Today I am joined by the lovely Cindy Sprigg.
So let's get down to business and get stuck into the interview
Interview questions
Hi Cindy, thank you
for accepting to be interviewed. As my blog says ‘ Complete randomness from a
crazy author’ so expect the unexpected J
How long have
you wanted to be a writer?
I never consciously wanted to be
a writer, but when I started, I found
that it was a way to exorcize the people who had been stomping
around my head forever, and shut them
up. Unfortunately, the door swings two ways, and for every one leaving, another shows up.
Yes I
know that feeling exactly. To me I feel like I have opened the door and
misplaced the key and all sorts of characters show up in my head and I want to
scream and tell them to take a ticket and form an orderly queue :p
Have
you come up against any hurdles along the way?
Sure, everyone does; primarily, I left school in Grade 10 to get
married, which didn’t last too long. I realize now that I did so just to get
out of the house. To put it mildly I did not have a supportive family, so at 17
I was functionally illiterate. Over the next
20 years I found a permanent
relationship, expanded my education, married and had a son. My son bet me that I could not
write a story, and my first efforts were directed to winning that bet. Once
opened, that door could not be closed. Currently my ongoing bugbear is the query
letter.
Your
life sounds like a story in itself. But I know where you are coming from. I
class myself as an orphan ;)
What
would you say is the most difficult thing about being a writer is?
It’s a balancing act between finding time to write, and staying sane if
I don’t. The ideas still keep coming,
and if I don’t have time to write, I have to keep notes.
That
is why we should have a PA sitting inside our head taking notes lol.
What
or who inspires you to write?
Originally my son, more recently,
the people stomping around and yelling
in my head.
If your books
are a series, how many books do you plan to have in your series?
There are a few stories that I know will continue in other volumes, but
since I do not consciously plan the plots or characters in my stories, I really
have no idea until I am finished one. “Composed in Blood” for instance, was
written at white heat, and took all my time for weeks on end: I had no idea
where it was going, or how the characters would develop until I was writing. I
know there will be a sequel, but I only have a faint notion of what it will be.
Do you have
any other writing projects on the go, apart from your current series?
Many. I always have several
stories in process, some of which may be short stories, others may develop into
novellas or novels. I have also planned some children’s books, but right now I
cannot develop the artwork for the illustrations, due to my recent stroke. The first book of the series, “The Dandelion
Child” is complete.
I am
sorry to hear you had a stroke. How about you asking someone else to do your
artwork for it?
If you
could be any of your characters who would it be and why?
Given that most of my characters are either Monsters or Meat, the
options do tend to lack appeal. I can
say that the character of Susan in “Has
Anyone seen Susan” is largely based on
my persona.
What genre
would you say your books are in?
Primarily, so far, Horror and Dark Fantasy, though I am working on a
literary love story, set in medieval times, plus of course the kid’s books
mentioned before.
Do you have
any favourite authors?
Mervyn Peake, HP Lovecraft, Ray Bradbury,
and amongst the modern masters,
Peter Straub, Clive Barker, Stephen King,
Neil Gaiman and James Herbert.
As a Brit we
have one burning question going around our country…………… Do you scrunch or fold?
;) (toilet paper)
What makes you think I use mere toilet tissue.
LOL
What
do you like to do besides writing?
Browse thrift and antique
stores.
What is your favourite
cheese?
Havarti
Sweet or
savoury?
Savoury (I’m Diabetic)
Oh I
would hate to be a diabetic. Women in my family become diabetic as they get
older. But if someone is diabetic from childhood I suppose they wouldn’t miss
chocolate.
Would
you rather be attacked by one horse sized duck or 20 duck sized horses?
The Horse sized Duck. Ducks are edible, and I could eat off that for a while.
If you had one
wish that I could wave a magic wand and grant you, what would it be and why?
To become popular as a writer;
then I could spend more time writing and less time promoting.
I hear ya. One of the reason why I chose to do these type of blogs to
help fellow authors out in promotion. I personally suck at it lol.
Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions.
To find out more about Cindy and all the work she has done then check out the following webpages.
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