Wednesday, July 18, 2012
INTERVIEW OF CYNTHIA WOOLF
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What genre(s) do you
write in and why? I have a historical western romance and a
sci-fi romance out now. The sci-fi is
the first in a series. I write in these
genre’s because they are the ones whose stories reached out to me. The western was the first book I wrote and
was inspired by my parents love story.
It’s set on the same ranch that they met on in 1941. My book is set in 1885, so it’s not their
love story. My dad was a cowboy and
trapper but to the best of my knowledge was never a bounty hunter.
The sci-fi series was done because of dreams I had when I was
a teenager. I knew I was a princess from
Alpha Centauri. There was no way I could
belong to the crazy family I had. Of
course, I adore that crazy family now.
What is your favorite
part of writing? My favorite part is what I call the ‘puking’
phase. Just getting it all down on paper
for the first time. You just let if flow
out of you, not caring, for the moment, if it is good or bad.
What is your least
favorite part of writing? Editing is my least
favorite. I’m constantly questioning
myself and my work. Changing it,
correcting it, putting it back to what it was and starting it all again. It’s never good enough for me.
What is your next
project and when will it be released? My current is called THE SWORDS OF GREGARA - RIZA and is the second book
in the Gregara Series. It is available now.
What is your typical
day like? I don’t know that I have a typical day. I’m lucky enough to be able to write full
time. I was laid off in June and am
taking advantage of it to write while I look for another job.
How has your experience
with self-publishing been? My experience has been
wonderful. I highly recommend it for everyone
out there who doesn’t want to be constrained by the “big” traditional
publisher. For everyone who wants to
write from their heart and not according to the industry rules and constraints,
self publishing is the only way to go.
What advice do you have
for other authors wanting to self-publish? Go for
it. It’s a wild ride but totally worth
it.
BIO
Cynthia Woolf was
born in Denver, Colorado and raised in the mountains west of Golden. She
spent her early years running wild around the mountain side with her friends.
Their closest neighbor was one quarter of a mile away, so her little brother was her playmate and her best friend. That fierce friendship lasted until his death in 2006.
Cynthia was and is an avid reader. Her mother was a librarian and brought new books home each week. This is where young Cynthia first got the storytelling bug. She wrote her first story at the age of ten. A romance about a little boy she liked at the time.
She worked her way through college and went to work full time straight after graduation and there was little time to write. Then in 1990 she and two friends started a round robin writing a story about pirates. She found that she missed the writing and kept on with other stories. In 1992 she joined Colorado Romance Writers and Romance Writers of America. Unfortunately, the loss of her job demanded the she not renew her memberships and her writing stagnated for many years.
In 2000, she saw an ad in the paper for a writers conference being put on by CRW and decided she'd attend. One of her favorite authors, Catherine Coulter, was the keynote speaker. Cynthia was lucky enough to have a seat at Ms. Coulter's table at the luncheon and after talking with her, decided she needed to get back to her writing. She rejoined both CRW and RWA that day and hasn't looked back.
Cynthia credits her wonderfully supportive husband Jim and the great friends she's made at CRW for saving her sanity and allowing her to explore her creativity.
Their closest neighbor was one quarter of a mile away, so her little brother was her playmate and her best friend. That fierce friendship lasted until his death in 2006.
Cynthia was and is an avid reader. Her mother was a librarian and brought new books home each week. This is where young Cynthia first got the storytelling bug. She wrote her first story at the age of ten. A romance about a little boy she liked at the time.
She worked her way through college and went to work full time straight after graduation and there was little time to write. Then in 1990 she and two friends started a round robin writing a story about pirates. She found that she missed the writing and kept on with other stories. In 1992 she joined Colorado Romance Writers and Romance Writers of America. Unfortunately, the loss of her job demanded the she not renew her memberships and her writing stagnated for many years.
In 2000, she saw an ad in the paper for a writers conference being put on by CRW and decided she'd attend. One of her favorite authors, Catherine Coulter, was the keynote speaker. Cynthia was lucky enough to have a seat at Ms. Coulter's table at the luncheon and after talking with her, decided she needed to get back to her writing. She rejoined both CRW and RWA that day and hasn't looked back.
Cynthia credits her wonderfully supportive husband Jim and the great friends she's made at CRW for saving her sanity and allowing her to explore her creativity.
TAME A WILD HEART from Amazon http://amzn.to/uEoTO0
CENTAURI DAWN from Amazon
http://amzn.to/uwGgHo
CENTAURI TWILIGHT from Amazon
http://amzn.to/t3Um6q
CENTAURI MIDNIGHT from Amazon http://amzn.to/wdADsZ
TAME A WILD WIND from Amazon http://amzn.to/HiChCB
THE SWORDS OF GREGARA - JENALA from Amazon http://amzn.to/JFXEQv
THE SWORDS OF GREGARA - RIZA from Amazon http://amzn.to/IQv7mp
EXCERPT from THE SWORDS OF GREGARA - RIZA
THE SWORDS OF GREGARA - JENALA from Amazon http://amzn.to/JFXEQv
THE SWORDS OF GREGARA - RIZA from Amazon http://amzn.to/IQv7mp
EXCERPT from THE SWORDS OF GREGARA - RIZA
“Ow! Are you trying to kill me, Doc?”
The man was
understandably nervous, but he had to allow her to set his leg. She knew he was in a lot of pain. The bone stuck out through the skin and he
had lost a lot of blood, but he needed to relax so she could set the leg.
“I haven’t even started
yet. Stop being a baby. Here we go.
You’ll feel a little pinch in your neck, then count backwards from one
hundred.”
“Ouch! Little pinch!”
“Count, now!”
“One hundred,
ninety-nine, ninety-eight, ninety-seven, ninety….”
“Finally.” Riza worked quickly, not sure just how long
he would stay out. She opened his leg,
surgically implanted two kalcion rods and several screws to secure them to the
bones. It would have been so much easier
with a med-tech unit. But there were
none on Gregara. They weren’t
allowed. There were many things on the
other civilized planets that weren’t allowed here, like blasters, but for some
reason blasters always seemed to make it through the customs process. In Ruciem it seemed that as many people
carried blasters as carried the traditional kalcion sword.
Most of the planet
preferred to keep their customs, barbaric as they were. They used swords, not blasters and preferred
the body to heal itself without help from technology. It made her work much more difficult. A broken leg like this one could have been
healed in a few hours in a med-tech unit.
She stitched everything
closed. Doing surgeries like this one
allowed her to keep her skills sharp. It
may not be necessary, but this man would have the smallest stitches ever put on
a leg repair. Her skills as a plastic
surgeon might not be usable here, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t keep her
stitching up to par.
With her patient now
awake and groggy, Riza went to talk to the next of kin. There was only one man in the waiting
room. An extremely attractive man, if
you liked handsome in a rugged sort of way.
He hadn’t shaved recently and his inky black hair was on the long side,
tied back with a leather strap. It
suited him.
He stood as she
approached. Well over six feet tall, he
towered over her own five feet, ten inch height.
“Mr. Remaul?” she said
holding out her hand.
“Yes.” His hand engulfed hers.
“I’m Riza Lamrona.”
“Doctor. How is Tarin?”
“He’ll be fine, but he’s
going to have to stay in bed for a week or so before he’s ready to travel. I want to make sure the bones start to mend
properly. Can you arrange that?”
“Of course. We have rooms at Wardson’s Bedstay.”
She nodded. “I wish there was a hospital here. A med-tech unit would be even better but….”
“I guess they don’t
think they need one.”
“Well, he will heal
fine, but it could be so much faster and better. You’re not from around here, are you?”
“No. I came from Alerkan a couple of years ago. And you, where are you from?”
“I’m from many
places. Alerkan is one of them.” Riza retreated to her work. She didn’t want to make small talk. Her secrets were too dangerous. “Here are some pills to help with the
pain. Have Tarin take them. Don’t let him try to ‘tough’ it out. Sarina Wardson is used to my sending her
patients to care for. I’ll check on him
in the morning.”
“What time do you want
him here?”
“Oh, I’m staying with
Sarina myself until I find a place of my own.
I’ll come by before I head to work.”
“Good.”
“Yes. Um. Well.
It was nice to meet you.” Riza
wasn’t usually tongue-tied but she seemed to be with this man.
“You, too. Perhaps, since you are staying at Wardson’s,
I’ll see you at dinner tonight.”
“Unless I get an
emergency call, you can count on it.”
Darick was struck with
the seemingly plain woman with the amazing blue eyes. The little doctor thought she could hide
behind her tight braid and glasses. She
was wrong. There was no hiding her soft
brown hair or clear blue eyes. Eyes so
pale a blue you could see the black rim around the iris. Hair with natural blond and red highlights,
so it looked like a flash of fire running through it.
Or her sexy body. He shouldn’t be interested. Should let her keep her secrets. He had secrets of his own, but his past
kicked in and suddenly he was the Star Patrol lead detective again, digging
into the past of a suspect.
There was something
about the doctor that was familiar, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. Dr. Riza Lamrona was in hiding. And not doing a very good job at it. Perhaps at dinner, the picture would become
clearer.
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14 comments:
BE sure and leave a comment for me to entered into the drawing for Centauri Series: The Complete Collection.
I began writing as a kid to escape my crazy family as well. But yeah, I love them and believe all that ignites my creativity.
You have a busy life yet find time to produce books in two sub-genres. How did you find time?
You worked for most of this.
Hi S. L.
I'm lucky to be able to write full time now. I was laid off in June of 2011 and although I keep looking for work, I haven't found it yet and so can devote more time to my writing.
I love your books Cindy. Now that I'm finished with my WIP I can start this one.
Great to see you as always, Cindy!
Great interview, Cindy! I love that you used your parents' story as an inspiration. Best wishes for such success that you never have to find that day job!
Great to hear your career is still on track and that you are enjoying it. I look forward to reading the rest of the books.
Sandra
Congrats on your latest book. You always create such interesting settings.
Congrat on the release! Crossin' fingers for ya on good sales. I started out in poetry to, but is was to restrained for me. I also was born and raised in Denver, Colorado.
Congratulations on your latest release, Cindy. I enjoyed reading your excerpt from THE SWORDS OF GREGARA.
Wishing you happy writing and happy sales.
Kathleen Rowland
Hi, Cynthia! I love the fact about how you used your parents' love story. Way to go!
Very nice interview. I think a lot of fiction writers dabbled a little in poetry in the early years :) Good luck with your release.
Melinda
Thank you Linda, Helen and Lucy. I appreciate the kudos and that you like my books. It does my heart good.
Thank you everyone else. Oh my I should have checked sooner. There are so many of you wishing me luck and sending good vibes. I send good vibes back to you and wish each of you great sales as well.
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