Posts
Whenever someone tells me that they enjoyed reading a book, I always ask if they contacted the author to tell them what it was they liked about it. I have yet to find someone who has said they had. I like to remind them that writers love to hear from their fans and often take the time to reply.
It is just as important to learn what makes a writer decide to write, what inspires them and how they go about the whole process. I would like to introduce you to one of my fellow authors at Vinspire Publishing. Feel free to post comments, I am sure she will be thrilled to respond.
Tell
us about yourself:
I
live in Northern California with my husband of 27 years. We travel almost
obsessively. An annual ‘vacation’ for us is to go to Spanish language school in
some Spanish speaking country for a month. We get to live with a family and
immerse ourselves in their culture. Otherwise we love the Caribbean and Italy.
The rest of the world is yet to be visited. When home I work full time as a
physical therapist specializing in dementia. I’m a guest lecturer at my alma
mater on clinical documentation, and also psychiatric and cognitive disorders.
I am a clinical instructor, so I get a PT intern for 12 weeks a year. Otherwise
I write and workout in my spare time.
1.
How did you choose the genre you write in?
I’m all over the place! I’ve written two action-adventure conspiracy books (or Ethnic Romance depending on how you look at it) with Sean and Sport. The Family Meeting, an epic family saga spanning 80 years is also in the works. I have a non-fiction travel companion book for making a good first impression in other countries. I also write three completely different blogs; travel (Dashing Bold Adventure), food and wine (The Wine Tribe), and my author blog (Author H. Schussman). Humor is the underlying genre for everything I write. My characters make me laugh out loud.
2. Do you work with an outline, or just write?
I
just write. I fill in an outline as I go for reference. I also keep a character
description list to make sure I don’t goof up and change someone’s eye color.
And finally, I keep a calendar next to me to make sure I know what day of the
week it is. My books go extremely fast in a short time frame.
3.
What does your protagonist think about you? Would she want to hang out with
you, the creator?
What
a creative question! My Protagonist in Counterpart and El Tiburon is Sport. We
are pretty similar. She is a physician and I’m a physical therapist, and we
both like fitness, healthy food, our amazing husbands, and we’re Christians.
Otherwise she leads a much more exciting life than I do, and always seems to be
in trouble. We would probably have a lot to talk about. She is the one who
makes me laugh. When I try to exclude her from my Action Adventure series I get
bored.
4.
Which of your characters speaks the loudest to you?
I would have to say Sport, but I really
like Craig too. He showed up at the end of El Tiburon and has taken a major
role in my current work-in-progress. He has paranoid schizophrenia with
auditory hallucinations. He is seriously misunderstood by the average person. I
feel like I am helping him be heard and understood.
5.
Do you have a message in your books?
Yes,
I guess I do. I think in general I like to let my reader form a first
impression and then dash it to pieces. Assumptions can be a dangerous habit.
For example, in El Tiburon I include a unique people group commonly referred to
as The Cockroaches. They live in the Guatemala City garbage dump. (This is a
real community of 11,000 people, 6,000 of which are children) At first glance
their lives would seem to be hopeless and worthless, having no value to
society. In El Tiburon they are the ones who rise as the true heroes, as they
keep Sport alive and safe. They ultimately prove themselves to be a diversified
people group who care about their community
and resent the power the drug cartel
has over them.
6.
If you could have one author read your work, which one would it be?
Oh wow…I’m nervous just thinking about it.
I would say God, but He’s already read my work J
Umm, I don’t know… maybe Lee Child or Bram Stoker? But honestly my first
thought was Spielberg because my readers keep telling me my work is like
reading a movie. I would want to know if he thought my work was worthy of a
movie.
7.
Where do your ideas come from?
Somewhere
in the scary recesses of my mind. I have a strange process I work through.
Basically I sit down to my computer and write what my characters are saying in
my head. I’m a secretary. I am also extremely critical of unbelievable plots.
When my characters get out of line, making the story grind to a stop I go to my
husband. He is my plot breakthrough man. Most of his ideas are crazy, but it
gets me to thinking again.
Because
I don’t outline my work in advance, I am often surprised by the turn of events.
I’ve had characters turn bad (or good) on me. Since I honestly didn’t know how
it ends, or who the bad guy is, my writing is tense and unpredictable to me and
the reader.
8.
What project are you working on now?
I
am currently writing Pirates (loosely titled). This is another conspiracy,
action adventure. Sean and Sport come into the plot a little later than usual.
Currently it is placed in Costa Rica, but I sense it is heading to Italy.
I
am also getting prepared for El Tiburon to be released by Vinspire Publishing
toward the end of this year (God willing and the creek don’t rise!).
9.
Do you have any advice to give to aspiring writers?
Write! Quit making excuses and write. Your
skills will only improve with practice. It doesn’t hurt to read excellent books
to train your mind.
10.
When do you find you're the most creative, morning or night?
Unfortunately
for me, it varies. I can’t seem to pin down a specific time I am the most
creative. I write a lot when I travel.
11.
If your story were made into a movie, who do you picture playing each
character's part?
Sean
reminds me of Brad Pitt or Matt Damon. Sean is sort of a big brawny guy of
Irish descent. Sundai Love is a new model who looks like Sport and is short.
Sport is a petite black woman of African American and Japanese descent.
12.
Do you go out of your way to kill bugs? Are there any that make you screech and
hide? :)
It
depends on if it’s in my house or not. I kill fleas. I hate them, but they love
me! Outside I rarely kill a bug (except fleas and mosquitoes). No insects make
me screech and hide, though I considered screeching a few times in Costa Rica.
Their bugs are numerous and disgusting.
Venita
Louise, Thank you for taking the time out of your crazy schedule to interview
me. I also want to thank Dawn Carrington, Editor-in-Chief of Vinspire
Publishing, for publishing El Tiburon. I think it is great that she recognized
that a married couple could star in a romance! I believe there is nothing more romantic
than seasoned couple.
Discover more about H. Schussman at the
following links:
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/76187
Vinspire Publishing: http://www.vinspirepublishing.com/#!schussman-h/c21zx
Vinspire Publishing: http://www.vinspirepublishing.com/#!schussman-h/c21zx
