Scroll down to read Part I of my interview with author Susan Wingate!
What do you know now you wish you had known when you first started your writing career?
Patience. Many more things, of course, but me and patience hadn’t even met up when I first started out in this business.
You credit Michael Collins as your mentor, how did that relationship work? In what ways did it improve your writing?
Yes. Without Michael Collins I don’t believe I would’ve finished my first novel. The process over two years was through email and phone call. I would submit work to him. He read the work and then we chatted about it. Basically, he concentrated on the good parts of my writing, encouraging me to continue in my own example of good writing. Of course, I had his writing to review as well and many other great authors who I would look too for writing examples. That encouragement is what I was lacking early on when I initially wrote. Not to complain, I’ll just skip those days but Michael’s teaching ability really stuck with me. He was tender and strict at times. He basically told me, “Just write the damn thing.” I have toned down his quote but having someone tell you that, someone of his caliber telling you that you can write and should write. Well, you just do it. And I did.
What are you working on now?
I’m working on two things. Refining work on a mainstream fantasy called THE DEER EFFECT. I’m also about 1/6th of my way into an apocalyptic thriller with a working title called THE ESCHATOS CHRONICLES.
Final Words of Wisdom
Don’t quit. If writing novels is your dream, just write and keep writing. The more you write, the more you will have in the way of inventory to sell, either through your own indie publisher or to traditional publishers. In the words of Michael Collins, “Just write the damn thing.”
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