NaNoWriMo Interview – Wiebke White

Greetings, dear friends. A couple of posts back, I threatened to subject my fellow NaNoWriMo enthusiasts to author interviews and a few daring souls volunteered for a place on the hot seat. As such, this is the first of what I hope might be a series of author spotlights throughout the months of October and November. If you are participating in NaNoWriMo this year and would like to be featured here as well, please let me know.

Our first brave writer is Wiebke White, a lovely wordsmith whom I know through Twitter. If you would like to follow her NaNo progress, her author profile can be found here.

Without further ado… On with the show!

1. Hello, Wiebke, and welcome. Now, my first question for you is fairly standard. How long have you been a writer?

My becoming a writer took a long time… I took part in a writing group in school aged 13 in the mid 1980s…. this was mainly using prompts to base our writing on. I still vividly remember writing a time slip story (there is a theme here, I promise). When this group finished, I also stopped writing and didn’t write again for 20 years. My love for writing was re-awakened by Torchwood in January 2007 when I wanted to explore why the characters behaved the way they did. So I entered the world of fanfiction where I’ve written everything from a drabble (100 words) to long novels (252,000 words). As you can see, prompted and time travel… told you there was a theme.

My first piece of original writing was last year’s Nano which I’ve not looked at since. This year I’ve decided to concentrate on original fiction with the long term aim to get published.

2. I wish you well in that endeavor. Time travel and Torchwood are two of my favorite things. Now, this question might be self-evident, but I will ask it anyway: What genre(s) do you write?

I’d say my main genres are m/m erotica with a good dash of romance and usually some plot.

3. Ah, glad I asked. Male/Male erotica? Tell me when your novel is published. 😉
Speaking of books, which ones are your favorites?

I love Pride and Prejudice, Wuthering Heights but also On a Pale Horse by Piers Anthony.

4. Where might my readers find you online?

You can find my writings on http://hab318princess.dreamwidth.org/ or http://hab318princess.livejournal.com – I have made no money from any of these writings as the characters and many of the ideas don’t belong to me.

I’m on Twitter (hab318princess) and have a hardly used Goodreads account.  I’ve also got a WordPress blog but that’s not been used yet. Maybe when I’ll resurface under my chosen pen name Victoria Blackstone.

5. I like Victoria Blackstone. It has intrigue.
Now, moving on to NaNoWriMo, how many times have you participated?

This is my second year after 2011 although I did the WrianoJune in 2009 – so my third attempt at 50,000 words in 30 days… aiming for 3 wins out of 3.

6. Good luck! I have been doing my best to prepare so I might make this year successful, too. What do you normally do to prepare?

Last year followed a Nano blog which sent daily count down e-mails to help prepare – had a plot, character sheets etc, much more outlined than before.  This year I did this in September so I’m actually going for a detailed scene sheet because I’m covering a long time period and people.

7. I like to listen to music while I write. Do you have a playlist planned?

No, usually have the TV on in the background or the radio.

8. The television on in the background is a common occurrence around here.  You have me curious now, though. What is this year’s project about?

What would happen if a Royal Prince of a fictional United Kingdom is gay and falls in love with a commoner? How would the families, the press, the paparazzi, the Establishment, the Church etc, react? What obstacles must they overcome?  And do they want to?

9. One last question, though it is more of a request. Give us one of your favorite quotes.

“I used to think I was scared of death. Or by facing death – by combat and action and the uncertainty of the battlefield. Not any more. No, now what scares me is the possibility that I live to grow old. I might wake up one day tired and wasted and unable to even open a beer. I might need crutches and a hearing aid and help getting dressed. When and if I get to that point, it’ll be my memories that’ll keep me going. The fact that I’ve lived through so much, survived so much, to get there. Do you want to get old? Do you want to end up with only your memories to make up for the loss of your faculties?”

Jack Harkness – The Deviant Strain, Justin Richards

Ah, every good thing should end with a quote from Jack Harkness. Thank you once again for agreeing to be interviewed, Wiebke, and the best of luck to you!