Ask the Author: Vicki Tyley
Answered Questions (5)
Vicki Tyley
Hi, Chloe. Many thanks for your question.
One tip is to never stop learning. Be a sponge. Read writing, editing and publishing blogs*. (Not so many that you spend all day online.) Read the how-to books and take out of them what you need. Write a book you would enjoy reading. But more importantly, read. I can't stress that enough. We can’t expect to be writers if we’re not readers.
Finally, if your passion is to write, believe in yourself and don’t give up. Write one book, then another. Keep honing your skills and developing your voice. Rinse and repeat until you get there.
Have fun and good luck.
*A cautionary note: Be discerning whom you take your advice from. Some of the “advice” I've seen meted out online to unsuspecting new writers is downright scary. Look to those who've proven themselves.
One tip is to never stop learning. Be a sponge. Read writing, editing and publishing blogs*. (Not so many that you spend all day online.) Read the how-to books and take out of them what you need. Write a book you would enjoy reading. But more importantly, read. I can't stress that enough. We can’t expect to be writers if we’re not readers.
Finally, if your passion is to write, believe in yourself and don’t give up. Write one book, then another. Keep honing your skills and developing your voice. Rinse and repeat until you get there.
Have fun and good luck.
*A cautionary note: Be discerning whom you take your advice from. Some of the “advice” I've seen meted out online to unsuspecting new writers is downright scary. Look to those who've proven themselves.
Vicki Tyley
Many thanks for your question, Marianne. It’s a good one and one I’m often asked. The reason none of my books have been published in print yet is because my agent had been negotiating to sell the print rights. Unfortunately, circumstances beyond my control meant that particular deal fell in a hole. Stay tuned.
In the meantime, I do have trade paperback versions that I created for a couple of my beta readers available at cost (I don’t earn royalties or anything else on these), which are available to anyone who prefers to read a printed book:
Thin Blood http://www.lulu.com/shop/vicki-tyley/... (EN-AU)
Sleight Malice http://www.lulu.com/shop/vicki-tyley/... (EN-AU)
Brittle Shadows http://www.lulu.com/shop/vicki-tyley/... (EN-AU)
Fatal Liaison http://www.lulu.com/shop/vicki-tyley/... (EN-US)
Bitter Nothings http://www.lulu.com/shop/vicki-tyley/... (EN-US)
In the meantime, I do have trade paperback versions that I created for a couple of my beta readers available at cost (I don’t earn royalties or anything else on these), which are available to anyone who prefers to read a printed book:
Thin Blood http://www.lulu.com/shop/vicki-tyley/... (EN-AU)
Sleight Malice http://www.lulu.com/shop/vicki-tyley/... (EN-AU)
Brittle Shadows http://www.lulu.com/shop/vicki-tyley/... (EN-AU)
Fatal Liaison http://www.lulu.com/shop/vicki-tyley/... (EN-US)
Bitter Nothings http://www.lulu.com/shop/vicki-tyley/... (EN-US)
Vicki Tyley
My characters are not usually based on specific people but rather grow from my observations of people over the years. Empathy is a good trait for a writer to possess. It makes getting inside your characters’ heads much easier. I’m glad no one can see me writing, because I often act out the scene. Not a good look.
Details drawn from real people and real life experiences help make fictional characters come alive, but it wasn’t until Bitter Nothings that I delved into my own family. And that’s probably because enough years have passed that I can now talk openly about it. In Bitter Nothings, the protagonist’s mother had committed suicide on what would’ve been her and her estranged husband’s thirtieth wedding anniversary. In one of those truth-is-stranger-than-fiction twists, my mother committed suicide on my parents’ twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. Obviously the details and motives are different and my parents were still married, but the emotion and questions are still the same.
Details drawn from real people and real life experiences help make fictional characters come alive, but it wasn’t until Bitter Nothings that I delved into my own family. And that’s probably because enough years have passed that I can now talk openly about it. In Bitter Nothings, the protagonist’s mother had committed suicide on what would’ve been her and her estranged husband’s thirtieth wedding anniversary. In one of those truth-is-stranger-than-fiction twists, my mother committed suicide on my parents’ twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. Obviously the details and motives are different and my parents were still married, but the emotion and questions are still the same.
Vicki Tyley
The news. Each of my stories is inspired by a real murder case, the more unusual the better. After I’ve applied a series of what-ifs to it, the original true crime is so bent out of shape, it’s unlikely anyone would recognize the case that sparked it.
The germ of the idea for my most recent mystery, Bitter Nothings, came after hearing about the tragic murder of a young family. A murder with no apparent motive. What would drive someone to slay a whole family?
The germ of the idea for my most recent mystery, Bitter Nothings, came after hearing about the tragic murder of a young family. A murder with no apparent motive. What would drive someone to slay a whole family?
Vicki Tyley
Hi, Suzanne, and thanks for your questions.
I’ve carved off a corner of our living room as my workspace. With a comfy armchair with back support, a laptop on a stand, a larger second monitor (for mind-mapping etc), headphones, microphone and reading lamp, I have everything a writer needs. :)
I try to get the bulk of my writing done in the morning, my most productive time. I rarely write at night, as come 5pm, my brain is mush.
I hope you enjoy Thin Blood. Happy reading!
I’ve carved off a corner of our living room as my workspace. With a comfy armchair with back support, a laptop on a stand, a larger second monitor (for mind-mapping etc), headphones, microphone and reading lamp, I have everything a writer needs. :)
I try to get the bulk of my writing done in the morning, my most productive time. I rarely write at night, as come 5pm, my brain is mush.
I hope you enjoy Thin Blood. Happy reading!
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