Fresh Voices: Interview with Mireyah Wolfe

"we do not believe in ourselves until someone reveals that deep inside us is valuable, worth listening to, worthy of our trust, sacred to our touch. once we believe in ourselves we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight or any experience that reveals the human spirit." - E.E. Cummings

Welcome to the latest edition of Fresh Voices. We are delighted to share with you the audacious voice of Mireyah Wolfe.

1. What is your ultimate writing goal?

My ultimate, long term, die-with-a-smile-on-my-face goal is to write stories people love to read—stories that make people go “Oh gosh, I wish I’d written this!” because those are the stories I love to read. My current goal at the moment is just to finish writing a story!

2. Why do you write?

I’d have to say that I write first for my own enjoyment, second for my own sanity, third for the people who poke at me to do it, and last for the possibility of being published, making the NYT Bestseller List and making a bucket load of cash. (Hey, a girl can dream, okay?)


3. Your writing is spunky and sassy. Have you worked to achieve that voice or is it just a natural style for you?

Judging by some of my *cough* early attempts at writing, I’d have to say that it’s both natural and that I’ve worked at it. I’ve been writing since I was nine, so everything I did at the start of this was very rough—especially my Voice. I like to think I’ve gotten into a rhythm over the past few years, but I imagine I’ll only get better with age.

I think my parents definitely influenced how my voice has progressed—I was not a witty child, honestly, but when my parents started homeschooling me, my own personality really began emerging, and with it, my Voice. (I may be less witty than I like to think, but we’re going to say that I am. *wink*)

4. Who are your favorite authors and why do you like them?

I’d say that my favorite authors are Rob Thurman, Karen Marie Moning, and Laurell K. Hamilton. All three of them have very distinct styles—strong, sarcastic, powerful voices, but they’re very similar in that their books are first person POV, and that their characters are alternately strong and vulnerable in regards to the secondary/supporting characters.


5. What most attracts you to the life of a writer?

Oh, it has got to be the ability to sit in a chair with mussed hair, grungy PJs, tapping at a keyboard, playing on Twitter and calling it “work.”


6. If you couldn't be a writer but knew you were guaranteed success at a different career, what would you choose?

Hm. I actually have thought about this in those moments when I want nothing to do with writing. I’d open a small bookstore, help the local schools with their texts, the local library with supplying books…things like that. Or I’d work for a library. (And, obviously, I’d have to be the SuperHero “The Librarian” at night. Is it a plane? Is it a bird? No! It’s the Librarian! Come to snatch all your overdue books away!)

7. If you had to describe your writing in one word, what would that word be?

Emotional. Regardless of what I’m writing, it has to be filled with emotion or it’s not genuine.


8. What's the best writing advice you've ever gotten?

The best writing advice I’ve ever gotten was from a friend of mine, SM Blooding, which was immediately backed up by Maureen Johnson in her video “Dare to Suck.”

You are allowed, you are expected, you are required to suck. And that’s okay.

Trust me, that makes it a lot easier when I’m writing and I think, “Oh my god, that’s TERRIBLE.” Because then I can say, “Hey! That sucks! Awesome!”

Positive reinforcement is amazing.

Mireyah Wolfe is the kind of person who gets shocked by a joke phone buzzer, then follows the owner around to do it again. (Four times.) She is a stay-at-home student, library lurker, addicted tweeter and prolific blogger. Her genre of preference is Urban Fantasy with dashes of other genres for good measure. Dean Winchester is her muse. Mireyah can be found at her Blog, Twitter, or her Facebook. (Be warned: Although she tries to keep everything “Safe for Work,” things do have an occasional tendency to get a bit R-rated.)

Thank you for reading this edition of Fresh Voices. Feel free to follow the Fresh Voices list on Twitter or nominate yourself or another author as a Fresh Voice.

Flow, Ebb, Struggle, Repeat

Life works in cycles.
At least it does for me.
Over the course of the last few weeks I have been barraged, inundated, assaulted, buried, and deluged with an overabundance of....well...everything.
Some of that has been unquestionably good stuff like catching a standing room only concert of Green River Ordinance and Lifehouse, finding a gorgeous dress on sale, and singing with my son,our own lyrics to Michael Jackson songs in the car. But it also has involved unpleasant assorted varieties of dealing with disrespectful educators, mountains of work projects, and resisting the urge to throttle certain people who do not have the good sense to recognize the proper time for righteous indignation. (Get a spine! Take a stand! Stop reasoning away the unreasonable! If there's repeated evidence that requires a call to action, wait and see is the WRONG approach!)

Regardless of the 'goodness' or 'badness' of the busy-ness, it has left me drained. Big drained. I don't mean "Calgon-take-me-away" drained, I mean like "it's-a-good-thing-I-don't-have-a-heart-condition-because-I'd-be-done-for" drained.

I spent a few days trying to deny the drain. But, I recognized it lurking in the shadows. Then, it inched forward where I recognized it in my impatience. Rather than heed that warning, I found myself clinging to snarky remarks and hateful rapid fire response. Even though I wanted to be nice and I wanted to smooth things over, I kept roughing them up. It was as though I'd become possessed by a demon puppet-master and I had no choice but to be a bitch.

Definitely time for a de-compress. But how when that usually requires some sort of plan or activity? I didn't want activity and what I wanted even LESS was being glued to a computer as I had been for WEEKS. I usually enjoy the time, especially for writing.

I found myself totally dreading the idea of even LOOKING at my PC not even for writing. WRITING? Ugh. No plotting or wordsmithing or character development or stringing together coherent thoughts. Ick.

Thus, by the weekend, I decided to distance myself from my technological appendage. It was a lovely, much needed respite. I didn't do a lot. In fact, Sunday was dedicated to magazine-leafing, Netflix, and channel surfing. My brain got a reboot.

Now I find myself slightly more re-charged and ready to resume again...hopefully with a better attitude.

Back to flow.

Are You Thinking 'Bout Somthin'?

Thinking 'Bout Somethin'

HANSON | MySpace Music Videos

Fresh Voices: Interview with Liz Borino

http://writewords.typepad.com/write-words/"we do not believe in ourselves until someone reveals that deep inside us is valuable, worth listening to, worthy of our trust, sacred to our touch. once we believe in ourselves we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight or any experience that reveals the human spirit." - E.E. Cummings

Welcome to the latest edition of Fresh Voices. We are delighted to share with you the thoughtful and thought-provoking voice of Liz Borino.

1. What is your ultimate writing goal?

More than anything I want to publish novels, and perhaps non-fiction books, that reach and influence a lot of people. In my deepest heart I long to see my name on bestseller lists; (New York Times, please). But that’s not what I’d base success on. I’ll base my success on how many people’s lives I've touched and views my words have changed. All that being said I would like to be able to support my family with my writing.

2. Why do you write?

I write because I got too old for imaginary friends. Seriously, when you’re five you can get away with walking around and talking to yourself, not so when you 15 or…23. So, I had to do something with all the stories that were/are constantly running through my head. I guess the short answer is I write because it sustains me. It keeps me sane, while at the same time not letting the world know how crazy I really am.

3. Your writing is very thoughtful and sincere. Have you worked to achieve that voice or is it just a natural style for you?

Given those two choices I’d say it’s natural for me. I like my readers to feel like they’re having a conversation with me. On the topic of conversation, I’m big into dialogue because I feel it’s the best way to understand characters. The books I remember reading most, The Outsiders, Little Women, A Home at the End of the World, to name a few, it was never the gripping story that held me fast and made me want to turn to the next page. It was the identification with the characters. That’s what I always want to convey with my writing. I want these characters to be your friends, just like they’re mine.

4. Who are your favorite authors and why do you like them?

My favorite authors are Michael Cunningham, S.E. Hinton, Victor Hugo, and William Goldman, just to name a few. S.E. Hinton wrote The Outsiders and I always looked up to her because she did that at age 14. This encouraged me to write despite my youth. I read Michael Cunningham’s A Home at the End of the World once a year. Hugo wrote Les Miserable, I saw that play when I was nine and finished the book when I was 12. I like Louisa May Alcott, but I can’t read any of her books while I’ve got a work in progress because I start to adapt her language use, not great for today’s reader! But I hold almost all authors in the highest regard. They all have something to contribute to the literary world.

5. What most attracts you to the life of a writer?

The excitement of telling stories for a living, the opportunity to alter people’s perception of a situation or even their lives, to give readers an escape when the world becomes too much, there are so many true answers here.

6. If you couldn't be a writer but knew you were guaranteed success at a different career, what would you choose?

I’d want to be a motivational speaker. I might do that as well, but people get messages more easily if they’re told in stories. That’s why I want to be a writer.

7. If you had to describe your writing in one word, what would that word be?

Multidimensional.

8. What's the best writing advice you've ever gotten?

Steven King said something to the effect of “Treat writing like a job. Don’t wait for inspiration to write. Just sit down and write.”

Liz Borino is a passionate writer who is finishing a degree at Hofstra University and then looking for somewhere warm to migrate where she can change the world, one word at a time. You can find her on Twitter here: http://twitter.com/lizb1987. She would love to hear from all of you there and has been featured on http://www.positivelypresent.com/2010/03/how-to-stay-positive-in-the-face-of-rejection.html. Soon her own blog will go live.

5/7/10 Update: The blog is live!

Thank you for reading this edition of Fresh Voices. Feel free to follow the Fresh Voices list on Twitter or nominate yourself or another author as a Fresh Voice.

Fresh Voices: Interview with Caitlin Whitaker

"we do not believe in ourselves until someone reveals that deep inside us is valuable, worth listening to, worthy of our trust, sacred to our touch. once we believe in ourselves we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight or any experience that reveals the human spirit." - E.E. Cummings

Welcome to the sixth edition of Fresh Voices. We are delighted to share with you the engaging voice of Caitlin Whitaker.

1. What is your ultimate writing goal?

My ultimate goal is to get published, make billions, and have all my movies made into blockbuster movies with Colin Farrell as the romantic lead. I'd also like to buy an island in the South Pacific and hire a team of nannies and maids to do everything for me so I can take really long naps on 500,000 thread count Egyptian cotton sheets.

You know something funny? I've never really thought about an ultimate goal; it's always just been one step at a time. The first step was to write a chapter. And another. I finished a book, finished it again (and again), and then started another one. My goal right now is to find representation with a good agent and then go from there.

2. Why do you write?

I write because I love to. It's the most obvious answer but it's the purest, simplest way to say it. I was this wildly imaginative kid who made everything into an adventure, which probably drove my parents up the wall. My little brother and I used to lay in the back of the family's rusty Ford Pinto (sad but true) and pretend we were in a submarine studying deep sea creatures (other cars). Honestly, we're lucky to be alive. Big old 18-wheelers were sharks and we'd pretend to shoot at them with harpoon guns. Amazingly, we were never run off the road by disgruntled truckers.

Putting all my crazy ideas on paper not only keeps me sane but feeds my soul. I love the sound of typing and the way the screen looks when it's filled with words. It's all very OCD, really. As cool as it would be to sell a million copies of each book and end up on the NYT Bestseller List, those things aren't motivating factors for me. My life is spectacular and writing is something I'll do forever, even if it never amounts to anything but a bunch of used up memory on my hard drive.

3. Your writing reminds me of a happy cowgirl - enough sass to be fun but she still has her boots on in case someone needs a whuppin'. Have you worked to achieve that voice or is it just a natural style for you?

I have no idea what that means. Honestly. In fact, I'm kind of freaked out by the whole whuppin' idea. As far as my voice goes, it's pretty darn natural for me. In WILL & MAGGIE, a love story about a 17 year old girl, I let myself be a little more descriptive and dreamy. I wanted the book to have an easy, hypnotic feel to really bring the reader into her first love experience. Justin, the teenage guy on the run in REM, is faster and edgier. As much as I love rhapsodizing about stupid things (purple prose is a weakness of mine), Justin wouldn't notice half the crap Maggie would in the same situation.

What you read on my blog is a lot like having a conversation with me. I talk too much, ramble, and love to laugh at myself. Whatever I'm writing at the time will have a small influence on my blog posts, of course. It's kind of like being an actor; I tend to hang onto some of my protagonsists characteristics even when I'm writing something other than the actual manuscript.

4. Who are your favorite authors and why do you like them?

I grew up on Stephen King. In junior high, I devoured the uncut version of THE STAND and was morbidly obsessed with planning my strategy to survive the end of the world. I read THE SHINING and PET SEMETARY and was utterly disgusted by the film versions (where the heck was the exploding boiler? Huh? HUH?). His characters are unbelievably real-- like you might actually bump into them on the street someday. I totally relate to characters with psychiatric issues. I finally sold my bookcase-filling hardcover collection on ebay when I got married and space was limited. I'm still kicking myself over that.

Other favorites of mine are Anne Rice, Wilson Rawls, Scott O'Dell, Laura Ingalls Wilder, J.K. Rowling, Shannon Hale, J.R.R. Tolkien, Suzanne Collins, Stephenie Meyer, Margaret Stohl, and Kami Garcia. Even authors who will probably never be nominated for a Newberry Award can be amazing story tellers, and that's what it's really all about for me.

5. What most attracts you to the life of a writer?

This has to be a trick question. I've always imagined the life of a writer to be a quiet one; sipping tea by a window and tapping away at a keyboard for hours on end. For me, I grab moments during the day when I can; perched at my breakfast bar on the laptop with kids hanging on my pants with complaints, snack requests, and dirty diapers. I've actually had love scenes interrupted by puking children and fights over video games. Some of my best writing happens late at night when I get the kids in bed and my fifteenth latte of the day finally kicks in. I have to peel myself away from the computer and force myself to go to bed sometimes. If this is the life of a writer, I am not attracted to it at all. I'd much rather have the life of a twenty-something hotel heiress, thank you.

I am excited about the concept of book tours, however. I love to travel and wouldn't mind taking a break from the kids once in a while.


6. If you couldn't be a writer but knew you were guaranteed success at a different career, what would you choose?

There were two other things I wanted to be when I was growing up (author has always been number one): forensic detective and pastry chef. Decay and maggots make me throw up and zombies are my single biggest fear (seriously), so I leaned more toward pastry chef. I was all set to go to culinary school when I met my husband at eighteen and everything went awry. Writing involves far fewer calories, however, so it's all good.

7. If you had to describe your writing in one word, what would that word be?

Pink. Next question please.

8. What's the best writing advice you've ever gotten?

Write for yourself. It may sound terribly selfish, but it's what works for me. I never intended to be a YA author, but my characters all seem to be around eighteen years old and I like sexual tension better than graphic encounters. I do drop the F-bomb in my first novel, but it would totally compromise the integrity of the scene to leave it out (you'll see when it's published). Anyway, I write what I want to read and it keeps it natural. Forcing my work to conform to a genre or a target audience would tick off the rebel in me and then things would get really nasty. Mama no likey.

Oh yeah, and Stephen King's ON WRITING. All of it. Seriously.

Caitlin Whitaker is an escapist mom raising five hooligans in rural Tennessee. She is married to a hot Marine, has a mad crush on Adam Lambert, drinks too much Diet Coke, and is allergic to house cleaning. Her first book, WILL & MAGGIE, is currently being considered by several literary agents while she plugs away at her second and writes mad notes on several others. You can follow her on Twitter; http://twitter.com/Saycaity (warning; she's a rapid tweeter) and keep tabs on her progress by reading her blog; www.saycaity.blogspot.com.

Thank you for reading this edition of Fresh Voices. Feel free to follow the Fresh Voices list on Twitter or nominate yourself or another author as a Fresh Voice.