Spotlighting my fellow writers at SHU and their works in progress.
Please Welcome Tiffany Avery!
Tiffany AveryI'm a fantasy writer. Unpublished for now, but I don't see that being the case much longer. I'm currently at Seton Hill University where I'm in the Writing Popular Fiction program. As much as I love to write and want to be published, I want to teach people who have the same passion as I do realize their dreams or at least learn that writing can be an excellent form of therapy. I've had some awesome teachers and I hope to emulate them. The MFA from Seton Hill will make that happen.
Did you always know you wanted to be a professional writer?
I knew when I was eight years old. It didn't really click until middle school when I decided to write my own book. Eighteen years later, I'm still in that first book's world.
Who or what has influenced your writing?
Everything and everyone influences my writing. I recently had a dream that spawned a number of short stories.
Dreams are the best resource! Though my dreams tend to be horror and I don't write in that genre...Maybe I should.
What is your favorite part about writing?
I like to create new worlds, but I also like the more fantastical elements to have to real life or scientific backing. When my book had vampires, their condition was due to their genetic make-up. They were dying out because their enemies created blood borne pathogens to kill them off.
Like, seriously, when can I read this?
Is there anything you must have when you sit down and write? Coffee, Music, Cookies?
Dead silence in some cases. I do pretty well at cafes and the like though if I'm not distracted by conversation.
Tell us a bit about your Thesis Novel.
Contemporary fantasy with spiritual elements. I have a man who wants to be a minister (I call them Elders) and his past is pretty colorful. He used to be a drug addict and card shark. He finds out he's the heir to some long lost books (my version of the Dead Sea Scrolls) and spends most of the first book denying that he's the heir. He doesn't think he's worthy.
Describe The Prophet's Chosen in five words or less.
Man accepts identity as is.
What sparked the idea for The Prophet's Chosen?
I read The Gunslinger (King) during undergrad and then read the Little Sister of Eluria. The short story did more to flesh out Roland than The Gunslinger, it seemed, so I figured I could do the same and see if I could learn more about my characters. It was supposed to be a short story to introduce the eighteen year old novel in progress. It was supposed to be short. Twenty pages tops. Now it's the first book in a series.
Haha Yeah. I love it when I'm going to write a short story, and end up planning an entire novel!
Treat us to a snipped of a favorite scene you've written so far.
Eli rolled to a defensive position and looked around. He'd fallen through what he mistook as a bizarre aquarium filled with quicksilver. It still looked that way, only it was a few feet above the floor. Eli hadn't remembered the drop, but as he watched, the shape his body left when he passed through it filled in and went back to its lazy movement. He felt peace flow into his mind and body while he stood up and looked around some more. The walls were painted the same shade of violet he'd seen in other temples to Naima. The smell of jasmine was the same. Being here felt familiar, like he stood in the sanctuary or chapel, but on a much smaller scale. The room looked to be eight feet in height and width and dim sunlight shone into the room from two narrow windows about the lenght and width of his forearm. Everything in the room was bizarrely familiar; he realized when he saw the furniture. A wooden writing desk and chair was to his left, so that meant an altar was to his right. He looked to his right for confirmation and got it.
I've been here before. How though? Did I come here with Elder Kingston? No. That doesn't make sense. That temple is 2500 miles away from here. This can't be the same place. Eli didn't see anything of interest on the writing desk, so he took a step toward the altar and head someone singing. It seemed to be coming from the portrait above the altar. The voice was male, tenor, and sang just loud enough for Eli to recognize the hymn. The children's choir sang it sometimes. He caught himself humming along until he really listened to the lyrics. Eli's eyes widened. The singer had changed the words.
She loves my banana.I love licking her mangoAnd her fully ripe melons.
Share with us one tip or advice about writing that has helped you a lot.
Write every day. Start a routine. Stick to it. One page a day adds up, so if you have to start that small, start that small. At least something is getting on the page.
I struggle so much with this! Even when I make a routine of it, I always end up doing a gazillion things before sitting down to write.
Thanks for stopping by Tiffany!
