Writing Mom: Tina Forkner part 2

I can’t remember how Tina and I first met online, but she soon became a kindred spirit. Then I heard her share her testimony at ACFW and I became an instant fan. This is Tina’s second interview here .Be sure you don’t miss her first!

How does writing while unpublished differ from writing under a contract?

Ruby Among Us is the first novel I wrote, so I was writing it without too much thought of publication or anyone outside of loved ones reading it. Hardly anyone knew I was writing it for a long time, so there was a sense of purity to the process of writing the story. I had no censor inside or out to tell me I was doing it wrong. Maybe first novels all have the earmarks or mistakes of a first novelist, but there is nothing as innocent and pure as writing the first book.

Many people write a first book like this, but never get it published! What a testimony to the gift God has given you.

Writing with a deadline changes everything in that it can be hard to focus and get back to that place where the story is pure and true. It’s not impossible, obviously since novelists do it all the time, but the second time around takes more diligence. You no longer have just the writing to worry about. Suddenly there’s business to concentrate on whether it’s publicity, marketing, or a long list of other things to do that are related to the contract. One really has to step back from all the business stuff to focus on the writing or it can go by the wayside.

Do you miss those days of writing in obscurity without a looming deadline?

Yes! I miss writing without pressure to achieve and the risk of failure. I am so worried I am going to be a big flop now that my book is going public. I have stopped reading reviews until my husband or sister reads them first because the negative ones make me feel so much pressure. I’m happy to say that I’ve had way more good reviews than not-good, but even just one less than stellar review really gets me down.

I am sure that it won’t always be like that once I get used to people reviewing my work. I really do appreciate an honest review, but for awhile, I just don’t need to read them. They’re for readers anyway, right? Not for the authors! If I were still writing in obscurity, there would be no reviews.

But having said that, I certainly wouldn’t trade in my contract. My publisher is phenomenal and it’s exciting to get Ruby Among Us in front of readers. I always told myself that I would be okay if nobody outside of my family ever reads it, but now that the possibility is here for it to reach further, I’m glad for it.

I’m afraid of writing under a deadline. Afraid I’ll loose the joy of writing. Afraid my work won’t be as good because it will be rushed, and afraid my priorities will be skewed. Do you ever feel this way and how do you handle this?

Yes, all the time. It’s hard not to feel rushed and to organize priorities in an efficient manner. Sometimes I take a little break, but on the most part I just write through it. I know it sounds easier said than done, but it’s really the only thing you can do. I have a junk file that I write in when my brain just won’t focus. It keeps me writing while giving me permission to write really, really bad. I got the idea from an article I read once about Sue Grafton who does something similar.

Are there any more books in the future for this series?

My next book comes out in 2009. While it focuses on a sister-sister relationship, readers will get to see what happens to some of the characters in Ruby Among Us, including my favorite character, Kitty.

Do you have any other books coming out or in front of an editor?

I do have a handful of proposals that are in front of my agent now.

How did you land your agent?

I was blessed that a family member who knew a literary agent went behind my back and put my manuscript on his desk. Thank goodness he liked it and offered to take me on; otherwise I would have been humiliated for my family member – and myself!

Did you get your agent before or after you sold your first book?

I found my agent before I sold my first book.

What would you tell writing moms and dads looking for that agent who will sell their first  book?

I would highly recommend having an agent to help sell your book. They know people. They know the ins, outs, and where your book will work best.

Look for agents at writer’s conferences where you can meet them face to face at appointments. Take the opportunity to sit by them at meal time to see if your personalities connect. Pay close attention and ask around the conference to see what other writers think of agents you are targeting for your projects. Ask the published authors you know to see what they think.

Be sure to ask for several references and also check them out on Preditors & Editors at http://anotherealm.com/prededitors/ or other watch groups before you sign on. If a potential agent reacts negatively to your request for references or to questions you have, then they probably are not legitimate.

Another bit of advice I would give is that agents and editors rarely pursue unknown novelists, so if you are approached out of the blue by an agent wanting to represent you, consider steering clear of them. Good agents especially usually have their hands full and don’t need to aggressively pursue potential writers.

What will you do if the next contract never comes?

Keep writing, just like I did before I had a contract. I love the act of writing so much that even though I love the idea of reaching real readers and sharing my stories, I would never stop writing just because I’m not contracted. I have to write!

People say write what you know? Was this true for you and A Ruby Among Us?

As writers, we mine our own experiences in order to know how a character would feel or what they might say or do. That doesn’t mean what we write is true. In fact, sometimes writing about a true situation can really end up quite boring because we are too close to it.

Ruby Among Us was influenced by experiences in my life or by situations I have seen. Once I put them on paper those situations changed to something new and became larger than life. It’s true that I was a single mom for awhile, so I know what it’s like. During that time in my life I also met other single moms in situations worse than mine, so I didn’t have to reach far to write about that experience for my characters even though the story is fiction.

So my answer is yes and no. It’s okay to write what you know, but you need to have some distance from it when you write fiction. It helps if you are willing to turn reality upside down and write the hypothetical side of it.

I’ve read several chapters of Ruby Among Us and I’m enjoying it very much, but it’s very different from the genre fiction I’m used to reading. How would you classify it? The first thing that comes to mind is it’s more literary than anything else in CBA.
Shhhh…I heard that’s a term for fiction that doesn’t sell! LOL. My publisher classifies it as Women’s Fiction. I don’t want to write something obscure that most readers can’t relate to. I want to write about emotions that are universal, but I want to approach it in ways that I can’t do in genre fiction.

There are other writers like Lisa Samson, Francine Rivers, Elizabeth Berg and Mary E. DeMuth (DeMuth endorsed Ruby Among Us) who I think do a better job than I do, but are very successful at mixing literary and commercial writing. After I wrote Ruby Among Us and started attending conferences, I was thrilled to discover Samson and DeMuth.

But I don’t think people write literary on purpose (do we?). It’s just something that happens when you sit down to write and it probably is also reflective of the kind of fiction we love to read the most.

Did you study the craft of writing before you wrote Ruby Among Us? While reading it, I have a hard time analyzing it (which is good) because I’m drawn into Lucy’s world, but I notice the first couple of chapters are heavy with narrative and back story, but it works. Why do you think that is?

Thank you. And yes. I am an English Major and in college I focused mostly on literature and writing, although getting a B.A. in English is really just breaking the ice in the field of literature. I wouldn’t say it qualifies me for anything spectacular, but I really think I began to find my voice when I was attending Sac State. I read and wrote lots of poetry, fiction, and essay during that time of my life.

When I wrote Ruby Among Us, I just wrote my heart thinking I could fix things later. I didn’t plan up front to write a lot of back story. I would never recommend a writer do that, but it just seemed to fit for this particular story.

Later, when I became contracted, my editor helped me to tighten the manuscript, but she let me keep the integrity of the story. I don’t know why it worked, except that the story came from my heart and my editor respected that. Everyone needs good editing and an editor who believes in the story without trying to shape it into something it’s not.

If you would compare your style to another author, who would it be?

I don’t dare. But what I will say is that I love certain authors like Sue Monk Kidd, Mary E. DeMuth, and Elizabeth Berg.

What authors influenced your writing?

I’m sure every author I’ve ever read before writing Ruby Among Us has influenced me and anything I’ve read since will influence me in the future. I’m a book person rather than favorite author person and some of my favorite books I read before Ruby are The Hundred Secret Senses, Jane Eyre, Gone With the Wind, The Shell Seekers, Madame Bovary, and The Mark of the Lion Series, to name only a few that I loved. I guess the traits all of those books have in common are probably a strong sense of, or desire for, family connections and the search for redemption.

I’ve also read a lot of historical fiction and suspense, but I’m not sure how that plays into that. I think everything we read influences our writing, so it probably has affected me in some way that I don’t know!

Thanks for having me on again, Gina! I love your site!!

www.tinaannforkner.com