#bloghop2014 Q&A

Hey there me hearties!

This is lovely Orleander! Go visit her

My delightful new rock chick buddy Orleander Plume tagged me for this blog hop Q and A fresh for 2014. Check out her answers here. I will tag 2 more unsuspecting writers at the end of this post!

If you could achieve anything with your writing in 2014, what would it be?

Well, to be very honest with you I would like to sell more books! Really - it would be fab to know that the stories I am compelled and driven to write are being read... However please see answers to demon slaying question! I am so delighted that most if not very close to all my erotic writings that I submit are taken up by publishers and those stories and books go on to get some good reviews - but... when unleashed on the lovely reading public, they aren't shifting. It's a toughie. I try and do all the right things to market the books and generate enthusiasm but so far... nada - well, at least not much. I did a giveaway - a free book - and nobody took up the offer... so there is something I'm doing wrong! I even found one of my books on a pirate site - there had been zero downloads! Wow - that must be a new record :D

What are the top three demons you must slay to achieve your goals in 2014?

I often wonder if what I do is a good thing that contributes in a good way to other people's lives. After all - it is quite a self indulgent thing to get what is inside you out in an artistic way and then expect that other people are going to spend their money/time reading/consuming it. And then, I have the opposite thought where I realise, but that's what I want from other people/artists/writers - I want to consume their honesty/ artistry and creativity. It makes me feel alive to read stories or look at pictures.

So based on the above - my top 3 demons I must slay are:

1: Self doubt
2: Fear of self promotion (after all, how will readers know about my books if I don't bother to tell them?)
3: Internet OCD. I tremble with every 'like' I do on Facebook - every tweet I make - every comment I post - every blog I write - every email I send. Everything I do is filled with the horror that it may not be read in the spirit I intended - I am a very light hearted and positive person (though from this blog, you might think otherwise :D ) - and to think something I write may be taken 'the wrong way' kills me! (this post will probably take 3 weeks to write...)

Conversely, I find my creative writing  super easy to let go of - in fact I want you to explore that in whichever way you do - I am delighted by others' interpretation of my work and how it changes in different people's heads. I think that is a fascinating and necessary part of being creative - once you pass it out - it isn't really yours any more - the stories then belong to the readers - not the writers.

Name three things that inspire you to write

I'll just go straight to the list this time!

1: Calls for submissions! For short stories I love a prompt - there might be nothing in my head and the writer's block may be looming but a quick squizz at an anthology shout out usually gets my juices going.
2: My muse! My A who has been inspiring my writing for years now.
3: Ideas. That might sound obvious but without that spark, where would you be? I can be inspired by everything I see and hear, but it will be that one image, word or heard conversation which will inspire an idea.

What advice do you have for a new writer who is considering writing fiction?

Do it for you. That is it. The first biggest hurdle is getting down to actually writing - you have to write what is in your heart - the rest will come. I write because I would go insane if I didn't. So whatever happens to it afterwards, in the long run doesn't matter. Of course it is amazing to be published and that's what I aspire to but I know that even if nobody ever read anything I wrote - I would still write.

Thanks for tagging me Ms Plume! I hope the answers weren't too intense ;)

I tag two gorgeous ladies:
Kd Grace
Tilly Hunter