Febuary Guest: Miriam S. Forster

We're starting off the guest blogging with an interview with an Idaho author, Miriam S. Forster. Her book, The Flute and the Dagger, is due out this year. Keep reading for insights from a budding new author. Then, head over to her blog for some more reading, and updates on her book. Miriam can also be found on Facebook and Twitter. We'll hear more from Miriam later this week, and again later in the month.

1. When and why did you begin writing?
According to my mother, the first book I wrote, I wrote at the age of seven as a birthday present for my younger sister. And writing poems and stories in English class was always my favorite. But I didn’t start to love writing for its own sake until high school. I’d made up a this world on a computer game I had and I wanted to tell the story of it

2. What sort of genre do you write?
Mostly young adult, and mostly fantasy. I like how tight the writing is for that age. And I love the possibilities and wonder of fantasy lit.

3. Have you been published? If so, what titles? Where can we find your book?
I am in the process of being published. Unfortunately the small press I’m publishing with had a huge name change last year that pushed everything waay back. I have heard from my publisher though, and things should get rolling this spring.
The best way to keep informed about when the book comes out is to follow my blog, or join my Facebook Page.

4. How do you define being a successful writer? What do you do to get there?
I think success is a hard thing to define, because no one ever feels like they’ve reached it. Success is always just one more achievement away. And in publishing, a LOT of things are out of your control. So I try to focus on what I can do. Am I writing consistently? Am I improving my knowledge of how publishing works? Am I connecting with readers and networking to the best of my ability? If I can say yes to those things, then I consider myself a success.

5. What is your writing schedule?
500 words a day, of course! I usually try to write after work, before I go home and other things get in the way. If I don’t do that, then later at night generally works best.

6. You come to a fork in the road. Which way do you go? Why?
Probably the road less traveled, or the one that looks like it might go somewhere interesting.

7. What books have most influenced your life?
I can’t think of any specific ones that had a huge impact. I think the thing that really influenced me was that I was allowed to read widely when I was a kid. My dad shares my love of books, and most of his library was open to me. That really encouraged my love of books and storytelling and gave me an open mind.

8. What book are you currently reading?
I got The War of Art by Steven Pressfield for Christmas, and I’ve already read it three times. It’s a simple book, but it shoots straight about a lot of things, including the fight against Resistance and the way we self-sabotage.

9. What are your current projects?
I’m currently rewriting the book I finished in November, a novel about a high-school girl who dies and ends up into the body of a kitten. I’m also doing a lot of research about the Nome Alaskan gold rush for my next book, a middle-grade historical fantasy.

10. Who is your favorite author and what is it that really strikes you about their work?
Oh, that’s a HARD question. I love Mercedes’ Lackey’s worldbuilding and Donna Andrews’ sense of fun. Tamora Pierce does awesome female characters like no one else, and Dean Koontz can almost always be counted on for good escapist plots.
It all depends on what I’m in the mood for.

11. Have you learned anything from writing that applies to other parts of life?
I think the biggest thing I’ve learned is to focus on the things I can control. Also, humility and patience.
In writing, you can get too wrapped up in the words on the page, too invested in the work. Writing is a deeply personal thing, but it’s also a skill like any other and needs practice. If you take critiques, rejections, etc, too personally, it can really hurt your ability to improve.

12. Do you have any advice that you would like to share?
Practice, practice, practice. You wouldn’t expect to become a concert pianist the first time you played chopsticks, don’t expect to be an amazing writer the first time you pick up a pen.
Along with that, the best way to be a better writer is to write another book, (or poem or song, or whatever). I spent years trying to rewrite my first book, and it wasn’t until I had another two manuscripts under my belt that I had the experience to make that first book what it needed to be

13. You're trapped on an island, what five things do you have with you?
A book on edible plants and a fishing net, to start. :) Also, a box of pens, a giant box of paper, and a really good, long book.

14. Quick, it's a Zombie Apocalypse! What do you do?
Run and find someone with a really big gun, then hole up in a bunker somewhere.

15. Your computer just died, does this ruin your writing day, or can you cope?
I think I could cope. There’s always planning to be done, outlining, or research. And if I have a scene that HAS to be written, I can always write longhand.

16. Where would you take your favorite author to dinner?
Flying Pie! Or somewhere like it, somewhere you can settle in, eat breadsticks and relax.

17. Why isn't the sky red?
Um, it is, isn’t it? Next you’ll be telling me stop signs aren’t blue! :)

Interested in being a guest blogger? Point us to your blog and let us know.