How did you get started?
I wanted to write when I was young, somewhere between wanting to be a cowboy and a veterinarian, but I didn't really start until about ten years ago when I got into writing FanFic on the internet. After lots of great feedback, I started my first novel in November of 1997. I've > been plugging away and trying my best to improve since that time.
What type of writer are you? Do you plan ahead/plot or do you simply fly by the seat of your pants?
I'm somewhere in between. Characters form in my head, stew for a while, then tell me their stories. Fortunately, they seem to plot the stories out before they tell me. Quite often they surprise me with the end of the book.
Do you write best at a certain time of the day?
Whenever I can get behind my PC. I work full time and write compulsively when I'm home. I'm a little more efficient at night, just before my eyes give out.
What type of writing schedule do you have?
I write every day, but only because I can't seem to stop. At the least, I usually write three or four hours in the evening.
How do you handle life interruptions?
Honestly, I'm generally thankful for them, unless they come right in the middle of a book. I have a very understanding husband and no kids, so my life couldn't be more perfect for writing. Work, of course, takes precedence over writing at this point in my life because it pays the bills.
Do you get blocked? Any hints how to stave it off?
I think everyone gets stuck now and then. I sometimes feel like there's nothing left to say. I've found it best to pick up a good book, or take a mini-vacation (weekend visits to hot springs or the woods). Before I realize what's happening, I'm jotting down ideas.
What authors do you look to as a role model and inspiration?
I have lots of authors I love to read, but my current favorites are James Lee Burke, Ellis Peters, Dick Francis, and Sandra Brown. Each of them has a wonderful style; I love to get lost in their stories.
What's the best advice you ever received?
Join a writer's group and keep writing.
What sparks a story?
I'm not really sure. It's almost always a character, but I don't really know where they come from. I've brainstormed very few stories on purpose.
What was it about your genre that interested you enough to choose to write in it and not in another genre?
I write in several genres: romance, mystery, fantasy, and erotica. I love them all. My motto is to rule out nothing. If I were more imaginative, I'd try sci-fi, but I can't quite figure out an alternate reality.
Have you seen an evolution in your writing? What steps did it take?
Very much so. It's easiest to see the changes when I read old manuscripts, which usually cause me to groan. My writing and critique groups have helped with the basics and fine tuning, and I try to study the writers I enjoy reading. I've also gone through a shelf or two of books on self-editing. Most recently, I've learned to experiment, even if no one else ever reads the strange stuff. I hope to continue growing and learning, otherwise I'll have to quit.
What have you always dreamed of writing, but haven't yet?
The Great American Novel. Hasn't everyone?
What one thing do you like most about writing? Least?
I love to write, and I love having people read what I write. I hate to edit, and I hate trying to force people to read what I write.
What is your next project?
I'm currently working on a romance, "Carved in Stone," that's coming out from Echelon Press in September, then will start re-editing my second mystery, "Death of a Dancer," that's being released in January '04 by Zumaya Publications. After that, I have two other books under contract, and several short stories in the works.
What advice would you pass along at this point in your career?
Never give up; never surrender. Sorry - I stole that line (from "Galaxy Quest"), but it's just as appropriate for writers as it is for space explorers.
SARAH BAKER grew up in New Orleans, the motherland of jazz and romance. After a year at Emory in Atlanta, she dropped out and moved to Alaska, where she enjoyed a taste of the Wild West pipeline days. Three years later, Sarah returned to the Lower 48 and earned a Master's degree in engineering from the University of Texas at Austin.
As a civil engineer for the government, she has lived all over the United States. She's married to her own personal hero, has a fantastic job in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and has finally stumbled onto the joy of her life--writing. She writes romance as Sarah Storme, mysteries as S.H. Baker, and erotica as Lydia Parks.
"Murder in Marshall's Bayou" from Zumaya Publications in June 2003. Mystery. Dassas Cormier returns to Marshall's Bayou, his hometown in southwest Louisiana, in the spring of 1924 to find that his old friend, Red Doucet, has been murdered. Dass's short career in law enforcement makes him the most likely person to solve the mystery surrounding Red's death. Grace, the only woman Dass has ever loved, is also back in Marshall's Bayou, and she wants Dass to look for her missing husband. He reluctantly agrees, and is surprised when his search leads to another murder. Are the two murders somehow linked? More importantly, how is Grace involved?
"All Night Long" from eXtasy Books on June 15th, 2003. Erotica.
Nathan Cotton wakes one evening to find an invitation to a vampire party in his mailbox.. Concerned that he may have been discovered, he attends the party and find humans who claim to be vampires. Nathan can't allow the attention caused by such claims to continue. At the party, he also finds Terra, an undercover detective who wants to shut the party down.
Nathan proposes that they join forces, enjoying the fact that such a union takes them into the middle of an orgy. Terra's morality reminds Nathan of another woman from his past-a woman who changed him forever. Will Terra have the same effect on the 500-year-old vampire?
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