Reading and Writing Addiction was able to catch up with Frieda Dryden, Author of Leonard’s Wife for an interview. We are excited to share this interesting interview today with our readers.
RAWA: When did you first discover that you were a writer?
FD: I probably knew as soon as I could put pencil to paper. I wrote poems and sent them to my great, great uncle R.J.C. Stead. He was a writer of poems and novels in Canada. My grandfather published a small rural newspaper. My father said I had printer’s ink for blood. But I really began writing seriously about twenty years ago. My first novel was a fictionalized version of my memoires but my children requested it not be published; too much information.
RAWA: What is your favorite part of writing?
FD: Getting the story that’s been forming in my head out on a piece of paper. Sometimes my head fills with a story and I have to start typing to get it out. During that time I’m pretty obsessed with the story. I love when the story starts to materialize for me. I simply can’t type fast enough.
RAWA: What do you think is the most challenging aspect of writing?
FD: Getting a publisher or agent interested in me. You have a 97% chance your submitted manuscript will hit their dreaded “Slush Pile”. Then there are the hurdles I jumped learning how to publish electronically on Amazon Kindle or Nook. But the hardest part for me has been advertising and promoting my books. It is an expensive undertaking when you are on a fixed income. I am technology ignorant; I don’t know an Ipad from a corn pad. I’ve learned to blog, develop a web page, and navigate Facebook; all of which have taken me kicking and screaming into the twenty first century. I’ve tried to follow Lew Hunter’s “P-ing” philosophy, practice, patience, perseverance; but sometimes my patience wears rather thin.
RAWA: Tell us about your latest release.
FD: My latest release, Legacy of Taylor’s Mountain, is actually the fourth book in my series. The Skeets family saga starts with Leonard’s Wife and takes the reader through several years of the most demented family imaginable. The last book ties the other three together in a neat little bow.
RAWA: How did you come up with the title of your book?
FD: Leonard is one of my main characters. The title came to me as I was writing the book. That’s how all the titles come to me.
RAWA: Who are some of your favorite authors?
FD: Well Stephen King of course, Dean Koontz, and Alex Kava are a few.
RAWA: What do you think has influenced your writing style the most?
FD: Everyone wants to know how a nice lady can come up with such dastardly stuff. I suspect there’s something twisted in me that I wasn’t aware of until I started writing. Of course reading Dean Koontz and Stephen King was probably a major factor.
RAWA: As a writer what is the accomplishment that you are most proud of?
FD: Just seeing the story that once bounced around in my head actually produced on paper or electronically. To know others are enjoying my work is very fulfilling.
RAWA: How did you get published?
FD: I tried the traditional method, but with so many authors out there trying to get noticed, I found it very frustrating. I finally decided to self-publish, and I’m glad I did. I’ve had some minimal success.
RAWA: Do you have any advice for writers looking to get published?
FD: Advice? Not really. I guess I’ve tried everything. I started trying to get an agent fifteen years ago; didn’t happen. I guess I would refer to Lew Hunter’s philosophy: “P-ing” Practice, Patience, & Perserverance.
Leonard’s Wife written by Frieda Dryden is available at Amazon.com.
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