31 Days of Author Madness: Angela B.M. Guajardo

March 2, 2018

The Fiver

1. What is your writing process?

Oh, goodness. Brainstorm, write notes in tiny, scratchy handwriting that grows progressively smaller as ideas pop up faster and faster. Then there’s a point where I have to yell at one cat or another to stop chewing on the spiral binding, or stop trying to eat my pen. After that, I organize my ideas into a chapter-by-chapter and start writing the story itself. Lots of interruptions with Township, Diply, and whatnot are involved but I like seeing the panic in my characters’ eyes when I leave them stuck in one scene or another, wondering when I’ll write them out of their latest predicaments.

2. What inspires you to write?

This is tough to answer. It delves into dark corners of my mind that I prefer to hide from the world. Inspiration comes and goes but it all comes down to me in the end. I don’t have some sappy story that moves me to put pen to paper every day, or something like that. Writing is my calling. Sometimes I embrace my calling, sometimes I don’t, sadly.

3. Writing is considered a dream job by many, but what if you were granted the opportunity for a true, magical ‘dream job’. What would it be and why?

Well, I’m lucky to already be writing full time–not fantasy books, but writing all sorts of things for a company, along with some sports journalism on the side. As far as some alternate dream job? Definitely professional gamer. Who wouldn’t love to be a gnome day after day, slinging fireball, turning orcs into sheep, and getting punted like a football on occasion? Oh, and cliffs. I seem to manage to always find a cliff to fall off of.

4. You are standing on a stage, addressing a high school auditorium of teenage creative writers. What advice would you impart to them about the craft and the career path of being a writer?

Put on deodorant! No, uh, sorry, couldn’t resist the Fluffy joke. I don’t think I’d have any original advice. Keep reading, keep writing, never stop loving the craft, and don’t give away your hard work for free on Amazon. Too many authors are creating a culture where readers are expecting books for free. Don’t devalue yourself like that.