A chat with Fiction Scribe

One of the members of Brand New Aspiring Writers is Jaime. She shares her wisdom about writing related issues at Fiction Scribe.

With her blog she manages to not only entertain but inform aspiring writers how to improve their craft. In her poem below, and the answers to my questions you can see for yourself how her talent and hard work blend together to make her a true inspiration. First, some background on her in her own words.....

Group Manager,
Sara


A little about me...I’m a four leaf clover,
a lemon with a twist.
I’m a scotch on the rocks,
a Sunday morning mist.
I am your daughter,
your lover, your friend.
I am a stranger,
and on whom you depend.
I am a woman.
I’m breasts, hips, and curves,
I am a body
on what man perves.
I am everything and nothing,
I’m all I believe.
I’m beauty and mystery -
not just what you see. I'm still recently enough married to be considered a newlywed, a native Wisconsinite who, on my first flight, flew to Australia, where I found great people, good food, and an appreciation for city living.

I'm a freelance writer, published short-story writer, professional blogger, and aspiring novelist.

When I'm not writing and listening to almost any type of music you can think of, I spend my time talking to friends, scrapbooking, traveling with my husband, and talking quantum physics. I also take time every day to write about my journey to lose weight and and get healthy.

Question One- Nearly all of the members of Brand New Aspiring Writers have written a novel or have a half written one they are battling their muse to finish. What are you working on these days?

Gosh, what am I not working on these days? That seems like the question, anyway. I currently have bunch of open stories and other story notes, but I'm very excited to say I'm finally working on a novel these days. I have two others written, and now I get to go back and write how it all began. I'll be doing a lot of things I haven't done before in a novel, like using a language and an entirely different way of life (I have so many notes I had to set up and print my own "guide" to this world, lest I forget) so I'm very excited about that.

Question Two- Many writers claim to have been scribbling down stories since childhood. Did you start writing at a young age?

Oh, absolutely. Somewhere in my vast collection of childhood paperwork, I have all the stories I wrote when I was beginning to learn to write. I also have two of my favorite stories I wrote in my childhood - one about my brother destroying the world with an atomic fart and one retelling of the three little pigs from the wolf's perspective. I always felt back then that he didn't get the chance to explain himself.

Question Three- Have you ever taken a break from writing fiction? How long did it last? What brought you back? If you never took a break, what keeps you motivated year after year?

Yes, I've taken breaks. I tend to think of break times as when I refuel my idea tank. Usually when I finish a piece, I take anywhere from a week to a month to talk to people, read books, and explore to fill up my idea notebook once more.
I think you're talking significantly long breaks, though, and there has only been one for me. I wrote my first novel and then I didn't write for about half a year. I suppose I didn't take myself very seriously as a writer then, so I didn't see any reason to jump right into the next project. Or any project, for that matter.
What brought me back was the sensation that the stories of the people of Tet weren't done being told yet, and the granddaughter of the main character in the first novel had an important story to tell - perhaps even more important than her grandmother's.


Question Four- Where do you see your writing career in five years? In fifty?

In five years, I want to have my novella published. I took a break from seeking out publishers because of my wedding, but I want to get back into it and get that bad boy published. I also want to be in the process of publishing one of my Tet novels or have it published already. Those are the immediate goals for five years down. I'd also love to take all my pet peeves (on Fiction Scribe) and put them into a book or ebook, but that is just an idea at the moment.
In fifty years... Wow. I'll want to have quite a few books published, but as always, I'll be aiming for quality, not quantity. I'll still be blogging, if I have anything to say about it. Maybe not professionally, but I do adore reading and writing blogs. By then I certainly hope to have made a name in whatever writing-related career I choose, which could be writing for a paper or freelance editing at this point.

Question Five- How did you come to have your Fiction Scribe blog with 451 Press?

Oh, my. This is actually a funnier story than you might think.
Chrispian, one of the main people at 451 advertised for writers on a writing forum I'm on (which he created). I eagerly signed up and suggested I could write about relationships, life in Australia, scrapbooks, etc. I listed a bunch of things. They responded quickly that I had the job as the scrapbooking blogger. (How different life would have been, hm?)
This was all right before I flew over here, so there was a good amount of time between when I was hired on and when I was settled enough here to start blogging and putting in the paperwork. However, by that time Chrispian told me there was a mistake and they already had a scrapbook blogger.
I was feeling pouty and emailed him back that "It's too bad you don't have a blog about writing, because I would love that."
He responded that he loves fiction writing and thinks a fiction writing blog was a great idea. And so, Fiction Scribe was born and I started writing on it last October.

A scrapbooking blogger... How strange to think about how things would be now if I had written for that instead.

Question Six- Your blog is a favorite of mine. Its a must read! What is the latest contest you are running?

I'm glad you like it!
Currently, the Spread the Love contest is going in honor of getting married. All you have to do is get your friends to comment and put who they were recommended by, and you could each win a $15 amazon gift certificate! Good luck to everyone who participates.


A huge thanks to Jaime for taking the time to share some of her story with us.

Make sure you stop by Fiction Scribe and check out all her tips, hints, and prompts for aspiring writers.