7 QUESTIONS WITH AMANDA BRICE
Author
of the Month :: SUSAN WIGGS
1. How long and hard did you work before you got published?
Depends on how I decided to count. I was telling stories before I knew how to read and write, so by the time I sold my first novel at age 27, I'd been at it for like a quarter of a century. I self-published my first book at age eight. When I was in graduate school, I wrote my first adult-length novel in longhand while in graduate school, and later typed it on a portable manual typewriter. However, I think you're asking when I knuckled down and dedicated myself to being a commercially published author. That was in 1983, when I was expecting a baby. I worked like a demon (never let anyone tell you it's easy) and sold that first nove in 1986. So, short answer: Three years. I wrote a blog post here about my first twenty years as a published author.
2. What do you like best about the writer's life?
Tough question. There is so much to love! The dreamlike quality of a day making up stories. The freedom to live anywhere you want, even on an island in the Pacific Northwest. The excitement of an industry I love. Getting heartfelt (and sometimes heart-wrenching) feedback from readers. Seeing a book with my name on it. Good lord, I was so devoted to books as a child that I would sleep with a favorite novel under my pillow, hoping I'd dream about it. And then to grow up and actually get to write books. I am living the dream!
3. Which is your favorite book you've written, and why?
My answer to this is always the same, and it always frustrates people. The next book. The one I haven't yet spoiled by writing it down. However, you cleverly specified "favorite book you've written," so I'd have to answer that it's Just Breathe. While writing this book, we made a trip to the place where it's set--the Point Reyes National Seashore in California. It's a magical place, unlike any other place on the coast, and Jay and I spent our 25th wedding anniversary there. It was one of the most romantic and fulfilling times of my life. Our daughter was in college and it was just Jay and me, the way we were when we were first married, and being in such a special place together was like a dream. Publishers Weekly called Just Breathe a "feel-good" book and I think maybe this has something to do with my mind set on that research trip.
4. What's your writing day like?
You don't want to know. :-( I used to be very disciplined, particularly when I had a full-time teaching job and was also a mom and a wife. I kept regular hours and I was very productive. Now I have lots of time and unstructured days, and guess what? I struggle to get a book done on time. It's true that my books are now more complex, but every book is hard to write in its own way. My typical writing day? I get up early, grab my notebook and pen and make a latte, and get right down to it. If I put it off, the day gets away from me--phone calls, e-mail, business-y stuff. It's very distracting.
5. What are you reading right now?
Off Season by Anne Rivers Siddons. I picked up an ARC at Book Expo earlier in the summer. Anne is the author of one of my favorite novels, Peachtree Road. She always writes a big, juicy, summery read with a strong sense of place.
6. What advice would you offer to the unpublished writer?
Write from the heart. Don't rush a submission--polish it until it shines, and then start sending it out. This means being very patient with yourself. (This is something I struggled with--still do.) Never, ever pay a fee to a publisher or agent, for any reason. And I know this is not going to endear me to a lot of people, but if you're working on a mainstream, commercial novel, avoid e-pubs at all costs. That's my advice, anyway.
7. What would people be most surprised to learn about you?
Hmmm. That I've skiied the Matterhorn? That I made the second cut for NASA's "Teacher in Space" program (the chosen teacher was the late Christa McAuliffe)? That Jay won a BMW Z4 Roadster in a golf tournament? I consider myself really predictable, so it's a tough call!
Learn more about SUSAN by visiting...
http://susanwiggs.com/
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ABOUT SUSAN
Using blunt scissors, pages from a Big Chief tablet, a borrowed stapler and a Number Two pencil, Susan Wiggs self-published her first novel at the age of eight. A Book About Some Bad Kids [I still have this-CL] was based on the true-life adventures of Susan and her siblings, and the first printing of one copy was a complete sell-out.
Due to her brother's extreme reaction to that first prodigious effort, Susan went underground with her craft, entertaining her friends and offending her siblings with anonymously-written stories of virtuous sisters and the brothers who torment them. The first romance she ever read was Shanna by the incomparable Kathleen Woodiwiss, which she devoured while slumped behind a college vector analysis textbook. Armed with degrees from SFA and Harvard, and toting a crate of "keeper" books by Woodiwiss, Roberta Gellis, Laurie McBain, Rosemary Rodgers, Jennifer Blake, Bertrice Small and anything with the words "flaming" and "ecstasy" in the title, she became a math teacher, just to prove to the world that she did have a left brain.
Late one night, she finished the book she was reading and was confronted with a reader's worst nightmare—She was wide awake, and there wasn't a thing in the house she wanted to read. Figuring this was the universe's way of taking away her excuses, she picked up a Big Chief tablet and a Number Two pencil, and began writing her novel with the working title, A Book About Some Bad Adults. Actually, that was a bad book about some adults, but Susan persevered, learning her craft the way skydiving is learned—by taking a blind leap and hoping the chute will open.
Her first book was published (without the use of blunt scissors and a stapler) by Zebra in 1987, and since then she has been published by Avon, Tor, HarperCollins, Harlequin, Warner and Mira Books. Unable to completely abandon her beloved teaching profession, Susan is a frequent workshop leader and speaker at writers' conferences, including the literary institution Fields End and the legendary Maui Writers Conference. Her novel The Charm School was voted one of RWA's Favorite Books of the Year. She is the proud recipient of three RITA awards for Lakeside Cottage, Lord of the Night and The Mistress, and is often a finalist for the prestigious award. Her books appear regularly on numerous "Best Of" lists.
Susan enjoys many hobbies, including sitting in the hot tub while talking to her mother on the phone, kickboxing, cleaning the can opener, sculpting with butter and growing her hair. She lives on an island in the Pacific Northwest with her family.
http://susanwiggs.com/
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