By day, Rivka Spicer works in an administrative
role for the police. At other times, she
is the bestselling author of paranormal
and paranormal romance, with a smattering of romantic comedy and young adult
novels. For most people, having two jobs
would be enough to keep them out of mischief.
But not Rivka. She is also a
jeweller and textile artist. Self-confessed
jellybean addict, I can only conclude that these sugar candies stimulate her
creativity and allow her to cram more hours into 24 hours than the rest of us.
A good night’s sleep. I can’t seem to switch my brain off – it’s
always fizzing with new ideas or plotting out what the characters in my current
WIP are doing. If I didn’t write, my head would get too crowded.
How did you teach yourself to write?
By reading. Voraciously. The more you read, the better sense you
have of what makes a solid construct for a story. It helps that I started
writing young, too. I made most of my really awful mistakes in my teens and
then went on hiatus, but I didn’t stop reading in that time. When I came back
to it, I’d grown and I could see the mistakes I’d made for what they were.
What do you consider are the hardest parts of the craft to learn?
Editing, without a doubt. Even as an experienced author I
sometimes struggle with it because the writing process is such an all-consuming
thing. Forcing yourself to admit that something you’ve spent days or even weeks
writing doesn’t work and then deleting it from the narrative can be quite
heart-breaking, even though it’s necessary.
What is the appeal of writing paranormal romance?
I’m kind of fascinated by the concept of love. It’s so wild and
unpredictable and yet romance novels have an almost standard formula, certain
rules or tropes that you have to at least make a nod to when writing. The joy
of writing paranormal romance is that it puts mental elastic into that frame,
making it less rigid and more open to interpretation. You can change the rules.
The paranormal element also makes love more extreme. When you’re talking about
the undead or the afterlife, death is very present in every scene. It throws
the living emotions into vibrant highlight; the characters love more intensely.
Writing romance for me is about the exploration of the human condition as much
as it is about the story, something that you yourself do well!
You have a civilian day job with
the police. How, at all, does this
affect what and how you write?
My initial gut response to this question was “not much”. I won’t
write a crime novel until I leave the Police, partly because no-one would
believe half the stuff I write in it (the truth is ALWAYS stranger than
fiction) and partly because I wouldn’t want anyone I work with to be concerned
that the characters are based on them in any way. I don’t think that’s fair to
my colleagues. That said, I deal with some of the most interesting and yet
saddest cases that we get. Coming to terms with that emotionally is a valuable
skill. If you can assess yourself, you can construct more realistic characters.
Is there an overlap of skills in
making jewellery and textiles, and writing?
I don’t think so. They tap different aspects of my creativity.
That said, I do think that writing has taught me resilience. I used to only do
small textile projects that I could finish in a single day. Now I’m not afraid
to spend a month working on a huge textile project. What’s a single month when
I’ve just spent 5 of them writing one book?
You do your own editing.
What is your approach to this?
Editing for me is very intuitive. My first act is to send the
document to my kindle and read it end to end like a reader would, making notes
of any section that seems rushed or overly long. I’ll also note at this point
anything that seems superfluous to the plot, like a scene or a character that
doesn’t go anywhere. I’ll fix everything I’ve made notes on and then send the
amended copy to my kindle and read it again. Lather, rinse, repeat until
desired effect is achieved! Then I’ll send it off to my beta readers and wait
for their feedback. If they suggest changes, I’ll think them over and then
rewrite what needs to be rewritten. After that I’ll go through it all again at
least twice for copy edits (spelling and grammar) and then it’s done.
It’s worth noting here that I plan books a long way in advance of
writing them, so structurally there isn’t usually much to change because I’ve
been going over the story looking for weaknesses for about six months before
the first word is ever drafted.
You also self-publish your books. What made you start doing this and are there any disadvantages to it?
You also self-publish your books. What made you start doing this and are there any disadvantages to it?
I started this way purely for expedience. At the time I was
working shifts and I had all these finished or semi-finished novels on my
computer and I just wanted to get the stories out there. I didn’t have time to
go through the query process, researching agents and editors and drafting
letters and synopses in all the hundreds of different ways they wanted them. At
that time I was chatting online to an author who went on to become incredibly
successful (she’s now an NYT bestseller with an extended 6 book deal with
HarperCollins). She urged me to go for it, so I did.
As far as disadvantages go, you have to know how to market
yourself with originality and innovation. There are so many indie and
self-pubbed authors out there now that you’re trying to get noticed in a very
large crowd and you can’t shout the same things as everyone else. I’m lucky
that I don’t have the costs of other authors. Many will put thousands into
their novels without a hope of ever getting a return of that magnitude. It’s a
slow building business too. I haven’t looked at the stats recently but even in
the early days the average number of books to your name before you were earning
enough to make a living was 18.
Which book are you most pleased
with so far, and why?
The one I’ve just finished writing (it’s currently with my beta
readers). It was a change of pace for me. I’ve never written historical before
so I had to learn how to research meticulously. It brought me a lot of firsts.
I made friends from cold calling companies to ask random technical questions
and I learned how to write across time periods three hundred years apart. I
learned more about the history of the country I live in, which has let me look
at it through new eyes. I also have a deep emotional connection to this story –
it’s loosely based on events that happened in my family tree and genealogy is a
love I gained from this book that will be with me for many years. My beta readers tell me that connection is
obvious in the way that it’s written.
What has been your highest moment
writing-wise?
Not so much writing wise but publishing wise was waking up one
Monday morning in August 2012 to discover that my book, Summer Loving, had been
downloaded twenty thousand times over the space of a weekend. I thought there
had been some mistake, but they assured me it was not so! It was part of a free
promotion I’d been running but I hadn’t expected numbers like that. It was
surreal and terrifying and exhilarating all at once! Shortly after that,
messages began flooding in from women all over the world with amazing and
heart-warming stories. It was an incredible time for me.
What advice would you give to a
struggling beginning writer?
Don’t be afraid to ask those of us who have been around the block
a few times for some advice. In general, the author community is full of
lovely, kind and helpful people. I’ve never been turned away when I’ve asked
another author for assistance. We all started somewhere and we’re all still
paying it forward.
And read. Never stop reading. Read all the time you’re not writing.
What are you working on at the moment?
At the moment I’m editing my historical novel, but I’m also twenty
thousand words into the third book of my YA trilogy so that’s going to be the
next big project.
What are your future writing
plans?
I now have two books to come out (I’m waiting to hear back from
agents about them) so that’s in the immediate future. In terms of months, I
hope to have the book I’m writing finished by the end of July and published by
September. After that I have plans to follow up Summer Loving by finishing a
book that’s been kicking around on my hard drive for more than two years. Plans
change though. I write what I’m in the mood for!
I’m also working on The Writing Process Project, where I’ve been
vlogging (video blogging) about writing a book from concept to publication.
Unfortunately that book, Original Sin, derailed slightly plotwise so I’ll be
thinking that over and adding chapters as well as vlogs, as and when I have the
time.
How can readers connect with you?
So many ways!
You can post discussions at the bottom of my author page on Amazon
- http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rivka-Spicer/e/B008LBEV7S/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1
I pick up most of these at least twice a week, if not more.
Thank you, Rivka, and good luck with your future writing projects.
Thank you, Rivka, and good luck with your future writing projects.
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