Writing and Reading

Round 3, people. Get me the cutman. This is getting rough! Again, though, I live for this stuff. It feeds my heart. Even though my eyes are swelling up from all the right hooks and jabs. This blog tour sure gets me going!

This is a special guest, in particular, Mrs. Sally Hanan. Not only is she an author in the purest sense of the word–she’s also a freelance editor, freelance writer, and copywriter, providing her services on her very own site, the Inksnatcher. Be sure to catch her interview of me on the 12th and 13th as well on her blog site! The lady asked me a bunch of funky questions (and, like the ‘Wretched Writer’ that I am, I gave her funky answers).

I’ve got an insider’s look at a very specific section of the writing biz here. I’m in luck! It’s good stuff, really….

Now I just got to keep Chuck Stake reined in before he scares her away!

But, really, Sally, welcome. Make yourself at home. We’re shooting from the hip here, as I’m posting your interview. Readers, enjoy. And here we have….

SALLY HANAN

1. How and when did you know you were a writer?

When I was 9, I was published in a newspaper for a really awful poem called The Creepy- Crawly Ghost. Things only got worse after that, as far as titles go, but my English teacher loved my writing, and when she announced to the class that I was the best writer out of 24 girls, my ego was puffed up enough to keep writing for years.

2. What are some of your favorite authors to read?

I enjoy the thriller, speed chase of Ted Dekker’s books, the biting humor of Jane Austen, the realness of Anne Lamott, and I’m really into the teaching books coming out of Bethel Church in Redding these days—Kris Vallotton and Bill Johnson being the two most productive writers from there.

3. Which do you prefer: e-books or print?

I’ve always loved paper, and I like to read in the bathroom….

4. What’s your favorite food?

I love eating everything except Irish stew. I grew up in Ireland, and Mom would make that pot of grossness regularly. Ugh, it makes me almost puke thinking about those gelatinous blobs of fat and pulpy barley, shiver. It is extremely difficult to pick a favorite food, but I LOVE fillet steak, Sunday roast, and celery in white sauce (gravy, for you Americans). Oh, don’t forget chocolate!! European chocolate is the best, and everyone should have a supply of Cadburys in the kitchen drawer.

5. If you could choose to be any wild animal, what would it be?

While not exactly an animal, I love the idea of being a phoenix. I rise up in flames with an idea or a project, burn on it, and fizzle into the ashes, only to rise again with something else.

6. If you were going to die in the next three days and you could do the next ten things without worrying about cost, what would you do?

I’m very happy with my life the way it is…who wouldn’t be when they can live off their husband’s sweat and labor and do everything they feel they have a gift for…but I think I’d go to Ireland for a day and say goodbye to the family (I have five siblings still there), and then I’d go to Paris with my husband and make love until the time ran out.

7. What advice would you give other aspiring writers out there?

When you pare it all down, you really only write for yourself. Yes, you want people to love what you write, but the satisfaction of leaning back in your chair after a piece well done gives a pleasure that nothing else can. Forget about making money—that’s only the excuse to get away with using up all that family time others want from you. You write because you want to…so get on with it!