Author S. T. SANCHEZ: Interview with Devorah Fox author of The Bewildering Adventures of King Bewilliam

Today I'd like to welcome Author Devorah Fox, finalist of Best Indie Book for 2017, to the blog. Devorah currently, what are you working on?

I just finished National Novel Writing Month 2017. I was a rebel for NaNoWriMo 2017. Instead of a novel I worked on two novellas. One is “An Ill Wind,” promised for The Fantastical Shoppe, a Fantasy anthology slated for publication late in 2018. My story is inspired by an actual event that happened as a result of the hurricane. Reliving all that may not have been the best writing experience that I ever had. I do now however feel eminently qualified to write in the post-apocalyptic genre. The other novella is “Gilda, Wrangler of the Wild West,” a Fractured Fairy Tale Suspense Western Romance with paranormal elements and a side dish of animal rights. (I think I’ve got just about every genre in there except Horror.) And, I still have novels in various stages of completion left over from 2016. I will need to be reincarnated to write everything in my Story Ideas file.

Sounds like you will be busy in 2018. Tell us a little bit about your main characters

All my characters are more or less ordinary people who, faced with an extraordinary circumstance, find hidden talents and strengths in themselves and rise to the challenge. King Bewilliam may be nobility, but he doesn’t have superpowers. And even my superhero, Lady Blackwing, starts out as a fairly typical young girl.

What is the easiest part of the writing process? What is the hardest?

I find the rewriting the easiest. I can step back from the story and deal with the mechanics of it. Writing the first draft is the hardest.

I find rewrites daunting at times. I guess it depends on how much rewriting is needed. Who designed the artwork for your cover? Or did you design it yourself?

I’ve designed most of the covers myself. I have entered them in cover contests and they’ve gotten lots of votes. I hired a designer for Lady Blackwing because I wanted it to have a certain energy that I knew she would bring to it.

What brought about the idea for your book?

For The Lost King, I was inspired by the trauma experienced by a friend who got fired and divorced on the same day. I wanted to see if I could picture a happy ending. I do feel that when we write, we bring into our reality something that exists out there in the larger multidimensional world. I hoped that by writing a happy ending, it would become a possibility. I had no idea that it would take more than one book to get the king back on his feet.

Detour was inspired by a trip that I took with my late husband. I got the idea for the story on our travels and wrote the first chapter the minute we got home.

I think its so interesting how different experiences we have can spring to life new stories. Sometimes it's just the smallest event or episode that can shape a whole novel. What was your biggest challenge when writing? Did you have any writer’s block? If so, how did you work your way through it?

I don’t write fast. That’s why I do the National Novel Writing Month marathon every year. It’s just enough pressure to meet a word count that I can’t afford to have writer’s block.

What was your writing process like?

I have all kinds of electronic devices, from a big desktop computer to a laptop to a tablet. However, for the first draft, I curl up on the couch with a ballpoint pen and a lined yellow tablet and write in longhand. In a way, it feels less like work, more haphazard, and I think that’s liberating.

I don't think I could survive doing it that way. I did it for one novel, but then it took so much time to type it back in the computer, that I won't write that way again. I think it's great that it works for you! I bet it feels more real somehow as you actually have something to hold as opposed to just a file on a computer. Is there something you learned from writing your first book?

I learned how to sharpen knives!

Devorah, in your novels, which character is your favorite?

Oh, I’m in love with all my main characters. I don’t want to leave them so I have sequels planned for nearly every title. Fortunately, readers also love the characters and ask for more stories.

Which do you find more challenging inventing the hero or the villain? Why?

They’re both challenging. Heroes can’t be all good, and villains can’t be all bad. That would make them one-dimensional and not very believable or interesting. It’s tricky to work out a flaw for the hero, and a redeeming virtue for the villain.

What is your writing process like? Do you have a routine?

I write first thing in the morning, still in my pjs, before I tackle the business of the day. I find that most of the time I never do get back to it. That hour or two of writing that I get done with my morning coffee is pretty much it. During the day I’m too distracted with work, and by evening I’m worn out.

I hear you. With three kids its hard to find time. I squeeze it in when I can, but I always seem to get more done, if I can write in the morning. Since you wrote in this genre, do you think you will ever write in other genres?

I do write in several genres. I’ve been a Mystery/Thriller reader nearly all my life so I was surprised to find myself writing Fantasy. The King Bewilliam story simply wanted to be told that way. Who am I to argue with the Muse? My Mystery/Thriller titles like Detour and The Zen Detective are more like what I tend to read.

Any last words you'd like to share with us today?

Writing is exhausting work. Add to that everything that we authors do to get readers acquainted with our titles. And yet, I can’t not do it. When my job or other demands keep me from writing I get restless and cranky.