The next indie author to be interviewed for #IndieApril is Joan Wendland, a retired engineer turned writer and game designer.
LQ: Tell me a little bit about yourself.
JW: I’m a recently retired engineer. I wrote three books in my spare time before I retired, and look forward to having lots of time to dedicate to future novels. I am also a game designer. My games can be seen at www.blood-and-cardstock.com
LQ: What does your writing process look like?
JW: I come up with an idea and write the beginning of the book. I know how I want it to end, so I write that next. Then comes several agonizing months of writing how to get from point A to point B.
I write slowly and carefully, so my first draft usually doesn’t need too much polishing. I do several additional passes on the novel. 1] Straighten out the timeline / look for continuity errors. 2] Beef up descriptions. 3] Post-beta reader fixes. 4] Post-copyeditor fixes.
I’d wanted to be an author since I was a teenager but I could never get down dialog, then one day in my 50s BOOM! I had a head full of characters who would just not shut up!
Joan Wendland
LQ: What was your favorite book to write so far?
JW: I’d have to say my first book, Backstage: A Novel of Secret Agendas, Slow Burn Romance, and Imaginary Cats. I’d wanted to be an author since I was a teenager but I could never get down dialog, then one day in my 50s BOOM! I had a head full of characters who would just not shut up! The book practically wrote itself and I was living the dream at last.
LQ: Who is your favorite character to write about?
JW: I like writing about strong women (go figure). All my stories have romance in them so far, because that’s a part of most people’s life stories, but I don’t want my works to be ONLY about romance.
In the Backstage series, the romance takes a backseat to real-world issues that need solving. In my current WIP, the romance is part of the character’s greater journey of self-discovery. Even my Darcy POV Pride and Prejudice variation Mr. Darcy: Cogs Maketh the Man is more focused on the balance between freedom and responsibility, and what makes a man truly a man.
We all like to lighten the seriousness of our stories with a healthy helping of snark.
Joan Wendland
LQ: Who are your favorite authors? Have any of them influenced your work?
JW: My favorite author of all time is Theodore Sturgeon, but I can’t say he’s influenced my work. He had a big influence on MY LIFE though. Favorites that have influenced my work are Terry Pratchett, John Scalzi, and A. Lee Martinez because we all like to lighten the seriousness of our stories with a healthy helping of snark.
LQ: How are you doing during the current pandemic?
JW: As an extrovert this lockdown is very unnerving. I’ve resorted to using my Amazon Echo to playing cafe sounds when I eat because the deathly quiet of the house puts me off my feed. The hubby’s business has been designated essential, so I only have him on the weekends. We were both deathly ill in December and well into January. I believe we probably had Covid-19 then, although we’d never heard of it at the time. Nevertheless we are taking all the precautions the CDC and governor Northram have recommended.
LQ: What are you currently working on?
JW: I’m working on a paranormal romance called The Fallow Year. It’s the story of a 29-year-old programmer who realizes that her life makes her unhappy so she takes a sabbatical. A year off not just from her job, but her family too.
She rents a cottage in West Virginia where she intends to rediscover who she is without everyone’s expectations pushing her where she doesn’t want to be. When she gets there she meets a man who seems too good to be true. Perhaps too good to be human.
Without reviews, authors feel like they are shouting into the void.
Joan Wendland
LQ: Anything else you would like to share?
JW: We say this all the time but it is worth repeating. PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT’S HOLY REVIEW BOOKS! Without reviews, authors feel like they are shouting into the void. Our egos are fragile and we need the feedback to face another day of blank page phobia.
Reviews don’t have to be long. You can knock one out in two minutes easy. Or you could just copy and paste – “I liked Joan’s book. It was entertaining and made me think.”
Also to potential writers out there – There is only one (insert your idol here), don’t compare yourself with them. If your book entertains the reader then that’s all you need to be a writer.
You can find Joan on her blog, The Zoo Illuminati.