciting. After getting everyone out in the morning and walking the dog, I sit down at the computer and begin writing in a spare bedroom that has been turned into my office. I’ve been known to stop for a bite of chocolate. Just a little bit J. (Don’t tell my daughter). I take a mid-day break to check e-mail and then write some more or do research for the book, depending on where I am in the process. If I can, I try to get off to the gym for a half-hour to get in a little exercise as a break from sitting at the computer. By then the school bus arrives and I don’t get back to the writing until after dinner, sometimes well after dinner. That’s on a day I can set aside to write. Otherwise, I write where ever and when ever I can. I bought an AlphaSmart so I can write waiting to pick up my daughter from after school activities, waiting for appointments, and waiting for the pot to boil in preparation for dinner.

Are you a pantser or a plotter?

I am definitely a pantser—with a twist. As I’m writing along, sometimes scenes come into my head out of order and I have to get them down on paper and then “quilt” them together later. My characters definitely drive the story and I’m brought along to record it. While I have a basic idea of where the story is going, sometimes my characters surprise me. For instance, in Re-ride at the Rodeo I didn’t know Clay was going to confess to Dusty, in an effort to comfort her over the loss of her father, that he sometimes “talks” to his departed father when he has to work out a problem. Not only does his confession show trust building in their relationship, but Dusty’s reaction to the revelation says a lot about her own relationship to her father. That little tidbit ended up playing a major role in the ending as well, making it a much better one. As you can see, my characters have a mind of their own.

Here’s a little bit about Re-ride at the Rodeo, a bestseller at The Wild Rose Press, www.thewildrosepress.com :

Saddle bronc rider Clay Tanner is looking for a good time and the tempting little blonde at the rodeo looks like she could use one—except she turns him down. Feeling like he’s been bucked off before the eight second buzzer, Clay’s betting he can score if she’ll give him a re-ride. But qualifying may call for more than he’s prepared to lose.

And here’s the excerpt where Clay reveals how he talks to his father:

“You always think you’ll have time. My father and I butted heads a lot. I wasn’t exactly an easy teenager. I still miss him. Every day.” He rarely talked about his father with anyone.

She lay down the hand and fixed her gaze on the back of the cards. “I know. I wasn’t easy either.

Actually, I was pretty angry at him for dying, for leaving us for good.”

Yup. He sure could relate. “Me too.”

Her gaze found him. Those beautiful lake blue eyes of hers could mesmerize Rasputin. His heart

did a two-step.

“Really?”

“Oh yeah. Big time angry. Took me years to realize it wasn’t his fault. I blamed him for always

having to be in the center of things, you know. If he’d just left the shoeing to the blacksmith. Seems stupid when I say it out loud.” He put in two pennies to open.

She shook her head. “I know. I think I’ve hung onto my grievance for too long. I’m not even sure any of it was justified. I think I was wrong about him all this time. And I can never tell him.” Her eyes glistened, as if they were holding back tears. He understood about finality, too. He’d gone

through the same guilt after the anger had subsided. But apparently she hadn’t been able to put it to rest yet. In fact, she looked like she could still use comforting.

“I’m pretty sure your father knows. You ever talk to your father?”

Her eyebrows shot up in question. “No, he’s…”

Clay smiled. He should have expected the reaction. “I know. But I talk to my father just about

every day over something. I’ll be moseying along and find myself with a problem I’m sure he faced and I’ll just ask for his help.” Clay shrugged hoping he was hiding his unease in talking about this.

Do you have a secret to busting writer’s block?

I have to confess that I’ve yet to experience a real writer’s block. My problem is the opposite. I have so many characters running around in my imagination and they all want their story told. They are also a very impatient bunch. But when I’m writing, there are passages I encounter where the words just aren’t working for me, aren’t sufficient for what I want to convey. That’s when I run out to the gym or take the dog for a walk or sneak some chocolate. If a small break doesn’t work, I might shelve it for the day and work on another writing project (one of those characters that have been nagging me) and come back to it the next day. That often does it. I have found that when I sleep on a problem, the next day I usually know how to resolve it.

Thanks for having me Beth!

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It was my pleasure!

Tagged as: Guest Bloggers