A Mail Interview with Lisa Scullard

  I am glad to have Lisa Scullard, a budding author from UK in my blog. She has been helpful to me and is still willing to work with me as a good friend. We met on one of a kind writers' community called authonomy.com and continues to extend our friendship beyond it.

   Instead of me writing about Lisa Scullard it would be better to learn about her from her own words, so let me get straight to the point. When I learned from her that all books for proof has reached to her, I thought I should give a place and make a special post for my friend in my blog. Then I mailed her, and as a friend we both agree to do a mail interview as below:

   How long do you take to write each book?

   It takes me between six months to ten months to write a book, between 120 thousand to 250 thousand words. I have written one shorter book of only 50 thousand words, that took six weeks. I was very inspired though and finished it quickly.

   Do you publish them all at once, or one by one after you finished writing each one of them?

   My first book I published straight after writing, "The Terrible Zombie Of Oz". It's a parody based on L. Frank Baum's "The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz". I enjoyed publishing so much that I immediately published two more books that I had already written earlier - "Living Hell" an adventure/mystery for older teenagers, and "Death & The City" for fans of chick lit and crime, such as 'Bridget Jones' and 'American Psycho'. I published them in paperback on Createspace, meaning they are now listed on Amazon, and in hardback on www.lulu.com - "Death & The City" was such a long book that I had to publish it as two books in the paperback version - Death & The City: Book One, and Book Two. I also published them as eBooks on Amazon Kindle. I'm very pleased how they turned out. My next books I will publish one at a time as I finish writing each one, now I have found how easy it is.

   While you writes your books, do you support yourself or by someone?

   I support myself - I am quite lucky to always find work. Sometimes during studying I also wrote, but my classwork probably suffered as a result! :)

   If you supported yourself, what work do you do? How many hours do you give to writing?

   Mostly I have worked part-time, in various jobs - in the past I have been a bartender in a biker bar, a motorcycle maintenance mechanic, a machining engineer making body-piercing jewellery, a carer for people with disabilities, a nightclub security guard ("bouncer"), and a hospital nursing assistant. At the moment I do some hospital work, and some computer administration and proofreading - mostly the computer work. I like to write for between four to seven hours a day when working on a novel.

   What is the greatest difficulty you overcome in your journey to be an author?

It's very solitary work, which is nice at times - I can enjoy my garden, enjoy the peace and quiet, listen to music that I love - but it can be lonely, and sometimes I forget to get food when the shops are open :) But I think the hardest thing is to overcome my 'writing ego' which tries to sabotage my ideas by wanting to make something more important out of my work and my life.

   Do you have any message in your book for your readers? What is the goal of your book? Entertain the people or whatever?

   I write for entertainment, definitely. I also want to share the things I've learned, the insights I've had and the things I've seen. Even if they only make sense in my own mind, I'd like to show people what the world looks like and sounds like from inside my mind. One day my mind will go away, and I had lots of strange experiences and thoughts that I didn't share with anyone - so it's a record of my memories, and things I found funny as well. One day I might need to read it all to remember who I am, so maybe that part is more for me than anything else :)

   I believe every author writes according to their experiences, so do you feel the same way? Does your book have some relation to your experiences? I mean do you pour your experiences into your book?

   Yes, definitely. I've worked in some unusual jobs for a woman, like security guard, mechanic - that kind of thing - so I like to share the experiences for people who might not have any idea what these jobs are really like. But also all the psychological experiences I have, the things my brain has done at times - maybe I want to help people who want to understand themselves more when their own minds seem to wander or have a life of their own. Having understood it and tolerated it in my own mind, I feel a bit of responsibility to share the experience.

   What makes and inspires you to become a writer and when?

   I start with an idea that fascinates me, makes me laugh and that I think about more and more. Then I have to write it down as it develops into a storyline and characters, players in the scenario. Early on there has to be a lot of humour in the idea that keeps me entertained while planning it - later it may develop more serious aspects as well, like in "Death & The City" which is about contract killers getting cleaned up by a mystery organisation, known only as 'head office'. I can get these ideas at any time out of nowhere - I don't have to go looking for stories, they usually occur to me from tiny meaningless things like place names, bits of misheard conversation, or the way a person dresses - my imagination fires up and I can tell myself a whole new story instantly. If it's good and I want to keep the story going, I go and write it down.

   Are you single? And if you are, how will you answer if unexpected people asked you on a date? And, will you tell us more about yourself?

   I'm currently single, yes :) Actually I haven't had a relationship yet. I decided to wait for the right man early on, just haven't met him yet. I have been on blind dates before, through dating sites or introductions, but not connected with anyone that way so far. I'm not sure how I would react to an unexpected invitation to go on a date, it would depend how unexpected. I think after friendship first, perhaps it would be a nice surprise.

   I have one child from a holiday romance years ago, who is the most important person in my life and keeps me in the real world. As well as writing, I like creative arts, and I draw, knit, sew, customise dolls and re-design clothes. I love movies and music, and this year I took up hula-hooping - but I need a lot of practise to get good at it!

   Okay, then what advice will you give to those who want to follow the same road - to be a writer and author?

   Always use your own best ideas, and be yourself - not like other authors or celebrities. Your own success is waiting for you to find it. You just have to be brave, and write what you most appreciate yourself, until you are your own favourite author above all others :) Write all the time. And good luck!

   Thank you for the interview, and I wish you all the luck and best.

   Thus the interview is this much but let me tell you a little more about Lisa Scullard. She is 39 years old, currently living in New Forest, Hampshire, UK.
   Voodoo-spice.blogspot.com is Lisa Scullard's blog and one of her clickable book cover with link to all her books and author page on amazon is below: