Monday, April 10, 2006

Make-Believe Monday With Lois Winston

Today on Make-believe Mondays we have Lois Winston. Lois was first runner up in the American Title contest last year. It's such a thrill to see how the careers of last years finalists have taken off.

Lois, first, tell us a little bit about the manuscript you’re working on now.

Lois: Because my publisher is looking for romantic suspense, I’ve gone back to some of my older manuscripts (I started out writing r/s) and am rewriting them. I still believe in the stories and the characters I created and would love to see them published eventually. However, I cringed when I first reread them after so many years. I now see why they didn’t sell at the time and can also see how much I’ve matured as a writer. It’s actually a really good feeling.



Mark Twain said, “You cannot depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.” How do you fill your creative well to keep your imagination in focus?

Lois: I get quite a bit of my inspiration from reading the newspaper, especially the human interest stories and the letters to Dear Abby. I keep a file of anything that interests me. When my muse takes a holiday and my imagination become uncooperative, I sit down with that file and start reading. Before I’ve gotten very far, the muse returns and my imagination stops putting up a fight.

Is there a point when your characters begin to come alive and you can see and hear them?

Lois: Oh yes! All the time. And sometimes at the most inopportune moments. I remember an episode of Bewitched years ago where Samantha is writing a play. The characters come alive in her living room and begin talking to her, helping her write the script. Sometimes I feel like that’s happening to me. It gets a bit awkward on occasion, though, especially when it happens in an aisle of the supermarket or during a doctor’s appointment!

Some very famous authors have played with language, creating words for people or places that no one has ever heard of. Have you ever played with words in that way and if so how?

Lois: I don’t make up words, but I love onomatopoeia. So I often play with phrasing. I also like to put a different spin on common phrases to make them fresh and a bit out of the ordinary. I also love to choose character names and settings for my stories that have a bit of double-entendre to them or a Dickensian nature. For instance, the father in Talk Gertie To Me is Earnest Stedworth. And he certainly is!

For some writers, dreams play a role in creating fiction. Has this been true for you? Have you ever dreamed a scene or an image that later wound up in one of your books?

Lois: You have no idea how apropos this question is for me! I began writing because of a recurring dream that kept growing. Each night another chapter played out. When the dream began taking over my daytime thoughts, I knew it was time to get it down on paper. That dream became my first manuscript. I also find that I often can’t fall asleep at night until I puzzle out the next scene in my current manuscript. If something is giving me problems, and I’ve written myself into a corner, I need to find a solution before I can shut down my brain and go to sleep at night.

As a child did any particular book or author pull you into their imaginary world?

Lois: In grammar school I devoured the Cherry Ames series. For several years I wanted to become a nurse because of the influence the books had on me. By junior high I had very eclectic taste. One summer I read The Hobbit and the complete Lord of the Rings trilogy, Gone with the Wind, Marjorie Morningstar, and Peyton Place (the last two on the sly.)

If there were no categories for books, no reader expectations to meet, and you could create the wildest work of imagination that you could think of what kind of story would that be?

Lois: One that lands me on the NY Times best-seller list? Truthfully, this is a very difficult question to answer. I write in several genres and also write cross-genre. It really depends on the story that’s burning within me at any given moment. I write what I want to write. I don’t write to the market because the market is always changing. It’s far better to be a trend-setter than a trend-follower. I’m just hoping that one of these days one of my books does trigger a trend. After all, who wouldn’t want to be the next J.K. Rowling or Dan Brown?

Is there anything else you would like to add about the role of imagination, and dreams in creating fiction? Any other message for our readers?

Lois: The one thing I’d like to stress is that if you have a passion to write, don’t stop. Keep writing, no matter how many rejection letters you receive, no matter how many obstacles are thrown your way. I know it sounds cliché, but you won’t succeed at something if you allow defeatism to rule your life. It took me 10 years from the time I wrote down that dream until I sold my first book. Some dreams just take a bit longer than others to come true.

Lois, thank you for joining us here on this Make-believe Monday. Visit www.loiswinston.com

Monday, April 03, 2006

Make-Believe Mondays With Janice Lynn

On this Make-believe Monday morning I'm pleased to introduce Janice Lynn. Janice won the American Title I contest last year with JANE MILLIONARE which came out just a few months ago and she has been a source of great inspiration and support to all of the finalists this year as she mentored us through our finalist loop.

First, tell us a little bit about the manuscript you’re working on now.

Janice: I just finished a manuscript a few weeks ago that my agent has sent out. I’m excited as it’s my first real submission in more than a year. I have also turned in the sequel to JANE MILLIONAIRE to Dorchester. It’s tentatively titled CAUSING A COMMOTION & is Jessie’s story. As Jill’s sister in JANE MILLIONAIRE, Jessie was a fun secondary character, but turning her into a heroine a reader could empathize with took some work. I’d never intended to give her a story of her own, but got many requests for her story and realized she did deserve to have her tale told.

Debra: I'm glad you wrote Jessie's story and I'm looking forward to reading this one. The title is intriguing.

Mark Twain said, “You cannot depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.” How do you fill your creative well to keep your imagination in focus?

Janice: I used to push myself through and just keep writing, even if it was total crap. After completing more than 10 manuscripts, I now trust that if my imagination is out of focus, it’s a temporary thing and it’ll come back with a strong burn to put butt in chair and write. Some things that inspire me are my hubby, funny movies, Matthew McConaughey—hey, that man inspires!, and lots of other artsy kind of things from drawing, painting, to scrap-booking with my kids.

Debra: Um, Matthew McConaughey, yes he certainly does inspire! It also sounds like you are moved by visual images as many of us are. I'm always amazed at how one media can inspire the other as with painting and writing.

Is there a point when your characters begin to come alive and you can see and hear them?

Janice: Yes. My characters are like people I know and it’s always a bit sad to finish a book and know that these ‘people’ aren’t going to be such a dominate part of my life any more.

Some very famous authors have played with language, creating words for people or places that no one has ever heard of. Have you ever played with words in that way and if so how?

Janice: I’ve written one light paranormal & I made up a few words to add flavor to my heroine’s vocabulary.

For some writers, dreams play a role in creating fiction. Has this been true for you? Have you ever dreamed a scene or an image that later wound up in one of your books?

Janice: Yes. Usually those dreams involve Matthew McConnaughey, me, and a weekend get-away. What? Not buying that? Hey, this is my dreams we’re talking about. Okay, although Matthew is as dreamy as he is inspiring, I can’t honestly say that I’ve ever had a dream about him—not one while asleep at any rate. But sometimes characters are so strong in my head when I go to bed that scenes will play out in my dreams. Mostly ones I’ve already written and it’s like watching a movie of it, but occasionally dreams with new scenes, too.

Debra: The imagery in dreams and the imagery in writing so many times are interconnected. It's a thread that shows up again and again when I talk to other writers.

As a child did any particular book or author pull you into their imaginary world?

Janice: I loved to read any book, any author. Beverly Cleary always made me smile. At around 12 I started sneaking and reading my mom’s Harlequin’s, Second Chance at Love’s, and Silhouette’s.

If there were no categories for books, no reader expectations to meet, and you could create the wildest work of imagination that you could think of what kind of story would that be?

Janice: Great question. Wish I had a great answer for it. The book my agent currently has is a pretty far stretch of my imagination. I pushed myself and my writing in it further than I thought I could. Did I mention that my heroine is BAD? I mean, like really bad, but I adore her and had a blast writing her story.

Debra: It's exciting to hear you've been stretching your imagination with the new work. The best books always have that element of playing without too many boundaries where the imagination is free to roam.

Is there anything else you would like to add about the role of imagination, and dreams in creating fiction? Any other message for our readers?

Janice: For writers and readers alike, always let your imaginations guide you. Don’t let others stifle your imagination with the short-sightedness of their own imaginations. Believe in yourself and in your dreams always.

Debra: Yes, allowing our imaginations to run free is so important!

Janice, thank you for joining us here to share a bit of the writers life of dreams, imagination and creating fiction. To learn more about Janice visit www.janicelynn.net