Ask the Author: Holly Messinger
Answered Questions (10)
Holly Messinger
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Holly Messinger
Hi Amy. First, thanks for taking the time to write. It feels good knowing there are fans out there who are excited for the next chapter of the story! Second, I think the odds are good that Curious Weather will be out in the next 9-12 months (around the end of 2020). It's very near completion. Third, the reason it's been so long coming is that I've been working on a tandem novel about Boz's adventures in Wyoming at the same time! That's right, two sequels in the works! Fourth, I hope to have some free sample chapters online very soon to tide you over until the release of Curious Weather. Watch this space!
Holly Messinger
Hi Erica. Please put in a request to your library that they purchase the book for their collection. If they have the budget they probably will. That works out great for authors you like, because then other readers will likely find and read our work. Cheers!
Holly Messinger
Anybody who describes my story as a "weird little book" shows excellent taste, sir. ;-) The work on Book 2 is rewarding, but grueling, so little messages from the readers help keep me grinding along. Thanks for taking the time to review!
Holly Messinger
I always write with a handful of books by favorite authors sitting nearby, which I will pick up and read at random whenever I get stuck on a line. These are always books I've read before, many times, so I don't get caught up in plot. It's just to keep the pump primed, so to speak, to keep the taste of good clean prose in my mouth, the rhythm of a plot or scene moving forward. The books will differ based on what story I'm writing or even what scene I'm working on. Some authors do the same thing with music but more often as I've gotten older I prefer silence, because music tends to fight with the rhythm of my own thoughts. Instead I read a few lines. It's my security blanket.
Holly Messinger
Thank you Gwen. Right now we're looking at summer 2017.
Holly Messinger
The next Jacob Tracy book, of course! This one is fun because it really gets deep into the psyche and background of Miss Fairweather. The woman has some deep dark secrets.
Holly Messinger
The high I get when the writing is going well.
Holly Messinger
Avoid how-to-write manuals like the plague. Take classes in literary analysis and nonfiction writing--journalism, rhetoric, business writing, technical writing. Learn to write clear, concise sentences. Learn to organize your thoughts.
Holly Messinger
Very often the only thing that works is to dig at it and worry it and nag at it until the wheels start to turn smoothly. Research will help grease the machinery, but very often it's like starting a boulder uphill or loosening a stuck jar lid. You just have to keep at it until it goes.
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