Interview with Aubrie Dionne

I'd like to present to you Aubrie Dionne, fiction writer.

Aubrie has been kind enough to donate a copy of her story Winter Queen from the Seasons of Fantasy Series. To qualify for this prize all you have to do is be a follower and make a comment. You have a week to do so. The winner will be picked in a random drawing and presented next Sunday, June 6th.

I have gotten to know Aubrie over the last few months. She's a great person and enjoys communicating with others. Don't be shy. I'm sure she'll be happy to answer any of your writing related questions.

When did you start writing?
I've been writing all my life. I started my first book in high school about a flutist that goes back in time and plays in a medieval court and falls in love with the prince. It was awful, and I'm glad I got that out of my system! I've been writing seriously (with the goal of getting an agent and getting published) for four or five years now.

Who has influenced you most in your writings?
The classics influenced me most in my writing. Especially the poem, "The Lady of Shalott" by Lord Tenneyson. I also loved Jane Eyre, and all the Jane Austen classics.

Also, I grew up watching Star Wars, Star Trek, Labyrinth, The Last Unicorn, all of those crazy 80's and 90's movies. They all have had a great influence on my writing, whether I like it or not!

What are your publications to date?

I have three books, one novella, five anthology stories, and numerous short stories. I'm so excited because after all of those years and all of that writing, my first print book just came out: The Voices of Ire. It's a young adult epic fantasy, and the first book I wrote when I considered writing seriously for publication. It's available in paperback on Amazon.com.

You can read a full listing of my other works on my website:
http://www.authoraubrie.com/


Do you ever feel blocked? If so, what is your process of moving forward when feeling blocked?

I feel blocked almost every day! This happens when I'm not sure where to go next with the story or the characters. It helps me to take a walk, do the laundry, or do something to get away from it and let it stew in my head. When I come back, my vision clears.

What would you say to a beginning writer?

You have to keep writing everyday and find critique partners to read your work. Also, stay current on industry blogs and agent blogs. Read books on the craft of writing. My favorites are Donald Maass, The Fire in Fiction, and Stephen King, On Writing.

Would you like to tell us a little about the book you are currently working on?
I'm polishing up a novel about a woman stuck on a deep space transport vessel, destined for a paradise planet two hundred years away. It is set in a post-apocalyptic future where people must marry computer designed mates. Soon, I'm going to start querying agents!

BIO: Aubrie Dionne is an author and flutist in New England. Her writings have appeared in Mindflights, Niteblade, Silver Blade, Emerald Tales, Hazard Cat, Moon Drenched Fables, and Aurora Wolf. Her books are published by Lyrical Press, SynergEbooks, and Gypsy Shadow Publishing. Her epic fantasy, The Voices of Ire, is published in print by Wyvern Publications. Aubrie teaches flute at Plymouth State University and the Manchester Community Music School. Please visit her website: www.authoraubrie.com

A Very Vampire May Giveaway

 This is an extreme giveaway. Top prize is a signed copy of Twilight, but that's not all. Among prizes are Bram Stoker's Dracula, Anne Rice: The Vampire Armand and more. Plus they are all signed!

Visit:http://babblingflow.blogspot.com/2010/05/very-vampire-may-giveaway-signed.html for more information.

While you are there, gain me two additional entries by saying I sent you.

Finding Ideas

Every story begins with an idea.

Without ideas, there is nothing to create. So you may ask, where do you get ideas?

Ideas can be found everywhere. In the newspaper, magazine articles, in a picture (they are worth a thousand words right?), in your dreams, in a comment. The sources for ideas are endless.

Where do you get your ideas? It is a question that a writer encounters often. Curious minds want to know. I will share with you my most common practices for finding ideas.

Quick writes: Open a dictionary and randomly select three words. Begin writing focusing on these words.

Random sentence prompts: Open a book and let your finger fall upon a sentence. Start with this sentence and begin writing.

Daydreaming: Let your mind open up to possibilities. My latest short story idea was produced this way. I closed my eyes and saw a woman running, next thing I know she comes upon a body and sees the killer in the edge of the woods.

What if? Use newspapers or top news stories for this process. For example: two found dead in a half-burnt house. What if, neither of these people lived in this house?What if, the owner was gone on vacation? What if, one of the victims was someone who has been missing for ten years? You see how this goes. An idea is produced and all is needed is to dig the story from the remains.

So, I ask you, where do your ideas come from?

Writer's Digest Contest

I knew Writer's Digest held contests but most I look into has a fee. I've found this and it looks to have no fees involved. I'm not sure if I'll have a chance to enter but here is the link for any who wish to.
http://writersdigest.com/yourstory

Short Story - deadline May 10th.

First Line - deadline May 14th.

Good Luck!

The frustrations of learning HOW to Write

Most writers begin writing by writing. You sit down, press pen to paper or fingers to keyboard, and create. One after another, you produce short stories, poems, and chapters to a future novel. It begins as a simple enjoyable task.

Then it happens, you decide you want to be published. You grab as many how to books as they can find, search the web for advice, and study on how to write.

You sit down to write again and suddenly it's a complicated task. They draw out character sheets, plot out novel chapters, and determine goals and conflict to include in the story. Then with pen to paper, nothing comes. Slowly a word appears on the paper, then a sentence, and then a paragraph. The words flow once again.

It's time to send the piece out and a few months later it comes back rejected. After a few times of this, it's back to the how to books. Something's missing from your writing. You are doing something wrong. You read and read trying to figure out what's missing.

You sit down to try again, but suddenly you don't know where to begin. You have over analyzed the process and confused yourself with everyone's advice. This book said to plan it out, this one said to know beginning and end, and this one wants you to know your character from head to toe. Oh, and this one said you have to figure out your own process of writing. Confused as you are, no wonder the words aren't flowing as they used to.

Now what?

A writer must separate the tasks of writing. The right side of the brain controls your creativity. The left side controls logical choices and structuring of your work. You simply can't use both at the same time. Well, some may be able to. You must separate the two to get anywhere as a writer.

You have learned from your reading, whether you realize it or not. Your logical brain has pulled information from both the fiction and the how to books and stored it away. You are trying to use this information during the creative process and that is why you are confused. It simply doesn't work that way.

This is of course easier said than done for the beginning writer. My advice is to try a few different methods and eventually you will discover your path. The main thing is to remember creativity and structuring are not done at the same time. You must decide which side of the brain should go first.

Outline - Write - Edit - Rewrite
Write - Outline - Edit - Rewrite

You may find that you work best by writing one chapter, edit, revise, and write the next chapter. You may need to complete the whole novel before looking at it with your logical brain. You may need to outline the entire novel before beginning the creative process. Think back to when you first began writing. How did you do it then? The way you began is most likely the same way you should do it now.

I began by just sitting down and writing. I didn't think of how the story would end, that came at the end. I didn't chart out my character's likes and dislikes. Of course, back then I didn't know about editing and structure either. But still, I've come to the conclusion that this is where I need to go, back to the beginning. I've never wrote a short story knowing where it was going. The story grows as it will. Why would a novel be any different?

How did you begin? Is it similar to how you write now? I'd especially like to hear from you plotters. Have you always planned out your writing, even in the beginning?

Stephen King writes from beginning to end with no outlines to guide him. I'm sure you wonder how this is possible, especially with the larger books he produces. My guess is that he does do as he suggests and possibly jots downs notes at the end of each writing session to keep himself on track. Then when he's done and wrote the end, he kicks on the left brain and begins structuring the book. This is only a theory, only King knows his true process.