Interview with Tiffanie Lynn - Become an Agent WINNER!

I've got an awesome interview up for you guys to read today! It's with Tiffanie, the one who on the recent 'Become an Agent' contest with her entry, TAINTED LOVE.

But, before that: TO EVERY ENTRANT: I WANT TO HEAR ANY/ALL SUCCESS STORIES YOU GET. Email me at SC_Author (at) yahoo (dot) com and SEND ME THE SUCCESS STORIES WHEN YOU GET THEM! It can be getting a publication deal, getting an agent, or heck, even getting a full request. But success stories seriously are amongst my jewels on this blog. I love them, and I love hearing about them. SO SHARE!

ON TO THE INTERVIEW! (I do 7-question interviews as much as I can, because 7 is the Harry Potter lucky number!)

1. Fun facts about you: name three!

Hmm… I always forget facts about me when asked a question like this. Well, I can think of one you’ll love, SC. Despite being in the right age group, I’ve never read a single word of the Harry Potter series. (GASP.) I know. Blasphemy! I figure I’ll read them one day. Maybe in German…

That can be my second fact! I decided to learn German and hope to one day travel to Germany. I’m still far from being fluent. Actually, the only thing I can think of to say is “nicht gut” (“not good”), which pretty much describes my fluency.

My third fact is kind of sad. I wasn’t first inspired to write by JK Rowling, like most my age, but instead by Stephenie Meyer. Eck! I was around sixteen at the time and decided I wanted to be a published author. Luckily for me, it was a choice that stuck because I love stories.

2. Tell us about your writing/publication experience. How did the drafting go? How do you cope in the querying process?

I started writing my first real book (a YA Fantasy) in November 2010 and finished the rough draft in January 2012. I sent out the first batch of queries five months later in June. But the query was a disaster and the book wasn’t ready. I joined some sites like Absolute Write and AgentQuery Connect, but lost hope around October and didn’t look at my writing again until January 2013.

Up until November 2013, I was still working on Book #1 (which had become a NA Fantasy), trying to write a coherent query and fix problems throughout the manuscript. But it occurred to me that I’d never find an agent with Book #1 because the concept was too hard to sell. So I’ve put it away with plans to rewrite it as a futuristic high fantasy.

I’m currently on the first draft of Tainted Love. I hate first drafts. I love the planning stage (I’m a plotter) and anything second draft or above. First drafts just take so long for me to finish. But my goal is to be query-ready by the start of August 2014.

3. What/Who keeps you going on this quest for publication, especially if you feel like giving up some times?

Well, I did give up once. But creating other worlds and spending time in them is what I love to do. I’ll always be a writer. And since it’s what I love, it only makes sense to try to pursue it as a career. When that’s not enough motivation (like when the query rejections start pouring in), I try to think how happy I’ll be the day I get to hold my own book. I don’t look at it like a dream that may never come true. I tell myself it will happen. If not with the current book, maybe with the one after it. Or the one after that. But one day I will be published. If I doubted that, I’d probably give up for good. (Same here.)

4. What is your favorite book? Genre? Author? Also, what writer would you most love to be compared to?

My favorite genre is fantasy. But favorite book and author? Ahh… I don’t know if I really have one. I’ve read Katie MacAlister’s and Karen Chance’s fantasy series multiple times. They’d probably top the list of my favorite authors.  My favorite book changes. Right now it’s Chloe Neill’s Biting Bad, the eighth book in the Chicagoland Vampires series. The ninth just came out a few days ago and I plan to devour it the moment I get my hands on a copy.

5. What are your long-term and short-term goals, writing-wise?

Ha. They’re both the same right now: get published and get published. I guess my short-term goal is a little more specific. I hope to get Tainted Love published.

6. How was your experience in Become an Agent? Anything to tell the other entrants?

I got the most yeses, so there’s that. But what was more important to me was discovering what worked and what didn’t work in my query and first 250. The most common criticism was to remove the clichéd “world stands still” line. I purposefully meant it to be clichéd (Ya know, true love at first sight) but I’ll have to rewrite it somehow so an agent doesn’t reject my query based on it.

To the other entrants: “Everybody has won and all must have prizes.” This contest wasn't about who had the most amazing query and first 250, but about getting constructive feedback to make your work the most amazing it could be. I read and critiqued every entry and all had potential. Some just were closer to being query-ready than others. (YES. YES YES YES!!)

7. What would be a dream review for any of your books? Meaning, what would you LOVE for someone to say about your writing/stories?

My favorite novels are ones that stay with me for days after being read. Having someone say they’re still thinking about my book, and all the twists and turns it took, a week after finishing would be the greatest compliment I could receive. It would probably make me cry.

Thanks again, SC, for hosting this contest. And I wish all the other entrants (and any aspiring writer reading this) the best of luck in their publishing journey! I can’t wait to see your books on shelves :D

NOW. YOU ALL MUST GO and Follow/Tweet her on Twitter, check out her website AND her blog! Go do it! Go do it now!!!!

Hope you all enjoyed the interview! Congrats again, Tiffanie! Best of luck with you and your journey (and be sure to tell us any new successes!).