Alice Loweecey interview with David Alan Binder
Her interesting bio: Baker of brownies and tormenter of characters, Alice Loweecey recently celebrated her thirtieth year outside the convent. She grew up watching Hammer horror films and Scooby-Doo mysteries, which explains a whole lot. When she’s not creating trouble for her sleuth Giulia Driscoll or inspiring nightmares as her alter-ego Kate Morgan, she can be found growing her own vegetables (in summer) and cooking with them (the rest of the year). Her mascot is a handmade nun doll that will only creep you out if you have a guilty conscience.
My links:
Website: http://www.aliceloweecey.net/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GiuliaDriscoll/
Twitter: @AliceLoweecey
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4166880.Alice_Loweecey
1. Where are you currently? Western New York, aka Snowpocalypse country.
2. What is the most important thing that you have learned in your writing experience, so far? Never quit. I’ve survived more than 200 rejections, one agent closing shop without warning, another agent changing focus, getting dropped by one publisher, and two small publishers closing their doors. This is my career and I’m in charge of it. Never quit.
3. What would you say is your most interesting writing, publishing, editing or illustrating quirk? My characters wake me up in the middle of the night to talk to me. After much trial and error, I’ve learned how to write on a notepad in a pitch-black room AND be able to read what I wrote the next morning. What’s the use of being told a crucial plot point at 3 a.m. if I’m the sheet of paper I’m trying to read at 7 a.m. says “Grourts the fringl when the mrfl goes to sfurtlke.”
4. Do you have any suggestions or helps for new writers (please be specific and informational as possible)? This is a business. Treat it like one. Set a schedule. Always keep learning the craft. Read widely: books outside your chosen genre. Read what’s making the best-seller list and dissect it. Learn how the big-time writers create compelling characters, dialogue, settings. Practice.
5. What was one of the most surprising things you learned with your creative process with your books, editing, publishing or illustrating? I’m funny. I didn’t set out to be funny, but I’m told all the time by fans that I make them laugh. I just go with it. 6. How many books have you written? 12 so far. 8 have been published.
7. What makes your or any book stand out from the crowd? Compelling characters. I’ll read almost any genre if the main character grabs me strongly enough to spend 300 pages with him or her. For me, characters are what make any plot, even the most obvious, worth reading.
8. What are some ways in which you promote your work? Social media. Lots of social media. Plus blog tours and guesting on podcasts when I can. I also do in-person book signings and attend writer/fan conferences. My publisher is great at marketing and publicity for its authors, setting up giveaways and promoting our books in several different venues.
9. What is the one thing you would do differently now (concerning writing or editing or publishing or illustrating) and why? I would have switched from pantsing to outlining sooner. I write much faster now that I learned how to outline.
10. What saying or mantra do you live by? Never give up. Never surrender. (from the movie Galaxy Quest) |