Q: Tell be about your dream of becoming a writer.
A: I don’t think I had one. I’m not an analytical person, so I never thought, “I want to be a writer. Thus, I will do A, B and C to become one.” I’ve always had a love affair with words, and I’m still finding long letters I wrote to friends years ago and never mailed. I realize now that the correspondence wasn’t the driving force behind those letters, it was the need to write. I dream in narrative, and I’m constantly putting the things I see and experience into words and then mentally editing them. I think I just finally tumbled to the fact that I am a writer and went with it.
Q: Wow, I never considered describing dreams as narrative, but yeah, I dream that way too, sometimes. So, when did you discover you are a writer?
A: It was late in life. I had done lots of writing in my church involvement—plays, skits, poems, lessons—but I began writing fiction about the time AARP started sending junk mail. My first novel (my 5th one published) was written as part of the grieving process after my mother died. The story welled up from my heart and mind and forced itself out my fingers.
Q: I agree that writing is very healing. It has been so for me, too. How does it feel when you write?
A: As with any task, it feels really good when you complete it, though is a manuscript ever really complete? There’s always some way it could be changed. You finally have to just declare that it’s done.
I’ve never again had a book flow like that first one (Counting the Cost) did, so writing is now a chore. I love reading what I’ve written (when it’s good). I love my critique group and learning the craft through their comments. I love seeing the finished product in my hand. I love hearing from a reader who ‘got’ what I was trying to say. Conceiving the ideas in my head and spinning the story there is fun, but it’s hard to discipline myself to plant my backside in my chair and grind it out on the keyboard.
Liz, I really enjoyed Counting the Cost. I wasn't sure I would at first, but as I read my own memories played close at the heals of your character's experiences, not the budding career, but the ranches and cattle, the horses and real rodeos.
Come back next week to learn about Liz's favorite genre and more of her writings.
