Being Susan...: My Writing Process---Blog Tour

Today is Blog Tour Day. This blog tour is where writers and authors (not entirely sure what the difference is) answer questions about their writing process. Katie Hayoz invited me to be part of this tour, and we've had lots of social media bonding and festive fun giveaways together despite having never met. She's the author of Untethered, a popcorn connoisseur and a young adult novel enthusiast. Her book and blog are a must read, and she shared her writing process here last week:

Katie's Blog

Enter if you dare into the writing process of Susan Fodor....

What am I working on?

I am drowning in the process of writing Submerge, the sequel to my debut novel Silver Tides.

How does my work differ from others of its genre?

It's hard to answer this question without sounding like a pretentious git, and/or alienating other authors who are striving to be unique too. So, I'm going to be honest and say there are elements of Submerge that are similar to other urban fantasy novels, and aspects that are different.

The Silver Tides series (for me) is about how inner character develops, and is tested by circumstances and relationships. How much can an individual endure before they stop being themselves?

To use an analogy, rocks under great heat and pressure become diamonds, will my characters fare as well?

Why do I write what I do?

The short answer is: I wanted to make the world right, at least on the page. I wanted to write about a character who felt as scared and confused and un-actualized as I did when I was a teenager. There are these amazing YA books with compelling kick-ass heroines, but I was never like that. It's great to aspire to be those characters, but I wanted to write about average girls, being extraordinary in their normality.

Mya is my tribute to good girls who rarely get a voice in YA fiction. She's the girl who does the right thing because it's right, even if it's uncomfortable. If she had a super power it would be kindness, which seems to be in short supply in the real world at times.

How does your writing process work?

I'm still not sure if it works, but I'm a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kinda girl. So my first draft will take from 6-8 weeks. Then the pain begins.

I did nine drafts of Silver Tides, significantly rewriting it in the process. My friends, beta-readers and editors all read it, and I did significant re-writes all along the way. I love the story like a child, and I don't ever want to send it into the world under-prepared.

NEXT ON THE BLOG TOUR: 24 FEBRUARY 2014

Kory M. Shrum

Kory M. Shrum lives in Michigan with her partner and a ferocious guard pug. When not writing, she can be found teaching, traveling, and wearing a gi. Her poetry has appeared in North American Review, Bateau and numerous other journals. Her first novel Dying for a Living will be available March 4, 2014.

Kory's Blog