Please welcome my very dear friend, Lauren Ritz. She's a member of my critique group and also one of my go-to brainstorm-ers (Yes that's a word. Honest). She's an amazing writer, and just released her first novel, Without a Voice. She has kindly offered to tell us about her book and her writing! PS - check out the incredible book trailer for Without a Voice below AND get a code to get the book free on today and tomorrow!
What inspires your
writing?
Everything. I have never, and I hope will
never, run out of ideas. People, places, dreams, you name it. And if I'm running
dry, I just start writing and it starts flowing again. Like priming the
pump.
What made you decide to go
Indie?
Lots of things. First I suck at
queries. Second, a lot of what I write is short, under 70,000 words, and that
short it's difficult to find a market.
What Genre do you write
in?
Oh, nasty question. I write whatever
hits my fancy at the moment, but mostly fantasy. Some science fiction.
Recently I've been doing urban fantasy. Without A Voice is my only contemporary,
although I'm not guaranteeing that it will be the last. I am considering a story
about Old Frankie in WWII.
What is your favorite/worst part
of the writing/publishing process?
I like all of it, but the hardest
part is the editing. It also takes the longest.
So tell us a little about your
book. What prompted this story?
Without A Voice is essentially about
someone whose past and bad decisions have caught up with her. After five years
of hiding, Mae is just starting to trust again. She faces a situation where she
has to rely on God because there is no one else who can help
her.
When I started writing this story, I
imagined I knew where it was going. Within the first page Mae took the story out
of my hands and it turned completely. Still, it felt important so I spent a much
longer time on it than I usually do.
Which character do you relate to
the most and why?
I honestly
don't know. Bits and pieces of all of them, I guess. I'm opinionated and
inflexible like Keli (although also like her, I try not to let it affect my
interactions with other people). Peter (constantly analyzing people and
surprisingly good at it), his parents (determined that everyone else will follow
where they lead), Justin (just slightly psychotic) and Mae (still developing
into a whole person).
Which character did you find most
difficult to craft and why?
At first I thought Justin, but he
really came easily in comparison to Keli. Keli honestly feels that she's
justified in what she does, and believes that her actions are right. She's a
good person who makes some bad decisions, believing that she is protecting her
friend. Writing the scene where she sends Mae away literally took me
years.
What advice would you give
aspiring authors?
Write. Write every chance you get and on every possible topic. Read
everything you can get your hands on. Combine the two.
What genre does your book
fall under?
Without a Voice is a contemporary
religious suspense novel. I listed it as Christian, but it's more about
believing in God than any specific religion.
How long
did it take you to write the first draft of the
manuscript?
Blech. I started it in 2006, so 6
years. Usually I can write a novel in a month or two, but this one about kicked
my butt.
What
else about the book might pique the reader’s
interest?
I love this book. There's a hint of
romance, suspense, a psychotic boyfriend, and it's clean. Failures and successes
and Mae's burgeoning belief in and understanding of God. *Happy
sigh.*
***Today and tomorrow ONLY (April 2 & 3, 2013) you can get the book free on Smashwords by using this code: XF24Z
BIO:
Lauren Ritz was born in Utah and
continues to reside there, somewhat to the chagrin of those who know her well.
She is commonly known as a walking insane asylum (just ask her) and a compulsive
gardener.
She began writing at the age of six
with a “journal entry” about aliens flying through her bedroom window and
landing on her wall. She tried to start earlier, but was handicapped by
the fact that she couldn’t draw well enough.
She lives in Utah with the
aforementioned bats, a cat named Darth Vader and too many books to count. She is
a wannabe herbalist, but the herbs stay outside for the most part. Most of her
plants are domesticated varieties and housebroken.
No, she does not talk to the plants,
but they talk to her. Luckily she's hard of listening.
Writing is her love and her lifelong
obsession, taking up the majority of her time when she isn’t involved in other
less compelling interests.
Lauren Ritz
Author of Without A Voice, a contemporary suspense novel
Book Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tkm2BUyPYUA
Author of Without A Voice, a contemporary suspense novel
Book Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tkm2BUyPYUA
All other formats: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/299474
The
Storyteller
Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/The-Storyteller-ebook/dp/B00BWXN2UY/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1364602132&sr=1-2&keywords=The+Storyteller+Lauren+Ritz
Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/The-Storyteller-ebook/dp/B00BWXN2UY/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1364602132&sr=1-2&keywords=The+Storyteller+Lauren+Ritz
All other
formats: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/296281
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/LaurenRitz
http://amazon.com/author/laurenritz
