Guest Blogger: Liana Laverentz

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.

Today’s guest is Liana Laverentz, author of two Wild Rose Press contemporary titles: Jake’s Return and Thin Ice.

Here are Liana’s thoughts to my questions…enjoy!
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When did you know you were a writer/that writing is what you wanted to do?

In 1988. Up until then I had been an avid reader, and like most writers, I reached a point where I said, “Hey, I can do this!” Five years later, I was published. Wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be . The following year I had my son and ended up taking an unexpected eight-year hiatus. I started writing again in 2002, and Thin Ice was published in 2007.

What is the best part of being a writer?

Spending my time with imaginary people, and getting to wear my PJs while I do so. Being known as the neighborhood eccentric, so I can do what I want, come and go as I please.

What is the worst part of being a writer?

The grunt work of revisions. Not so much the revisions themselves, that’s still being creative, layering nuances into the story, but when you have to sit down at the computer and actually input the revisions (I do mine on hard copy, first) it’s nothing short of tedious. Also, I am very shy in person, so booksignings and public appearances make me uncomfortable, but I do need to get out of the house every now and then and speak to real people .

What is your typical writing routine?

Every day is different for me, but the ideal day would be: Wake up really early in the morning. Write until my son needs to get up for school. Make breakfast, tidy up the house and send him off to school. Write until I need a break. Go to the Y, come home, shower, have lunch. Write until my son comes home. Spend time with him, asking about his day. Answer emails before dinner. Sometimes I take a nap, doze while he uses the computer. Then I get up, make dinner, eat dinner, clean up after dinner. (Sometimes, if I’m on a roll though, I skip this whole nap and dinner thing and tell him he’s on his own…Dinner is from the red box tonight…go to the freezer and pick one. He usually has cereal, though.) Then I do odds and ends on the computer or around the house until eight or so. Watch a DVD with my son to unwind. Bedtime at 10:00 if I haven’t already crashed. Weekends and holidays and summers are a different story. Then it’s catch as catch can. The same goes for errand day. I bundle my errands and run all over town, and don’t plan on getting any writing in on those days.

Are you a pantser or a plotter?

I have the general idea for a plot, and definitely a theme to maintain the focus of the story, but I make the scenes up as I go along within the framework of that theme and plot, and let the characters tell me what they want to do.

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

Work on something else that has nothing to do with what you are stuck on. Invariably it frees up your mind to sort out exactly what you need. Or I read something totally unrelated to what I am working on. It has the same effect. I never try to force myself through it. The sooner I let it go, the sooner the problem is resolved.

Liana Laverentz
Thin Ice (NJRW Golden Leaf and EPPIE Award Winner)
Jake’s Return (NJRW Golden Leaf Award Winner)
Now through December 15…
Purchasing one or the other enters you
In a drawing for Sony E-Reader

www.thewildrosepress.com
www.lianalaverentz.com
http://lianalaverentz.blogspot.com/
www.myspace.com/authorlianalaverentz

Tagged as: Guest Bloggers