- Does writing energize or exhaust you?
Writing is one activity which energizes me. The process of creating characters and the stories in which they interact is an exercise for my imagination.
- What is your writing Kryptonite?
Editing is my Kryptonite because as much as I want to start reviewing the characters motivations and the grammar, giving in to the urge in the early stages of my writing process stifles the creativity and overall potential of the final product.
- Did you ever consider writing under a pseudonym?
Yes I have considered writing under a pseudonym but as I write in the YA and nonfiction genres, I didn’t feel a need to have distance or different identity, or anonymity associated between myself and my work.
- Do you want each book to stand alone, or are you trying to build a body of work with connections between each book?
As I experience a disability, it was important that my books always have a character experiencing a disability in them. The disabled characters can be secondary characters but must not represent incorrect disability beliefs and stereotypes.
- What was the best money you ever spent as a writer?
The best money I have spent as a writer has been for any books or classes in which have helped me to build my writer’s skill toolkit. There are so many facets to the success of creating and marketing as a writer, that any money spent learning is returned with each completed project.
- How many unpublished and half-finished books do you have?
I currently have one book in which I’m finish the third draft, two which are finished the first draft, one children’s picture book and one YA sequel which are waiting to be written.
- What does literary success look like to you?
Literary success for myself is when I receive reader feedback about how my books have affected them. While it would be wonderful to be on bestseller lists and be financially sustained from writing only, realistically if I have enough success to continue to write and publish books which find audiences, that is success to me.
- What kind of research do you do, and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book?
Research is a part of the writing process which I complete at the beginning, during and also when my manuscript is completed. In order to build realistic characters and circumstances in which they negotiate, it is important for me to construct a realistic world. That said, I am working on a science fiction book right now and so while the characters are moving around in the real world, human anatomy, ethics, energy and time are areas which need exploring. As much of the one character comes from the future and the mission needed to be completed to save humanity from their own extinction, as much as I can base the fictitious elements from reality should help build legitimacy for my readers.
- How many hours a day/week do you write?
The time I spend greatly varies but I am for an hour and a half a week editing and three hours writing or working on activities to grow the manuscript content.
- How do you select the names of your characters?
Sometimes I will hear a name that I really like but usually I look on baby name websites for the names and origins to see if they fit with my characters.
- Why did you choose to write in your particular field or genre? If you write more than one, how do you balance them?
The genres in which I write are Young Adult, Memoir, and Plays. Usually my writing projects become the one in which draws me to write. I chose YA because I wanted to write the books I was searching for when I was the age of the audience. Memoir was because I had read several and found I had something I wanted to share that was the truth as I remember it. Plays are because I love theatre and found limited opportunities for persons experiencing a disability to act or have a voice in the theatre community. When in the creation process, the genre in which the story can best be told balances which area I write and work in. As for balance, the project which I am most eager and energized to write is the one I select.
- How long have you been writing?
I started writing poetry, lyrics and screen plays when I was in my teens. Writing manuscripts with the intention of publishing has been only in the past few years. I still consider myself as an emerging writer as I fell there is so much for me learning to be a lifelong experience.
- What inspires you?
Life is my inspiration. Sounds weird but being in the world and interacting with people provides me sparks of interest which act as a jumping board for creation of my stories and characters.
- How do you find or make time to write?
Just like with most activities, I have to schedule in the time to write to ensure that there is a space and time where I’m able to do so.
- What projects are you working on at the present?
In the draft stages of my sci-fi book.
- What do your plans for future projects include?
My future plans include brainstorming and writing the next children’s picture book in my friends and family series.
- Share a link to your author website.
https://www.facebook.com/alisonneuman.ca/
https://twitter.com/crossingts
Bio
Alison Neuman lives in Alberta, Canada, where she works as a freelance writer. Her debut novel Ice Rose: A Young Adult Spy Novel, a YA book integrating her love of gadgetry with the broad imaginative license afforded by the secret agent genre, features a female protagonist in a wheelchair and was published in 2010 by Fireside Publications.
Alison’s work has appeared in MacEwan Today, Westword, and the Edmonton Journal, and on three tracks of the CD release, Outside the Window.
Alison was honoured in 2011 for her human rights work in advocating for the rights of persons experiencing disabilities and in 2013 she won the Glenrose Courage Award. One of her greatest achievements was the founding of Camp Mission Access, an integrative camp for children from all walks of life—both with and without disabilities. Her memoir, Searching for Normal, was released in 2013, and a musical of the same debuted in the Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival in 2014. Don’t Eat Family and Help From Friends, in her children’s Friends and Family series were published through Dream Write Publications.
Her play, The Sunset Syndrome was selected for Walterdale Theatre’s 2016 “From Cradle to Stage New Works Festival” and produced in the Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival in 2017. Don’t Eat Family and Help From Friends, in her children’s Friends and Family series were published through Dream Write Publishing.
Alison is currently working towards her Master of Arts in Integrated Studies through Athabasca University.
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