Interview Billie A. Williams

by

Josephine Templeton

1. What inspired you to write Knapsack Secrets?

Knapsack Secrets came to me when a new acquaintance was in fear of her husband. There were some major issues between them, and she was basically being emotionally abused. I had dealt with domestic abuse in a former job and I tried to encourage her to get out before he harmed her. That was the start of it. 

But then there was the whole issue of the homeless, and the fear most women have whose husbands are the major bread winners--what would they do if they just left?--Well I used Audrey’s life to try to help people see that being homeless doesn’t mean you are lazy, or shiftless or any of those stereotypical things--it just means that, in many instances, circumstances beyond your control have you struck.

Zip, a teenager isn’t homeless because he’s lazy, Valentine Azusa certainly didn’t just decide to quit working. This group of characters forms a friendship, and all of them try to get justice for Dana--who is the character who represents my friend’s dilemma in the book.

2. How long did it take you to write Knapsack Secrets?

It’s really hard to say how long the actual writing took. I do a major character sketch for each of my most prominent characters before I start and that can take anywhere from a couple days to a week. Then I try to do a brief sort of synopsis of plot lines. The actual writing probably took me three months. And then of course there are multiple revisions before I send it out the first time.

3. How did you celebrate when your book was accepted? 

I think I really am afraid to celebrate an acceptance. Even after having a couple dozen published works to my credit, I’m still waiting for the other shoe to drop and I wake up and discover it was all an entertaining dream and nothing more.

Inside I’m thrilled, but I’m afraid to get too excited about it. I’m not a highly acclaimed, New York Times Top Ten listed best selling author yet and it is scary to think I nearly failed English in school and yet I’m writing and loving it and getting accepted? What a dream come true, but do I dare believe it? Guess my mother raised a skeptic.

4. What inspired you to begin writing, and how long have you been writing?

I’ve always been an avid reader and have written about the books I’ve read. Not book reports but just what I thought about them, what thoughts they evoked in me. So I suppose it was natural that eventually I would write my own. But I’ve only been writing for publication, or trying to get published since 1997 after my mother died. When I could no longer write her long, extremely long, letters to tell her my thoughts and dreams and worries, I began to put that need to write into fiction.

5. Do you have a work in progress, and if so, what is the title and genre? 

I always have at least one thing in progress. Right now I’m working on a Zodiac series. Each book is about a specific character designed to be a perfect fit for the month she or he represents. The first one The Capricorn Goat--January Flannel I have serialized for a book club that anyone can join. It is a mystery/suspense and is all about January Flannel who happens to be a Capricorn. A chapter a week is delivered to the member’s inbox.

The second in this series I just finished it Aquarius Pets, and Animal Rescue--February England is the protagonist. It is another mystery suspense involving animal abuse and drug dealers, dog fights and more. The third I have just started titled Money Isn’t Everything, Merry March is the female protagonist who is a Certified Nursing Assistant in a nursing home where elder abuse and misuse of funds is going to get her in a heap of trouble that perhaps even her boyfriend--Doctor Tanner Irish may not be able to keep her safe from. 

I plan to have one book for each month of the year dealing with the holidays in that month, and one zodiac sign associated with that month as the main character. It’s starting to be a real fun series.

I also have one planned that will evolve around musicals--The Sound of Music will probably be the first, I’m just incubating ideas about these. 

Then I have Tracker about three fourths finished. This is a mystery suspense involving the breeding and care of bloodhounds and the young woman who has decided to raise her own for search and rescue operations. They are out to track a murder fugitive when a tornado strikes trapping protagonist and murderer under an old sprawling mansion. 

I have a friend’s novel (the second novel) that I’m adapting to a 3-Act play for small to medium community theater groups. A Christmas Dream script was released last year with Star Publishing --I am working on My Dear Phebe and I hope to have it finished by summer.

6. Are you a pantser or a plotter?

It really depends on the story. I usually do my character sketches as mentioned earlier and then do a sort of synopsis using goals, summary paragraphs and write from those. But, I have used scene cards, a regular formal outline like we learned in high school--and I’ve written at least one book where I just wrote beginning to end without planning. That was Watch For The Raven, I took a phrase from my mother (“my grand dad used to start everyone of his tall tales with ‘when tag was a pup and turkeys chewed tobaccy,’”) and wrote from page one to the end without an outline or even a character sketch as detailed as I normally do. Thank heavens for Wings editorial department though because that was a historical adventure and they saved the day by correcting my language in a few places, and some events that couldn’t possibly been true in my time period. So I would rather plan, then panster {grin}.

7. Are you a full-time writer, or do you have another job?

I am nearly a full time writer. I do have a part time job that has been pretty much a full time job since last summer. It has slowed down this month I work every Sunday now, but I really retired so I could be a full time writer--funny thing is with so much time on my hands I found I procrastinated and didn’t get as much writing done as I did before. Also, I miss the people interaction. That really does give a writer the feel for dialogue, for the subtle nuances to make your characters in your novels real. You cannot write in a vacuum and as nice as television is for story, it doesn’t give the same thing that real life does. So I doubt I will ever fully retire or quit working.

8. How many hours a day do you write?

How many hours a day do I write really is a good question and that really depends on what I’m working on. I make sure that I get one chapter of my current WIP (works in progress) written before I do anything else every morning. 

I’m an early riser and when my husband is off to work at 7 a.m. I’ve been up for nearly two hours already packing his lunch and making his breakfast. So, as soon as he leaves I sit and write that chapter, long hand. I’ll type it in to my computer later in the day. If I’m excited about the story and it’s going well, and I don’t need to give it a lot of time to simmer I’ll try to get one or two more chapters done later. 

It takes me about an hour to an hour and a half to get 6 to 9 pages written. That would be six to nine double spaced pages when typed. I would say I spend at least four hours a day writing. When we lived out in Colorado the second time and I couldn’t go anywhere, I wrote three chapters a day at least.

That one chapter, that hour to hour and a half every morning--I do every single day--I get up early on the weekends just so I will have that extra time to write.

9. What future goals have you set for yourself as a writer?

I would love to get a contract from one of the Six Sister publishers--the big names like Simon and Schuster or Random House, Avon, Harper Collins--Not because they are better then small press, but just to say I did it. I know everyone asks would you rather be a small fish in a big pond or a big fish in a little pond--and I don’t think being an author in one of these big houses is the answer. I guess my real wish would be to have a fan base at least as large as Angela Verdenius or JK Rowling {grin} I love what I’m doing and I love Wings ePress.

10. What advice do you have for aspiring writers?

Follow your dream. If you want to be a writer write--write every chance you get. Read, read, read, read and not just in the genre you want to write but everything from cereal boxes to magazines, from novels to how-to manuals, from poetry to fortune cookies. Read everything you can from a writer’s perspective. Then write and write and write some more.

You’ll learn the craft by reading those who have done what you want to do. And you’ll learn even more by practicing it. As a matter of fact you can sit and copy your favorite author’s books. You’ll get the feel for how they put a sentence together. How they evoke the mood, the tone, the setting of those books. You will never copy them, but you will emulate them and you will build your own style and voice. The biggest thing of all: NEVER GIVE UP!

11. Do you have other interests besides writing?

I do all sorts of handicrafts, knit, crochet, quilt, sew and I garden organically, I shovel snow in the winter (I love to shovel snow. Exercise, fresh air--all for free). If I want to relax I play the piano. I read, I study writing books and I work at our small town Café and Party/Grocery Store. I go for long walks alone.

12. Have you written other books and, if so, where can we buy them?

Thank you for asking. I have nine other books contracted with Wings at the moment and of course they are available from www.wings-press.com as well as anywhere good books are available, just have them order them for you. I also have a book (Tung Umolomo--an Adventure) with Publish America, and several I have self published: cook books, flash fiction, poetry and a children’s book and a writing how to book with LuLu.com. (http://www.lulu.com/Billie ) I have two books on how to write with Filbert Publishing (www.filbertpublishing.com) and six romantic suspense under a pseudonym with three other publishers (Echelon, BookStrand, Silk’s Vault).

Thank you for taking the time to partake of this interview.

Thank you so much for your excellent questions, it was fun I’m glad I had the opportunity to answer them for you and the reading community.

Josephine Templeton