Interview with Author Teresa Frohock

Today is a super-awesome-extra-special day, because I get to interview my agent sister and critique partner, Teresa Frohock, on her debute novel, Miserere! I am indeed a lucky girl. Teresa is a fiesty, talented diva of the literary and fantasy world, and she is going to take the world by storm!

Check out the BEAUTIFUL cover:

Without further ado, I give you the interview!

How long, from conception to completion, did Miserere take? (Tell us about the process)

Thanks so much for having me here, Dawn! I always love stopping by to chat with you.

The conception for Lucian’s character began quite some time ago, before 2008 when I actually wrote the first draft of Miserere. In the fall of 2008, my husband had back-to-back knee replacement surgeries, I had just finished the second of two online writing courses, and we had purchased a cheap laptop before Windows went to Vista. The combination of the itch to write, plus lots of time watching my poor husband sleep, and the portability of the laptop were too much to resist.

I thought, just for the heck of it, that I would try and write another novel. So I created a synopsis for Miserere and started typing. Because I was out of work, taking care of my husband, it only took me four months to write the first draft. I knew the novel was just gold and some lucky agent was going to pick me right up.

While I was cruising online, I happened across the Online Writing Workshop for Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror. This would be a good place for me to show my work and get some feedback, and I just KNEW they were going to love it!!

I posted my first chapter online and waited for the accolades to roll in. After I read the first two reviews, I cried. I mean I was devastated, ready to quit writing, blah, blah, blah. That lasted all of twenty-four hours and I went back and re-read the critiques.

They thought it was a YA novel and wanted me to get rid of Lucian but keep Lindsay; they thought the prose was too purple; they felt the scenes were overly descriptive with minor details they didn’t need … I mean not just one person, but several people made the same comments.

And they were right: I had started the novel too soon, so I had to go back and write a whole new first chapter. When I did that, it changed details in subsequent chapters. I ended up re-writing the whole second half of the book, then I had to go back and re-write the first half so that it matched the second half.

Two years of work went into Miserere, and keep in mind, I was writing in the evenings after work and on weekends. I used vacation time to stay home and edit. And it was a learning process. I found my voice; I was especially careful not to push an agenda of any kind; I had a strong critique group that was there for me all the way; and they were from various faiths, so that really helped me.

I spent six months alone on the final edits. I knew this was my one shot; this manuscript was my resume, and if I blew it badly, I’d never get an agent to look at another manuscript from me. I wanted it to be my best effort and I forced myself to be patient. The payoff was enormous.

It was also a labor of love, as any novel is. I loved Lucian and his constant hope; Rachael with her wounded pride; and Catarina with her terrible desire. I hope you do too.

Miserere: An Autumn Tale (Night Shade Books July 1, 2011)

Exiled exorcist Lucian Negru deserted his lover in Hell in exchange for saving his sister Catarina's soul, but Catarina doesn't want salvation. She wants Lucian to help her fulfill her dark covenant with the Fallen Angels by using his power to open the Hell Gates. Catarina intends to lead the Fallen’s hordes out of Hell and into the parallel dimension of Woerld, Heaven’s frontline of defense between Earth and Hell.

When Lucian refuses to help his sister, she imprisons and cripples him, but Lucian learns that Rachael, the lover he betrayed and abandoned in Hell, is dying from a demonic possession. Determined to rescue Rachael from the demon he unleashed on her soul, Lucian flees his sister, but Catarina's wrath isn’t so easy to escape. In the end, she will force him once more to choose between losing Rachael or opening the Hell Gates so the Fallen's hordes may overrun Earth, their last obstacle before reaching Heaven's Gates.

Read the first four chapters of Miserere FREE here

Raised in a small town, Teresa Frohock learned to escape to other worlds through the fiction collection of her local library. She eventually moved away from Reidsville and lived in Virginia and South Carolina before returning to North Carolina, where she currently resides with her husband and daughter.

Teresa has long been accused of telling stories, which is a southern colloquialism for lying. Miserere: An Autumn Tale is her debut novel.

Teresa can be found most often at her blog and website. Every now and then, she heads over to Tumblr and sends out Dark Thoughts, links to movies and reviews that catch her eye. You can also follow Teresa on Twitter and join her author page on FaceBook.

OTHER INTERVIEWS WITH TERESA

All Things Books

Down at Lucky Town with Alex Bledsoe

Layers of Thought

MuseTracks

The Written Connection

Great resource for writers

Hey guys,

I stumbled on this link a couple of days ago, thought I'd share. It's a list of submission guidelines for publishing houses.

Remember, some only take solicited queries and some only accept queries from literary agents.

Good luck!

<3

stuff happening at the moment

Guys!

So much stuff is happening.

I'm reading some pretty amazing material from my crit partners (this is such a huge high for me!)

I'm going to be meeting one of them IN REAL LIFE pretty soon.

Like, out in the real world.

In a city i have never been to.

This makes me smile!

I am also meeting some pretty amazing people on the interwebz, and this is just as much of a high for me. (if you haven't already, please come say hi!)

I'm writing, but my brain won't pick one project to stick with, so i'm jostling back and forth between 4 of them.

(if any of you are curious, this is normal for me. one manuscript eventually overtakes the others and becomes my main focus).

Only, it's taking so long for that to happen this time.

It's not too bad though, because when one manuscript fizzles out for the day, I can turn to the next, and then the next.

So, while I read this great material from my crit partners, I am also writing a psychological thriller (adult) and three YAs.

Because here's the thing: I can't force myself into anything. Things happen as they must and if four books demand my attention, there's nothing much I can (or am inclined) to do about it.

If this also happens to you: it's normal. It's okay. If it doesn't, that's normal and okay too :)

Note: when that one manuscript overtakes the others, the remaining ones feel sort of left out. every now and then they poke my brain and scream "PAY ATTENTION TO ME!", at which point I pull out my notebook, jot down the idea, and then promptly forget about it.

Sort of how German engineers do it.

Once the champion manuscript has overtaken the others, it is the ONLY one i focus on. (i'm a monogamous kinda girl at heart).

But until that one champion manuscript shows itself, I just march along with all four.

How about you? what is your process? do you have a process, or do you change the rules every time?

*hugs*

Ode to Tahereh Mafi

IT MOVES!!!

without whom I would never have known the awesomeness of GIFmethat.

for this, tahereh, and so much more, I salute you!

*hugs*

how many of you are big dorks?

here's what I want to know.

how many of you are big dorks?

i mean, seriously, big dorks.

because i cannot be the only one.

recently, i was asked by my agent sister, Teresa Frohock, if i kept bios for my characters while writing. i promised I would do a blog post about the very topic, so here goes.

so, when it comes to my characters (oh, how I do love the dears), i definitely fall into the huge dork category. i spend a lot of time (probably too much time) getting to know them.

i do little fact sheets. you know, those fifty-question-survey type deals? you know, those list manias found on bebo and myspace?

still not coming to you?

how about now?

was that a flash from the past or what?

i do little bios.

i do personality profiles.

i draw them.

paint them.

i even write diaries as them. yes, this has been known to happen. some of my school teachers may remember that i was a student whose head was always buried in her notebook. that i took copious and enthusiastic notes.

some of the time that was true.

but a lot of the time it completely unrelated to school work. *oh, the shame!*

please, kids, don't try this at home, but . . . some -- okay, most -- of my school notebooks have parts of unfinished novels in the back pages. and, yes, diary entries as different people.

weird, but true.

i don't feel too bad about this (or about still doing it) because it is my tried and trusted method of finding my characters' voice. this is especially true if writing in first person (my particular favorite).

okay, maybe i feel a little bad (not really, though)

what about you? How do you keep your characters straight as you draft? Are you a big dork, like me?

If so, big dorky hug!

i can definitely feel the love

:)

My two weeks as a Mule

Hello friends! I am very sorry for being absent longer than I intended, but this move ended up being, well, quite an adventure. Internet was only installed yesterday at midnight :)

It all began on Sunday the 27th of June 2o11—Sunday.

Hubby and I hired a truck (a Luton 3.5 ton) and began loading it on Sunday in anticipation of the (as we thought) 5 and a half hour drive to the new house, where we would obtain the keys (the next day) and get a nice head start. As it happened, the drive was more like 7 hours (without breaks), since the Luton can't drive very fast at all.

It was backbreaking work (all of our furniture is solid oak...) but very satisfying when placed in the correct area in the shiny, new house (SNH). We spent the night at the SNH, and then set off for the old house (OH) the following day.

Load 2, 28th June 2011—Tuesday.

By this time we were, quite truthfully, a little tired. Still, we trudged on. Lifting, walking, raising, walking, lowering. Wash, rinse, repeat. We worked through the night, finished in the early hours of the morning, then set off again.

Rest stops were numerous, and the food available was somewhat questionable . . .

At the SNH we unloaded, a little less enthusiastically and a little more bruised. Once again, we slept in the SNH. When we set off again, it was Thursday. We blinked, and realized that Wednesday had been completely eaten away!

30th June 2011—Thursday

We set off and 5pm and arrived at the OH at twenty past midnight on the 1st of July, my husband's birthday. I sang a merry Happy Birthday in the very grim cockpit of the truck.

Load 3, 1st July 2011—Friday

This load could be classed as Load From Hell (part 1). We arrived on Friday at twenty past midnight and got right to work. Packed what remained in the OH, loaded the van. We were exhausted and ill. We worked continually to get the Luton filled, through the night/early morning, the entire day and finished packing the van at 535pm. Then for the drive. This one took us 12 long hours, because we were so tired we needed rest stops every hour or so to avoid accidents.

2nd July 2011—Saturday

Arrived at the SNH at around 6am, rested for a little bit, and then got to unloading the van.

Load 4, 3rd July 2011—Sunday

The load from Hell (Part 2). Arrived at the OH at 7pm after another looong drive. We worked for 34 hours straight. This may seem just like another number, but can you image doing heavy labor for 24 hours straight, let alone another 10 on top of that? It was painful.

The truck was full as it could be; even the cockpit was stuffed with boxes (made for a very uncomfortable drive back). This drive to the SNH took us 17 hours. 17.

And the truck was so full and heavy (over it's maximum, or near enough), that it couldn't get up the hill to our house. So we parked it at the bottom of the hill, got some 6 hours rest or so, an then had to unload half the van and walk all the items up the hill.

Ouch.

By this time I can honestly say that I felt what true exhaustion is. I thought I had before, but I really hadn't. It took us 2 days to unload half a truck. Every single box felt like a mountain, and we had hundreds. (This was not only a house move, but a business + stock move as well).

At the end of it, I became quite ill, I'm sad to say, though I was (and am) very proud of myself and the fact that I was able to do this.

It has been 12 days since the truck was returned, and I am still feeling the effects of extreme exhaustion, but getting better. :)

We are unpacking slowly, but surely. And, finally, we have our internet connection back.

In all, we were awake for two 53-hour days in a row, did as much as 34 hours straight of hard labor, and we survived. I am so proud! (I shall never, ever do that again, but still: I am proud).

What is the hardest thing you have ever done? Did it change you/stretch you as a person?