Sarah Sutton – YA Romance Author Interview

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What compelled you to tell the story/stories in your most recent book? (And specifically, why this genre?)

I’ve always loved the YA level of writing for the beauty of firsts. First loves, first kisses—first experiences are just so fun to write. Capturing the depth of a teenage mindset is so fun, because teens feel things so deeply. Everything is the end of the world or it’s the best day ever, and I love writing those moments. I’ve always been such a big fan of contemporary romance, either in books or fun rom-com movies, so whenever an idea pops into my head, I have to write it. It makes my heart truly happy.

What obstacles—either inner or outer—did you encounter while writing the book?

As far as inner obstacles, it was hard to nail the personality of my main character for this book. I couldn’t figure out how to blend her bitterness together with more positive traits to make a well-rounded character at first. This was also my first holiday romance, so that was also daunting. With holiday romances comes a shorter promotional period—no one’s going to want to read a Halloween romance in January, so knowing that this had a small promotional life was a bit scary too. But that didn’t stop my desire to get this baby out there—I just had to tell this story!

How has writing your most recent book changed or added value to your life?

It’s taught me that writing from my heart is the most important thing for me. Like I mentioned above, holiday romances do have a short promotional life. Like a vintage convertible, you wouldn’t drive it in the winter. But it’s something that brings you joy, right? This book is like my convertible. I’ll have it out for a few months and pull it out again next year. And that’s great. Sometimes it’s easy to get lost in the marketing and numbers of it all, the “Will this sell, will I make a huge profit, is it even worth it” kind of mindset. But publishing IF THE BROOM FITS has reminded me that this is about the writing and the passion in the writing. It’s made me so much more excited for the stories to come.

Did you self-publish or did you go the traditional route? Why did you choose the route you chose, and what was that process like?

Initially, I’d chosen to traditional publish. Or, I had plans to traditionally publish. After a year and no offers, I felt discouraged. I give HUGE props to authors who can keep chugging along—I’m rooting for them from the sidelines! However, once I realized that I didn’t want to continue the query process, that only left one decision, right? Self-publishing. I remember freaking out. “I can’t self-publish,” I’d thought to myself. “I wouldn’t do it well.” And at the time, I was right. I knew nothing about self-publishing. So, to do it justice and to do it right, I threw myself into research about marketing and promotions and all things indie publishing. Honestly, looking back, I know absolutely that this was the route intended for me. All of the creative control, all of the freedom of deadlines—I love every single bit of it.

Are you friends with other writers? If so, how do they influence your writing?

I’m friends with other writers online, but none in my physical life. Those writing friends online have been absolute lifesavers, though. I host writing sprints on my YouTube channel every Sunday and Thursday, and my writing friends show up and we support each other, encourage each other. I have a few friends online as well who I go to with questions and they help me brainstorm. They help me push forward, cheer me on. I even have a few friends who help me proofread and beta read when those times come. I wouldn’t be anywhere without them!  

Do you maintain a regular writing practice? If so, what does it look like? If not, how do you stay engaged in your writing projects?

Yes and no. As I mentioned, I host writing sprints on my YouTube channel, so there I’m typically writing. I really get most of my best writing done at night, so I try to tune into my work-in-progress every night and get some done. I’m a single girl in my twenties, though. No kids, no other commitments, so I have a lot of free time on my hands, so I’m fortunate enough to choose when I write. I can write at night, in the morning, after lunch—whenever. So it’s not always a “regular writing practice” really. I suppose my regular practice would just be to write every day.

How many other books or stories do you have in progress right now?

I have two projects in the works at the moment—one is the beginning of the drafting stage and one is off with my copy editor. I don’t always work on multiple projects at the same time, but I’m liking the busyness of that practice. It keeps my mind constantly engaged!

Do you view writing as a spiritual practice?

Honestly, I never have before! To me, it’s like kicking back and unwinding. It’s like turning on your favorite movie and snuggling under a bundle of covers. It’s something that makes my soul just feel so happy. 🙂

What would your life look like if you didn’t write?

Oh, gosh, I don’t know! I’ve thought about that a time or two, what might my life be like without writing. Where would I be now? What career path would I have chosen for myself? And honestly, I have no clue. I’m not sure if I’d be in college pursuing a degree or jumping straight into the work force. I think because I’ve been a writer since a very young age—elementary school young!—that it’s so engrained in who I am. I can’t even imagine doing anything different!

Why do you write?

To be honest, I’ve been staring at this question for longer than I should’ve been haha! I suppose I write to liberate my mind. To spill forth the thoughts and murmurings that gather in my head and to see the story come to life on paper (or on Word doc). Because I see these characters, these stories, so clearly and vividly in my head that it’s almost like I’m watching a movie myself. To write them down is fun, but to edit the manuscript and watch the story evolve further is such a rush of joy. And to look at that finished product, to hold it in my hands? There’s nothing like it. There’s nothing like looking at an idea that broke free from your imagination. But I suppose I don’t write dreaming of the end product. I suppose I write because to not write is to surrender to insanity, and though I may be on the cusp of it sometimes—like when a deadline looms and I’m rushing to finish, or when I’ve got so many ideas in my head that it feels like my brain is about to burst—but I’m not quite ready to give into it fully yet. 😉 


Sarah Sutton is a self-published YA Contemporary Romance author from a tiny town in Michigan. She spends her days writing stories about teens falling in love with her two adorable puppies by her side being cheerleaders (and major distractions) or she’s probably taking a nap.

How Understanding the Solar Plexus Chakra Can Improve Your Writing

Photo by Kourosh Qaffari from Pexels

A common expectation from readers is that we show them the development of our characters. Readers want to see characters learn and change. They want to see witness the transformation.

This applies to fictional characters in novels and screenplays, and it applies to real-life characters in memoir. In the case of the non-fiction book in the self-help/how-to category, it also applies to the readers themselves – your Ideal Readers – who may consider buying your book because they want to see a change in their own lives. They want to be the one who’s transformed.

A common method for creating this expected arc is to create plot points that put characters in situations that will challenge their modes of operation, create friction, and require new decisions to surpass the obstacle and reach their desires.

When we embrace the elements of the third – the Solar Plexus – chakra, we can begin to look at our characters, our people, in a more complex way. We can use the awareness our characters gained about themselves in relation to others through the lens of the second – Sacral chakra – and begin to think about how they behave and act (or don’t) in the world.

The Solar Plexus chakra is where self-awareness comes from, which informs a character’s sense of agency in the world, their ability to take bold action to realize their dream or desire. No matter the kind of book you want to write, your people’s sense of agency is what drives everything. It’s what shapes the story and, in turn, the plot points in many storytelling scenarios.

If you’re telling a fictional or real-life story your readers want to experience the journey of becoming right alongside your protagonist. If you’re writing a self-help/how-to book, your reader wants to experience that sense of becoming firsthand by living it.

As writers of stories (in fiction and memoir) or inspiration and instruction (in self-help/how-to non-fiction), we need to be able to discern what we know about our people and what they know about themselves, and we need to be able to impart those differences to our readers.

What do your characters know about themselves, and what do you know about them? Does your protagonist or Ideal Reader have a full or depleted sense of agency? That is, does she/he take action or just let life happen? When and in what ways does your protagonist take action or recede?


Please leave a comment below. I’d love to know what you discover.

Planning for the magic: don’t wait for inspiration to write your book!

Conjuring Clarity

I meet SO many people who want to write a book, and as I always say during my talks about writing and in my own writing, when we have the impulse to write a book, or to undertake any creative endeavor, it’s our life force wanting to breathe, expand, and express itself. This is how we thrive.

To stifle it and hold it inside, I believe, harms us. It affects our mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual health, which, in turn, affects those around us.

Can you imagine a world where people have the time and space to creatively express themselves? I can… that’s why I’m so passionate about helping people write.

I use the word “magic” a lot when I talk and write about the writing process. The magic doesn’t just happen, though… we have to create the space to allow it to happen. The magic happens AFTER we start getting words on the page.

After working with private clients for awhile now, I’ve discovered that there are some steps we need to address before the work can begin.

The first two are planning and scheduling. 

Planning is taking a big, broad, comprehensive look at our lives and anticipating what might interfere with our progress. In my Conjuring Clarity course, we project and imagine blocks and obstacles BEFORE they happen, and we create solutions to head them off at the pass. Sometimes this requires changing habits and negotiating – even letting go of – behaviors that have become unwittingly routine but do nothing to help us achieve our goal.

Scheduling is simply the act of carving out the time and putting it on a calendar. This may seem like a no-brainer, but there’s an art to calendaring, and I’m always working to refine my approach. In Conjuring Clarity we also talk about which kind of scheduling and calendaring are best for you (digital, analog, or a combination of both) and how to find a system the will actually help you accomplish your goals.

I use both digital and analog calendaring.
  • Google Calendar for ALL my appointments and meetings – even those with myself (because I look at it every day, and it sends me reminders and syncs with my phone)
  • An analog planner for a monthly and weekly breakdown of my appointments (because I can write notes to myself there, and when I write something by hand, I remember it – science has proven this again and again)
  • A digital list-making system for detailed daily planning – Notes or Stickies apps – both are free and sync with my phone (because I organize my days in two-hour chunks of time, and these give me an unlimited amount of space for this)

Honestly, I get giddy when I get a new planner – filling up all that empty space with possibilities fuels my urge to bring my ideas to fruition and almost always guarantees I’ll follow through. (It’s also a fun, relaxing task I can do while I watch TV.) I love breaking my big-picture visions down into manageable steps and tasks. And in the first two modules of Conjuring Clarity, this is exactly what we do.

With this in mind, I have a few planners I want to recommend* because as we get closer to 2020, I’m guessing many of you will be setting intentions to start and/or complete projects that matter to you.


 

Good Busy Planner offers weekly, monthly, and quarterly
layouts for different views of your goals. There’s also space to discover and assess goals, as well as a really cool mind map
type system for creating action plans.

 

 

Passion Planner made its debut in 2012 when Angelia Trinidad finished grad school and had no idea how to move on to the next phase of life. Passion Planner was her remedy, and it’s evolved into a phenomenon and a community. It has a simple, polished aesthetic and comes in a variety of sizes and colors, both dated and undated. It’s packed with pages and spaces to envision and dream, plan, reflect, and distill tasks. Learn more about the Passion Planner movement here.

 

This Bullet Dot Journal by Vivid Scribbles is excellent for creatives who prefer a list-making approach to planning and scheduling with an artistic flair. If you like journaling and doodling, this is likely a good one for you.

 

 

And here’s the one I bought… by Frasukis. The price was right, and I like its simplicity, its generous two-page monthly and yearly layouts, and its blank pages in the back for my manic note taking. Its ample yet thin. And its blue. 🙂

 

 


*I receive no discount, kickback, or benefit by recommending these planners.

Let’s allow the magic to happen.

What and how are you planning for 2020?

I’m sending you mad writing mojo…Happy writing,

Johnnie
XXXX

Fill-in-the-Blank Flash Fiction Friday – December 28

Here’s your Fill-in-the-Blank Flash Fiction Friday* opening sentence.


____________________ knew clowns were cliché, but it had been _______________ years since ________________.


The “Rules”

  • Fill in the blanks.
  • Finish the story in 1,000 words.
  • Post your story in the comments section below by the next Friday.

I’ll post the winner** on my social media sites AND

you could wind up in the Fill-in-the-Blank Flash Fiction Friday book
I just might maybe publish at the end of the year

Sending you mad writing mojo….

Johnnie
XXXX


*Writing is serious business, but sometimes it’s fun to have fun.

**Selection of the winner is arbitrary and depends on my mood, what I’ve eaten or haven’t eaten, how much sleep I’ve had, and my constantly shifting tastes…

Fill-in-the-Blank Flash Fiction Friday – December 14

Here’s your Fill-in-the-Blank Flash Fiction Friday* opening sentence.


They had laughed until they cried about the __________________, but _________________ knew the frivolity was a cover for _________________.


The “Rules”

  • Fill in the blanks.
  • Finish the story in 1,000 words.
  • Post your story in the comments section below by the next Friday.

I’ll post the winner** on my social media sites AND

you could wind up in the Fill-in-the-Blank Flash Fiction Friday book
I just might maybe publish at the end of the year

Sending you mad writing mojo….

Johnnie
XXXX


*Writing is serious business, but sometimes it’s fun to have fun.

**Selection of the winner is arbitrary and depends on my mood, what I’ve eaten or haven’t eaten, how much sleep I’ve had, and my constantly shifting tastes…