Author Interview: Joelle Stone

Hello, everyone! I am so very excited for today’s post: and interview with friend, blogger, and fellow writer Joelle Stone! She has an amazing blog at Sword of the Penmaiden.

Hi Joelle! So glad to have you here on AnnaKate Writes. To get us started, would you tell us a little about yourself? 

Hey Anna! Thanks so much for having me! ^_^ First and foremost, I am a child of God. I believe that he exists, that he loves YOU (yes you, reading this), and that he has a perfect plan for each of us. We are characters in his story, and thankfully, those of us who trust our Author will get a happy ending. 😉 I am a LOTR nerd, absolutely abhor coffee, and am pretty convinced that mascara brushes are instruments of torture. ;P

Of course! I’m super excited. Really love that answer! My next question is why do you write? Do you plan to write for a career?

I write for many reasons: it’s fun, something I’m decently good at, and I have enough training that I think I could make a living off of it if I worked hard enough. But the main reason I write is for you guys. The readers. I want to absolutely shatter your hearts, pull you into the deepest, darkest, most horrible rock bottoms out there, then show you that there’s hope even in those places. Always. Sometimes, you just have to ask for it. 😉 And yep, I’m planning on it as a career! I kinda want a side business as well if I need it, but otherwise, I plan for that to be my sole income. 🙂

Cool! What are your current writing projects?

MWAHAHAHAHA you have asked the question, girl. XD My primary WIP (work-in-progress) is called A Tale of Two Brothers (yes I’m going to change the title later XD). It’s about rocks. Moving on, the next is The Caretaker, a sci-fi serial I’m posting on my blog about the end of four or five universes – maybe. ;P Aaaand then I’m co-writing a project with a few friends called Aqua Vitae. Not sure how much I’m allowed to say about that, since we plan to have it published and don’t want spoilers out, but suffice it to say it will have a lot of sarcasm in it.

A LOT. >:)

Ooh, those all sound so cool and exciting! How do you keep up with them all?

I honestly have no idea. XD I’ve fallen behind so many times, but somehow always manage to catch up. *insert confused shrugging* I think the most helpful thing I’ve done is to set aside specific time every day to write – usually an hour in the morning before school. I set goals (i.e. write a chapter in ATOTB) and try to complete them by the end of the week. If I fail, I yell at myself, then grab some chocolate and try to catch up.

Also. I don’t write on Sundays. Seems to help me keep my mental energy thriving if I take a day-long break every week. 😉

Agreed. I like the part about not writing on Sundays! I’ve been doing that for the last few weeks, and it seems to help a lot. Where did you come up with the idea (for your current WIP)?

A dream. Actually, most of my ideas come from dreams, come to think of it… *trails off, musing* Anywhoodle, I had a dream once about needing to get these two brothers back home, and I found a secret passage in someone’s barn and was chased like the entire way by someone I don’t remember. XD That evolved into ATOTB.

That’s interesting! Do you have a favorite character?

AHHHH ANNA WHYYYY?!?! I have SUCH a hard time choosing favorites. *insert Gollum-esque writing* Errrrrrrm, I’d have to go with… oof. Either Irad or Gilead, my boys. Don’t make me choose one. XD

XD Same. What do you find to be the hardest part of writing? The easiest?

Hardest… probably fighting off the discouragement. When it hits, it hits hard, and it takes a lot of effort to shove it away. Thank God for Ydubs, where I have peeps like you to tell it to shut up and move on. 😛 Though deadlines are nightmares as well. Easiest would be spelling and grammar. Those have never been a problem for me. 😀

Yes indeed! I don’t know what I’d do without you guys. I agree 100% with the spelling and grammar. What’s one thing you would tell any beginning writer?

Don’t you dare give up. Yes, I know it’s rough. Yes, I know that your book looks nothing like those published novels out there. Yes, I know it’s hard and you aren’t sure it’s worth it. But if you soldier on, you’ll eventually find yourself on the other side of the publishing company. 😉

Finding a mentor is also extremely helpful – or at least training of some sort. Check out Story Embers, Kingdom Pen, and The Young Writer’s Workshop to get some top-notch advice. 😉

That is great advice. When you don’t feel like writing, where do you get your inspiration?

Hard question. One thing I have found extremely helpful is to have at least two projects going out once. That way, when you run out of steam for one project, you just have to turn to another one while you wait for the inspiration to strike for the other. This can backfire on those who don’t multitask well, though, so be careful. Otherwise, try plotting. Seriously. You don’t even have to write everything down, just get a general idea of where you want your story to go and work towards that to kinda reduce the floundering. 😉

Ooh, you do that too? So do I! It works so well, doesn’t it? My final question is: If you could meet any fictional character, who would it be and why?

Oh. My. Word. ANNA. I CANNOT CHOOSE JUST OOOOONNNNNEEEEEEE. ARGH. Ummmmm… Ok, meeting really any character from LOTR would be AMAZING – especially Aragorn, Eomer, Eowyn, and any Elf. I WOULD HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS!! If not LOTR, though, then either Peter Pan, Artham Wingfeather, or Kronk from The Emperor’s New Groove. Yes, I said Kronk. 😛

THANKS SO MUCH FOR HAVING ME HERE, ANNA!! This was such a blast being able to answer your questions, and I am so honored to be featured on your blog. *high-fives* Keep up the good work, girl!

Every single one of those characters are awesome! I’ve always wanted to meet Eowyn. Thank you so much for doing this, Joelle! I loved reading your answers; they all made me smile. OF COURSE! Thank you! *high fives*