CHAT WITH THERESA SNYDER

TheresaSnyder

Theresa Snyder is a multi-genre writer with an internationally read blog. She grew up on a diet of B&W Scifi films like Forbidden Planet and The Day the Earth Stood Still. She is a voracious reader and her character-driven writing is influenced by the early works of Anne McCaffrey, Ray Bradbury, Robert Heinlein and L. Ron Hubbard. She loves to travel, but makes her home in Oregon where her elder father and she share a home and the maintenance of the resident cat, wild birds, squirrels, garden, and occasional Dragon house guest.

Time to chat with Theresa!

What is your latest book?

My most recent publication is Shifting Agony & Ecstasy, the second book in the Twin Cities Series.

What are the special challenges in writing a series?

I have three series I am writing – the Twin Cities Series, my paranormal series, The Farloft Chronicles, my fantasy series, and The Star Travelers, my science fiction series. Each has its own particular challenges.

The Twin Cities are novellas, very fast paced. In those I want to not only tell a story with each, but I also endeavor to give the reader more information with each book about the setting, which is a place called The Realms. Several Indie authors and I got together to create The Realms. We wanted a setting we could all write in with some of our own characters and some cross over character – like the authors who write the Star Trek books. We all hope to write in this series for many years to come. Right now between all the authors there are seven books in the series and we have only been writing for a year as of this December.

JamesAndTheDragon_CVR by Sarah

Farloft, my dragon from the fantasy series is very well known on Twitter. He tweets the last Friday of the month. Folks know him, they look forward to his visits, they expect the same Farloft in the books as they find on Twitter. Because he is in his own kingdom in the books and not in modern times I have to be vigilant and not let his character drift far from how he would react to any question on Twitter. It has made his tweeting very interesting. He is over a thousand years old and very wise. He has been asked to solve problems, mediate disagreements and give sage advice on Twitter.

The major challenge for my science fiction series is consistency and continuity. I have been writing in that series since 1990. There are so many characters, that age at different speeds due to their alien heritage, and places they have been, that they go back to periodically from book to book. I have made a huge glossary of hundreds of terms, places, characters, plus a star map. Their universe is astronomical.

How did you choose the genres you write in? Or did they choose you?

I write science fiction because I love creating characters and building new worlds. Science fiction is a great genre to play in. My works are not highly technical. They are character driven like Josh Whedon’s Firefly series.

Farloft was created out of a desire to teach, but not preach to my nine-year-old nephew. What are the consequences if I steal? How do I be the best friend to someone? How is honesty and truthfulness rewarded? I mean, who wouldn’t listen to a wise old dragon?

My paranormal chose me. When we authors got together and started brainstorming The Realms we all decided paranormal was the way to go. The Realms is the place where all things humans think are paranormal, mythological or fanciful live. The other authors picked vampires. I decided I wanted to write a shape shifter. Cody changes from human to wolf – not werewolf, just wolf. I really enjoy my time crawling into a wolf’s skin and seeing the world through his eyes.

Some authors, like me, always write scenes in order. But I know some people write scenes out of order. How about you?

I used to think I had to write in order, but then I woke up one morning and had this great idea for a scene totally out of order – much later in the book. I debated with myself about writing it or not, but the characters were talking to me, so I wrote. You know, it worked out just fine. When the time came in the regular flow of the story, I just inserted it.

Since then I have purchased a program called Scrivener and it literally has you write in chapters that can be physically moved within the program to rearrange as needed. I hate to sound like an advertisement, but it is far superior to Word or any other word processes program for writing books. I would never write with any other program now that I have used it.

How important is the choosing of character name to you? Have you ever decided on a name and then changed it because it wasn’t right for the character?

I simply cannot write a character unless they have a name. I cannot get words down on paper, or think of the way that character should act unless they have a name. I am the same way about a book’s title. I cannot write it without it having at least a working title. My latest book went through three different working titles before I settled on Shifting Agony & Ecstasy.

I don’t think I have ever changed a character’s name once I wrote about them. It has to be right from the start.

TS_Cover

Do you dread writing a synopsis for your novels as much as most writers do? Do you think writing a synopsis is inherently evil? Why?

I have fifteen published books. Every synopsis I have written has been like pulling a dragon through a keyhole backwards. A synopsis is extremely difficult for me. If there was a service I could subscribe to that would write mine, I would pay a fortune to have someone else do them. It is so hard to put into three to five sentences what you have been writing on for months. To consolidate it down, make it interesting and yet not give anything away. It is an exercise in futility. Yes, they are inherently evil!

Please tell us about your experience with social media. What are your favorite and least-favorite parts of it?

Before I became a published author last year in May of 2013, I did a little Facebooking and that was all. I would rather speak with my friends personally then post something. When I published my first book my students at school (I run the print shop at our local community college) told me I should get on Twitter to promote and build a community of followers for my books. They said it would be a perfect medium for me. I love to chat. They were right. It is like a constant party. I stroll in and someone is always there waiting to chat about anything from dragons to what they had for lunch. I love it. You dip a toe in the pool and the ripples spread. I have been on twitter less than a year and a half and have over thirteen thousand followers. On Facebook I have a couple of hundred and most of those are ones who followed me over from Twitter. Facebook is just not my style. I heard someone compare Twitter to a cocktail party and Facebook to having friends over for dinner at your home. I far prefer cocktail parties in social media. If I want to have someone over for dinner, I will invite them.

A lot of authors are frustrated by readers who don’t understand how important reviews are. What would you say to a reader who doesn’t think his or her review matters?

I would tell that reader, as an indie author in particular, we need their reviews to help us find our audiences. When you do a review for an indie author you are giving them one of the biggest boosts they can have to promote their work. So, if you love something you have read, write a line or two, it doesn’t have to be a huge review. We authors are all taught the list of things a reader looks at once you get them to your page to buy your books: 1) The cover 2) The description 3) The reviews. If the reviews are not there a great book will often not sell.

What is the coolest surprise you’ve ever had?

About a month or so after I published my first book that was The Helavite War in May of 2013, I received a message on my Facebook page from a man named Max in Italy. He said he was lying in bed reading my book. Imagine that? A guy halfway around the world lying in bed reading My Book! That was the coolest. Still makes me smile.

HelaviteWar_Final_Kindle

What might we be surprised to know about you?

I am probably older than most of you think from looking at my photo, even though the one posted here is only two years old. I have had the opportunity to do many interesting jobs in my lifetime. Those jobs, and the people I met through them, have provided a wide range of experiences for me to pull from to write my books.

I used to say I had everything, but been in prison or been a nun. Now I just say I have never been a nun. I have held the follow jobs to today: dog groomer, zoo keeper, Fotomat attendant, hostess in a restaurant, make-up artist (this is where I went to prison to do the make-up for a documentary), retail store manager, retail toy buyer, book buyer, jeweler, diamond salesman, bookstore manager, teacher, dispatcher for an elevator company, librarian, law librarian, dispatcher for a Ford dealership, bookkeeper, paperback book distributor’s sales rep, legal assistant, marketing coordinator, print shop manager, and always in the background, ever present, author.

Is there a question I haven’t asked you that you would like to answer? If so, what is it?

YES: What do you believe sets your work apart from everyone else’s?

All of my work is very character driven. I also think it is very well rounded. They all contain elements of humor, romance, adventure, and reflection. Like a fine wine you can savor on many levels.

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