10Q Tuesday with Misa Buckley

How did you start your writing career?

Um, with fanfic. I know a lot of writers frown on it, but I seriously wouldn’t be writing this post without it. I’d been writing a very long fic for NaNoWriMo and sharing snippets on a forum. A friend of mine who was published PMed me and told me that what I was writing was too good to remain unpublished.

So I took the story idea, created some original characters, and wrote 60,000 words. I haven’t stopped since.

Has someone helped or mentored you in your writing career?

Well, clearly that author, but yes, I’ve had a lot of help. There are a lot of writers who are generous and give back, and this post isn’t big enough to name them all. But I have to wave at everyone at Absolute Write and also the very awesome Lori Gallagher Witt, who encourages me with a cattle prod and mancandy as required.

What does your significant other and family think of your writing career?

I honestly don’t know what my husband thinks. He’s not a reader, so it’s not something that interests him. My parents, I think, are still waiting for me to grow out of a stage and get a proper job. But my kids think it’s cool that Mum has her name on a cover, so that’s something. It’s just a shame I write things I don’t want them reading about yet!

What is the hardest part of writing your books?

I have Cyclothymia, which is a form of Bipolar. Writing during the highs isn’t a problem and my word count tends to explode on those days. Unfortunately, the highs also come with lows, and sometimes those lows are pretty dire. Writing through those is absolutely the hardest thing for me.

Do you have any suggestions for beginning writers? If so, what are they?

Write what’s closest to your heart. Grammar and punctuation are important and yeah, you need to learn that stuff, but first and foremost you have to write what you love and love what you write.

After that, join a forum and make friends. Get a beta or two and learn how to write. Read, read, read and absorb words. Know that everyone’s writing journey is different and what works for others (especially big names like Rowling and King) might not work for you.

Never give up, never surrender. Okay, that’s a line from Galaxy Quest, but hey, it works!

Do you use a pen name? If so, how did you come up with it?

Yes… and no.

Okay. Long story short – back in my fanficcing days, I had a LiveJournal that neatly described the short of stories I wrote. It was called “Misadventures in Time and Space”. However LJ only allows 15 characters for its username, so that got cut down to “misaditas”, which I also used everywhere else because I’m lazy like that.

Back in… oh, I forget. 2008, I think, someone who didn’t know me shortened misaditas down to Misa and it stuck. Two and a half years later, after becoming so used to Misa that most of the time I didn’t react to my birth name, I decided to formalise it and I changed my name by deed poll.

In other words, what was my pen name is now my legal name (I swear that was the short version!)

What do you think makes a good story?

Characters that the reader can relate to, a solid plot and plenty of conflict. Also, hot sex.

What? You asked :D

Tell us about your favorite character from your books.

Without doubt or hesitation, Gabriel Kemp, from my unpublished novella-cum-novel-cum-series. I absolutely adore him. I love writing him (hence the series thing). He is very flawed; snarky and not good with people, and believes the end justifies the rather dirty means, but he has a good heart and is determined not to let the bad guys win.

Hopefully, I’ll be sharing him with my readers one day, but I’m still in the middle of a massive rewrite, as well as outlining the two sequels.

What are your favorite TV shows?

Oh ho! I’m a sci fi geek, so anything involving space or starships and I’m there. I’m a HUGE fan of the Stargate franchise (okay, okay, I’m a huge fan of the devilish Ba’al – can you blame me? The guy is HOT!) as well as Star Trek DS9 and of course Doctor Who.

I also adore Castle, House and the fabulous Warehouse 13.

Tell us about your next first release.

IRONHAVEN is a science fiction romance set at the end of the world. Yes, apocalyptic romance. What else are you going to do?

Anyway, the story is about a rich guy called Lucian who is supposed to be escaping on the last shuttle, but finds out his pass has been cancelled by his parents after he refused to marry and settle down. His search for a way off lands him on the doorstep of the reason he refused – his ex-fiancée Gen, who he’s still in love with.

The blurb goes thus:

The Earth is dying, and Lucian Hoyt is going to die with it thanks to his parents cancelling his pass aboard the last shuttle off the planet. There is hope, though - a brilliant inventor has come up with a plan to build a ship to evacuate those who’ve been left behind.

That inventor, however, turns out to be Genevieve Scott, Lucian's bitter ex-fiancée. If they're going to work together to get off the planet, they need to put their past aside, but even melting the ice between them can't erase all the scars.