Susan was born and raised a Southern California girl but is grateful to have lived on the Oregon coast and in the Rocky Mountains of northern Utah. She’s now enjoying living with her husband in the incomparable beauty of the Redwood forest, nestled against the rugged coast of Northern California.
Susan raised a tribe of children, making ends meet as a registered nurse and lactation consultant, and now her tribe members have tribes of their own and she doesn’t get to see enough of them. She loves to travel and is thrilled with a good movie or a great book, but writing is her passion. She writes almost anything, especially epic fantasy and romance.
Susan would love to hear your comments. Please review her book at your favorite retailer or at Goodreads. Take a peek at her website, susantietjen.blogspot.com, and/ or drop her a note at:
stietjen.author@gmail.com.
Author Interview Part 2:
⦁ Which genre is your favorite? If you could only write or recommend readers read one, what would your ‘go-to’ genre be?
A: I’d hate to be confined to only one genre. If I get tired of one, I try another for a while, like tasting different favorite foods. Tongue in cheek, I’d have to say that I put a little romance into everything I write, even my fantasy, so even if I really love fantasy, I’d have to say that the majority of my reading and writing is romance.
⦁ Which character was the easiest to write, and who was the hardest to write?
A: Grace was the easiest character to write in this book. I empathized with her “problem.” I’m the clumsiest person in the world and swear Murphy has it in for me. When I was a child, a family member who shall remain nameless made fun of me every time I tripped over something or knocked things down. She would sneer when she said, “What’s for an encore, Grace?”, and I cried. I understand Grace’s pain, her feelings of inadequacy, the times when she feels bitter, or lost, or unloved. I also understand that hope is the only thing that keeps Grace going, even if she doesn’t realize it. That’s what keeps all of us going even when it seems like the odds are against us.
The hardest character to write was Maria, the “other woman.” She was easy for me to not like, but it was hard to remain fair and keep her human. No one is totally bad, but having had to deal with mentally ill people as a nurse, I know some can be dangerous and it intimidates me. Considering this book was supposed to be light-hearted and fun, I had to work to make Maria realistic without taking her too seriously.
⦁ What is your go-to cure for writer's block?
A: All of those things that keep me from writing. (LOL.) Gardening, yoga, knitting, crocheting, church work. Mostly, I read and read and read. I watch television shows and take notes. I watch movies and take more notes. Sometimes a certain statement or idea will trigger something and get me on track again. Sometimes it’s just because of letting go and enjoying what someone else has created that recharges my batteries. If that’s not working, I love to go take a walk on the beach or out in our gorgeous redwood forest. Nothing like nature to re-center the human soul.
⦁ Where is your favorite place to read or write?
A: Favorite place to read: When it’s warm and dry, I love to read outside on my lounge chair on the decking. When it’s cold or raining, nothing beats cuddling up with my afghan in my rocking chair, along with a cup of hot chocolate and marshmallows, and my book. If it’s bedtime, I can hardly wait to curl up in bed and read for as long as I can, sometimes way beyond the time when the lights should go out.
Favorite place to write: In my office in front of my iMac. The screen is huge and I feel like I can see forever when I use it. It drives me nuts when I travel to have to revert to my laptop, because the screen is so small, especially because I use Scrivener to write. The multiple screens just work better on a larger computer monitor. Oh, and I have a slider door in the office that leads to the garden, and if I need a moment to re-center myself, all I have to do is look outside.
⦁ Do you have any tips to any aspiring authors or writers?
A:
1. Read, read, and read, especially the books in your chosen genre, and how-to-write books. There’s a slew of them: how to write dialogue, how to plan a plot, how to write basic English—which includes my pet peeve: good grammar, punctuation, spelling, and knowing the right verb tenses for the occasion. No one likes reading something so badly written it’s like fingernails on a chalkboard.
You may not like them all, but try self-help books like Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat, Larry Brook’s Story Engineering, and for aspiring Indie Authors, I love S. K. Quinn’s books Indie Author Survival Guide and For Love or Money.
2. Take a writing class if you can and join a writing group. The group isn’t an option. Many editors will not accept you as a client if you don’t have one. Critiquing other people’s work and letting them critique yours is crucial. It will help refine your skills and is a lot cheaper than an editor.
3. Attend writing conferences. I can’t stress that enough. Some have contests available. Enter them. You’ll learn both from winning and losing.
4. Consider joining NaNoWrimo.org, National Novel Writing Month. (It’s free, although donations are appreciated.) Every November, authors from all over the world gather to focus on one thing: writing an entire book of at least 50,000 words beginning on November 1st. Your work is not evaluated and it isn’t a contest, it’s just a way to channel your efforts and give you a reason to work hard. There are helps available, some accountability, advice from successful authors, a way to find buddies in your area (online or in person) so that you can challenge each other, and an excuse to push the rest of the world away. No one expects a polished work, it’s just a way to learn to focus on writing a lot quickly rather than taking forever to write the first three chapters of the next great American novel.
5. Get a subscription to Writer’s Magazine or something similar. There are always great hints and ideas as well as contests and conferences—sometimes online—advertised in them.
6. Consider purchasing a writing program. I love Scrivener, but there are others out there and no doubt will someday be more. It helps organize your work and avoid problems when you’re revising.
7. Decide whether you want to publish. You’re a writer either way, but if you do want to publish, you need to know what’s at stake. Do you want to be a traditionally published author or an Indie author? It requires some research to know the processes involved, because both are hard work, just different. In other words, know which price you’re willing to pay to make it happen.
