As promised, the third
Wednesday of the month I feature a fellow author. Today I had the joy of interviewing
Renee-Ann Giggie. Two years ago, Renee-Ann appeared as a guest blogger on A Novel Creation talking about indie publishing. We met at my first-ever writing
conference and have supported each other in our writing efforts ever since.
Networking. Powerful stuff.
Me: How did
you come up with the title for your newest release? (I’m grinning here.)
Renee-Ann:
Well…I had a contest and if memory serves me right, YOU won. (She laughs) My
novels are standalone, but each of the titles are similar as though they were a
series. The first was Stella’s Plea, the second is Emma’s Prayer, and the next will be Charlie’s Plight.
Me: I did. I
won! I wasn’t looking for praise there, but I do think the contest was a great
way to connect your readers to your book. What led you to become an author?
Renee-Ann: My
mom was a newspaper reporter so one could say I inherited the ‘writing bug’. As
a teen, I always said I’d be a writer someday. It took longer than I hoped… but
I did it!
Me: Tell us
how you finally got started.
Renee-Ann: I
entered the NaNoWriMo challenge, where you have to write 50,000 words in 30
days (three pages a day). Falling in love with my characters along the way, I
met the challenge, hired a professional editor, and after months of edits and
rewrites, I self-published Stella’s Plea.
Me: I love
it! I know other authors who have jumpstarted their writing by participating in
NaNoWriMo. And for those of you new to writing, NaNoWriMo stands for National
Novel Writing Month and takes place in November. Check out their website for
more info. Now, Renee-Ann, NaNoWriMo certainly keeps you on task during the
month, but how do you stay focused and maintain that writing discipline on a
regular basis?
Renee-Ann:
Oh, that’s a hard one but it doesn’t have to be. I look at it as I would my full
time job. When I go to work in the morning (yes I still hold a full time job in
an office), I do what needs to be done or my boss won’t be happy. The same goes
with writing. I sit at my desk and put fingers to keyboard. Turn off Facebook,
email, and whatever else keeps you from writing. If my boss saw me checking
Facebook instead of doing my job, he wouldn’t like that. Same thing with
writing. Discipline is key.
Me: Where do
you get your story ideas?
Renee-Ann: People.
Watching and listening to others in the stores, on the street, and well, everywhere.
Then I turn to God for the inspiration, and how to develop those ideas.
Me: And I
know you incorporate your knowledge of the deaf community in your work. I think
that is incredible. I’ve read both Stella’s Plea and Emma’s Prayer. Both are excellent.
Renee-Ann:
Ah, thank you.
Me: So what advice would you
give to aspiring authors for writing and/or publishing?
Renee-Ann: Don’t quit. We’ve all heard
it before but perseverance pays off. The temptation to give up comes to
everyone, especially when we hit writers block. The way I look at it is that,
if bestselling authors can get writers block yet they continue to write amazing
novels, it can happen to me too. If you really want it, keep pushing. Remember
you’re not alone. And then learn how to market your work. At first I had no idea how to sell my book. I’ve always said: Writing is hard. Editing is harder.
Marketing is the hardest.
Me: Good advice. And so true. Okay,
one last question. Would you tell us a little about your latest book?
Renee-Ann: I would love to…Emma’s Prayer deals with a teen mom who puts her son up for adoption but soon
changes her mind. Her pain, her longing for that child, and the guilt of
putting him up is more than she can bear and she wants him back.
Across town a
childless couple are waiting to adopt and they’re delighted when a baby boy is
placed in their arms. Is heartache inevitable?
And, oh, yes, I’m on track to publish the
third book, Charlie’s Plight in 2017.
Good morning, Rebecca. Thank you so much for having me. I forgot to mention a something very important, especially to aspiring authors. Attend writers conferences. They are a must, and one of, if not THE most important event in a writer's life. They're the place where you'll meet others who have been there done that, paved the way, and are now teaching you the skills you need. You'll make new friends and long-lasting friendships that will last a lifetime. In fact, Rebecca, that's where you and I met, Rebecca. Just search Christian Writers Conferences and you'll find several.
ReplyDeleteHave a blessed day, everyone. Looking forward to chatting with you.
I have both of Renee - Ann's novels. A true to life read in them both. Great writing and the love to keep moving forward in life is a blessing. To anyone that is suffering from a loss these novels will give you hope to know that you are never alone.
ReplyDeleteMy apologies, I tried to reply to this earlier today but for some reason it didn't post.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, Doris. I really appreciate your kind words. My biggest hope, when writing, is that the story will bless my readers. Looks like I succeeded with you. :D