My guest this Wednesday is urban fantasy author Tiffany Shand, who is currently doing a virtual book tour for her new release, Shadow Walker. I wanted to ask her a few questions about herself and her work, including her approach to the craft and her work as an “authorpreneur.”
Q (Infamous Scribbler): Can you tell me a little bit about yourself and your latest project?
A (Tiffany Shand): I’m an urban fantasy and non-fiction author and work as a professional editor. I started off writing stories as a child featuring my pets and did a creative writing course in my late teens. This really inspired me to publish my first novel back in 2015 and start writing professionally. Doing that also introduced me to editing. I love working with and helping other authors on their books and making them the best they can be.
Q: On your website, you talk about how writing helped you through the transition to home-schooling when you had to leave school. Can you talk a little more in detail about that? What made you pick up writing, as opposed to another form of creativity?
A: Transitioning from senior school to home-schooling was very strange for me at first. I had to leave school because of ongoing health problems and having to go to hospital frequently. Writing became a way of coping with that difficult transition and it really helped me to have something else to focus on rather than my health problems. I’d been writing for a long as I could remember and having more free time on my hands without going to school gave me the chance to explore my creativity more and write things I hadn’t written before, such as non-fiction.
Writing had always been a big part of my life and had always been a creative outlet for me. I always loved crafting out stories and watching my characters come to life. To me there is no better form of creativity than that and that’s why it appealed to me most.
Q: You also spoke about using the Dragon voice recognition software. I’m very interested in this–were there any changes you had to make in your writing process when going from physically writing to writing using Dragon? If so, what were they? How did you work through them?
A: I mainly started using Dragon dictation software because typing became physically painful and tiring for me due to having disabilities that affect my hands and joints. My rheumatologist mentioned dictation software to me and my grandparents were nice enough to buy me a basic version of Dragon software one Christmas. I found it very strange at first talking to my computer and watching it write out words for me. My writing process didn’t change that much, I still wrote stories by hand but instead of typing them I used the Dragon to put them on computer. This actually proved to be a lot quicker than typing as my Dragon types a lot faster than I physically can and also saves me from hurting my hands.
Today I still write all of my first draft fiction stories using good old-fashioned pen and paper, then transfer it onto computer using my Dragon. I have tried typing or using my Dragon to do a first draft, but I don’t find it as creatively inspiring. The only thing I find frustrating about my Dragon is that it sometimes writes things that sound nothing like what I have said to it and it seems to have a mind of its own!
Q: What made you choose urban fantasy as your genre? Who are your inspirations?
A: I got bored of contemporary fiction and fantasy in my late teens so I started reading other genres. I read one book by Kim Harrison which is what introduced me to the urban fantasy genre. This was very different from anything else I had previously read, and I fell in love with the genre and naturally started writing in it. Kim Harrison is one of my inspirations, as are authors such as Cheyenne McCray and Kresley Cole.
Q: I like the word you use on your site, “authorpreneur.” What advice would you give writers looking to get better at the business side of the craft?
A: I would say treat publishing as the business and remember that it is a business. Writers aren’t just writers nowadays, they have to be entrepreneurs as well. Don’t try to do everything yourself such as editing, cover design, or marketing, delegate where you can. Don’t overwhelm yourself with everything, take it one step at a time. Remember that you get better with every book, try to study writing craft and make your book the best it can be.
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More about Shadow Walker…
After her enforcer teammates are killed in a bust gone wrong, Denai witch Charlie McCray struggles to carry on working the job without them. Using her gift of communicating with the dead, she’s determined to get justice and find those responsible no matter what. But her only clue to go on is a mysterious orb with a deadly reputation that everyone wants to get their hands on.
The only one who may be able to help her figure out their deaths, and the connection to the orb, is the dark and sexy demon from her past. Convinced she’s his life mate, to her denial, Charlie isn’t happy to see him again. Can they really work together as partners to track down the truth whilst ignoring the ever-growing attraction between them?
Genres: Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romance
Length: 111 pgs.
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