INTERVIEW WITH GUEST AUTHOR
B.E. SANDERSON
B.E. SANDERSON
Q: Tell us a little about yourself, B.E.
A: On my website I describe myself as a former sales ‘road warrior’ and corporate 'Jack of all trades', but I left that world in 2004 to write and raise my daughter. Now I live and write in a cabin in the Missouri woods with my retired husband and two cats, and love every minute of it.
How do you find or make time to write? With my daughter is grown and my husband retired, I can work pretty much whenever the urge strikes me. When I was homeschooling my daughter, I made time to write after she went to bed. That left me all day for her, mornings and evenings to spend with my husband, and an couple hours to write. When she got older, I would start writing around 7pm because she had her own things to do. Now, when I have all the time in the world, I still write at night because it's an old habit.
How long on average does it take you to write a book? Years ago, I started doing the challenge for National Novel Writing Month where a person write 50K words in 30 days. Not that any of my books are complete at 50K words, but using that as a benchmark, I'd say I can complete a first draft in about 6 weeks--if I keep my head down, hands on keyboard, and butt in chair.
How long have you been writing and how long have you been publishing? I began writing seriously in January of 2004--which, for me, means writing with the intent to publish. I finally got tired of banging my head on the traditional publishing wall mid-2014 and got the ball rolling. I published my first novel on February 13th, 2015, and have sent 5 books total out into the world since then.
What’s the hardest part of writing for you? What’s the easiest part? The hardest part of writing, for me, is the editing. Which means you can probably guess the easiest part--writing the first draft. Wrangling the words down on paper isn't always easy, but I will battle it out with new words hands down over tweaking a story.
Q: Are you a plotter or a pantster?
A: I like to call myself a plansterer. I plot some, I plan some, and I write by the seat of my pants a lot.
Do you read your reviews and how do you feel about good/bad ones? I know you're not supposed to, but I read my reviews. I'm grateful for the time people take to read my books and to leave their thoughts out in public for other people. The good ones brighten my day. The bad ones remind me that not everyone will, or even should, like everything I write. If everyone is liking everything all the time, I must be doing something wrong. ;o)
How do you feel about ebooks vs. print books? I'll read anything. Sometimes I pick up an ebook because it's easier on my eyes or my wrists than a hardcopy book. Sometimes I pick up a paperback because I like holding it and because I read a lot of old paperbacks and because I'm using my Kindle for work. (Yes, I use my ereaders for editing and proofreading my own books.) So, there's no real preference. And when I say I'll read anything, I mean anything. If it's got words on it and it's in front of me, I'm reading it--cereal boxes, signs, the ticker at the bottom of the screen during a football game...I can't help it.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: I'm currently working on Fertile Ground. It follows the government organization created within Dying Embers, but with a new set of characters and a new location. This time the Serial Crimes Investigative Unit is coming to you from a newly-opened branch in Detroit where Agent Teri Buchanan is dropped into the middle of what may or may not be a case of serial rapist turned murderer.
Q: What do you consider to be your best accomplishment?
A: Not dying. There've been enough near misses over the past 45 years, I think it's an accomplishment I've managed to stay alive this long.
Q: What do you want your tombstone to say?
A: You won't find her here.
A: On my website I describe myself as a former sales ‘road warrior’ and corporate 'Jack of all trades', but I left that world in 2004 to write and raise my daughter. Now I live and write in a cabin in the Missouri woods with my retired husband and two cats, and love every minute of it.
How do you find or make time to write? With my daughter is grown and my husband retired, I can work pretty much whenever the urge strikes me. When I was homeschooling my daughter, I made time to write after she went to bed. That left me all day for her, mornings and evenings to spend with my husband, and an couple hours to write. When she got older, I would start writing around 7pm because she had her own things to do. Now, when I have all the time in the world, I still write at night because it's an old habit.
How long on average does it take you to write a book? Years ago, I started doing the challenge for National Novel Writing Month where a person write 50K words in 30 days. Not that any of my books are complete at 50K words, but using that as a benchmark, I'd say I can complete a first draft in about 6 weeks--if I keep my head down, hands on keyboard, and butt in chair.
How long have you been writing and how long have you been publishing? I began writing seriously in January of 2004--which, for me, means writing with the intent to publish. I finally got tired of banging my head on the traditional publishing wall mid-2014 and got the ball rolling. I published my first novel on February 13th, 2015, and have sent 5 books total out into the world since then.
What’s the hardest part of writing for you? What’s the easiest part? The hardest part of writing, for me, is the editing. Which means you can probably guess the easiest part--writing the first draft. Wrangling the words down on paper isn't always easy, but I will battle it out with new words hands down over tweaking a story.
Q: Are you a plotter or a pantster?
A: I like to call myself a plansterer. I plot some, I plan some, and I write by the seat of my pants a lot.
Do you read your reviews and how do you feel about good/bad ones? I know you're not supposed to, but I read my reviews. I'm grateful for the time people take to read my books and to leave their thoughts out in public for other people. The good ones brighten my day. The bad ones remind me that not everyone will, or even should, like everything I write. If everyone is liking everything all the time, I must be doing something wrong. ;o)
How do you feel about ebooks vs. print books? I'll read anything. Sometimes I pick up an ebook because it's easier on my eyes or my wrists than a hardcopy book. Sometimes I pick up a paperback because I like holding it and because I read a lot of old paperbacks and because I'm using my Kindle for work. (Yes, I use my ereaders for editing and proofreading my own books.) So, there's no real preference. And when I say I'll read anything, I mean anything. If it's got words on it and it's in front of me, I'm reading it--cereal boxes, signs, the ticker at the bottom of the screen during a football game...I can't help it.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: I'm currently working on Fertile Ground. It follows the government organization created within Dying Embers, but with a new set of characters and a new location. This time the Serial Crimes Investigative Unit is coming to you from a newly-opened branch in Detroit where Agent Teri Buchanan is dropped into the middle of what may or may not be a case of serial rapist turned murderer.
Q: What do you consider to be your best accomplishment?
A: Not dying. There've been enough near misses over the past 45 years, I think it's an accomplishment I've managed to stay alive this long.
Q: What do you want your tombstone to say?
A: You won't find her here.
