Make-Believe Monday with Beth Williamson

Today on Make-Believe Mondays our guest is Beth Williamson.

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

Beth: I’m working on The Legacy – book 7 of the Malloy family series.

Debra: Ray Bradbury said, “We are cups, constantly being filled. The trick is, knowing how to tip ourselves over and let the beautiful stuff out.” How do you keep your creative cup filled?

Beth: I love that quote! Hm, how do I keep my creative cup filled? I think I suffer from an overabundance of imagination to begin with, so it doesn’t take much for my creative cup to tip over. LOL! But to energize myself, I read a book from my enormous TBR pile or watch a good movie. Sometimes I pick one of my favs to re-read or watch again.

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

Beth: If I say yes, you won’t call the men in white coats will you?

Debra: Oh, no. You'd be in good company as so many authors I know (including myself) experience this with every book they write.

Beth: Yes, absolutely! I hear them and see them all the time. I carry an MP3 player that I can record on and as I drive back and forth to work, I write scenes out loud.

Debra: 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?

Beth: I don’t write fantasy or paranormal or sci-fi, so I’ve never had occasion to make up words. However, I do like to use phrases or character-specific words that you always associate with them. Like in The Bounty, Tyler called Nicky “Magpie” – it started as an insult and became a term of endearment.

Debra: 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?

Beth: Absolutely! I had a very, er, erotic dream last week that I proposed to my editor at Loose Id for a story. She thought she might need a new fire extinguisher. ROFL!

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

Beth: You know I always read books and went to the library, but I can’t remember any childhood book pulling me too hard. However, when I started reading romances, that’s when it happened. Man alive, I fell in love with the genre immediately.

Debra: 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?

Beth: A story where the reader gets completely captivated by the characters, cannot put it down, and experiences true emotions when reading it. The very best books are the ones that make me cry, laugh, and rage right along with them.

Debra: 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?

Beth: I think imagination is the cornerstone of what it is to be human. Without dreams and imagining things, there would be no books or readers. What fun would that be? Writing books allows me to share my dreams and imagination, to spread my wings and soar in the land of words, carrying readers on my wings.

Debra: And as your imagination allows you to soar, the readers can soar along with you. :)

Beth, thank you for joining us here on this Make-believe Monday to share a little bit of the magic of writing with our readers.