Lazette’s cat, Zaphod!

Have you been enjoying these author interviews as much as I have? I’m excited to introduce the owner of the author website and watering hole, Forward Motion, Lazette Gifford. I consider Lazette a mentor of mine so I’m very honored to have her on my author interviews post. Let’s get started.

Lazette Gifford is a prolific author, photographer, and sometimes cover artist who lives in the wilds of Nebraska with her husband, several cats and a small but entirely useless dog.  She writes every day and has done so for decades, and soon will be working on her 100^th novel.

After several years in the small press publishing world, Zette has moved to the exciting life of an Indie published author, with several novels and short stories released and often well-reviewed.  You can find links to her work on her personal website at: http://lazette.net

Lazette’s Newest Book: Raventower

Let’s start with something fun. What’s your favorite hobby?

I assume we are talking about outside of writing,  because, no matter how hard I work at it, I refuse to let writing become just another job.  Jobs get to be dull, life-sucking ‘I must do this’ stuff, and even though I write every day and have (seriously) for decades, I do so because I love writing.

My main hobbies, though,  are photography and dabbling in digital art.  Photography draws a person to look at the world around them and to take notice of things both big and small.  This is a good exercise for writers.  It’s amazing how many things you miss in a glance or a quick snapshot and then notice later.  I once took a great picture of some geese on an icy pond, and it wasn’t until I looked at the picture, later, on my computer, that I noticed the two bald eagles sitting a few feet away from them.  We focus on one part of the picture and sometimes don’t see the whole, and that’s and important aspect for writers to consider.

If you had the opportunity—who would you like to spend an afternoon with and why?

I am not so much a people-person to be honest.  I like going to conventions now and then, but I like my time alone.  So — not so much who, but where and when would work for me.  I love history and there are several ancient societies I would love to see for an afternoon, knowing I wasn’t going to be trapped there.  The Assyrians, Minoans, Etruscans . . . many of the ones we only get little glimpses of and cannot really see the whole.  That would fascinate me.  So maybe I should say spending a few hours with someone from those times, who would show me what it was like.

Coffee, tea, soda or something else?

I am a tea person.  One wall of my office has shelves with over 100 types of tea and lots of cups and teapots.  I love the variety of teas — and tisanes, which are steeped drinks made with other than actual tea leaves.  Peppermint tea, which is usually just peppermint leaves is a tisane.  So are the rooibos teas, flower-based teas, etc.  The ability to have some many different flavors is fun.  The idea of drinking the same thing all the time sounds boring!

What are you working on right now?

I always start writing a new novel on the first day of January.  This year the manuscript is Raventower, my first steampunk/clockwork novel.  The book is going very well and I should have the first draft done by mid-February.  Having a really good outline has helped this story flow and allowed me to concentrate on the finer points and explore some of the side issues without losing track of the story.

This is also my 99^th novel.  It is wonderful to have something so exciting to work on for this one and to realize that inspiration really doesn’t run out if you are open to it.  I also have the outline for my 100^th novel which I intend to start in early March and that one is a novel I’ve been considering for several years.  I’m looking forward to getting to work on it!

How would you describe your writing style?

Persistent.  Eclectic.  Still evolving.  I don’t believe writers should ever assume that they’ve learned all they need to learn, so I’m constantly looking at material about writing and that affects how and what I create.  I like to try new genres and subgenres.  I still love writing my stories as much as I did when I wrote my first novel.

Do you have any advice for a person just beginning their writing career?

Other than the usual sit down and write?  Stop expecting the first things you write to be perfect.  Writing is an art like any other and it takes practice, and that means you have to write a great deal before you get good at your craft.  You have to complete the stories you have begun and work all the way to the end.  A few false starts are expected, but if you continually stop as soon as you hit a problem, you’ll never learn how to get past difficulties and finish your work.  I have a rule that I must finish everything I start.  I’m very careful about what I begin and if I hit a problem, I work my way through it.  We all have limited writing time.  Don’t continue to waste it on pretty new ideas that you’re just going to toss aside.

The good news is that those first, flawed stories are not ruined.  You can always rewrite them and create better stories as you improve your style.  Hold on to them.  Even if you don’t rewrite them, they become good, solid markers against which you can compare your later writing.  Anyone who makes a true effort at improvement will be surprised if they compare work from a year in the past.

Also, remember that you are not in any kind of contest with other writers.  You are unique and you work at your own pace and write your own stories.  Does your idea sound like work by another person?  That happens to everyone.  Don’t worry about it.  The idea is not the story and how you write it will be something completely different from another writer’s take on the same basic pieces.

Do you immerse yourself in new situations for writing ideas or do your ideas come to you through your normal, day-to-day life?

I read a great deal of history and that is where most of my ideas come from, though I do not write historical fiction.  A seven volume history of World War I was the basis for my science fiction novel Vita’s Vengeance.  A wonderful little biography about Disraeli inspired the Silky Trilogy, a fantasy series.  I can trace many of my pieces back to some specific little bit of history.

Sometimes going away from the house and seeing things will spark an idea. For instance, there is a wonderful little town in southeastern Nebraska that became the basis for my humorous mystery, Muse.  Mostly I think it is better if writers seek inspiration in mundane things like books and not be tied to the idea that they can’t write if they can’t experience something new.  That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t go someplace for research if you are able, but don’t make that the only way you can get the work done.

Where can we find you on the interwebs?

Web Site: http://lazette.net

Twitter (rarely): http://twitter.com/lazetteg

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/lazette.gifford

Joyously Prolific Blog: http://zette.blogspot.com/

Thank you so much, Lazette, for stopping by and sharing your new story and a little bit about yourself. We all appreciate it!

If you are interested in Lazette’s work, please stop by her website where she has her books for sale. I think you’ll like them!