Ask the Author: Patricia Bradley
Answered Questions (14)
Patricia Bradley
Rodney, thank you for your question. No, you don't have to read them in order. Each book stands alone, even though some characters will spill over from one book to the other.
Patricia Bradley
I started with craft books. I'm not sure where you live, but my favorites are Plot and Structure, Super Structure (by James Scott Bell) any of Susan May Warren's craft books, and Randy Ingermanson's How to Write a Novel Using the Snowflake Method. Randy's book is easy to understand and is told by using examples.
Then tell the story you see playing in your head. Try to write every day. I hope this helps.
Then tell the story you see playing in your head. Try to write every day. I hope this helps.
Patricia Bradley
Cintia, I’ve been where you are, anguishing over ever getting published. When I submitted my first short story to Woman’s World, the odds of them accepting were 1 in 10,000. That had not changed years later when I wrote my first novel and submitted it for publishing.
It’s easy to look at those odds and throw up your hands. But instead of focusing on the odds (or negatives), I focused on writing the best story I could. That meant writing every day even when I thought I didn’t have anything to write because no one would ever read it. It meant asking God for the words.
I believed He gifted me to write, and if you have that deep yearning to put stories on paper, He has gifted you as well. So our job is to learn the craft of writing and then show up every day at the computer. His job is to give us the words and that spark of creativity; after all, He is the Master Creator.
I also decided that there was not one thing I could do to get published (other than write). So I handed that job over to Him. Actually it was His all along, I just had to realize it and release it to him. That’s when I began to enjoy the journey of writing. I stopped obsessing about getting published and wrote for the joy of seeing the story playing out in my head come to life on paper.
I hope this has helped.
It’s easy to look at those odds and throw up your hands. But instead of focusing on the odds (or negatives), I focused on writing the best story I could. That meant writing every day even when I thought I didn’t have anything to write because no one would ever read it. It meant asking God for the words.
I believed He gifted me to write, and if you have that deep yearning to put stories on paper, He has gifted you as well. So our job is to learn the craft of writing and then show up every day at the computer. His job is to give us the words and that spark of creativity; after all, He is the Master Creator.
I also decided that there was not one thing I could do to get published (other than write). So I handed that job over to Him. Actually it was His all along, I just had to realize it and release it to him. That’s when I began to enjoy the journey of writing. I stopped obsessing about getting published and wrote for the joy of seeing the story playing out in my head come to life on paper.
I hope this has helped.
Patricia Bradley
Thank you, Joyce! It is now up. :-)
Patricia Bradley
Murder Mezzo Forte by Don Taylor, Simply Vanished by Nancy Mehl, Restoring Christmas by Cynthia Ruchti, and The Healer's Rune by Lauricia Matiska.
Patricia Bradley
A man went missing in our community...and he was last seen at our sawmill.
Patricia Bradley
Yes, ma'am, it is and thank you for asking! All of my books are available on Kindle.
Patricia Bradley
I pray a lot. And I have stories to tell and there is so little time to tell them all. I don't wait for inspiration to hit--I sit down and expect it to come. And it does. Thanks for stopping by!
Patricia Bradley
Most of my ideas come to me from thin air. A thought pops in my mind or I see a news story that triggers a question or a stranger I meet makes me wonder what's going on in their lives. Silence in the Dark came to me one morning right after I woke up. I "saw" Bailey (the heroine) on the run with a child. So of course, I had to know more.
Patricia Bradley
So sorry I didn't see this earlier. Right now I'm working on the last book in the Logan Point series (for now)--Silence in the Dark-- and the 2nd Harlequin romance.
Patricia Bradley
I'm living my dream! I love telling stories, scary stories. Loved the campfire ghost stories when I was a kid.
Patricia Bradley
It's called BIC. :-) and stands for getting yourself in the chair and writing. If I'm blocked, I set a timer for ten minutes and write. It can be about anything. I find that as I'm typing, I start free writing about whatever is giving me a problem. And sometimes, it's because I don't know my characters well enough. So I stop and get to know them better by free writing their character traits. Thanks for asking!
Patricia Bradley
First, let me say how glad I am that you enjoyed Shadows of the Past. Yes, it's my first book. A Promise to Protect is my 2nd and while they are stand alone books, some of the characters from Shadows show up in a Promise to Protect. Thank you for your kind words.
Patricia Bradley
Don't give up. I wrote for 33 years before I was offered a contract. What if I had given up at year 32?
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