This week we asked author LM Brown to take some time out of her busy schedule and answer a few questions for us. She very kindly allowed us to share an excerpt from her new book: One Perfect Wish
1: How long does it take you to write a book?
It very much varies as to how long it takes me to write a book. Some of my stories are much longer than others, they range from short stories of 15k to novels of 80k. Since I have a day job where I type for a living I can actually write pretty fast when the words are flowing. My first mermen book which is one of my longer stories was written during National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) which means I wrote it (the first draft at least) in 30 days. A short story I can do a first draft in a weekend if I have no interruptions.
That being said, getting that first draft down is only the beginning. My second merman story was written this last April for Camp NaNoWriMo and I have spent the time since then doing revisions and polishing it up before I send it to my publisher. For a long story it can take me between six months and a year from the typing the first words to hitting the send button to submit it.
2: What does your writing process look like?
Until this year my writing process has very much been a simple case of opening up a Word document and writing. This year, however, that has changed. Although I have been participating in NaNoWriMo for several years I never bothered to pick up any of the prizes, most notably, the discount coupon for Scrivener. Last December I decided that since I had heard so much about it, I would at least give the free trial a shot. I am so glad I did!
My writing process is now much more organised. I got Scapple (from the same company who produces Scrivener) and now start off with rough notes on that. This way if a plot springs to mind that I don’t have time to write I can come back to it later. Then once the notes are in some sort of order I switch to Scrivener and put them together in order of scene. I also keep all my research notes in Scrivener, which can be anything from inspirational pictures to links to websites. I also use Scrivener to keep note of timelines and that sort of thing. Then, once I am all set up I start to write. I find this is so much more organised than I used to be and I don’t know how I managed without it. I know I sound like a walking advert for the program, but it really has been a lifesaver for me.
3: If you had a superpower, what would it be?
I would be torn between two actually, the ability to fly or the ability to shapeshift into an animal. Needless to say, if it was the latter I would want to be some sort of creature with wings. A bird would be great, a dragon even better.
4: Is this your first book? How many books have you written prior?
One Perfect Wish is not my first book, it is actually my sixteenth, including short stories and anthology stories. I had to actually go and do a recount of those since it really didn’t feel like that many. I still think of myself as a newbie to the industry, but with that many stories I am not sure I should.
Unfortunately, quite a few of my stories are out of print at the moment, but I am slowly finding them new