Best Fiction Competition Honorable Mention in Fantasy for Sinners and Saints.

Three things you love besides writing/reading?

1) My family, of course. 
2) Cooking. My husband worked in restaurants for many years and I started cooking when I was 7 at home, so we both love to cook and frequently bounce ideas off each other on creating or improving recipes.
3) Music. I live in the Live Music Capital of the World, after all. We try to go to at least one local show and one touring show a year. It's hard to narrow it down to just that, though...

Three things you hate?

1) Wow – I try hard not to hate anything. So, um, probably traffic. I've driven in/through just about every major city in America. Far bigger than Austin. But I have never, ever, seen traffic like I do here. It's so bad that I avoid all highways whenever I possibly can. Life's too short to subject yourself to that kind of road-rage.
2) Um...that I'm not independently wealthy so I have more time to write and/or visit family in other states
3) And, since 2 is true, that I don't have more vacation time at work than I do for the same reasons.

Why do you write?

I've always written, in one form or another, since I taught myself to read at age 2 (I'm not bragging, but it's true). I used to make little books, when I was at my grandparents' for the day, around age 5 or so. Just because I was bored out of my mind and there wasn't anything else to do. I would illustrated them and cut them out and staple them together to give to my mother when she came to pick us (I have an older sister) up after work. And I have a degree in English, so I took plenty of classes in Creative Writing, Poetry, Analytical Writing and Business Writing classes.

Why do I write now? Again, it started mostly because I was bored. I work in a highly-technical, very black and white industry. And, although I'm good at it, there is no room for creativity. So I had to find it another way. But also because I find it a release. A way of uncluttering my mind and forcing myself to think about things from different angles.

Out of all your stories, which one is your favorite?

Really hard question. The easy answer is the one I'm currently working on, but I have five that I'm currently working on, most of which will never be shared with anyone, so that's not necessarily true. I guess it's whichever one challenges me the most at the time. That's not a fair answer, but it's the truth.

Maggie Moon was my first shared story. And they say that your first book is autobiographical. And it is. I really need to pull it down and do something about that someday...

I started Sinners and Saints as a challenge for myself. To write a first person, present-tense story that was worth reading. I failed at it the first go-around. Learned from my mistakes and the criticism I got, took it down and rewrote it. It's much, much better and I enjoyed writing it. And I enjoy writing Saints Alive, the sequel, even though I don't have the time for writing that I did.

But I picked up a story that I started (don't laugh – yes, I know I'm old) nearly 30 years ago recently and – to my surprise – it wasn't terrible. So, off and on, I work on that too.

I guess the correct answer, although disappointing, is whatever characters are shouting for attention the most at that time.

How do you create your characters?

I think of a situation and who I would root for, in that situation, if I were a reader. I am a voracious reader, so if you haven't intrigued me by the middle of chapter 2, I'll quietly delete your book from my Library and move on. I try very hard to keep that from happening in my books. I'm sure I don't achieve it nearly as much as I hope to, but I try very hard to make my main characters flawed but loveable and work to make them grow throughout the book.

Out of your characters, which one are you the most like?

Another hard question. Hmm, I can be sarcastic, impatient and suspicious like Claire in Sinners and Saints. I have body-issues, trust issues and over-protection issues like Leah in Maggie Moon. But I'm not either of them. They both drive with much more confidence than I do. I'm a defensive, not offensive, driver and soooo not a good backer-upper. But I also own my own full set of tools and know how to use them. Know basic car repair and home maintenance and am not afraid to tackle an issue.

There is a little of me in every character – male and female – but I would have to say that I'm most like Paula in Maggie Moon. Comfortable with my life, not looking for any drama (although she does get some) and pretty happy with herself at this point in her life.

What do you do when you have writer's block?

Take a big step back and try to figure out where I fell down the rabbit hole.

My writing is character-based. I put a lot of thought into every "main" character I develop. Anyone I use in more than 3 chapters, even if they aren't in a row, I consider a "main" character. And they must be 3D. But doing that leaves a lot open to side-lines. If I'm shoved too far away from my "outline" (and I use that term very loosely), I lose focus and start to dread writing instead of being excited about coming home and pounding the keys.

Big, big sign for me.

Back up. Take that night to work on something else and re-read previous chapters (non-uploaded). Figure out where I veered off and correct. I have dozens of half-finished chapters on everything I've written. But they are all rabbit-holes. I may use a piece of dialogue here or there from them, but I always steer back to the main points.

How do you plan out your stories?

Well, there are planners and there are pantsers...

A planner outlines ever single chapter. Boom, boom, boom, boom. ABCD. Whiteboards or printed outlines or whatever. Strategic. Meticulous.

There isn't anything wrong with that. Nearly every single successful, paid author works like that. Stephen King, for example.

And then there are pantsers...

Which, if you haven't gotten the reference, is "flying by the seat of your pants."

No outline. No destination. Just start writing and off you go.

Again, not anything wrong with it. Heck, J.K. Rowling started off that way and look at what she did with it.

I would say that I'm a plantser.

I have a basic outline. Not necessarily written down, but I do know how I get from A to Z and where all of the really important bits in between have to be.

I don't write ABCD. I write ABFQXIM... I wouldn't suggest it to anyone else, but I do my really, really important chapters first and then go back and fill in the rest. And modify when I have to. Which is why I try very hard to write at least seven chapters ahead of what I post.

Because rabbit-holes do come up.

But I enjoy the spontaneity of dialogue and am frequently as surprised and delighted as my readers when I write something that has me snorting. If I can make myself laugh, there's a good chance it will make my readers chuckle too.

What are your writing weaknesses?

Writing is my weakness ☺

Sorry, I know what you're asking. My books have gone through several critiques, and I have been told the following:

• My chapters are too long. I didn't know there was a rule about this, but apparently there is. I write on my computer and copy/paste into Wattpad. My chapters are generally 16 pages on my computer. And, since I only upload once a week, I think a long chapter to get my readers through the week should be in order.

• I give too much detail. I raised my brows when I first read that, as I have read many, many, many books that give too little. However, I will concede that I could chop some things out and the stories would still be fine.

• I have "poor" grammar. That one made me snort, considering my degree. I will admit that none of my books are AP compliant. I use quotes, as well as italics, when I write internal dialogue. A hell-worthy sin, according to that reviewer. I use dashes far too much – and I will concede that (did you see what I just did?). I start the second part of my dialogue, after the "X said" with a capital letter. Well, yes, I do. But that's nearly always because I let my characters form a complete thought before I interject the "X said." Even if that complete thought is, "No." No is a perfectly acceptable complete thought.

However, I take all criticism in stride and try to remain objective about it. I realize that when I ask for the truth, I'm going to get it. None of my books are, borrowing a phrase from my husband (who, besides being a fabulous cook is also a very accomplished guitar player) "gigable." I have no desire, at this point in my life, to publish any of them. I'm not going to lie and say that "I write only for myself" because, if I did, I wouldn't be on Wattpad. I would still have these stories on my hard-drive and nowhere else. But I will say that writing is my avocation and not my vocation. I make darn good money with my vocation, as boring as it is.

My own opinion is that my writing weakness comes when I have to do those dreaded "filler" chapters. The necessary evil between the actions. I hate them. I dread them. I agonize over them and it takes me, sometimes, weeks to finish them. Because I know if I'm bored, my readers will be too. But I also know that, when done right, they move both the plot and the character development along.

Unfortunately, I haven't mastered those yet.

What are your writing strengths?

Making fully fleshed-out, 3D characters. No one, and I mean no one, is perfect. I try very hard to instill some quirk, some oddity, some inconsistency, or some vulnerability in all of my main and supporting characters. I have a rule – if they are on more than three pages or they show up more than three times, they need to be worked up.

If I can't get my reader interested in the main character by the second page of the first chapter, I haven't done my job. If I can't hold them when I introduce new characters by the end of the first chapter, they're going to walk away. My readers may not always like all of my characters (and that's not a bad thing) but I want them to be intrigued by them all the same.

What genre do you read?

I am all over the map and always have been. Highly technical sci-fi bores me to tears. I don't care how your warp drive works. Just get on with it. I suppose that may be where my "too much detail" critique came from, as the reviewer wasn't a fan of fluffy chick-lit/fantasy. I also don't do Vampires (although @LittleCinnamon is an exception), Werewolves or Teen-Lit (being old enough to be their mother is a distinct disadvantage).

But mysteries, adventures, Steam-Punk, fantasy, children's books, historical fiction, some (and I emphasize some) chick-lit, general fiction, poetry, self-help, biographies, auto-biographies, spiritual fiction, blogs, journals, essays, op-eds and even things I don't necessarily agree with or support. I read them all. Not all of them capture my attention enough to continue. But I try very hard to remain open to everything.

What genre do you write?

Fluffy chick-lit fantasy is the easy answer. And it is true. I am a romantic deep down. Girl must get boy (notice I didn't say that the other way around) in the end. But it is more complicated than that. Writing from this perspective in my life is hard, knowing that most of the users on Wattpad are young enough to be my children (or, if you really did the math, my grandchildren). I have a 16 year-old and a 13 year-old and I started having kids in my 30's. Yup, I'm old. [G.S. Glow Commentary: Age is just your chronological number, nothing more. If you want to age yourself, you should base it on your psychological age or social age... those are much more accurate! ]

But I also have plenty of silly kids' stories that I used to make up for my boys when they were little. That piece that I started 30 years ago? Arthurian-based fiction. I get inspired daily from such seemingly random things that it's, frankly, maddening. My list of stories that I would like to write is far, far longer than my capacity to make it happen. Sigh!

Blurb/summary of Sinners and Saints:

Hell has demons, imps, succubi and incubi. Not to mention Don Lucifer and Doña Lilith. What does Heaven have to combat that nefarious, meticulous bureaucracy? Overworked priests mired in scandal and an outdated rule book and angels as disassociated from human beings as the big guy Himself. How can the good guys ever hope to succeed? Meet Heaven's secret weapon - the Saint sisters, Claire and Jojo. No, they'll never be canonized, but they use their special brand of God-given gifts to fight for mankind's redemption.

To read this story click on the external link just before the comments!