Confessions of a Writer, Part 5

To celebrate next year’s release of my first science fiction novel, The Curiosity Killers, I will be posting my responses to the Confessions of a Writer Tag survey (http://nicoletteelie.com/2015/10/02/the-confessions-of-a-writertag), with a few responses to each of the twenty questions parsed out over October and November interspersed with other news and events.

1. What are your favorite writing sites or blogs that you turn to for help, tips or encouragement?

I usually turn to books on the craft of writing for those things. Some of my favorites I’ve gone to multiple times include Plot vs. Character, by Jeff Gerke, and Architectures of Possibility, by Lance Olsen. Both books are useful for very different things. Gerke’s book is helpful for constructing plot for fairly straightforward, mainstream work aimed at a popular audience or genre. I’ve gone to some of his charts, graphs, and plotting methods time and again to outline both stories and novels. Olsen’s book is wonderful for idea generation, with lots of fun exercises at the end of each chapter. It’s also great for entirely different fiction than the kind Gerke guides one toward writing; Olsen inspires me to try crazy, experimental stuff that I can make great use of in short stories, especially.

2. Besides writing, what else do you enjoy doing? What are your hobbies?

I love to read, which I think is a pre-requisite for being a competent writer, but I also love film and television and especially devour anything in the SF/F/H areas. I’m a huge podcast nerd and love finding new ones to listen to on my commute. I also jog extremely slowly and enjoy losing to my friends and family at board games. A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, I was a musician, and even though I don’t play anymore, I still have a great affinity for music.

3. What is the best book you’ve read this year?

I was still finishing up both my MFA and a graduate certificate in instructional design this year, and as a result much of what I had time to read all the way through were textbooks on writing, teaching, technology, and e-learning. But I managed to sneakily read the first few books in Blake Crouch’s Wayward Pines series and absolutely adored the first book, Pines, for its pacing and suspense. I just finished Paula Hawkins’ The Girl on the Train and thought it was quite good. I’m currently reading J.L. Gribble’s Steel Victory and listening to Shelley Adina’s Lady of Devices on audiobook, both of which are wonderful so far and speak to the types of genre fiction I tend to enjoy the most.

4. What is the best movie you’ve seen this year?

I started hearing good things about The Gift as a strange little sleeper hit and was really glad I made it a point to not read any reviews before seeing it. I loved Joel Edgerton’s use of atmosphere and place. Thrillers with beautiful cinematography are worth repeat viewings to catch extra nuances each time.

5. What is your favorite book or series of all time?

In adulthood, my favorite is definitely Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files, despite the fact that I got busy around the time book 12 came out and haven’t had a chance to get back to it. In childhood, my favorite series was the Wrinkle in Time books by Madeleine L’Engle. My favorite standalone novel is Octavia Butler’s Kindred. I owe a lot to Butler in examining time travel fiction for paradoxes and structure and seamless integration of historical narratives, which I then put to good use in The Curiosity Killers.