Interview with Angela Giles Klocke

In honor of Nanowrimo , during the month of November, I’ll be posting weekly interviews with a few of my fellow Nanowrimo participants. First up is the delightful Angela Giles Klocke .

Though Angela and I live in the same small mountain town, we have never met, though we have several friends in common. Angela noticed my town on one of my posts in the Nanowrimo forum , and now I’ve got a local writing buddy!

So, if you’ve been on the fence about signing up for Nanowrimo ,  here’s yet another reason to join—you get to meet cool people.

Tell us a few things about yourself: age (if you want), kids, -, where you live, etc.

I am a 34-year-old mom of three (ages 19, 15 and 13), and I have been married to John for 11 years. We moved to Colorado from Georgia in mid-2006 on a huge leap of faith. And we've never regretted our decision. Currently, I am a full-time college student and I work outside my home part time at the college I attend.

 What spurred you to begin writing?

I've been writing since I was a child. I have no idea when it began or why. I do recall being in the sixth grade and secretly adoring the teacher everyone else hated because she loved my writing and always said really nice things to me about it.

 Tell us about what you write: genre, any publishing credits.

These days, I'm in the middle of what I have dubbed The Total Writer Makeover. That is, I am reinventing myself as a writer. In the past, I was a reporter and I do have numerous article credits to my name, but I never found real writing happiness there. I love to write fiction and essays and just slice of life stuff. My proudest credit is an essay on choosing life for my son (I was a teen parent).

Now I'm concentrating on young adult fiction and telling my story (memoir - in hopes of helping and inspiring young adults, young parents, and anyone in general). For NaNoWriMo, I am writing a YA novel about teen pregnancy. At least...that's what I THINK it's about!

When on earth do you find time to write?

Years ago, I published a zine for writing parents on this very subject: time to write with kids underfoot. So, I learned a lot during that time. Mostly, though, I just make time. I get up earlier (usually about 5 a.m.) than my family, and I take advantage of snippets of time between other things. Sometimes I make notes or write during TV shows (I like TV!).

 Do you have any time management tips or organizational ideas to share?

I think the biggest lesson I've learned over the years is to pay attention to what works for ME. Many writers have advice on what to cut out of your life, what to add in, how to spend such and such amount of time only on writing, but after so many years of trying to fit myself into different molds, I've learned the only one that works for me is the one that IS me. I write sporadically, here and there, sometimes for hours on end, sometimes not. I've tried to be organized, but I tend to work better in chaos. I don't shut my office door; my kids and husband are welcome to come in at any time. I don't mind, over all.

My point is, each writer needs to find what works best for them, listening to his or her own way of working. While we might all have to adjust at times, I just think I've been my most productive (and happiest) when I've managed my time and work MY way.

What are your main avenues of improving your writing?

Practice, practice, practice. Writing is a lot like math -- you don't necessarily learn it by reading all about it. You have to do it over and over and over. What is good today will be good tomorrow, but tomorrow's writing might become great because of the practice.

Those who want to write cannot just read about writing. Reading about it is great, but that still makes a wanna-be writer a wanna-be writer. Eventually, one just has to write.

Classes are great if there is time (I'm in a creative writing class now), but I think aside from practice, reading books is the best way to really learn how stories are told. Study plot and themes and characters, and really pay attention to how published writers use show-not-tell.

I think writing a blog is great for exercising one's voice, learning what kind of stories one wants to tell. However, writers need to remember to do more than blog. Which just brings us back to my first line in this answer: Practice, practice, practice!

Tell us about any past Nanowrimo experiences, and what your plans are for this year.

I've attempted NaNoWriMo many times since about 2004, I believe. I usually drop out early on. Last year, for example, I had just returned to college and I worked full time as a restaurant shift manager. I was a little busy. But I did finish NaNo in 2006. In fact, I finished in 17 days. I've been very proud of that, despite having never gone back to edit the book (though I am somewhat now).

I have every intention of winning again this year. I love my book idea and I am pretty sure of the whole storyline (any writer knows you can be pretty sure and then end up with a totally different story), and I just feel my time is here to BE a writer once and for all.

It's easier to say there's no time than to finish NaNo, but the reward of having done it is amazing. I encourage all those participating not to give up!

Debbie here, again.

I want to thank Angela for taking the time out of her busy Nanowrimo preparation to answer my questions. If you’d like to find out more about Angela , including a chance to see her amazing photographs, you can check them out here .

I’m working on another Nanowrimo interview for next Monday. Wednesday’s post will bring you some cool links to websites that will help you organize your writing—especially if you’re doing Nanowrimo . 

Interview with John Palmerlee

John has graciously agreed to be my first interview "victim". I will admit that I am not skilled at interviews, so I truly appreciate some practice. Here goes:

Tell us a few things about yourself: age (if you want), kids, your homeschool, where you live, etc.

I'm turning 54 this month, more than half has been with my wife Robin. That amazes me, and helps me realize how important she is in my life... aside from growing and birthing Ellen (17) and Michael (14). 

I have done computer work from our Santa Rosa home for a long time now, so I'm staying involved with family life. Ellen began homeschooling (independent study) during her sophomore year. Michael seems to enjoy public education.

What spurred you to begin writing?

I think it started way back, when a teacher encouraged the "creative" in creative writing. My favorite assignment was writing a story from a random magazine picture. 

Most of my life, when philosophical concepts fit together I had to write them down, else they got lost forever. Now they all wait in a file folder for some kind of release. I think having them sit there is like a support system for when I'm writing. I notice they leak back out when the time is right... when they need expression in a story. 

I love to write from simple beginnings, creating as I go. My novel started soon after Ellen was born... from a phrase that just popped into my head. I've been working on it ever since. Now all the years of thoughts get some fresh air.

Tell us about what you write: genre, any publishing credits

I've published two articles - nonfiction - one educational and one about a personal experience. My favorite is fiction - usually futuristic (I'll admit - it's easier to write when I can make everything up). 

I've completed the first draft of a novel and am working on a revision based on feedback from an inner circle of readers. Next, I'll decide about publishing and start some formal editing.

When on earth do you find time to write?

That's why it took 17 years :-). Not really - It came in spurts, we took 2 weeks each summer to vacation in Oregon, and I always took a computer and some backup disks. This was my most productive time. Some years, I found a way to write almost every day just a little, sometimes late at night when it was quiet. 

In the last 4 years, the pace quickened. Ellen started studying ways to get more out of her time, by bringing things with her to read, study, knit... wherever she went. She made a suggestion one evening that I take my laptop along to her dance class, and write in the car while I wait for her. I liked it. Saved gas, and time... and gave me a break perfectly suited to writing. So I took the hour and a half each week and made some great progress. Her idea became a theme for both of us, her as a homeschooler and me as a writer.

Do you have any time management tips or organizational ideas to share?

Simple things like... I use a laptop so I can move it around with me easily, and always have a spare battery. The laptop has to be pleasant to work with, so for me that means it's a Mac. 

I've got to have something to write ideas onto in the car and at my desk - so I love stickies. I prefer to review my work in the printed form, so a laser printer keeps costs down and makes a good looking copy. My book got into readers hands simply because I had a copy innocently waiting.

What are your main avenues of improving your writing: writing books, blogs, coursework, conferences, critique group, etc.

Getting others to read my work makes a difference, both for improvement and encouragement. Knowing copies are being read keeps my attention on the revision work. I've been fairly chicken about getting feedback, so this process helped break that ice. I haven't braved the critique group thing yet, but want to.

Thank you so much, John. It's amazing that no matter how busy we are, there are "wasted" moments in the day that can be captured. And you've got a novel to show for it!

There are hundreds more ideas for squeezing drops of writing time out of our days. If you've got one, leave a comment.

Pre-Pubbed Tuesday

Each Tuesday, I plan to interview a pre-published homeschool mom. I'll also be lining up some published homeschool moms for Thursday posts. Since I'm pre-pubbed, and most of you don't know me, I'll start with myself.

Tell us a few things about yourself: age, kids, where you live, etc.
I'm a 44-year-old mom of 5. My oldest is my grown foster-son, who is 36. I have four teenagers at home. One is graduated and working on college credits, and I homeschool the other three in grades 7, 9, and 10. My husband and I have been married for 22 years. He's a schoolteacher (as am I, though my class size is much smaller these days!). We're originally from the East Coast (I was born and raised in Brooklyn), but we've lived in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado for 14 years.

What do you write?
Fiction is what I love the most. It's also not easy to make any money at it, so I also do freelance writing. I work for a site called Elance where I freelance and ghostwrite. Even though it's not fiction, any kind of writing is good practice.

How did you get started?
Writing was a huge part of my life in middle and high school. I had some wonderful teachers who encouraged me, along with my parents. However, I had no idea that I could ever actually write a whole book. I thought authors had these complete ideas birthed in their brains, and all the rest of us could hope for was coming up with a few short stories.

Life intervened. I turned 42 and had middle and high schoolers of my own who loved to write. As I researched how to encourage them, I rediscovered how passionate I am about writing stories. An idea came to me (not fully formed), and over time it evolved into a complete idea that I eventually finished at 100,000 words.

When on earth do you find time to write?
I'd rather write than do most anything else. Unfortunately, my family would also like to eat.

Then of course, there's homeschooling.

During the 15 weeks I worked on my first novel, I did little else. The kids, anxious to read the next installment, practically locked me in my room.

"Don't worry, we'll do our assignments. And the dishes. And fix dinner."

Did I tell you I have great kids?

As wonderful as it was to write, mainly uninterrupted, I needed some balance. So now, I try to get up before everyone to edit my novel. Once we've covered the subjects they need me for, I can sit down and do my work for Elance. And sometimes, if my sweetheart is watching a game, I can do some more in the evenings.

If I'm cooking, driving, hanging laundry, or anthing else (relatively mindless), then I'm planning a scene or pondering a new story idea. I carry a notebook in my purse so I don't have to resort to scribbling ideas on toilet paper.

Waking up and falling asleep are my best thinking times. I keep a spiral and pen by my bed, and have become quite adept at writing in the dark (fairly) legibly. One time, however, I wrote an entire page of ideas on a page that had already been written on. Oops.

I don't know if I could have accomplished much writing when my kids were small. We'll soon have some interviews with moms who are doing just that, and hopefully learn their secrets. Hopefully one of these days, that mom will be you!