Welcome to my blog, JLenni Dorner.
Tomorrow I am hosting Elizabeth Loraine.
Name: J Lenni
Dorner
Email:
jlennidorner@gmail.com
Blog:
jlennidornerblog.what-are-they.com
What you want from the
other authors: I'm cool with whatever we're doing.
(Is each blog perhaps
taking 1 interview? Or maybe 1 or 2 of these questions for every
writer on each blog-- do the full hop to learn the most about
everyone?)
Book title: (If you
have one, if not, don't worry.) Wrong! ~ An anthology from the
Creative Writing Institute, to be published by Southern Star
Publications, in which I contributed one of the stories
" WRONG!: A
themed anthology 2014 "
Buy links:
(shortened - bitly.com is
great for shortening.) Will be available in December.
http://www.amazon.com/Wrong-themed-anthology-Deborah-Owen/dp/1927296056/
Special Notes: I
am one of the authors who won a spot in this anthology. All proceeds
from book sales go to a charitable organization.
Proceeds from sales
of "WRONG!: A themed anthology 2014" will benefit cancer
patients in writing courses.
*************
Tell us about
yourself and how many books you have written.
I weave fantasy with
lore to unhinge your mind. I've written a few books that remain
unpublished (querying, editing, totally rewriting). I've published
short stories and poetry under several other names. " WRONG!: A
themed anthology 2014 " includes my short story, EGOT and the
Pond King.
What is the name of
your latest book and what inspired it?
For NaNoWriMo 2014,
I'll be working on The Dagger in the Darkrise, which is a high
fantasy novel. It was inspired by a gaming community my friends and I
began taking part in fifteen years ago.
The anthology,
"Wrong!," features the winners of a writing contest. We
were to use the lines, "I have a list and a map. What could
possibly go wrong?," in the story. Entries had to be under 2,000
words. I was also inspired by a humorous image on Pinterest.
Combining the required lines and that image, I wrote EGOT and the
Pond King.
Do you have any
unusual writing habits?
I've scribbled a few
ideas, notes, dialog exchanges, and character quirks on a notebook
that I keep on the headboard of my bed. My sleep handwriting is
terrible though, so I'm not certain what all of it says.
What authors or
books have influenced you?
Around the Writer's
Block: Using Brain Science to Solve Writer's Resistance by Rosanne
Bane
What are you working
on now?
I'm gearing up for
NaNoWriMo! I have a high fantasy planned out. I'm also finishing up a
short fantasy story and a short story for young adults.
What is your best
method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I think Twitter offers
the best method I've seen. I say this due to the massive number of
ebooks by others I've acquired thanks to links I've seen there.
Do you have any
advice for new authors?
Don't be a writer. Be
anything else. Only be a writer if you enraged that I just told you
not to be one and were mentally arguing with me.
What is the best
advice you have ever heard?
Even if you make a
mistake, it's better than making no attempt at all.
What are you reading
now?
"Write Great
Fiction: Characters, Emotion & Viewpoint," "The War of
the Flowers" by Tad Williams, "The Other Normals" by
Ned Vizzini, and "The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms" by N.K.
Jemisin.
The last one is the
January 2015 selection for the Fantasy Faction book club.
http://fantasy-faction.com/forum/(jan-2015)-hundred-thousand-kingdoms/
What's next for you
as a writer?
To keep on writing!
I'll finish up the fantasy book and then get into editing and
querying. I'm also cleaning up my urban fantasy book, then re-editing
and sending it back out to query.
If you were going to
be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with
you what books would you bring?
The Catcher in the Rye
by JD Salinger
Harry Potter and the
Order of the Phoenix by JK Rowling (it's the longest one)
Wired for Story: The
Writer's Guide to Using Brain Science to Hook Readers from the Very
First Sentence by Lisa Cron
Moby Dick by Herman
Melville
What inspires you to write?
I write because I have
to. I write for the same reason that I breathe, eat, or sleep. I
write because my characters need me. I write because doing so reminds
me that I am alive, that I have a purpose, and that the next page is
a reason to wake up tomorrow.
Tell us about your
writing process
A character gets into
my head and demands to exist. The loudest ones win. The quiet ones
attempt to kill them off.
Are you an outliner
or a seat of the pants writer? If you are an outliner, what do you
use to outline? Whiteboard? Software?
I will sketch a very
basic outline after I've fleshed out the story a bit.
Do you create
character sketches before or during your writing?
A huge yes to this one!
I start them before, and expand upon them during. Keeping track of
all those tiny little notes is important.
Do you listen to or
talk to your characters? How do you interact with your characters
while you are writing?
The characters aren't
real good about ever shutting up. Seriously, I'm either a writer or a
complete psycho. It's a thin line. My interactions with them while
writing are a bit touch and go, because sometimes (most times) I have
to torture them a bit.
What advice would
you give other writers?
For writing fiction you
simply have to do exactly what all the other successful authors have,
but in a way that no other ever came up with.
(I have that on a pin -
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/391109548860006162/ )
How did you decide
how to publish your books?
To my understanding,
some publishing houses have lists of frequent book buyers to whom
they send alerts when a new book is published. This increases sales.
So I start by looking at the success of other published books and
work from there. It is also very important to research, because I've
heard about several writers who published with someone that vanished,
and took the rights and royalties with them! Scary stuff.
What do you think
about the future of book publishing?
I think it's going to
be really interesting. There's a big flood right now from the indie
section. Some of it is great, some of it is good, and some of it is
in desperate need of editors. The larger presses are going to need to
adapt to this new love of authors who don't need them. Those who can
change, who can offer something amazing to writers and readers alike,
will survive. Any who can't adapt will vanish in the next decade,
tossed onto the pile with Enron, MySpace, and Pontiac vehicles.
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