Monthly Interviews

Get up close and personal with authors! We group-interview authors from a different genre every month and group the answers for each question from all authors. Are you eager to see the different shades of answers? Follow our blog to stay tuned with the posts!

October 8, 2014

September Author Interview Answer #3: How was the response from your family and friends when you first published a book?

Hello everyone, I hope you have enjoyed reading the second post in this interview series. This is the continuation of the interview with author Debby G. Kaye and Linda Gray Sexton. Please check their bios out via the links you can see below.

Let’s check out the answers for question #3 from them.

“How was the response from your family and friends when you first published a book?”

Author #1 D. G. Kaye

My friends and family cheered me on for getting the stories out of my head and onto paper. My sister thought it would be therapeutic to write my story, and help to alleviate some of the burden of guilt I carried for my mother. It was cathartic I have to admit. But erasing a lifetime of guilt is always a work in progress.

Author #2 Linda Sexton
It varied.  My first memoir, Searching for Mercy Strreet, was well-received and positively responded to by friends and the critics.  But my family was not so happy.  They felt I was revealing family secrets that should remain private.  I tried to ignore their attitudes as much as possible, even though I regretted that perhaps I had caused them some difficulty, because I understand that what is my truth is not necessarily their truth. And thus the rub. Writing a memoir is not the same as writing a biography, and I always tell family members who object to my viewpoint that they are free to write theirs.
I think when it comes to writing true stories, it will be quite shocking to people around you as they learn more about your thoughts and views. Some may agree, some may not. Whatever it is, it is your opinions and getting that out on print is very important. 
I’ll be posting the answers to the second question next: “How supportive is your family and friends in your writing career?”
Share your thoughts and views below.
October 5, 2014

September Author Interview Answer #2: Why do you choose to write memoirs?

Hello everyone, I hope you have enjoyed reading the first post in this interview series. This is the continuation of the interview with author Debby G. Kaye and Linda Gray Sexton. Please check their bios out via the links you can see below.

Let’s check out the answers for question #2 from them.

“Why do you choose to write this genre and not anything else? What’s the reason or motivation behind it?”

Author #1 D. G. Kaye

I love to write nonfiction because I enjoy talking about real-life experiences and delving into reasons behind why things happen and results from the repercussions. I like to examine the flaws in events and characters and pull the life lessons from them.

Author #2 Linda Sexton
I also write fiction, but I find I feel most absolutely comfortable writing memoir.  I am motivated to tell what I see as the truth about my own life as a way of offering to readers a story with which they can identify.  After publishing my first two memoirs, which were candid and sometimes dark, I was overwhelmed with people writing to me and telling me that I had told their story, and that they were grateful for that.  It was a way of giving voice to all they had experienced on that particular subject and they felt less alone for it.  With Bespotted, my third memoir, I also got an immense amount of mail from people sharing the experience, but this time it was happiness and joy with which they identified, which was a refreshing change at this time in my life.
Great answers, ladies! I think it is absolutely wonderful to write true stories because it gives the writer the pleasure of helping others to voice out.
I’ll be posting the answers to the second question next: “How was the response from your family and friends when you first published a book?”
Share your thoughts and views below.
October 2, 2014

September Author Interview Answer #1: What is the goal in your writing career?

A warm welcome to the two ladies who have participated in the September Author Interview under the memoir/biography genre. They are Author Debby G. Kaye and Linda Sexton.

I must say that it was pretty difficult to find writers from this genre. As a fan of biography, autobiography, memoir and non-fiction books in general, I think these ladies have some very interesting viewpoints to the questions I had asked them for this interview ! Let’s check out the question #1 and the answers from them.

“As a Memoir author, have you ever felt restricted when you are writing? Have you ever changed some of the details of people, places or incidents in your book before? How does it feel to do so when you feel restricted when you actually wanted to write everything out as it is?”

Author #1 D. G. Kaye

When I first began writing my memoir, Conflicted Hearts, I was very apprehensive about publishing it. I did feel as though I found myself holding back with certain parts because I couldn’t stop envisioning personal family reading it. I especially felt guilty for exposing my mother’s shortcomings. But I kept writing with the mantra in my head ‘write what you know, edit later,’ to keep the words flowing. I was nervous about the fact that my mother may read my book, but as it turns out, she had no interest.

I wrote the book with the best of my recollection of the events that occurred. I did change the names of people in my life because I felt it was an invasion on their privacy to use their proper names. I don’t believe by altering the names and keeping the story in truth, makes it any less nonfiction.

I wanted to demonstrate what I had put up with my mother’s rule, and as my brother pointed out to me after he read it, he felt that I held back on some details about my mother. He was right. I didn’t write the book to exploit my mother. Unfortunately, because of her actions, I acquired all of my emotional baggage. But as much as I wanted to tell my story, I just didn’t have the heart to slam her by exposing many more unflattering things about her. I promised my brother that in my sequel to Conflicted Hearts, I would go into more detail and go deeper into my mother’s motives for her actions.

Author #2 Linda Sexton
When you write memoir, dealing with the truth, however subjectively, and with the privacy and feelings of people who are also portrayed, is always a problem.  My mother, the poet Anne Sexton, always counseled me to “tell it true” whenever I was writing and this is advice to which I have always tried to adhere.  I take into account others’ feelings and try to write my truth in a gentle way, choosing my words carefully, but I have never knowingly altered an event or a situation.  I have never changed the details, or places, or incidents in Searching for Mercy Street, or Half in Love, or Bespotted, even when I knew it might cause consternation or pain.  However, I have offered people anonymity as far as their names go and  a very few took me up on the it.  I think the best you can do with memoir is to tell the truth the way you see it, be as kind as is possible without distorting your truth, and also allow those involved to see either manuscript or galleys before the book is published so that they are prepared.  Never promise to change anything according to their reading or outlook or opinions, or you will be compromised—but offer them the chance to see what is coming.
I think it has always been a personal battle to write what you truly feel because you know people will read it unless you are writing a diary. Thank you for sharing your experience with us! 
I’ll be posting the answers to the second question next: “Why do you choose to write this genre and not anything else? What’s the reason or motivation behind it?”
Share your thoughts and views below.
September 27, 2014

September Author Interview: Author #2: Linda Gray Sexton

Linda Gray Sexton

Linda Gray Sexton was born in Newton, Massachusetts in 1953.   She is the daughter of the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, Anne Sexton.  Linda graduated from Harvard in 1975 with a degree in literature.  After the death of her mother, she became the literary executor of the estate at twenty-one years old and edited several posthumous books of her mother’s poetry, as well as publishing Anne Sexton: A Self-Portrait in Letters and Between Two Worlds: Young Women in Crisis.  She has written four novels, Rituals, Mirror Images, Points of Light and Private Acts. Points of Light was made into a Hallmark Hall of Fame Special for CBS television and was translated into thirteen languages.   Her first memoir, Searching for Mercy Street: My Journey Back to My Mother, Anne Sexton, was named a New York Times Notable Book of the Year and was optioned by Miramax Films.

Sexton’s second memoir, Half in Love: Surviving the Legacy of Suicide was published in 2011 and takes a hard look at her struggle with her own mental illness and the legacy of suicide left to her by her mother and her mother’s family.

After the serious subjects about which she wrote so candidly in Half in Love, time for a change had come—and with it, a different perspective.   Linda began to delve into the joyful aspects of her childhood, specifically the time spent with the family Dalmatians.  Her family’s love affair with Dalmatians perhaps took root in the fact that these animals always buoyed her mother’s mood and alleviated her depression.  Thus they were cherished for their ability to act as something akin to today’s “therapy dogs,” as well as being beloved companions.

Bespotted: My Family’s Love Affair With Thirty-Eight Dalmatians  is a breakthrough book for Linda—a new piece of her literary family’s history, as well as a new look into her own life as an adult.  This memoir also looks into the ways dogs influence our lives, and how they infuse every day with companionship, loyalty and love.  It speaks to the growth of its author into a different phase of her life—one dominated by joy—and uniquely examines how one family, and one breed, found their way through life together.

Linda is now at work on a fifth novel, and continues to live in California with her husband and their three Dalmatians: Breeze and her two sons Cody and Mac, whom Linda and her husband bred in 2011 and 2012.  Mac, now her forty-second Dal, is the model for the jacket photo of Bespotted.

Check out : http://www.amazon.com/Bespotted-Familys-Affair-Thirty-Eight-Dalmatians/dp/1619023458  and http://lindagraysexton.com/

September 27, 2014

September Author Interview: Author #1: D. G. Kaye

D.G. Kaye

D.G. Kaye was born and resides in Toronto, Canada. She loves to read, shop, travel, and play poker when she gets the chance.

Kaye has been writing about her thoughts on life since she was a young girl, as pen and paper became her emotional outlet. Through the years of compiling her thoughts and memories in a journal, she wrote this book as a cathartic release. Kaye wanted to share her story in recognition of the many people who struggle with their past, shedding light on how powerfully a mother can impact a child throughout her life.

This is Kaye’s debut book. Her newest book, Meno-What? A Memoir, a humorous satire on menopause, was released in June of 2014.

Check out: www.amazon.com/dp/b00hdtppuq  www.smarturl.it/bookconflictedhearts

September 2, 2014

MARSocial Special Interview: Question & Answers #11

Hello everyone! So, finally we received all answers from our participants from MARSocial author network. Are you excited to read the answers yet? This is our last post for this interview series! Question #11 is “What is your writing process like?  Is it spontaneous or do you do a lot of planning in advance before you begin writing? ” by Marie Lavender.

Let’s check out the answers from all 11 author participants !

1) Coleman Weeks

My process is spontaneous, I will forget something if I wait for the scheduled time to write.

2) Viv Drewa

I do a lot of research for my novels, even interviewed some people (an archaeologist and a medical examiner). Then plan the story and characters. Sometimes I get spontaneous from there on and add or remove characters or change the direction of the story.

3) K. J. Rollinson

I am at the computer every morning at 5 am and write the next chapter of the book, which I have already got in my mind.(see my answer to question 10). Then I edit the chapter I have written the day before.

4) Sam Reese

Very spontaneous. I just sort of sit down and write, with some music in the background. Nothing special really.

5) Neil McGowan

I find that, if I do too much plotting, my characters and story feel wooden and one-dimensional. I’m much happier throwing a bunch of characters into a situation and seeing how they get out of it. I know I’m on a roll when my characters refuse to do what I ask them and insist on doing things their own way. Although I usually have a pretty good idea of how a story will end, how it gets there often surprises me. I’ve even had a book go off on a completely different path to what I originally envisaged. I always enjoy the journey though, seeing how things work out. Having said all that, I do keep some notes – mainly lists of characters and the key events in their lives – although I stay clear of being too definitive about things. Even things like how my characters look – I have a mental picture of them, but try not to be too descriptive as I want the reader to imbue them with their vision. If I do my job right, then this makes the character come alive in the mind of the reader and makes it so much easier to make an emotional investment in. I recently read a book where there was a shock ending to some of the characters. On the whole, I enjoyed it, but what happened to these characters jumped out at me as a plot device that had been thrown in to help resolve a couple of plot lines. As these characters were pinned down to the page too rigidly my emotional investment was small in them – after I read what happened to them, my thoughts were more focussed on the main character (who was well written) and not on their fate – it barely registered with me. It’s not that they were likeable or unlikeable; rather, they were little more than cardboard cut-outs, and bland. I was more frustrated with the fact that the author had spent time and care crafting a believable heroine whilst neglecting some of the other characters. I try and get feedback from alpha and beta readers and, if I get comments about wooden characters, then it’s back to the rewrite stage to either cut them out or make them more realistic.

6) Marion Lovato

My writing process is very spontaneous.  Something will just hit me when I least expect it.

7) Jaro Berce

I plan in advance and carefully made a structure and main points. Then later (most of the times) I write spontaneously and sometimes do not care about my previous preparation. So I would say I build a structure – “bones”, then in the process of writing I “put meat to the bones”.

8) Marie Lavender

A bit of both.  It is pretty spontaneous until I get heavily involved in a project.  At that point, I start doing a detailed outline.  Then I do some research.  I also look at what I have written already and decide what needs to be done for each chapter.  Of course, the story will still surprise me with certain twists.  Then I get to the heavy writing and I will stop and research something if I am blocked.

9) LaRae Parry

Some of my writing is spontaneous. When I write fiction, I make an outline and loosely follow it–sometimes the characters don’t want to do what I planned, so they do what they want. But . . . I ALWAYS know the end from the beginning. How I get there is a mystery.

10) Theresa Moretimer

Most os my writing is spontaneous. I do do a lot of planning when I am writing horror or having my characters go to a place I am unfamiliar with. I have to do a lot of research and in that I incorporate the help of my friends and doctors for things I really need to know about. usually when I begin to write, I am blessed with the ability to sit down when the thought provokes me and write until it’s done. Sometimes that’s a few days straight and sometimes it’s a few weeks.  Of course sometimes I can’t always get to my computer when I have an idea so I keep a personal recorder with me so i can speak mt thoughts as I drive and translate them later.

11) Annie Edmonds

Hi Marie I will usually write a short outline about the main characters. Once I have that I  just start writing. I don’t know where it all comes from but I am more of a spontaneous writer. 
 
I do stop writing for research. For me research can be to look up a street name or a landmark in the town I’m writing about. Or it can be about a certain subject.  
 
My stories tend to have at least one villain or bad guy. With book 2 I’m at the point where the research is imperative. I need to get it right. 
 
There’s not just one crazy real life scenario going on but many.  And they all need to be accurate. I need to know what I’m talking about so that the character doesn’t look stupid. Its all very exciting as I know where it’s going to end up. But sometimes I surprise myself and the plot will change in mid sentence. My brain takes me somewhere I didn’t think I was going. If I like it then it stays. If I don’t I re-write the entire scene or chapter. 
 
I have no doubt that as writers keep writing they get better. So I look forward to seeing this book through to the end. This story is different then Sammy’s story. And I can’t wait to finish and get it out there. I have a feeling about this one. 
 
Right now I’m looking for Beta readers that edit erotic romance. If anyone is interested please don’t hesitate to send me an e-mail.aedmonds315@gmail.com. 
 
Thanks to Jas and all the authors for sending making this group interview a great success. I look forward to reading your answers to these same questions. And I hope the readers like this interview as much as I liked being able to participate.  
 

Thank you Annie and of course all the other MARSocial participants! I look forward to interviewing you next time! 

Jas from IBP ! 

September 2, 2014

MARSocial Special Interview: Question & Answers #10

Hello everyone! So, finally we received all answers from our participants from MARSocial author network. Are you excited to read the answers yet? Question #10 is “When you hit a wall, how do you break through?” by LaRae Parry.

Let’s check out the answers from all 11 author participants !

1) Coleman Weeks

My process is spontaneous, I will forget something if I wait for the scheduled time to write.

2) Viv Drewa

Save what I’ve written and, if the weather’s nice, take a walk. Or read. I do have a friend I use as a sounding board sometimes.

3) K. J. Rollinson

Sorry, LaRae I’m the wrong person to answer. I can honestly say I never get writer’s block. I swim every day and usually I am writing the next chapter in my mind as I swim. Great physical and mental exercise.

4) Sam Reese

Just keep writing. I find that if you hit a wall but keep typing away, the wall becomes less rigid. Even if what you wrote during the wall time is crap, you can always edit it out later.
 

5) Neil McGowan

I tend to leave what has blocked me and go on to something else. I’m also a keen cyclist so I’ll go for a ride; I almost always come up with ways to beat the block this way.

6) Marion Lovato

Go do something different that’s not even related to writing and take your mind off of it.

7) Jaro Berce

I try to prevent it so I normally don’t hit a wall – I predict, envision and look forward. But if eventually it  happens, I sit and rethink all over again.

8) Marie Lavender

Ah, the age old writer’s block.  I haven’t had official writer’s block in years, but I will tell you now that I often feel like I’m “almost” having it and that, my friends, is just as terrifying.  Sometimes it will have been weeks since I wrote anything just because my life has gotten too hectic.  

Eventually, I have to step away from these distractions and get back to the reason I went on this journey in the first place.  Writing.  Sometimes just journaling or freewriting gets some of that clutter out of your head.  I have a few writing reference books if I ever need help with freewriting or doing a random scene.  I would recommend Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down the Bones.  I have returned to it time and time again.  It is a great book to help cut through some of those blocks.  It may not result in a scene, but sometimes writing just to write, even if it’s crap, is just as therapeutic.  Hell, maybe you’ll surprise yourself with another medium – essays or poetry.  Another good book is Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird.

There are, of course, other resources.  Sometimes I even do a search on “writing prompts” online and print out a few pages.  I pick an exercise and go with it.  But, mainly, my “walls” have more to do with a current work in progress.  Occasionally, I will hit a place in my manuscript in which I don’t know what road to take.  Sometimes the best thing to do is to walk away.  That might sound bad, but even a little distance from a project for a few days can make you look at it from a different perspective.  Maybe when you come back, something will jump out at you and you’ll wonder why you never saw it before.  

Feel like tearing yourself away is the worst thing you could possibly do?  Fine.  Do some research for the book.  Find some much needed information that you can throw in at any time.  Sometimes I find that filling in these blanks is just the boost I need to finish a scene.  In lieu of all that, I often will move on to a different project temporarily.  I will look through my numerous files and do some editing or write a little on those works in progress.  Any little bit helps, right?  Sometimes stepping away from the current work in question is just what it takes to get back on track.  Who knows?  Maybe reading a book, seeing a movie or having a conversation with a good friend will spark an idea.

9) LaRae Parry

I eat ice cream, watch movies, read, then smack myself. If that doesn’t work, I get on the computer and force myself. Sometimes, I don’t obey though. 

10) Theresa Moretimer

When I hit a wall I go for a walk, take a drive to the beach to walk, go horseback riding on the trails. I do the things that will clear my head and relieve my stress. stress is what causes the blockage and whatever it is that relieves your stress, that’s the thing that will clear your mind and let you get back to work.

11) Annie Edmonds

Hey LaRae,  When I hit a wall I save what I’ve written and close the computer. That’s when I need to walk away for awhile. Usually just taking a break will loosen those story bricks in that wall. 
 
Even though I’m away from the computer that story is still in my head. I don’t know about other writers but anything can jar a thought and make me want to get back to the computer or at least write it down on paper.
Does anyone else use paper and pen to write notes?
 

The next question is “What is your writing process like?  Is it spontaneous or do you do a lot of planning in advance before you begin writing?” by Marie Lavender. Stay tuned with us for the next post !

September 2, 2014

MARSocial Special Interview: Question & Answers #9

Hello everyone! So, finally we received all answers from our participants from MARSocial author network. Are you excited to read the answers yet? Question #9 is “Who could/would help a writer to sell books?” by Jaro Berce.

Let’s check out the answers from all 11 author participants !

1) Coleman Weeks

Readers and other authors, for some the biggest challenge is themselves

2) Viv Drewa

Social media if you’re an Indie. Otherwise agents or publishers.

3) K. J. Rollinson

See the answers to question one. Of course, you can pay for advertising, and you can also pay reviewers and others, e.g. Twitter accounts to advertise your books for you.

4) Sam Reese

I’m not sure I understand this question exactly, but I think family, friends, and a publisher if you have one would do all of this. As for who could, I’d say anyone could. Like all things, selling books is about building relationships and a fan base.

5) Neil McGowan

Anyone with an interest in books! If you’ve read something that moves you, tell others; leave a review. Promo sites are okay but unless you pay for it, you don’t get massive exposure and even if you do, there is no guarantee that you will recoup your outlay. Also, the authors themselves can drive interest in their work by interacting with people via social media, being visible at local festivals and events, giving interviews etc.

6) Marion Lovato

Family and friend, if they’re supportive, could really help sell your books just by word of mouth.

7) Jaro Berce

My, my … the toughest question to which I do not have an answer. If I had, I’d be selling my books in tons.

8) Marie Lavender

Tough question.  I think writers automatically assume that being an author is easy.  When they first approach the idea of publishing, they think, “I will write books and someone else, the publisher most likely, will sell them.  Easy!”  No, it’s really not.  And it doesn’t work that way anymore.  The industry has changed.  The term of “author” is changing.  Now an author has to be part writer, part marketing genius.  Publishers now are looking for writers who can not only write, but market themselves, basically “sell” their own books.  New authors tend to get jaded by this fact.  And, I agree, it is exhausting.  So, if you’re lucky, you get with a large publisher that has a whole marketing team to help you.  But, in most cases, you don’t have that.  And, even if your publisher has some marketing tools in place, they won’t cover everything.  You have to learn to be more than just a writer.  You have to be an author.  You have to sell your product.  You.  And your books, of course.  

Who else helps a writer sell books?  Fellow authors usually help by endorsing books or talking about them in social media.  Word of mouth is the best tool, though, and the best source is from readers.  So, how do we go about getting that?  That goes back on the reader in some ways.  All I can suggest is this.  If you are an avid reader of a certain genre, do your favorite authors (even if they are indie authors) a favor by doing these two things:  1) Leave a review.  You have no idea how much that helps an author, especially a fledgling one, sell books.  Be honest about what you liked or didn’t like, but be fair.  What one person doesn’t like may actually be someone else’s cup of tea.  2)  Tell your friends and family about this author and the books you loved, and why.  Chances are someone will get curious and look them up.  Word of mouth is everything in this business.

9) LaRae Parry

Good question, Jaro. The best way to sell a book, hands down, is word of mouth. Readers who like your books will help sell them.

10) Theresa Moretimer

The media can help you sell books if you have a great press release. In my case, the persons involved in the prevention of domestic violence can help me due to the fact that write about it and I speak pubicly on the warning signs and what I personally went through.

11) Annie Edmonds

Well Jaro, I think anyone can help a writer sell their books. Readers do it all the time without knowing. One great review can sell books. Or telling a friend about a good book is helping the author sell books. 
 
Those two things are what I think every writer dreams about. Word of mouth and good reviews. And by the way as long as the reviewer is not attacking the writer their review can help that author sell books. 

The next question is “Who could/would help a writer to sell books?” by Jaro. Stay tuned with us for the next post !

August 24, 2014

MARSocial Special Interview: Question & Answers #8

Hello everyone! So, finally we received all answers from our participants from MARSocial author network. Are you excited to read the answers yet? Question #8 is “What are your reasons for writing?” by Marion Lovato.

Let’s check out the answers from all 11 author participants !

1) Coleman Weeks

To gain my sanity.

2) Viv Drewa

I love putting story to print. After reading all my life I thought it was time.

3) K. J. Rollinson

Inspiration, imagination, love of words. You have to is my answer. You have to express yourself, if you are a writer, artist, composer. It is in your soul.

4) Sam Reese

Simply because I can’t not write. Something inside compels me to do so, and when I stop doing so I tend to become a terrible person to be around.

5) Neil McGowan

I couldn’t imagine not writing. It’s something that is a part of my character. It allows me to examine ideas and themes from different perspectives, and lets me have fun playing around with characters and situations.

6) Marion Lovato

To share the uniqueness and comical side of this creature we call a cat.

7) Jaro Berce

To share my knowledge with others and to have fun discussing it with people that perceived the matter differently as I have meant.

8) Marie Lavender

I write because I can’t imagine doing anything else for the rest of my life.  There is no greater freedom for me than when I am deep in the construction of a scene, when so much is going on that I forget the world for awhile.  When I come out of it, there is almost a strange euphoria to it.  I blink and say, “Wow.  Did that actually happen?”  So much can occur.  I feel a lot while I’m writing.  With some scenes, I feel a character’s anger or what they would naturally feel if they were insulted or hurt.  Sometimes, with a particularly emotional scene, I know I’ve gotten to the heart of things when I’m writing with tears streaming down my face.  Neurotic?  Maybe.  But, that is the way of a writer.  We feel with our characters.  They become a part of us in a way, and when the book is finished, it is hard to step away from that connection.  So, why do I write?  Because doing anything else just feels wrong.

9) LaRae Parry

For me, writing is therapeutic.  Also, the stories inside my head won’t leave me alone. Grrrrr.

10) Theresa Moretimer

To help people to become aware of the dangers of domestic violence.  I write fiction but what I write as fiction is true to an extent due to the fact that I base a lot of my story on my life.  It’s not all true but a lot of it is.  I hope to prevent domestic violence cases by helping people become aware of the signs.

11) Annie Edmonds

Marion my reasons for writing are to get the little people out of my head.
If I don’t they just keep talking. And the story gets bigger and bigger. When I finally put the story into the computer it’s done. And I’m on to the next. Writing is not a choice for me.

The next question is “Who could/would help a writer to sell books?” by Jaro. Stay tuned with us for the next post !

August 24, 2014

MARSocial Special Interview: Question & Answers #7

Hello everyone! So, finally we received all answers from our participants from MARSocial author network. Are you excited to read the answers yet? Question #7 is “What do you consider most important in  a novel – literary value or story? by Neil McGowan.

Let’s check out the answers from all 11 author participants !

1) Coleman Weeks

The story

2) Viv Drewa

If you don’t have a good story your work won’t have literary value.

3) K. J. Rollinson

This is a difficult question to answer. Obviously, the story and the characters must be intriguing to hold the reader’s interest, BUT nothing annoys me more when an author makes obvious grammatical errors. I can accept the occasional ‘typo,’ this happens in any book, but I do think ‘Indie authors’, in particular, should ensure their spelling and use of English (or whatever language they write in) should be of a high standard.

4) Sam Reese

Probably story. I’ve read (or tried to read) a lot of so-called “literature” and I just don’t get the appeal. It’s trash from a writing perspective, and I think that there are many much better books that deserve to be praised by lit profs.

5) Neil McGowan

Story! It’s all very well doing clever things with language in the name of literature but if the story isn’t there then I’ll put the book down and move on to something else that does have a story.

6) Marion Lovato

Bottom line for me is the story

7) Jaro Berce

I think we all read because of a story. Kafka has literary value but no story.

8) Marie Lavender

I think the story is more important, and this is why.  Let’s say you read a book and you think, “Yeah, that was good.”  A couple of hours later, you are imagining the scenes play out in your head and you just realized a message could be drawn from it.  Did the author intend to convey that?  Who knows?  That’s the great fun about reading a book.  You have no idea what the author “meant” to do.  All you know is that there is something of value in any story, whether it’s a way to escape your worries for awhile or that you glean a message from it.  I think that’s the best part, not knowing what you’re going to encounter.  And maybe the author didn’t even intend to place a message or certain theme in the book, but inadvertently did.  Every one of us comes from a different background, went through different experiences.  What one person gleans from a text may be entirely separate from what the next person gets from it.  That’s the beauty of it.

9) LaRae Parry

Story, story, story. Story trumps everything.

10) Theresa Moretimer

Wow! That is a hard one because to me they are both important and to me you really can’t have one without the other. To me me literary value is based on the story content and life-like your characters and stary are and when they come to life in a story that a reader can’t put down then you have great literary value. Of course not everyone would share my views but to me they are both important.

11) Annie Edmonds

Ok it’s getting deep in here, and I love this question.  I think literary value IS in the story. If the story stays with you and you’re learning something you didn’t know, well too me that’s literary value. And I think it varies from reader to reader.

The next question is “What are your reasons for writing?” by Marion Lovato. Stay tuned with us for the next post !