I’ve had the immense pleasure of working with Gwen, a powerhouse of ideas and action. She was more than my right hand when we produced A Whimsical Holiday for Children: To Benefit Children’s Charities which can be found in either print or kindle.
Since that first collection, we are now on our third, Gwen has stepped into the role as head editor, and layout artist taking an immense load off my shoulders.
Now, Gwen, tell us…
What inspired you to write?
What inspired me to write: I went to Scotland to meet family for the first time and the land stole my heart. It felt like going home. I picked up a pen to write some really bad poetry and never put it down again.
Do you have anyone you show manuscripts to and get advice from or are you a loner doing it all yourself?
I have a friend help edit, but I am a new Author. It took me awhile to find someone. The people at BookRix helped me a lot.
My preferred Genre is Romance. I am a deep romantic at heart. I was challenged by friends on BookRix to try other genres, and that is good, but I still prefer Romance. I don’t think I could write murder or suspense, but I am trying my hand at Children’s Literature as Gwenna D’Young.
Do you ever base your characters on people you know?
I don’t consciously do it, but I think some of myself goes into every heroine.
What advice would you give to someone who was just starting off in writing?
My advice is to do your research, even then, publishing is changing so quickly, that it is hard at times to keep up. Follow your heart. Write what you want to write, even if it means you never publish it. However, with how things are forming up in the industry, anyone can publish anything.
Do your stories tend to have morals, or special messages, included within them?
HMM. no I don’t consciously write message or morals into my stories, but I am sure if anyone looked hard enough, they could find something..LOL
This question was posed by a fellow author and I loved it so much I decided to throw it into the mix ~ Oh no! One of your characters has escaped. Luckily, I have caught them! I will interrogate them with the help of a lie detector. Welcome! Take a seat, make yourself comfortable. You will be returning to your book once this is over. What’s your name, where are you from and what is your role in the book?
My name is Harry, from her book Jersey Daze, and I am on the run. I ditched the police and am on my way out of the country, I don’t have time to talk to your, or they will put me in jail.
Tell us why we would enjoy reading your books?
I write what I want to read. A complete story. I want you to feel emotions from my writing. Laugh when she laughs, cry when she cries, and I want you to fall in love with her man!
As far as children’s literature, I want it to be funny and entertaining. I like poetry and simple poetry at that. Children love rhymes, that is what made Dr. Suess so popular. I hope that I will be able to write at their level, making it fun for them and their family. Reading to our youth should be fun and is a healthy part of their development.
Thank you Paula for the interview
G.D. Steel
aka Gwenna D’Young and here are some of her links:
http://gdsteelromanceauthor.blogspot.com/
https://www.facebook.com/G.D.SteelRomanceAuthor
https://www.facebook.com/gwen.steel1
