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Ask the Author: Elizabeth Schechter

“Ask me anything! I'll answer anything within reason.
” Elizabeth Schechter

Answered Questions (8)

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What books are on your summer reading list this year?
Elizabeth Schechter Naomi Novik's Uprooted.
Neil Gaiman's Norse Mythology
Cecilia Tan's Hard Licks series (for vacation)
The Alexander Hamilton biography.
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Hi, I just finished Heart's Master which I really enjoyed. A positive review has been left on both Goodreads and Amazon. Now, are you planning a sequel? I want to know about Natalie. Is she going to be reunited with her father? Please say yes to this question.
Elizabeth Schechter Hi, Sharon!

I'm actually working on the outline for the sequel right now! Tentative title is Holy Orders, and it will answer your question.

Thanks for the review!
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What’s your advice for aspiring writers?
Elizabeth Schechter Keep writing. That's it. That's all need to know. there's no magic spell, no secret handshake. You have to keep writing, and know that your first attempt is going to suck. Don't sweat it -- we ALL suck at the beginning. My first novel sold was the fourth novel that I wrote. The other three? I don't even dare use them to line a birdcage. They might kill the bird!
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Sorry for using the ask box when this is nothing to do with your stories! Just wanted to drop a note to say I saw you weigh in that fiasco with that author Dylan S, and thought it was a truly awesome thing to do :)?
Elizabeth Schechter Thank you. Poor Dylan -- I saw that his profile is gone. He's either been banned, or he's taken his ball and gone home. I hope he doesn't give up -- from the looks of things, the books he had up were his first. We all suck in the beginning. The trick is to keep going until you don't suck!
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I wanted to give nod to you and how you handled that author yesterday with his comments. There needs to be more people in the world like you. Now for my question because that's what this is. How do you handle negative comments to your work? Thank you and now I'm going to read some of your stuff! =)
Elizabeth Schechter How I handle negative reviews? I learn from them. I know not everyone will like everything, and I accept that -- not everyone likes Hawaiian pizza, but I love the stuff. Same with writing. I know my writing won't appeal to everyone. Nine times out of ten, the ones who read and review and say "You know, this didn't work for me" are right, and it's something that I need to fix in later work.

That tenth time? Well, you can't please everyone!
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What’s the best thing about being a writer?
Elizabeth Schechter Setting my own schedule.

I write like mad from mid-August to the end of May. Then I take summers off. If that sounds like an odd schedule, it's the school calendar for our county. Summers are for my son.
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How do you deal with writer’s block?
Elizabeth Schechter Will I get lynched as a writer for saying that I don't believe in writer's block? If I get stuck on something I'm working on, then the problem is with my outline -- I've gone off outline, or the outline was never right to begin with. I'll back up and let the characters take the lead. That usually works. If it doesn't, then I work on something else -- there's always more than one thing going at a time. I try to have an outline, a novel, and page proofs all in process at any given time.
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What are you currently working on?
Elizabeth Schechter At this moment, I'm working (none too seriously -- it's summer, and my writing time is limited) on a novella that will be a direct sequel to House of Sable Locks. The working title is Berlin.
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