Thank you so much to author, Patricia Bryce, for taking the time to answer some questions for us. We appreciate it, and we know that your readers will as well!
1. What inspired you to write this book?
The idea for Wolfe and Hood came to me in a dream.
2. Can you tell me about the book?
It’s a paranormal alt-history/ fantasy.
3. What is your writing process like?
Sometimes, it’s free style, other times, I spend time looking up locations and historical events. I develop the cast of characters and start on the rough draft. Sometimes it takes me three or four starts to find the kicking off place for my story. I get caught up in back stories and put them in files for reference.
4. What did you learn when writing the book?
That there are many kinds of fantasy tales to be told. Not all involve the Fae Realm.
5. What surprised you the most?
How easy it was to write inside the head of a man. It was the first time I did a story in first person.
6. What does the title mean?
It’s the last names of the two main characters, and a play on Little Red Riding Hood.
7. Was the character inspired by a real person? If so, who?
The way I see John Wolfe is in the image of a young Humphrey Bogart. When I was writing his dialog, I could hear Bogart’s voice.
8. What do you think happened to the characters after the book ended?
They go on to more adventures. I don’t think their story is over, and perhaps I’ll visit them again.
9. What advice do you have for writers?
Not to get discouraged. Rejections are just a spurring on. This is a craft that has lots of room. There are many stories yet to tell, but to tell them well you must put in the hard work. By that I mean do research! Get your facts, do the world building!
10. Does writing energize or exhaust you?
Both. Sometimes I leave my computer, I call him Cy, exhausted and unable to think. Sometimes I go away feeling like I could go on forever!
11. What are common traps for aspiring writers?
Comparing yourself to another writer. Or trying to follow another writer’s process to the letter and not developing your own style.
12. What is your writing Kryptonite?
That’s hard to say. I have a forte for Fae Realms… but they are also my weakness, and when I find so called experts saying things that are not ‘cannon’, that can cause me to go into a block.
13. Did you ever consider writing under a pseudonym?
My pen name for most of my work is my maiden name… That’s me. That’s really me. However, I do use a pseudonym when I write erotica. And my first published short story was under a pseudonym
14. Do you try more to be original or to deliver to readers what they want?
I must write what is coming to me. There are thousands of voices telling me their stories at any given time. My muse makes me tell those tales. I just hope the readers out there are interested.
15. Do you want each book to stand on its own, or are you trying to build a body of work with connections between each book?
I have several series. One Fae, The Forged series, one alt-history The Indentured series. Most of my other work so far is stand alone. I do think that some of my stand alone could launch a series, but so far I’ve not been moved to revisit.
16. How many unpublished and half-finished books do you have?
I have three books I’m working on to publish, they are in final drafts. I have at least a dozen files of half finished that need to be worked on.
17. What kind of research do you do, and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book?
When working on a Fae Realm tale, I research folk lore. Sometimes it’s shorter than others because I’ve been working in that area for over 20 years. History, or alt-history takes a different kind of research. I’ll work for several months before, during and after any given draft. Review, change, review again and keep working until I publish.
18. How long were you a part-time writer before you became a full-time one?
I’ve been penning stories, sometimes for my own pleasure since I was 8, I’m 66 now. I was published for the first time in an anthology in 2013.
19. How many hours a day do you write?
I write up to six to eight hours a day between taking care of my disabled husband.
20. What period of your life do you find you write about most often? (child, teenager, young adult)
Young adult to adult.
21. What did you edit out of this book?
A lot of scenes that I thought were important that only served to drag the story down. At first this book wasn’t told in first person. When I got it through my head that the story was in first person, those scenes were not needed.
22. How do you select the names of your characters?
It depends on the genre I’m working in. For the Fae, I borrow from the Bard, and then historical names of Fae, and a lot of Celtic names. For Alt-history, I go with a list of names for that time period. For my YAR I took names from my own past. I look names up, play with spelling and sometimes make em up!
23. If you didn’t write, what would you do for work?
I’m 66, and I am primary care giver for my disabled husband. I was Montessori trained and use that when babysitting my granddaughter. I worked as a licensed beautician for a while and I worked as a clerk in the Headquarter offices of Belton Hearing Aids.
24. What was your hardest scene to write?
The merging of two fractured souls into one in Forged King.
25. What is your favorite childhood book?
The Rabbi. It was the first novel I ever read, I was in the 5th grade. My mother had just finished it and I picked it up and was swept away.
26. How long on average does it take you to write a book?
That varies. Some I write in a matter of a month or a couple of months. Some take years, of work and rework.
27. Do you believe in writer’s block?
Yes, and when it happens. I work on other things, blogs, correspondence, and advertising. When you’re an Indie, you do it all. I also take that time to work on other skills like learning how to make my own Book Covers. I designed the cover for Wolfe and Hood.
28. What works best for you: Typewriters, fountain pen, dictate, computer or longhand?
COMPUTER! God and Goddess bless the person who designed spell check! I have dyslexia, and if it were not for spell check, my work would never get read.
29. When did it dawn upon you that you wanted to be a writer?
My first short story was written when I was 8, it’s been an ongoing battle since then.
30. How hard was it to sit down and actually start writing something?
Every author has a different answer, for me it was not hard. I sat down and wrote what was happening in my head.
31. Do you aim to complete a set number of pages or words each day?
I try for at least 3000 words a day, and a lot of the words get changed and edited and revised as I go.
32. Do you set a plot or prefer going wherever an idea takes you?
Both. Sometimes I set a plot and the muse gets her own idea going.
33. Any tips you would like to share to overcome it?
No. I think you have to do what you have to do. Each author is an individual and has their own style, their own process. The stories are just waiting for us to tell them.
34. Do you read much and, if so, who are your favorite authors?
I love to read, which as been a real battle for me. When I was 8 and diagnosed with dyslexia, they told my mother I would never be able to read well. She told them to go to hell. The fact that I read veraciously is a tribute to my mother. I love Tolkien, and Tolstoy, and Shakespeare, and Sydney Blackburn. Tanya Huff is one of my all-time favorites!
35. What is the most important thing about a book in your opinion?
The story. Does it grab you, does it make you feel something?
36. How would you feel if no one showed up at your book signing?
Because I’m new in the market, I would be sad, but I would understand.
37. Do you recall the first ever book/novel you read?
AS I said, it was The Rabbi
38. How much of yourself do you put into your books?
There’s always a part of me in each book. A lot of me went into Close to You. More than I really intended. It was cathartic, and it was closure. It freed me in ways I had not thought was possible.
39. Who are your books mostly dedicated to?
Family members, close friends, mentors, and my writing partner. We don’t write the stories together, but she and I bounce ideas off each other. One book I dedicated to Jim Henson and to David Bowie, for inspirations.
40. Who is the most supportive of your writing in your family?
My husband, surprisingly. You see, John isn’t a reader, but he envies people who are. He encourages me and challenges me. When I get a sale, we both celebrate.
41. Writers are often believed to have a Muse, your thoughts on that?
I fully believe in the Muse. I have one, or more…
42. Another misconception is that all writers are independently wealthy, how true is that?
I am not independently wealthy. I was a stay at home mom during the years my kids were growing, and now as primary caregiver, I’m still at home. However, I was fortunate to have a husband who had a good paying job that allowed me to be home and to do the things I wanted to do as a mom. And then to develop my writing style.
43. Is it true that authors write word-perfect first drafts?
I’ve not met the author who did that. My first drafts are rough! Very Rough.
44. Did any of your books get rejected by publishers?
Yes. Several had. Didn’t stop me. When I found I wasn’t sure how to submit a story because it didn’t fall into the category given, I went out and self-published.
45. What is your view on co-authoring books; have you done any?
I think it’s wonderful. I wish I lived closer to my writing buddy Syd so we could work on a story together.
46. Is writing book series more challenging?
No, I find it easier. Sometimes there are things that I need to say that I couldn’t if it were not in a series. I’m finishing a three-book series right now. No way could I have told this story in one book.
47. Does it get frustrating if you are unable to recall an idea you had in your mind some time earlier?
It would if I didn’t keep notes. I work off notes that are sometimes ten to twenty years old.
48. Have you ever destroyed any of your drafts?
Not on purpose. I have lost drafts when a hard drive failed.
49. Can you tell us about your current projects?
I’m finishing book three of the Indentured series and starting notes on a project about a Rusalka. I love folklore!
50. Had any of your literary teachers ever tell you growing up that you were going to become a published writer one day?
No, but they were all telling me that I wasn’t going to be able to overcome the obstacles of dyslexia. I proved them wrong.
51. Were your parents reading enthusiasts who gave you a push to be a reader as a kid?
My father read the newspaper every day, and business report magazines. My mother was a reader, she read novels and magazines and when the experts said I’d never learn to read, she went out and got comic books to inspire me to read. They were both encouraging.
52. Do you enjoy discussing upcoming ideas with your partner? If yes, how much do you value their inputs?
I do talk over ideas with John, and I value his thoughts. However, when it comes to story lines and plots, I do more talking over and muddling with my writing buddy Sydney.
53. Have you ever turned a dream or a nightmare into a written piece?
Yes. Who hasn’t? I’ve a friend Stephen Zimmer, who says he’s got this movie playing in his head, and that’s where his novels come from. I think dreams and nightmares are useful in building a plot or a world.
Patricia M. Palm who writes under the pen name Patricia M. Bryce, her maiden name.
Patricia M. Bryce began her career as an author with the publication of a short steampunk story "The Soul of the Sky Queen" in the anthology Dreams of Steam: Gadgets published by Dark Oak Press, but she began her writing in earnest with fan fiction. Inspired and motivated by publication, she dusted off her fanfic and turned it into the original YA Fantasy series, Forged.
But Patricia isn't afraid to tackle any genre that strikes her fancy, from her coming-of-age romance Close to You to her upcoming alt-history novel Princess in Hiding. And her paranormal tale, Ghost in the Well.
In her own words: "Someone asked when I began to write. The simple answer is that I've written stories as long as I've known how to put two words together. From simple tales of our day, to the more fantastical tales of the Fae world, and even the world of young romance."
Her favorite authors are Shakespeare, Tolstoy, Tolkien, C.S Lewis and Sydney Blackburn.
You can find Patricia on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/PaisleyRose1
or at https://www.facebook.com/Patricia-M-Bryce-1481723062122508/
Or visit her site: http://patriciambryce.weebly.com/
Find all of her books here: http://www.amazon.com/Patricia-M-Bryce
books by Patricia M. Bryce
Close to You
The Forged series
Forged in the Maze
Forged Magic
Forged Lives
Forged King
And new from Patricia
Ghost in the Well
Princess in Hiding
Also by Patricia M. Bryce
The Guardian of Misty Hollow
Wolfe and Hood
The Brenan Weavers
The Indentured Series
Book One, The Barbarian and the Châtelaine
Book Two, Snakes and Raiders
Want to be part of our blog as one of our guest author interviews? Email us at ridenourpublishing@gmail.com