It's a pleasure to have Nicole Pyles with us today. A special thanks to her for her great answers. I especially enjoyed the advice she gives for other writers.
Brief Bio:
Nicole Pyles grew up in the Bay Area of
California and now lives in
Portland, Oregon.
She has her Bachelor’s Degree in Communication and still hopes to be a
published author when she grows up. Over at her
blog, she writes about her
journey to achieve her dream of publication and hopes to encourage other
writers to continue pursuing their dreams.
1.)
What made
you want to be a writer?
For me, it wasn’t one
particular person or even book, but it started when I was young and my love of
books and telling stories just grew. I was writing stories as young as
Kindergarten! I remember the first full stories I finished was about 50 pages
handwritten called, “A Light Burns at Midnight.” For me, I think it was the power of telling
stories that inspired me to continue on with pursuing that dream.
2.)
How long
have you been seriously pursuing a career in writing?
I’ve been writing and
pursuing being published for a very long time. For the past several years I’ve
been working on and submitting various short stories, although since graduating
from college this past June, I have been able to give it a lot more of my
attention.
3.)
If you had
to choose three words to describe your writing nook/office, what would they be?
Oh wow, I wish I had
my own nook! Mostly I write on the couch in the living room or my bedroom. So,
I’ll describe my bedroom in three words instead…colorful, peaceful, and
treetops (I live at the top of a very large hill where I can see right across
the valley, so that just matches my view completely!)
4.)
Where do you
draw most of your inspiration from?
5.)
Give us a
one sentence pitch for your first novel.
6.) What are some of the projects that you are currently working on
completing?
My goal right now is
to finish my first novel by the end of March and I really feel like that goal
will happen for me. Aside from there, I’m working on a couple short stories –
one of which has been submitted to a few magazines, another is still in draft
form.
7.) What are some of your recent publications?
I haven’t been
officially published yet! But, I do post some of my own video poetry on YouTube
which you can check out
here.
8.) Are you an outliner or a seat-of-your-pantser?
9.) If you could only own one book, what would it be? Why?
10.) Favorite childhood book/books?
11.) If you could meet any author, living or dead, who would it be?
Why?
12.) If you could meet one character in a book, who would it be? Why?
13.) Where do you hope to be as a writer in five years?
I hate to say published, because so much of that is depending upon a
lot of different factors. So, instead of saying that, I will say that I hope to
have a finished manuscript and be done with my current fantasy novel. I also
want to have another novel outlined and started.
14.) Favorite quote/personal motto:
15.) If you could give any advice to other writers, what would it be?
Confidence can do so much for you. Believe in yourself first – never be
your worst critic, because there are too many people out there who are willing
to wait in line to tell you how crappy you are. So, don’t be in that line. Be
in the line of people telling you how awesome you are and to never quit.
