Vanessa Finaughty
What made you decide to become a writer?
My love of reading and immersing myself in fantastical worlds – I wanted to give the type of joy to others that reading gave me. I was writing from such a young age that I can’t even remember this, but my mom tells me I used to lock myself in my room as a little kid and write stories.
How do you decide your plots? Are they taken from events that have happened to you? Do you base your characters on real people – or do you prefer to be fully creative and make them up?
Sometimes I plan them down to the last detail – like the slasher book I wrote earlier this year (not yet polished and published). A slasher plot needs lots of characters and little details, and they can be hard to keep track of. Other books, like Wizard of Ends, a scene pops into my head and I write it, and the story takes me from there – if I want to know what happens next, I have to write it. The latter is admittedly a lot more fun. Some stories are indeed based on real events and people! Let’s just say those are mostly my thrillers and have helped to keep me out of jail ;-)
What comes first for you – the plot or the characters? And why?
I think they’re equally important. If either one is boring or unrealistic, you will struggle to make the other interesting and write it in a way that enables readers to identify with the story.
What is your favourite genre to write in? Tell me why.
Fantasy and thriller/horror are equally my favourites. Which one I write at any given time depends largely on my mood and which story is in my head trying to claw its way out.
Did you need to do research for your book? If so, how much did you do, how did you do it?
I did a little Googling here and there for Wizard of Ends. However, since it’s a fantasy book in a fantasy world, I didn’t really have all that much research to do. This is one of the best parts about writing fantasy for me – little, if any, research is needed to take up writing time. For some of my other books, more extensive research was necessary. When researching my thriller stories, I’m often amazed that I’ve not been flagged by some government organisation – this research has included the stages of decay of a corpse, how to make a corpse unidentifiable, how to make a murder seem like an accident, how to use dynamite without blowing yourself up… you get the drift!
How do you feel about killing off popular characters? Is it something you enjoy doing in your own books? Have you done it?
I haven’t ever killed off a popular character – I’m not sure if I could do it, to be honest. Sure, characters die in my thrillers, but those are usually the type who make readers glad when they are gone! As for killing off a loved character – real life is depressing enough, in my opinion. I like happy endings. Maybe one day a story or character will dictate that I do this, but that day hasn’t come, thankfully.
Would you write any genre or do you stick to one?
I write multiple genres, because I enjoy reading multiple genres. There’s a genre for every mood and I make use of that. The only genres I’m not a fan of are romance and drama, and political non-fiction (that said, I can still enjoy a speculative fiction or thriller romance). I’m not really sure if this is good or bad from a marketing/brand perspective, but I do feel that readers will enjoy a book more if the author really enjoyed writing it – for me, this means writing what I’m inspired to write.
Do you write under a pseudonym or your own name?
My real name. I did once write erotica under a pseudonym (mostly out of fear of being judged and someone I know reading it one day), but it became too time-consuming to manage two author accounts and really, why should I be ashamed of it? Sure, it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but only those who enjoy that type of thing will read those books.
Have you ever interviewed someone in relation to your book, in order to make your story more realistic?
Yes, I have. I once interviewed a senior scientist at the Planetary Scientist Institution in Tucson, Arizona for Book 2 in my sci-fi fantasy series, Legends of Origin. His expert insights helped me to make theoretical scenarios sound plausible, such as Earth’s sun being stolen by aliens.
How many hours a day or week would you say you spend writing? Is it a potential career for you, is it something you do outside your day job?
As many as possible! It differs from day to day. If work allows, I use the last hour or two of every work day to write (the fact that I usually work through lunch makes this possible). Weekends always have time set aside for writing – sometimes it’s only an hour or two if we have a lot of commitments or if I need to work, but other times I get to write the whole weekend. There are, of course, times when work is so intense that I can’t write for weeks – I end up feeling quite on edge when this happens. My ultimate dream is to write full time; I would do it in a heartbeat if sales enabled it.
Is writing therapeutic for you, or does it cause you to stress out?
It’s therapeutic to the point that I feel like someone going through nicotine withdrawal if I can’t write for extended periods. I have to admit, though, that the marketing side of being an indie author stresses me. It devours time that could be spent writing, and I don’t feel I’m very good at it.
How do you react to reviews? Would you prefer just good ones or are you okay to receive a bad one occasionally? How does this make you feel?
I think all authors would prefer only good reviews, but life is full of different people with different tastes and opinions, and you can’t please everyone. As long as there are some readers who enjoy my books, I’m happy. I don’t take bad reviews personally – it’s just one person’s opinion, and they’re entitled to it. In fact, a bad review isn’t necessarily a bad thing; a review that’s also detailed has the potential to make another reader decide to buy that book – if something the reviewer hated is something the second reader loves.
