I have a writing group of sorts. In trying to figure out what the heck I was going to do this month, LE Franks popped up with; Hey, let me write you some interview questions. So, being lazy, I said yes! What? I have to write a sex scene. I can be lazy. Sex scenes are hard. So without further ado… LE Franks’ queries from a Sunday evening of Authors Avoiding Writing.
Do we really know the people we slog with?
I do. Well, I hope I do. I think I do…because if I don’t, then I’m in real trouble.
I’m hanging out in the Slog of Eternal Stench with three of my favorite writers—one of whom is Rhys Ford, and she knows how to hide the bodies.
Just to be sure I thought I would formally interview her. I think I know the answers.
1) What is the strangest thing you’ve put in your own (or someone else’s nose)?
I actually was never a shove-things-into-orifices kid. Common sense much? My sister however shoved a stack of my one-space Legos up her nose. Two trips to the hospital because they only retrieved five the first time. I had six of the things. At the time, apparently Legos couldn’t really be X-rayed properly. Or the doctor was just dense.
2) If I read all your books, one after the other, over a long caffeine soaked weekend, what catch phrase, or theme would I notice in your writing? (I’ve done this btw).
Heh. “What’s the worst than can happen? The narrator for the Dirty Series, Greg Tremblay actually sent me a link to an outtake he did for one. I’ll see if I can grab the coding and put it here.
3) Most writers I know have always written in one form or other, from the time they were children. But there’s always that triggering moment when they decide they can write a book for publication. What was yours?
I seriously said to myself, what’s the worst that can happen? And then I got mainstream rejection letters and people I’d counted as very good friends telling e I sucked to realize Wow, I couldn’t even begin to imagine what the worst could be. But I kept going anyway. Maybe stubbornness? That innate fuck you thread of something inside of me. *throws devil horns and rawrs*
4) One of the things that I find most worrisome about you is your seeming love of all things small, furry, and cute. There must be some creature that you loathe—what is it?
People who are assholes to other people. *nods* Most vile things ever created. Seriously, that pisses me off to no end. An animal I loathe? Can’t really think of one. I even like spiders.
5) I’m resisting the urge to fangirl you right now—(I’ve readily admitted that I have a weakness for your storytelling)—but I’m genuinely curious about your writing process:
What are the first steps you take, in either plotting or planning, before you write your first word of a new book?
You are insane. What the fuck is this? Hell. Process. There is no process. Well there is but most of it includes staring at the blank page going… what the fuck should go there?
Do I plot? Yes, a small sketch of chapters including the day and time these events happen. That helps. Then I usually have scenes come to mind that I want to include. But I write in a very linear fashion. I start and then work towards the end.
Most of the time, I don’t plot or plan as much as I envision how it spools out. And that’s what I describe as I write. It’s very much a visual / sensory process.
6) What’s your favorite Monty Python skit? Can you recite it from memory?
The Dead Parrot Sketch. Pretty much so many of the phrases. Oh and various shout out lines. Like One Thin Mint! But I didn’t eat the salmon mousse! I fart in your general direction!
You can watch it up there.
7) Many of us have pen names that we use and there are an infinite number of ways and reasons behind them, but I doubt many of them reflect the names we wish we’d been born with. If you could micro-manage the ultimate do-over, what birth name do you want? What nickname?
No I’m good with my name. Really. All of them.
Maybe Zyzyck. Wouldn’t that be an AWESOME name? Heh
8) I’m making you pick a foreign made car to drive for a year. I’ll even let you give it a custom paint job. (US models made overseas don’t count. )What will you be pulling up to Starbucks in?
Ooooh, hard choice. I have very expensive foreign car tastes. *nods* Probably an Audi A9 in glossy black and blue neon. No chrome. Very hard choice. I also love Spyders. And I’d take an A8 or an Aston Martin Vantage if you have a spare.
Thanks Rhys! I’ll sleep better…
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LE Franks is an author of Gay Romance fiction, living in the SF Bay Area surrounded by inspiration; and after years of ignoring the voices in her head, she’s now giving them free rein in the form of her characters.
These days LE Franks can be found frequently writing stories about sexy men who desperately need a happily ever while wrangling an odd assortment of jobs (six—at last count), houseguests (including pro baseball players), family, and friends. Manifesting an odd combination of contradictory talents and traits, LE is tragically honest and personally deceptive, and makes a damn fine pie.
LE Franks and her occasional writing partner Sara York are finalists in the 2013 Rainbow Awards.
Also By:
Can This Be Real, MLR Press
First Last Kiss, Grand Adventures Anthology, Dream Spinner Press
6 Days to Valentine, Wilde City Press
Snow Globe, Dream Spinner Press
Prodigal Wolf, Book One, Wolves and Waves Series with Sara York, MLR Press
Facebook Link: https://www.facebook.com/LEFranksAuthor
Twitter Link: https://twitter.com/boxtersushi
Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/19565339-le-franks
Website Link: http://www.lefranks.com/
Blog: http://lefranks.wordpress.com/
E-mail: le.franks.books@gmail.com