What inspires me to write?

Laura Libricz answers 20 questions

1. What inspires you to write?

When I write, I am inspired by interesting characters, real people and fictional, and I love to analyze them because I want to find the truth. I love to listen to people talk and I wonder what’s behind their words, what they are really saying. Trying to figure out what motivates people to do what they do is a constant study of human nature. Having said that, I am also inspired by the area in Germany I live in. My novels take place here. I deal with my setting like another character. Setting has as much influence on the characters as the people they entangle with.

2. What do you love most about writing?

The best part about writing is the inner peace it brings me. I need to put all these thoughts somewhere. My energies are better spent focused on a project than left on their own. Unsupervised, I tend to get up to no good.

3. What’s the most challenging part?

The most challenging part of writing is trying to view the project objectively and give it a second opinion. I can’t do that and I won’t even try anymore. That’s why we work with professionals, like editors.

4. How do you craft your story & characters?

I am a plotter. The Master and the Maid was at first written ‘by the seat of my pants.’ When I hit a wall and couldn’t write anymore, I outlined the story and built a framework. Inside the framework, I had more freedom to write. The next two novels in the series were both outlined and the first drafts written during NaNo November. Of course, I can still change major aspects of the framework if I need to, like I did with The Soldier’s Return, the second book in the series.

5. How much research is involved?

Historical Fiction is a genre that is associated with tons of research. To build that historical world and make the reader part of it, I need to make the details tangible and help them understand the time period and the customs. (Much like SciFi or novels set in an unfamiliar culture.) If I use actual historical events, like I’ve done with the Thirty Years War in Germany, I need to build the story around those events.

6. How long did it take from idea to finished book?

I’ve been working on this trilogy since 2009 and have released the first and second novel.

7. Do you have any writing rituals or habits?

I sit down and turn on my computer. I write in Scrivener, a wonderful program that is worth the time it takes to learn it.

8. Who influences you the most?

My writing is most influenced right now by Bathsheba Monk, my editor. And Jean-Luc Picard (ha, that’s a joke, sort of…)

9. What is your favorite theme/genre to write?

Right now, I love writing Historical Fiction set in Germany. Yes, I know, a bit obscure. I would also like to write some SciFi in the future.

10. Which character you’ve created is your favorite? Why?

I love all my characters because, like in real life, every one of them is important and plays a crucial role in my stories. If they aren’t important, they have no business being there.

11. Do any of your life experiences worm their way into your books?

All my life experiences show up in my books in some adulterated form or another.

12. How do you like to connect with readers?

I like to connect with readers in person and in the internet. Right now, I like Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, and the RRBC the best.

13. What do you hope readers take away from your books?

Because I like to analyze character and human motivation, I hope my characters and their behaviors evoke emotions in the reader. I also hope to teach the readers about this crucial period in European history and hope they feel they learned something without having it crammed down their throats.

14. Who helps you with the critique and editing process?

Bathsheba Monk is the voice in my head when I write. She is my critic and editor.

15. Do you ever hate something you’ve written?

Sometimes I hate everything I’ve ever written.

16. How do you overcome any nagging self-doubt that inevitably creeps in?
    There are days that I wonder why I put myself through all this work. Then I remind myself that I would be writing no matter what. I would be reading all these history books anyway. If I need a break from the project, I like to write flash fiction, a great exercise to focus and write short, sharp scenes. If nothing else helps, then something physical will, like walking, biking or my passion right now, Pilates (like real, classic-traditional Pilates).

17. Do you read all reviews?

Yes, I read all my reviews.

18. Why are reviews important?

Reviews help other readers find our work. They are important for rankings. Having said that, I’d rather choose the books I read based on other criteria, like the blurb, author blog, and friends’ recommendations.

19. What advice would you give aspiring writers?

I would advise an aspiring writer to read all they can about writing and then forget half of what they just read. Don’t kill the darlings until consulting with a professional editor. I would suggest reading books on psychological development and disorders. I would suggest taking some writing courses and keeping a journal. That journal should be a secured document or under lock and key so the aspiring writer can be painfully honest. And the Oxford comma is a stylistic choice, not the law.

20. What can you tell us about what we’ll see from you next?

We’ve just released The Soldier’s Return, the second novel in the Heaven’s Pond trilogy. The year is 1626 and war has come to southern Germany. This novel takes place ten years after the first and ten years will radically change a person. There is a 50,000 word zero draft for the third book, Ash and Rubble, and I’m going to start working on that in November 2017.

Laura Libricz’s Media Kit: Pictures, Book Covers, Links, Bios, Book Blurbs:

https://lauralibriczblog.wordpress.com/about/

Long Bio:

Laura Libricz was born and raised in Bethlehem PA and moved to Upstate New York when she was 22. After working a few years building Steinberger guitars, she received a scholarship to go to college. She tried to ‘do the right thing’ and study something useful, but spent all her time reading German literature.

She earned a BA in German at The College of New Paltz, NY in 1991 and moved to Germany, where she resides today. When she isn’t writing she can be found sifting through city archives, picking through castle ruins or aiding the steady flood of musical instruments into the world market.

Her first novel, The Master and the Maid, is the first book of the Heaven’s Pond Trilogy. The Soldier’s Return and Ash and Rubble are the second and third books in the series.

WHERE TO FIND ME ON THE WEB:

Website: http://www.lauralibricz.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/LauraLibricz

Google+ private page: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+LauraLibricz

Google+ brand page: https://plus.google.com/u/0/b/111626375322992289353/111626375322992289353

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3c-yIyoN-UprxB15L5l8zA

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LauraLibriczAuthoress/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauralibricz/

Blog: https://lauralibriczblog.wordpress.com

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.de/lauralibricz/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6526953.Laura_Libricz

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-libricz-8980a43a/

“This tour sponsored by 4WillsPublishing.wordpress.com.”

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