Author Interview – Liz Schulte ~ Reading My Addiction

Friday, April 5, 2013

Author Interview – Liz Schulte

What’s your favorite place in the entire world? My bed. I love to sleep and so often when I am low on time, it is my sleep that has to suffer. I love my bed and am sad to leave it in the morning. It is soft and warm and carries me into the depths of my imagination.

How has your upbringing influenced your writing? My family has always been very close and very supportive. I think their constant encouragement have given me a foundation of confidence to build on.

Do you recall how your interest in writing originated? I used to read all the time. My mom would take me to the library every week and I would check out the maximum number of books and read them all. It wasn’t long before I started writing short stories, but I didn’t truly become interested in writing as a career until I wrote my first novel.

When and why did you begin writing? I began writing after a lot of encouragement from my mom. She kept telling me I should try writing so I finally sat down and did it. I think it was 2008. I wrote my mystery novel then I had no idea what to do with it. The traditional method of publishing wasn’t for me, but the more I looked into things the more appealing self-publishing looked to me.

How long have you been writing? Since 2008, but I didn’t publish my first book until 2011.

When did you first know you could be a writer? When people read my first book and raved about it. That was the first time I truly believed that writing could be more than just fun.

What inspires you to write and why? Life. I can hardly go through a week without a new idea or a new scene or piece of dialogue that begs to be put on paper. I find inspiration in everything.

What genre are you most comfortable writing? I write mystery and paranormal romance, but I have plans to expand into other genres as well. I think the only genre I wouldn’t want to try is nonfiction.

Who or what influenced your writing once you began? My writer’s group. I was lucky to join a wonderful and supportive group who were in a similar phase in their writing as I was. I have made wonderful friends with these people and they so often inspire me and prop me up with I feel down.

What made you want to be a writer? Writing is a part of me now. Even if I never published another word I would still write. It is my therapy, my imagination, my release.

What do you consider the most challenging about writing a novel, or about writing in general? Marketing is always the biggest struggle. Writing the book is the easy part.

Did writing this book teach you anything and what was it? I learn from every book I write. Writing Secrets I learned about pacing and world building. And I also tried something different with this story and wrote from two points of view.

Do you intend to make writing a career? Yes. I have every intention of writing becoming my only full time job.

Have you developed a specific writing style? I think so. I have a lot of readers comment about how much they like my writing style and how smooth it is. I feel like I write in an easy, fast-paced, realistic manner.