Interview with author Zoey Derrick

This month I'm pleased to bring you an interview with self-published romance author Zoey Derrick. Her first novel, Finding Love's Wings, was released in both ebook and paperback formats in May 2013. She is one of my editing clients and is also the person who has taught me the most about DIY book publicity. I'm thrilled that she agreed to do this interview and share her experiences with us.


I encourage you to connect with her on Twitter and Facebook and to check out her website, www.zoeyderrick.com

And with that, I'm pleased to bring you the interview.

ZOEY: I want to start off by saying thank you for having me on your blog today. Over the last 7 months you and I have worked very closely together on Finding Love’s Wings and we are coming back together again for Give Me Reason (Book 1 of The Reason Series) and I’m honored to be a part of your blog. I was so excited when you asked me for an interview and it means the world to me that we get to keep working together. <KISSES>

[Sione's note: Yes, she really is that sweet. Seriously, you should connect with her. She's awesome.]

What are your goals as a writer?

I want to create enjoyable, engaging stories that readers love. I want them to be able to relate to my characters, my settings, and my style and love every minute of what they’re reading. Of course, eventually, I would love to be a part of a publishing house and who knows, maybe even have an NYT or USA Today bestseller. For now though, I’d love to be an Amazon bestseller.

Tell us a little bit about your work(s) in progress.

How to write a novel (writing prompt 6)

Earlier this month I got stuck working on the first draft of my novel. I felt overwhelmed - my story seemed like a nebulous, shifting cloud. There was so much I didn't know, so much I could explore. I didn't know where to start, and I had a deadline. A tight one.

So I turned to freewriting. Initially I just wanted to write something to express my frustration and sense of overwhelm, but what ended up happening is that I ascribed a concrete physical form to my story--as a metaphor--and somehow that worked. Thinking about my story as an island covered in lush vegetation helped me get unstuck.

This is the basis for this week's prompt, and I have also shared the prose poem "How to Write a Novel," which I wrote in response to the prompt.

Prompt:
Freewrite for 15 minutes on what it feels like to try to write the thing you're working on.

My Response:

**Please note that the following prose poem contains expletives.**

Writing prompt 5

I was traveling last week so didn't get to post a writing prompt, but I'm back this week!

This whole writing prompt thing started because I have a surplus of ideas I've gotten from my Muse and not enough time to follow through with all of them, though I've also shared some prompts that I use to get myself going.

Today's prompt is another little dialogue that popped into my head that I don't know I'll ever have the opportunity to use for something bigger. But even if this just turns out to be a fun 20-minute freewriting exercise for us, that seems worthwhile to me.

Prompt:

"What the hell just happened?"

"I kissed you."

"Why? Who are you?"

"Who are you and why did you let me?"

If you want a little twist to this week's prompt, try this: Whatever gender you first thought each speaker to be, change it. Or if you assumed that one was a man and the other was a woman, try making them both women or both men. Does that provide a more interesting scenario? How does that change cause the conversation to unfold differently?

Final ROW80 Round 2 check-in

Tomorrow is the last day of Round 2 of ROW80. On the one hand, it's been an action-packed and seemingly long 11 weeks. On the other hand, I can't believe we're here already. So what have I accomplished during this round?

1. Be a ROW80 sponsor.
I'm gonna say I was about 3/4 successful on this one. Got behind on checking in on assigned ROW80-ers over the last few weeks but then I'd catch up. Have more catching up to do tomorrow. 

2. Write my chapter of the chain story I mentioned in this post.
Failed. I just had too much on my plate.

3. Do three public readings.
Accomplished! =*D And by the third one I felt much more comfortable, even excited to be sharing my writing with other people. Yay!

Liz Prato article published

My latest article for Voicecatcher, a feature on local writer, massage therapist and writing teacher Liz Prato, went up today. Woot!

Click here to read "Persistence is a Virtue: A Conversation with Liz Prato."

What's the cost of NOT hiring an editor?

My business coach Jim Newcomer asked me this question last week. He was trying to get me to think of ways to pitch my services to potential clients, which makes total sense. But the truth is, questions like this make me mildly uncomfortable. How can I tell anybody else what the cost is to them?

But what I can do, I realized, is think about this question in relation to my own writing. What does it cost me to not hire an editor?

Because hiring an editor is something I have yet to do. Partly because I'm fortunate enough to have the skills to do a lot of my own editing, and partly because I just plain don't have a lot of money to invest in those services right now.

But, so, yeah. What does it cost me? Here are a few ideas:

Writing prompt 4

Earlier this week I was going back through my notebook--in which I write all manner of randomness as it flits through my head--looking for a particular note on my WIP and instead found a paragraph that I thought might make an interesting prompt for this week.

This week's prompt:

I'd always wanted to be a vampire. But then Jaime turned me into a werewolf. Mostly just to be an a--hole, I think. Because he could, and he knew it would piss me off. But it's not the kind of thing you do on a whim, you know? I mean, it's my life we're talking about here, for f---'s sake. And do you know how f---ing embarrassing it is to be a hairy girl? A girl with sideburns?! I didn't want f---ing sideburns. I wanted pointy teeth and pale skin and a vampire lover.

One way to use this prompt would be to write the rest of the story in the same voice, from the first person point of view, in a minimum of 150 and a maximum of 500 words.

Another way to use it would be to write your own fiction, creative non-fiction or poetry piece based on the structure: "I wanted to _____, but instead _____ happened." Or you could just make a whole list of things based on that structure and see how creative/crazy you can get.

Whatever you do, I hope you have fun with it and treat it as play. =*) Happy writing!

Quick update on writing goals

Just a quick update on my ROW80 goals while I take a break between working on #6 and getting a few hours of sleep.

1. Be a ROW80 sponsor.
Got a little behind in sponsor duties this week because I have been focusing so much on #6 while trying to honor #7, but did catch up on reading & commenting on people's posts on Thursday, which I feel good about.

2. Write my chapter of the chain story I mentioned in this post. 
Had to pull out of this. I was just trying to do too much (see #7 below). I don't feel awesome about going back on my commitment to participate, but I suppose it's good to acknowledge my limitations and be able to set priorities.

3. Do three public readings.
Woo hoo! This goal has been achieved! I did my third reading on Thursday night at Rain or Shine Coffee House. A surprising number of friends came to support me--which was AWESOME--and I got very positive feedback on both my delivery and on the quality of my work. And the best part is that I actually believe them; I don't think they were just saying it to be nice. Yay! =*)