TGI Friday

Hey guys! Today I have author Alicia Nordwell, also known as Cia, guest blogging with me! Please make sure to check out her blog: Cia's Stories


~When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer? 
I’m a writer? *gasp* No really, it wasn’t something I ever ‘wanted’ to be, I just decided to try my hand at it after I joined GA and several friends encouraged me. I found I like doing it, and seem to doing it fairly well, so I just kept on. 


~How do you come up with a title?
I harass my beta to help me come up with one, she has the best ideas, or ask my hubby. I hate coming up with titles and summaries.


~ How long does it take you to write an eBook/full story? 
Honestly, I don’t tend to work for a deadline and not keep track of how long I write a story for. I think serial posting The Price of Honor took me 8 months though.


~Where do you get your information or ideas for your books?
The internet, of course, or the library. I once spent 2 hours researching flowers in the rainforest for a 2 paragraph section of Two of a Kind. Hultans are actual Dacian mythology that I twisted for Pricolici. Sometimes a picture will make a character or setting come to life for me too. I think I love those the best.


  ~Which character caused you most difficulty to write? 
Usually my characters cooperate, if not downright take over. If I have a hard time getting a visual on a character I talk them out with Renee, or one of my other helpful writing friends.


~When do you do your best writing… morning, afternoon, evening, night? 
Afternoon, I think. Mornings and evenings are busy with chores and family and late night writing makes me fall asleep. Usually if I do that I wake up to pages full of the k button, lol. 


~Out of all the stories you’ve written which one are you most proud of?  
I’d have to say Hypnotic. It’s one of my best, and it also ties in 2 other stories in the series. That was much harder to do than I ever imagined.

 
~Which story caused you the most difficulty to write?  
The Price of Honor. I didn’t have a beta back then, thank heavens for Renee now. Since it was my first story it is full of mistakes. I still need to go back and fix those, but new writing is always more fun and keeping me busy.


~Which character is most like yourself?
You haven’t seen her yet. She’s a fire elemental with red hair, a colored past that is a bit leery of people. She’s going to open right up and take charge though, once she figures out that she’s safe and cared for. The real twist is going to be who is doing the caring, but I’m not telling that part yet!


~Do you plan your stories and, if so, to what extent? 
Not really. Sometimes I’ll write out loose ideas, and I’ll plot stuff out if I am blocked but I don’t usually sit down with a long explanation and character description unless I don’t plan to write the story right away. If a plot bunny gets me, I will write it all out and then save it though. 


~Do you plan your characters?
To some extent, yes. Writing it’s wholly organic for me. I think very hard about my characters, their personalities and appearances, and dynamic that brings to the story based on the setting, their relationships, and the ‘point’ of the story.


~Out of all the characters you’ve written which one has affected you most? Not necessarily which one you like most, but which one ‘got to you’?
Emotionally difficult was Wes from ‘With Open Arms’. A lot of his story, and his injuries, were taken from actual events that happened to me. It was emotional to write that, I gave him a lot of my feelings of anger and the memory of the pain I was in is never fun.


~Do you think there are any hidden messages in any of your stories? 
Of course. I wrote Hubris in 20 minutes, but there is a lot of subtext in that story. My story, Eren’s Light, is full of it as well. They were both anthologies for GA and short. I don’t like to expound on things, but adding a little deeper meaning doesn’t hurt from time to time. 


~How many times have you started a story and abandoned it?
Oh heavens… I have about 10 stories ‘abandoned’ right now, and I work on them as the urge hits from time to time. That doesn’t mean they will stay that abandoned. Some are ideas for deadlines yet to come, others are ideas just for me that I’ll share when I finish them but don’t feel rushed to get to the end. 


~How many stories do you work on at any one time?
Usually I try not to post more than 2 stories at a time. Actually ‘working’ can be up to 4 stories at a time, but priority goes to whatever I’m posting.


~Has there even been something that you have had a SERIOUS disagreement with your editor or beta reader about? 
Nope, it’s actually funny, several people that Renee Stevens and I have both beta’ed for say we think exactly alike. She just gets what I mean when I write something, or fail to write something. Our styles mesh very well but on the off chance we don’t agree on something she just lets me go with what I feel is right. It is my story after all, and I extend her the same courtesy since I beta for her.


~What is your deepest fear?
Oh, that’s an off topic question, lol. I guess for me, as a parent, is to have something happen to me that means I can’t be there for my kids. I grew up with a single dad for a long time, and while I love him, it wasn’t the same as having a mom. My kids have been my world since I began to stay at home with them 6 years ago, they always come first.


~What do you like to do when you’re not writing?? 
OMG, read. All the time. Voraciously. I also do photography, I have a link to one of my online album sites on my blog. I also like to hike, which works well for the photography, camp, shoot archery, swim during the short Pacific NW summers, and just spend time with my family.


~Is there anything you’d like to tell? Maybe something in the works you would like to promotion? Feel free! 
Promotion! Yay! Let’s see, the biggest on the horizon is an expanded version of Pricolici that Romance First Publishing has contacted. I don’t have a date for release yet, but it should be by fall at the latest, I believe. I have a sequel partially planned for that story. Something readers haven’t heard about at all, I did a fantasy anthology with Lugh, and Renee Stevens from GA. Our short stories will post in the Premium section of the site very soon starting with Renee’s, then mine, then Lugh’s.

I also have a partially completed novella titled ‘The Legend is the Key’ for GA’s special 2012 Anthology ‘Secrets Can Kill’ that will debut in August. That previously mentioned mf story with a kick ass female lead is halfway complete, but I plan to send that to a publisher for consideration. If it isn’t picked up, I’ll post that on FSO this summer as well. In the meantime, I’m busy writing the climax scenes and endings for Hypnotic and The Experiment for readers.

  Thanks Cia for stopping by!

~M