Author Interview

Today I am interviewing Stephanie Haefner author of A Bitch Named Karma.
 If you have any questions for the author please place them in the comments section.

 Stephanie's Bio:
Stephanie Haefner is a wife, mother of two and novelist from Buffalo, NY. Her debut, A Bitch Named Karma, is available from Lyrical Press. Her shorter works have been published in Nickel City Nights: Erotic Writing in Western New York, Flash Me Magazine, Chicken Soup for the Soul, and Voices from the Herd. She is a member of the Buffalo Writers Meetup Group and when not writing, she enjoys dance, scrapbooking, and Disney World. Visit her at www.stephaniehaefnerthewriter.com.





Summer:  Many people find writers to be "Odd" or "eccentric"- are you? If so how?

Stephanie: I honestly don't think I'm eccentric, but I guess you'd have to ask my family and friends! I think everyone has their quirks and mine happen to be that I am anally organized and I like things to be in their exact right spot! But other than that, I'm kinda boring!
 
Summer: How do you juggle your family life and writing?

Stephanie: My daughter is in school, so with only one child home during the day, I can usually get some work done. But on the weekends, no so much! One of my New Year's resolutions was to find more time to write and one major change we've made is Tuesdays. That is my work day and when hubby comes home, the kids are his for the rest of the evening. He makes dinner and gives them their baths, then gets them into bed. It's only one day, but I can usually get some decent work done.
 
Summer: When you created A Bitch Named Karma what kind of feedback did you expect, what kind did you get, and what was your honest reaction to them?

Stephanie: The story has gone through many changes, and for the most part, everyone's reactions were positive. Lexi, my main character, is very sassy and says what's on her mind. Some of her thoughts and actions, the sex scenes and language, was a little shocking to people. The reaction that bothered me the most was my mom's. She had a hard time accepting that "her daughter" wrote such descriptive sex scenes and used such language. It hurt me that my mom could not separate the book and the writing from me as her daughter. I wished she could just read it and enjoy it and not think of me as she read it. But in the end, mostly everyone loved Lexi.  It was a real struggle to find a home for the story, and many of my friends and writers group members just could not understand why no one wanted to publish it.
 
Summer: Has this experience changed how you will write future books?

Stephanie: No. I write what I feel and I have to stay true to myself. I'm not going to change my style for anybody.
 
 Summer: What can we expect from you next?

I actually have two short novels releasing this year from Lyrical Press. The first is Paradise Cove in March, and then Soap Dreams in June! I am also hard at work on the sequel to A Bitch Named Karma, titled Karma Kameleon. It's finished, I'm just perfecting it before I submit it to my editor!
 
 Summer: Finally do you any advice for aspiring authors?

Just keep writing. Practice really does make perfect! And find a supportive critique group. I would be no where without my writer's group!

Thanks so much for interviewing me! It was lots of fun!

****

And thank you Stephanie for being such a good sport with my questions. It was really great to see your view point on your book and family life.

If you are interested in A Bitch Named Karma you can check it out HERE
Stephanie also has her blog which you can take a look at HERE

Friday top ten

Here are the top ten signs you have a bad relationship with your pen.


 10) The pen has  a break down (you have lost it's spring)

 9) It never writes the right word for your sentence.( make sure you are not taking the pen for granted)


 8) the pen bleeds through to the back of your paper.(pretending to cry for a guilt trip is never a good sign)


 7) it explodes in the wash machine (trying to escape your hand)


 6) The pen gets lost in a back pack or purse (you know it is really trying to hide if it pulls this one)


5) It allows someone else to use it, (sounds like trouble in paradise)


 4) It actually punctures holes or scratches into your paper (never stay with a bully pen)

 3) It has miniature replicas that do not belong to you ( a cheating pen, is  bad pen)


 2) It runs out of ink (a fake death is a really bad idea)


 and the number one sign you and your pen are having outs:


 1) The pen is never where you can find it.


If you and your pen have experienced more than three of these signs, I'd say its time to trade it in.

Check out my blogfest tab for upcoming blogfests

Word to the writer: "Metamorphosis"

This is the fifth and final post in my series- If you have missed one of the posts check out my upper right hand corner side bar for the others and click ------------------------->>


 Revision can be hell! But the process can be fun as well. Use this step to go back and play with your writing. Car enthusiasts re-due cars, make them shine and run, and then show them off to people. Writers rework sentences, we construct, we create new things.


 So here is my final advice:


 What can you do with your writing?


 Use some great writing expressions: Similes, metaphors, alliteration, personification, juxtaposition, puns, hyperboles, and idioms.  I dare you to say that ten times fast. LOL


 Here are some examples: Be careful with cliches try to come up with something new that goes with your story.


 Simile: (like is usually used)
     Emily swims like a fish moving up stream.

Metaphor: (Shows a likeness of two separate things)
      Love is a rose


 Alliteration: (Use of the same letter ongoing)
      "Peter piper picked a peck of pickled peppers."


Personification: (the giving of human traits)
      The window winked at me.


Juxtaposition: (placing things side by side)  In writing this one is hard for prose. Its kind of like two objects that are opposite one another hence the 'side by side' almost like an oxymoron. It works better in poetry though.
      She felt pleasantly angry.   (pleasant and angry oppose each other)


Pun: (I'm not good at these so I got this off a site that gave examples)
     "They called him the king of the dentists because he specialized in crowns."


Hyperbole: (Mostly used in poetry, it helps make a point)
     The bag weighed a ton


Idiom: ( we have an idom blogfest coming up check out my blogfest tab, this is word play probably better for dialogue, I also found one online because I am not good at these kinds of examples either.)
     idiom: "He really went to town on that issue."
     Idionatic usage: "he not only went, he apparently hasn't come back yet."


Toy with your sentences and have fun with them! When you are done playing- think about one more submission to a critique partner/group and then try for publication if you are so inclined.


 

Writing

Hello Bloggie friends,


I am exploring nonfiction right now due to my nonfiction class. I have written two short stories (woot) so far. We are going to be writing at least one more, but it will be a long one 10-25 pages, its our big assignment that we will revise through out the semester. But I wanted to share the experience of writing in the genre, since it is something I have not done much of in my writing endeavors. So here are two beginnings to the exact same story. 
  
 This first one is in 3rd person omniscient: it is an imitation of Truman Capote's style from the book of In Cold Blood (If you have not read the book, I'd recommend it).

 My first paragraph:From -A Few Drinks More-

“A few Drinks”

The city of Casper booms in the windy depths of Wyoming, a far west area that other Wyomingites call “windy city.” The vast open space stretches for miles with oil rigs jutting out sporadically like metal teeter-totters, except on the South side where Casper Mountain takes its rocky blue shape. Coming into the city buildings are constructed with the robust enthusiasm of 1964 and awaiting the arrival of newcomers. Along the streets snow races to the ground, many of the white flakes taking detours with traffic or have been pinned one on top of the other over homes, cars, bikes, and fences. 

In this next one I had to take the same nonfiction piece and write it as if I were a character in it, from first person point of view:

 My first paragraph from- Lessons-

Lessons

My grandmother, Leona, always has fascinating stories from her life. I tucked myself into a chair beside her oval kitchen table set securely in the corner beside a blazing fireplace like an egg snug in its carton. She made us some hot tea to fight the chill from the wind.

“I’m going to tell you about our night with Santa Claus,” Leona snuggled into a chair in front of the fire. Excitement rose in my chest when I realized this was not going to be a piece of her past I’ve heard before. It was like I was ten years old waiting for her to tell me about her life. I took a sip of my tea, placed the recorder between us, and she began.

Its very interesting to see the way this same story took on different meanings depending on the way I wrote it. If you have not tried this before, I'd suggest doing it to play with it.

 Take a short story you have written in 3rd person and rewrite it like an interview

 Or take a first person story and rewrite it in 3rd person.

 

Downfall found.

 Before I get to my post today- check out what BET did to my fairy sentence on her Blog
Ok- back to the regular scheduled writing:

At my desk I stare at the screen with a smile on my face, proud that I have included myself in the online class discussion for creative nonfiction. I worked hard to read and reread my peers posts and our materials for discussion. I spent my valuable time creating a post that I had hoped would connect with other people in the class. I click my mouse over and comment on every one of my fellow classmates posts. By weeks end I have posted in every discussion forum, I have commented on every one of my fellow peers, the teacher has given me a 100% in discussions, and yet I find myself disappointed.


 I sat down today to figure out why and I have decided I'm so used to commenting on other peoples blogs and getting comments back that I had not realized it doesn't apply to class discussions. I simply expected it because it was a class discussion. With those expectations came my disappointment, which in turn gives me a small level of excitement when some one finally does comment on one of my posts. This also makes me grateful to the community all of us have built online. We have created something that's hard to find in a class room.
 If a class room applied half the things we have applied to ourselves online here in this community, then students would get a great deal more out of the education they pay for in college.

My History of Rock and Roll class has been more productive, and I'm getting along better with people in the class, perhaps it is due to the fact I can see them face to face, unlike in creative nonfiction- where all discussion is online. I'm learning quite  a bit from it as well. I didn't know that Elvis did not write his own songs. I had never realized there was so much Country in rock music, and that a guitar could be used in so many different ways. I am enjoying figuring all of this out, plus its giving me creative ideas- which is always a bonus. When I have more time I'll highlight some points of discussion in my class so you can see what I'm up to my ears in...(literally).

Have a fairy wonderful day!