What inspires you to write?
Anything that has to do with drama. Why, you ask? Because drama is raw, drama is pure – and drama evokes emotion like nothing else can. When you combine that with tall, dark, and handsome – it’s positively electrifying!
Tell us about your writing process.
As I begin each novel, I make an outline of the major incidents that are going to occur. This is rather easy for me, because I’ve already daydreamed my characters doing these very things. Watching my book unfold in my mind allows me the ability to make bold decisions where they are concerned. By doing this, I see the hurt in their faces, the subtle movements of their hands, and hear the inflections in their tone of voice. It’s like making a movie and then putting it down on paper, scene by scene.
The hard part for me is writing the scene the way I see and hear it using only words. There have been times I’ve stayed up until two in the morning feverishly pounding away on my keyboard and have fallen into bed with a sense of pride regarding the chapter I just wrote. In the harsh light of day however, I re-read it and think it sucks. I am my own worst enemy when it comes to critiquing what I’ve written, so much so, that at times, I think it hinders me from moving on. If there is a scene that just isn’t working, I’ll ponder it every waking moment I get until I like it. In the past, there have been instances where I'll wake up in the middle of the night and immediately start thinking about the scene or paragraph I’m stuck on, my tired brain struggling to form the words I so desperately want on the page.
Once I am satisfied with my draft, I will edit it chapter by chapter, reading the last chapter first, and then the first chapter, and go back and forth until the pages meet in the middle. Then, when I am happy with every breath the characters draw, every movement they make, and every word they speak, (about 5 drafts later) I put my name on it.
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
Mostly, I listen to them, and over the course of a story they eventually dictate what they will and will not do. I don’t talk to them, but I talk about them ALL-THE-TIME to my husband. I have a terrible tendency to go on and on about them as if they were a part of our extended family.
Who are your favorite authors?
This is a tough one, because I'm find new authors all the time. Looking back, I think one of the first books I stayed up all night reading was The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. To read something that good, and to be written by someone so young, fueled my own desire to become an author.
I'm also a big fan of Danielle Steel. Her characters are so colorful, I find myself wanting to take them home for dinner.
The last book I read caused me to put off making dinner for my family, and it was The Sound of Gravel by Ruth Wariner. It was a fantastic, tumultuous read!
How did you decide how to publish your books?
I wrote my first book years ago and then life happened. I got married, had kids, and stuck the manuscript in a drawer where I promptly forgot about it. Then one day my husband came home from a trip carrying an article he’d clipped from USA Today about Amanda Hocking who had self-published on Amazon. After I read the article, I pulled out my manuscript and decided to go for it.
Five years later, I can honestly say that I’m glad I went the indie route. Why? Because going rogue allows me the freedom to publish on my own terms, and my own time. My royalties are mine (I don’t have to give a cut to the middleman), and the rewards are instantaneous. It’s a wonderful feeling to be a published author.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
I think over the next few years the indie revolution will evolve and the stigmatism of it will fall away. Right now, more and more readers are discovering that an author doesn’t necessarily have to have a big time publisher behind their name to write a great story.
What genres do you write?
Women's Fiction, Mystery, Literary Fiction
What formats are your books in?
eBook, Print
Website(s)
Belinda G. Buchanan Home Page Link
Follow Belinda G. Buchanan On Amazon
Link to Author Page on other site
