Up next is a local writer that is part of the NaNoWriMo group here. Introducing…Susan Sloate!

1. Please tell us a little bit about you as a person.

I’m an incurable romantic living in one of the most beautiful spots imaginable–Mount Pleasant, SC, outside of Charleston. We have marvelous weather, beautiful beaches, well-preserved historic sites, fantastic shopping and restaurants, a million things to do and oh, yeah – wonderful people here! I’m also the mother of two wonderful boys (a college freshman and a high-school sophomore) who keep me hopping! I grew up outside New York City in the ’60s and ’70s, with parents who met in New York in the ’50s, so my perspective is much different from younger people. I spent 12 years in the Hollywood film business after college, so almost half my life was spent in New York, 16 years in L.A., 7 1/2 years in Chicago, and now I’m in the South!

2. Tell us about you as a writer.

I’m the author of 21 published books, starting in 1988, around age 30. I’d always intended to be a professional writer, but my idea of ‘professional’ was a little skewed going into college, so I essentially majored in the wrong area, something I had no real interest in, but also took classes in screenwriting and film, which kept me at least on the right path. Since then, though, besides the books, I’ve also published dozens of articles in sports publications, alternative medical journals and local mainstream magazines.

3. What types of writing have you written? Which is your favorite to write and why?

I’ve written 17 Y/A books that were all published, and I really enjoyed those–they were split between fiction and non-fiction, so I got to write girls’ series fiction as well as history, fashion, etc. I was able to use my own experience with English horseback riding, jockey school and whitewater rafting in the girls’ books–that was fun! My favorites were the adult novels I wrote–FORWARD TO CAMELOT:50th Anniversary Edition (with Kevin Finn), STEALING FIRE and REALIZING YOU–all of them, ironically, published this fall. CAMELOT is about the JFK assassination; STEALING FIRE is a mainstream love story about unlikely soul mates on 1980’s Broadway; REALIZING YOU is the world’s first self-help NOVEL (with Ron Doades)–we took important life principles and illustrated them through characters living through a fictional story.

4. What are the three things you need at your side as you write? Why?

Something to drink–usually iced tea or water–I get thirsty while writing and need something to grab. A pen to jot down notes on a scratch pad (yes, I am that old-fashioned). And my planner–as I answer email, I often have to check my calendar for free dates. It’s easier just to keep it next to the computer.

5. If you were to give other writers one piece of advice, what would it be?

Write on a consistent schedule. I totally agree with Stephen King on this; if you don’t write every day, or almost every day, you lose the thread of your work and it’s so much harder to sit down at the computer when you’ve been away from your project for awhile. Don’t do that to yourself. Commit to writing every day, for 15 minutes, if that’s all the time you have. A half hour. An hour. Whatever. But doing it every day is the key to finishing anything AND to not becoming so disconnected from the project that you can’t pick it up again. I’ve tortured myself with projects because I wouldn’t commit to working every day. Trying to pick it up again after intervals of weeks or months is agony, and most people will give up.

6. Where can we find out more about you?

The best place is my website, http://susansloate.com.

But here are other places to connect with me:
My Facebook Author page is http://facebook.com/pages/Susan-Sloate/194240690604826?ref=hl. 
Twitter is: https://twitter.com/Susan_Sloate.
Amazon Author page is: http://www.amazon.com/Susan-Sloate/e/B001HPG3B2/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1382987886&sr=1-1
Goodreads is: Susan Sloate (no URL).
LinkedIn is http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=18025740&trk=nav_responsive_tab_profile_pic.
Pinterest is: http://www.pinterest.com/susansloate/boards/