Ask the Author: Marla Himeda
Answered Questions (6)
Marla Himeda
Honestly, I have never experienced what I would call a block. Sometimes I get too tired, especially as I'm getting older, but I deal with that by not writing for a while and simply visualizing the story unfolding in my mind. It isn't long before I absolutely have to go write down what I saw, and see where else it leads.
Marla Himeda
Writing!!!! Just plain writing -- I can't ever get enough of that. Not the publication process, not the publicizing of my books, not anything else except the pure and simple crafting of the stories themselves. If I never sold a single book, I would do it anyway. But when a reader lets me know that something I wrote inspired them, or brought them to tears, or made them view the world in a more positive way, that's the best frosting any cake could ever ask for.
Marla Himeda
Don't give in to the pressure to write about something that's considered trendy by the publishing world. Write about what you know, what you feel deeply about, what inspires you in your life. Then and only then will your readers fall in love with your books.
Marla Himeda
I currently have the next 5 books in the Bardic Isles Series already written, and am working on editing them for publication. I also have the first drafts of 3 more finished, and a prequel. So I go from book to book -- total fun!
Marla Himeda
I don't wait for inspiration, I just imagine the story, the setting, the characters, and start writing what I see and hear happening in my mind. This way, the characters do what is natural for them to do, not what I might want them to do as an author. I think that's the secret to good character-driven writing.
Marla Himeda
I got the idea for the Bardic Isles Series from seeing the twin peaks of Mt. Olomana near my home, and visualizing a harp between the two peaks. I started telling my four children a story of a young boy who had a powerful gift for music inside him that he didn't understand that caused him intense pain, and of the Master Bard he followed.
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