INTERVIEW WITH BEVERLY STOWE MCCLURE
What is your routine when working on a book?
I try to stick to a schedule. Monday through Friday I work on my WIP
from 9 AM to 11 AM or so, depending on how the writing is going.
Then I might do character sketches or rough drafts for a new story
until noon. After lunch, I do research if needed, post on my blogs,
and answer email.
Saturdays are market days where I search the Internet and market
guides for places to send my manuscripts. I also type query letters
or send email queries. Sometimes I work on my story, but
not usually. Sunday I teach a women's Sunday school class at
my church and rest. I might read messages and blogs, but seldom
work.
Do you ever show people your WIP?
No, except for my critique group and then not until the sixth or
seventh revision. The first ones are awful.
Do you listen to music when you work?
I'm too easily distracted. I prefer quiet, with just the birds
singing and the characters whispering in my ears that they want
to do this or that.
Who has influenced your writing the most?
I can't think of anyone specific, but reading books written by great
authors influence me to do my very best with every story or
article I write.
Have you always wanted to be an author?
Grin. Me? The girl who hated to read? Nope. When I was young
I had no desire to be an author. In fact, I hated to read.
Even though my eighth-grade teacher sent my poem "Stars" to
a high school anthology and it was published, I hated to write.
I'm proof, though, that people can change. In spite of my rocky
relationship with books, I attended the university, read a lot,
and became a teacher. I read to my students; they read to me.
I read to my three sons, and somewhere along the way
I discovered Dr. Seuss and what I'd been missing: reading was fun.
Then I started writing. To my surprise some of my stories and
articles were published in leading children's magazines.
Now I have two books published, with four more under contract.
Who'd have thought it?
How do you write, free-thought, or from an outline?
I'm a free-thought, organic writer. I start with an idea or perhaps
a character whispers a secret in my ear, and I have to investigate
that idea. From then on, the character takes me on her journey
and only she knows how it will end. I usually have a general
idea of the ending. We sometimes get lost along the way, and many
revisions are necessary, but I could never stay with an outline.
Where can we find your work and what are you working on now?
Listen to the Ghost, my YA paranormal, is available from
Amazon.com or the publisher, Twilight Times Books
Secrets I Have Kept, another YA mystery, is also listed at
Amazon.com or can be seen at
Wings-press.
My forthcoming YA contemporary, Rebel in Blue Jeans,
is available for pre-order from Barnes and Noble
and at Twilight Times. My historical story, Caves, Cannons, and
Crinolines, is scheduled for a fall/winter release from Twilight
Times.
Currently I'm putting the finishing touches on Life on Hold,
another YA novel. I hope to shop it around beginning in June.
Do you work on more than one book at a time?
Yes. In addition to the story mentioned above that's almost ready
to go, I'm brainstorming two other YA ideas and am on the second
edit of a MG ghost story, A Pirate, a Blockade Runner, and a Cat.
What do you read when you are writing?
I read other YA novels and some MG, too. I keep up with what's
happening in the writing world by reading magazines like the
Writer and Writer's Digest. Also the Society of Children's Book
Writers and Illustrators Bulletin keeps me up to date on markets.
What would you say to an aspiring writer?
Read. Write. Read some more. Write. Listen to others'
thoughts and suggestions, but remember, it's your story.
Join a good critique group. Read. Write. And never, never give up.
finis
MAY 2008 Interview
