I met Belinda Frisch, oh well, you know where I met her, it's the same place I meet most authors--Facebook. Does anyone ever meet elsewhere now days? I'm not even sure I'd know how to go about meeting someone in real life. (Okay, that's a bit of an exaggeration as, much to my kid's dismay, I still talk to strangers all the time.) But I digress. Belinda and I have discussed writing, editing, techniques, frustrations, what have you, so when she asked if I wanted to read and review her new zombie novel, Cure, I was thrilled. Now as often as I talk about zombies, you'd think I read a lot of zombie fiction. Not true. Good zombie fiction is hard to find. And a new concept in zombie fiction, even more of a rarity. But I'm happy to say that Belinda nailed it. You can read my review over at See Spot Read. Go on, we'll wait. Now on with the interview!1. How long have you been writing? About twenty years, give or take.
2. What's the first thing you had published?
Poetry, back in the 90’s, in a collected works as a result of a contest
followed shortly thereafter by a short story in a compilation called Deadly
Dolls.
3. Do you write full time or do you have a day
job? I write FT now. I stopped doing any significant work as a medical coder
back in February.
4. What is your writing routine? I get up in the morning, do my social media time including interviews/guest posts, and tend to my blog. That gets me going until the coffee kicks in. I’m back in rough draft mode with Cure’s sequel, Afterbirth, so I put my index cards all in order and pull the scene card for the day. I review related chapters before writing chapter of the day. Since I’m a hybrid plotter/pantser, I work on extending the outline during each writing session.
5. Have you always been a fan of the Horror genre? Absolutely always. Horror movies, magazines, and novels since I was eight-years-old.
6. What scares you? Any silly phobias? I’m kind of anxious, so I probably have a lot of silly phobias, but my main fears are fire and drowning. Whenever I see someone burning or drowning in a movie, it makes me feel panicky.
7. What other writers do you admire? There are so
many great ones and so many different reasons to admire a writer. Do you base
it on talent? Success? I admire Kealan Patrick Burke’s skill, Amanda Hocking’s
success, and Charlie Huston’s originality. Others include Martha O’Connor (The
Bitch Posse), Dennis Lehane (Gone Baby Gone), and Anne Rice (The Witching
Hour). The list is long. I could be at this all day.
8. What is your favorite thing about the indie movement? Abbreviated timelines. My biggest frustration with traditional publishing is how long it takes to do anything. Much like my “writers I admire” list, this one could be long-winded. There is a lot to love about the indie movement and I read so many great books I know would otherwise not fit the mold.
9. Best writing advice you've ever been given?
Allow yourself to write crap. I know, it doesn’t seem like this is good advice,
but hear me out. When I was writing my debut, Dead Spell, I toiled. I wasted so
much time revising words I ended up cutting. It took way longer to finish that
book than it should have and the process felt very much like work. A lot of
days, I couldn’t even write. I wanted every word to be perfect. Allow the first
draft to be sloppy. Editing comes later.
10. What advice would you give any newbies out
there? Don’t rush. I’d actually give this advice to any writer. The best thing
about the indie movement, fast turn-around, is a double-edged sword. You can
put out a book in no time. Most often, you shouldn’t. There’s still a process
to respect that includes editing (content, development, and line editing), beta
reading, and perfecting. Strive to put out the most perfect product every time.
So many days I wanted to pull the trigger and upload Cure, but I was patient
and I believe that really paid off. Out of several betas, each had a different
list of minor glitches my editor and I missed. I promised myself, after Dead
Spell, that I would do everything I could to not have to upload a corrected ms.
Give your readers your best, every time.
Bio:
Belinda Frisch's fiction has appeared in Shroud Magazine,Dabblestone Horror, and Tales of
Zombie War. She is an honorable mention winner in the Writer's Digest 76th Annual Writing
Competition and the author of DEAD SPELL, CRISIS HOSPITAL, TALES FROM THE
WORLD, THE WARD, AND THE BEDSIDE and CURE, the first in the Strandville Zombie
Series.
Links:
Facebook: http://facebook.com/
Twitter: @B_Frisch
Blog: http://belindaf.blogspot.com/
Her Amazon author page includes links to all of her available works.
♥Stacey
