When Steve first opened up his blog to guest hijackers, I figured it would be fun. Then I started thinking about what I was going to write. I don't blog well. I express my opinion. Often. But not in long blog posts. I save my creativity for my stories. Which got me thinking about questions, and how they get under my skin in some cases.
At some point in their careers, most writers get asked,”Where do you get your ideas?” And quite a few get annoyed at it. After all, where do most creative people get their ideas? From the world around, of course. Be it a strange cloud shape over the mountains, a misunderstood snippet of conversation, an odd what-if question, or even reading stories from other writers. This question doesn't bother me nearly as much as the “why do you write” question.
My first answer? “So I won't kill you.” That response makes people very uneasy. Some will move away, never turning their back on me, while others just laugh nervously, trying to figure out if I'm joking or not. The funny responses though, are those who actually get offended. “Why would you want to kill me?”
Um, because I can and won't go to jail. Seems obvious to me.
My second answer, if I can turn on my internal filter fast enough and keep the first choice from jumping out unsupervised, is to turn the question back on them. That's usually enough to make their next question, “What do you write?” That one, I don't mind so much. More on that in a bit.
Of course, then there's the ever annoying, “Will you write a story about me?” or “Can I be a character in your next story?” Um, no. I have no intention of purposely opening myself up for a libel lawsuit. No matter how I create the character, “you” will be pissed off at me because I didn't write about you how you really are. And chances are, I did capture the real “you” which is why you're pissed off at me. This is why books have disclaimers at the beginning stating that characters in the book are fictitious and any resemblance to anyone, living or dead, is coincidental. Or something to that effect.
Now, what do I write? A little of everything. I write whatever falls out of my brain onto the paper. Most of my work tends toward dark fantasy, horror and cracked fairy tales, but I don't limit myself to genres. Right now, I'm working on the sequel to my first novel, two novellas, and several short stories. I even have a children's story taking shape. (No, it's not horror.) All while I'm finishing up the final edits on an anthology titled, “Live and Let Undead” from Twisted Library Press, starting final edits on an anthology titled, “The Wickeds” from Horror Addicts and awaiting submissions for another anthology tentatively titled, “Tabernus Libri” from The Colorado Springs Fiction Writers Group. That title may change though – we'll see.
I'm also a founding member of The Colorado Springs Fiction Writers Group and a member of the Wicked Women Writers. Speaking of which, the 2011 Wicked Women Writers contest is live and I have a story entered. Have you listened and voted yet? Voters have a chance to win prizes from all the ladies entered. Go to http://wickedwomenwriters.wordpress.com/2011/07/08/wicked-women-writers-challenge-is-on/ to listen and vote for your favorite story. Ten tales from ten wicked women!When I'm not writing, I'm at the park with the dogs or going on long drives through the mountains of Colorado finding inspiration for new stories. I like to paint, though I'm not very good, and I like quilting. I'm better at that. However, no matter what I'm doing, paper and some sort of writing instrument are always with me just waiting for ideas to fall out of my brain. I have even been known to write on napkins if I have to.
If you want to know more about me, visit my website at www.holliesnider.com or my member page on www.csfwg.org. I can also be found on Twitter as hollie_snider and on Facebook. I will be at AnthoCon 2011 too. www.anthocon.com If you make it to the Con, stop by and say, “Hi.” Just don't ask me why I write – I may have to kill you.
Hollie Snider is the Executive Editor for Hidden Thought Press (www.hiddenthoughtpress.com and hiddenthoughtpress.lefora.com). She is a founding member of The Colorado Springs Fiction Writers Group and a member of the Wicked Women Writers. She is a full time writer and editor, spending her days making stuff up. She is often described as odd, or off her rocker, and she's good with that.
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