Ask the Author: Colleen Farrelly

“I'll be answering questions about the two novels--The War Folder and Phoenix Rising--through the end of January.” Colleen Farrelly

Answered Questions (5)

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Colleen Farrelly I usually go for a long walk or workout. It also helps when I'm inspired. I'll compose most of it or collect the images in my mind, then simply write it out when I return to my condo.
Colleen Farrelly It's a great creative outlet for someone who works in a technical field like me (mathematics). I love being able to give a meaningful story or poem to friends and relatives on special occasions, and it's exciting when a piece is published in a literary journal.

As a mixed author (traditional publishing for individual poems and self-publishing for collections and novellas), I have a lot of freedom with what I write and how much I can explore with structure and other features.
Colleen Farrelly Read a lot of books on the craft. Many authors and editors have written wonderful guides to help young writers delve more deeply into the technical and aesthetic aspects of writing, and these guides can take your writing to the next level.

Read widely in your genre. You'll pick up techniques and ideas from other writers and see those pieces creep into your own writing. It's a bit like osmosis.
Colleen Farrelly I am currently working on a new poetry chapbook related to Miami, FL. I expect it will be released towards to end of 2018.
Colleen Farrelly I wrote The War Folder for a friend of mine as a way to collect and explore our experiences as the 9/11 military/military family generation. Much of the material comes from my own war folder and some of my old diaries, coupled with different types of characters and how I imagine they would react to those events.

Phoenix Rising came out of a project I started during college. I wanted to write about the experiences of a gifted child, and the story started taking some unusual turns when one of the minor characters, Jason, kept showing up in scenes, eventually evolving into a co-protagonist. It's interesting how the story one has in mind to write isn't always the story that is born from the characters.

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