Author Yearbook

AY Talks Back

We were thrilled to have some time to chat with Rowena Cherry, who is involved in the 2012 Author Yearbook.

Author Yearbook: When did you first know you wanted to be a writer?

Rowena Cherry: I don’t remember ever wanting to be “a writer”. No nitpickery intended, but I wanted to be “a published author”, a traditionally published author. Not self-published. Not a ghost-writer. Not a journalist. Not a blogger. Not a writer for hire.  Nor a speech writer. Not a screen-writer… even if that –the latter– is the literary equivalent of saying that I wouldn’t marry a prince if he went down on both knees and begged me to reconsider.

Since I tend to “want” only that which I feel is reasonable, I never actively allowed myself to “want” to be a traditionally published author until a publisher told me that I ought to write professionally…. and that was probably in the spring of 1988.

It ought to go without saying, but in these days it doesn’t, so I will add that I never have been, and never will, want to be the sort of writer who does not mind whether or not I am paid. “Being read” does not put bread on the table, and I have no interest in begging for “donations”… or decorating the white spaces around my paragraphs with paid commercial advertising.

Author Yearbook: Out of all your books, which one is your favorite and why?

Rowena Cherry: It’s a good thing that I am not a politician, because I cannot be consistent. I understand, now, why a lot of authors simply say, “My next book.” Or, “the one I’m writing now.”

If my favorite book were to be the one with my favorite hero, my choice would be my first book, FORCED MATE. God-Prince Tarrant-Arragon was intended to be the ultimate hero. He is as powerful as it is possible to be, with shark-like senses and a few minor super-powers, he has a self-deprecating sense of humor, and he is highly intelligent. He was a hard act to follow. INSUFFICIENT MATING MATERIAL might have been the easiest to write, but I feel that I was under too much editorial pressure to soup up the sexuality. If I had to be marooned on a deserted island with an oversexed hunk, I’d want him to be Djetth. Moreover, I had great fun with the scenes involving the elderly, Bridge-playing fortune-teller. The casino scene to catch the villain was one of my all-time favorites! KNIGHT’S FORK could well qualify as my favorite because Electra-Djerroldina was my strongest heroine, but also because the hero, Djarrhett, had been an enigmatic –even treacherous– character in the other books, and everyone wanted to see his dirty laundry.

Then, there’s MATING NET, my e-book novella. It’s pretty good, too…. as long as the reader isn’t skimming for plot.

Author Yearbook: Do you have any special things you do when writing? For example, some authors listen to a certain type of music, others drink a glass of wine (some too many glasses), and still others exercise to release that creative spirit. What do you do, if anything?

Rowena Cherry: I’ve heard of authors who create theme-tunes and soundtracks to remind them of the quirks and motivations and moods of characters in their books. I’m told that this is very useful when one is working on different books simultaneously. I don’t do this consciously… and if I were to do it, I would never reveal which songs inspired me. My intellectual properties attorney tells me that if I were to do so, the musician might have a legal claim on a share of my royalties!

For research, I have done special things, but those are one-offs. I’m not likely to sit on a beach and try to scrape the hairs off my legs with a razor shell again, for instance. I wouldn’t twist an ankle, or cut my arm deliberately “for my art” but if I happened to have an accident, I would take careful notes, and sooner or later, a similar injury might affect one of my characters.

The truth is, I am not particularly disciplined. I think all the time, and if I come up with something when I’m out and about, I will write it on my leg, or on a hand or on the back of a shopping list… even on nose-blowing tissue. Why do they call it “facial tissue”? Of course, I do not write on myself while I am driving.

Okay. I didn’t want to admit it, because it is not dignified, but one of the special things I do when writing is….. having a hunk on my screen saver. I looked at the Mating Net hunk all the time when writing Insufficient Mating Material. The image (left) is a work in progress, but will you look at that jawline? Wow. (Credit to the photographer, Mitchel Gray.)

Author Yearbook: What is your greatest challenge as a writer?

Rowena Cherry: My greatest challenge is the proverbial “butt in chair…” I’m not good at time management, either. Some brilliant people can accomplish something meaningful in a spare forty minutes. For me, if I don’t have at least two hours with no other distractions (or appointments), it’s hardly worth winding myself up. I’ve heard that a lot of writers who “warm up” for a day’s novel-writing by blogging, on the theory that the first half-hour’s worth of words is unpublishable.

Author Yearbook: What is your greatest reward as a writer?

Rowena Cherry: Well, it is certainly not the money.

I’m half serious. It seems worth mentioning the financial aspect because I have noticed that an inordinate number of commenters on online Op-Eds appear to be under the impression that all authors (and all writers) are multi-millionaires, which makes it “fair” and “just” to deprive them of their royalties by **not** buying e-books, but instead “sharing” them, or “pirating” them.

Writers earn an income when books sell. No one pays for concert tickets to go listen to an author reading aloud from her book. Some promoters suggest that authors ought to give paid speeches. Not all authors are good at public speaking. It’s a different skill set. What’s more, many creative and talented writers turn to novel writing because they need a flexible career (or second career) that is compatible with being a mom or a caregiver. Or, it’s a night job. Either way, they are not free to travel far and wide for “gigs”.

My greatest reward is when I hear from someone who enjoyed a particular aspect of one of my books. I like to insert nuances and subtexts into my stories, so that, if someone were to re-read one of my books, they might find something they missed the first time around. No doubt, I’m wasting my time in an age of speed-reading, and a craze for the literary equivalent of competitive eating, where the goal seems to be to read as many books in as short a time as possible.

Author Yearbook: What do you do when you aren’t writing? Any hobbies or special interests?

Rowena Cherry: Have I mentioned that I am easily distracted? (Snort!) Yes. It is absolutely devastating to have Chess, Reversi, JT’s Blocks, or Hearts just a click away on my desktop. I could knock off one answer to an interview (such as this) in twenty minutes, but it is all too easy to take a few minutes to exercise my mind and my ego. The greatest mistake ever (not really) is to give names to one’s opponents.

I do have less anti-social hobbies and interests, but since all my titles are chess terms, it seemed appropriate to mention chess. I used to dowse with metal rods, mostly to find The Force in the Earth, which would make my rods twitch or twirl, but I haven’t done that in a while.

Author Yearbook: In keeping with our theme for the 2012 Yearbook of “Then and Now”, what is your favorite childhood memory?

Rowena Cherry: What counts as childhood? One of my proudest memories is of representing my school in an exhibition chess match where then-President of the World Chess Federation, Dr. Max Euwe, simultaneously took on 27 local champions and beat us all. The event was held at the local stately home, seat of a British Lord, and Dr. Euwe prowled the center of a square of narrow tables at which sat each of the local champs.

Author Yearbook: What are you working on right now? What can we expect to see from you in the future?

Rowena Cherry: “Right now” is January 24th 2012 and I’ve spent quite a bit of time over the last few months drawing attention to the problems of online copyright infringement for authors. I’ve done it because I feel that I can afford the malicious reviews and inevitable retaliation that go with the territory when one says something that others don’t wish to hear.

The fact is, too many readers do not appreciate the meaning of “All Rights Reserved”; do not understand that “copyright” means that only the author has the right to make (or commission the making of) copies of a work and to authorize the distribution; and that it is against the law for readers to “share” an e-book if doing so involves keeping the original on ones desktop and uploading a copy to the internet for others to download. It is also illegal to “burn” multiple copies onto DVDs or CDs and to give or sell those copies to other people.

When I turn off my computer, I am spending my quiet time with blue-eyed, seven foot tall, bad boy identical twins. Devoron and Deverill are complicated, devious, devilish and a challenge to any woman. However, the long-dead Emperor from Mating Net (the prequel for the series) is still very much on my mind. At some point in the future, I intend to find solace for Viz-Igerd, who lost his wife in Knight’s Fork. Last year, I acquired the non-exclusiver rights to use the so-called” Viz-Igerd” photo from Mitchel Gray, my favorite photographer. Imagine this hunk bald, with one Wolverine-like war-hand (only better… and non-retractable) and octopus-like camouflage.