- Does writing energize or exhaust you?
It can, depends on what and where and when I am writing.
- What is your writing Kryptonite?
Crown Royal, a good Martini or constant interruptions…
- Did you ever consider writing under a pseudonym?
No
- What other authors are you friends with, and how do they help you become a better writer?
Too many to mention, but, we all feed into each other. Read each other’s work and give constructive criticism when and where needed.
- Do you want each book to stand alone, or are you trying to build a body of work with connections between each book?
Excellent question. Whereas I try to make each book readable on it’s own, I do incorporate characters and elements from prior novels in each book unless it is truly a stand alone story.
- What was the best money you ever spent as a writer?
Editors
- What was an early experience where you learned that language had power?
11th grade, Drama class…we did an impromptu ad-lib skit
- What’s your favorite under-appreciated novel?
‘Still Waters’
- As a writer, what would you choose as your mascot/avatar/spirit animal?
Horse
- How many unpublished and half-finished books do you have?
None anymore
- What does literary success look like to you?
Folks reading and enjoying my stories. Getting rich from writing is a pipe-dream, one of which I have never fed into.
- What kind of research do you do, and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book?
Long hours of research if it is warranted for the story. So, I guess that would depend. I have researched for months, and I have researched for only a couple hours.
- How many hours a day/week do you write?
12-15
- How do you select the names of your characters?
Yet another good question. I find names popular or prominent in the old west, and then remember that almost everyone on the outlaw trail had a nick-name. Hit and miss, I reckon.
- What was your hardest scene to write?
The death of Bobby Malloy in ‘The Rights of Men’.
- Why did you choose to write in your particular field or genre? If you write more than one, how do you balance them?
Expertise in the field. Know what you write and write what you know.
- How long have you been writing?
10 years
- What inspires you?
Just about everything.
- How do you find or make time to write?
Along with running a small publishing company and preparing for a weekly radio show, it’s my job.
- What projects are you working on at the present?
The building of an artificial leg that works like a normal leg in 1876.
- What do your plans for future projects include?
Vacation
- Share a link to your author website.
Mandy Eve-Barnett's Blog for Readers & Writers 