Author Interview With Rivka Spicer

Today, we have an interview with Rivka Spicer. All her books can be bought here on Amazon.

So, what exactly do you write?

I actually write a mixture of things! It’s mostly paranormal and paranormal romance, but I recently did a romantic comedy, Summer Loving, and my latest book Sage was a YA book. There’ll be more YA and romcom coming this year, but most of my scheduled releases will be paranormal romance.

How would you describe yourself in a short third person bio?

Rivka Spicer is one of those crazy people who has far too many hobbies and not enough time. Author, jeweller, textile artist and jellybean addict – for her, every day is a school day.

What made you initially want to write? Has your motivation changed since then?

I started writing when I was 12 years old. I can’t remember exactly why I wanted to write but I do know that I was very unhappy at that time. I was a total geek at school and I was a very ugly duckling. I think now it was probably an escape. My motivation for writing now isn’t really escape. I write because it’s in my blood. My brain is constantly churning out new ideas and I think if I don’t get them on the page I’d probably turn into a raging insomniac!

What do you think is the most important part of writing?

I think the most important part of writing is to love what you’re writing. If you’re not enjoying writing it I think it’s obvious in the finished book. I’ve written novels where I got to the end and I’d fallen out of love with the characters and they were rubbish, so I’ve set them aside to come back to another day when I’m really ‘feeling’ the story. Every now and then I’ll hit on a story line that gets me really excited and those have turned out to be my most popular books. Readers notice when your heart isn’t in it.

What is your favourite part of writing?

My favourite part of writing is, without doubt, getting messages from readers all over the world. To know that something I wrote affected someone so strongly they were compelled to get in touch is extraordinary. Most of the emails I get are about Summer Loving which was based, to a certain extent, on some of my own experiences in the crazy world of internet dating. It was pretty humbling to realise for the first time how fictionalising my experiences could help others understand what they were going through.

Tell us an interesting fact about you.

My first name is the English pronunciation of the Hebrew version of Rebekah. Although my family is British, my mother spent some time working in Israel as a nurse before I was born and had a friend out there called Rivka. With my father being a vicar and wanting all of our names from the bible, Rivka was the obvious choice.

Do you have a day-job, (other than writing)?

I do. I work in an administrative role for the Police. It’s a fascinating and rewarding job. I’m one of those lucky people that genuinely enjoys going to work!

Do you prefer a physical book or an ebook? Why?

If you’d asked me this a year ago I’d have said physical book without question, but since getting my Kindle I have to admit my attitude has changed. I read more on my Kindle because it’s convenient and instant. I can look up a book and have it in my hand within 30 seconds. I also do a fair bit of travelling so it’s handy for me to have one device instead of my usual stack of books. I read so fast that if I’m going on holiday for a week I’ll get through 12 – 15 books. That’s a lot to fit into a suitcase! That said, I still collect paperbacks. I collect a lot of authors and whenever they have new books out I’ll always buy them in paperback for the sake of completeness. I struggle with ebooks sometimes because I download them 50 or 60 at a time so, by the time I come to read them, I’ve usually forgotten what they’re about. It’s nice with a paperback to have the blurb right there on the back.

Are you an indie author, or did you get your work published the ‘traditional’ way?

I’m an indie author but I hope to one day get published the traditional way, if only for the experience. I’m incredibly lucky to have access to cover artists and I do all my own editing. I think it would be good, just as a learning experience, for me to see how someone else would edit my work.

Tell us about your novel ‘Masquerade’.

Masquerade is the first book I published and it’s quite a dark story. Tristan is the vampire executioner and the vampire council are sending him to kill people that he doesn’t think deserve to die. He can’t work out why they’re being targeted, so he starts collecting their journals and that’s where Oceana comes in. She’s an indexer working in the Major Crimes Team for the Police. It’s her job to sift through large amounts of information and cross reference it until a pattern emerges. Tristan ends up blackmailing her into his life to index the journals and find the link between the dead vampires. As they find the connection and begin to investigate it, they realise that it’s a much bigger issue than a few executed vampires, and suddenly they’re looking at destroying the vampire council to save mankind. Throughout it all there’s a twisted love story going on between Tristan and Oceana, but I won’t spoil the ending for anyone that wants to read it. Oceana’s story continues in Carnevale and then branches off in the upcoming third book to follow other characters.

How long did it take for your first book to complete the publication process?

Actually not that long. It was written in a matter of months and edited over a couple of weeks. Once I’d chosen the picture I wanted for the cover, I had the cover art back only 2 days after commissioning it! The actual upload process to Amazon is incredibly quick and easy. I’d filled it out in about half an hour and about five hours after that it was available globally for download. I still find it amazing how fast and easy it is to get work out there.

So, how long does it take you, on average, to complete a first draft?

It varies widely! It really depends how many projects I’m working on at any given time. Masquerade was written over a period of about 3 months. Summer Loving took about 6 weeks. Sage was written in just under 3 weeks, but that was with me writing like a crazy fiend every day. It was during NaNoWriMo and I wrote about 105 thousand words over the thirty days. At the moment I’m working on a lot of books at once, so they’re all taking a few months to complete.

Which projects are you working on at the moment?

My main project at the moment is Obsession, which is the third book in the Masquerade series. I’m about 35 thousand words in so far, but I don’t think it’ll take me long to complete. I’m also working on Marked, which is the follow up to Sage. I wrote a substantial chunk of that in the last week of November and I’m just over 22 thousand words into that. I’ve sketched out the first few chapters of a book called Winter’s Edge which is about yarn-bombing and lots of cake. I get it out every now and then for a giggle when my other projects are getting a little too dark or angsty for my frame of mind. I’m just getting the illustrations done for a children’s book I wrote for my nephew about haggis hunting in the Highlands of Scotland, which is a whole new process for me. Finally, I have a secret project ongoing that will be published under a pen name. I’m 25 thousand words into that but I don’t know that it’ll be a full length novel. It will probably be about 50 thousand words when it’s complete.

How do you come up with the titles for your stories? And do you have the final title before completing your book, or after?

I tend to go for one or two word titles. I’m not sure why, but the whole writing process is very intuitive for me and that feels right. They usually come to me within the first few chapters because I tend to have the majority of the book already sketched out in my mind before I ever start writing it. Masquerade was an obvious choice because you get to the end of the book and realise that absolutely nothing that’s happened is as it seems. Summer Loving was the name of the magazine feature Elise was writing for. Sage is the name of the main character of that book. Obsession is the name of the book that Jo is writing in the third Masquerade novel. I’ve never really had an issue with choosing titles. I’ve only once changed the title of a book right before publishing it and that was The Broken Souls. I can’t even remember what the working title of that was before, but it didn’t feel right at the time.

How has writing changed your life?

I’ve become a lot more comfortable in my own skin. Before, I was the weird girl that had too many hobbies and strange ideas about things. Even after I first published, people still thought I was a little odd. Then Summer Loving crashed into the bestseller lists and suddenly people’s eyes were opened to the fact that maybe I did have talent and perhaps there was something to this whole writing lark after all. After so many years of people thinking I was nuts, it was quite overwhelming for them to start treating my hobbies with respect. I don’t think I’ll ever forget the first time my mum referred to me as an author, even if it was only the dog she was telling!!

Where do you get inspiration for writing from? Do you listen to music whilst writing or have a ‘writing cave’?

Bizarrely, a lot of my inspiration comes from my dreams. I’ve always had crazy dreams and I remember a lot of them. If ever I have nightmares, they’re nearly always set at my old boarding school and there are always secret passageways where I’m trying to escape. It was a perfect setting for Sage. Most of the other books are inspired by things that have happened to me. As I mentioned before, Summer Loving was based on my own experiences with internet dating. Masquerade started with Oceana’s character after I did an indexing course as part of my job. The Broken Souls was born after a life-changing holiday I had in Egypt.

I do listen to music when I write. Current favourites are Mumford and Sons, Rachel Sermanni and Karine Polwart. I tend to listen to folk music when I’m writing because if I listen to anything more upbeat I’m too tempted to get up and rock out instead of sitting down writing. I don’t have a writing cave. I’ll write anywhere, although it’s easier if I’m on my own and away from the television. I went to my first writing retreat in November up at Moniack Mhor which is a local writing centre in the mountains. That was amazing and I’ll definitely go again.

Is there a particular form, style or genre that you’d like to have a go at writing? Why?

I wrote a lot of high fantasy as a very young teenager, but none since I started writing seriously. I’d like to try it again sometime now that my writing has evolved. I like to challenge myself and it’s out of my comfort zone.

Favourite book and/or author(s)?

Wow that’s a tough one…I have a LOT of favourite authors. I guess if I had to choose just one I’d probably go for Janet Evanovich. Her books are a guaranteed pickmeup if I’m ever feeling a little low. I always laugh out loud while reading them and they’re so easy to read.

 Do you think it’s necessary to have a degree (of any sort) in order to be a successful author?

No. I have a science degree and I don’t know that it contributes much to my writing, although I did once write a science fiction book that was heavy on the genetics!! In my humble opinion, writing is only 25% from the head and about 75% from the heart. I firmly believe that anyone can write a book. Some just need a little more help than others. We all have a story in us and mine are no better than anyone else’s. I’m just lucky enough to have the focus and the vocabulary to get it down on paper without outside help. Since starting on this journey I’ve encouraged a lot of people around me to write. At least 5 of them now have novels that are either published or on their way to being published.

What would you say to those who want to become a writer? Any advice?

Read. Read, read and then read some more. It’s the best way to learn the language, to understand the structure of a book and to open your mind to the possibilities. As for the writing, try and do a little bit every day. Love your characters and don’t freak out when they do stuff you weren’t expecting. If you’re not feeling it, walk away until you are. Believe in yourself, even when everyone else thinks you’re nuts. Speak to other authors. Most of us are actually really nice and love to help aspiring authors achieve their dreams. Plus, we’re already here. We have the contacts and the experience. Use us.

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Follow Rivka on twitter (@Rivka Spicer), and visit her facebook page. Alternatively, you can visit her blog.