Interview with Katie Mettner - author of "Sugar´s Dance"
Book: Sugar´s Dance on AMAZON
Website: www.katiemettnerbooks.com
Twitter: @KatieMettner
TS: When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?
KM: I have always loved books and I loved how words went together and how you could start off with a clean sheet of paper and as you wrote your pencil became duller and duller, but when you finished you had something that could make someone feel happy, sad, lonely or angry. My parents always had us at the library and reading and exploring. I loved holding a book in my hand and saying “Someday my name is going to be on one of these.” So I think I have always wanted to be writer and still do. I think being a writer isn’t something that is accomplished by being an author. Being a writer is a lifelong lesson.
TS: How long does it take you to write a book?
KM: Generally a year. It takes me four months to write and six months to edit, cut, edit and cut! I don’t want to rush the work if it’s a full length novel and turn out something that isn’t exactly what I want it to be. My children’s book that I recently published took a week to write and six years to get published!
TS: What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
KM: I’ve been told that it is most unusual that I usually have the last line of the book written before the first! I also create one big scene and work my way through the book using that scene as the base point. It works for me. I build and grow the story on what is going to be the culminating scene of the book.
TS: How do books get published?
KM: These days books get published in so many different ways! We have the traditional publishers, many new indie publishers, self publishing and of course the ebook publishing. I have published both of my books through self publishing. I have found it to be a good experience so far and will not hesitate to self publish Sugar’s Song this fall when it’s ready.
TS: Where do you get your information or ideas for your books?
KM: I write about events in my life, stories in my mind and my favorite places. I do a lot of research, for example in the Twin Ports of Superior/Duluth. I always say if you are going to write a book make the location 100% fiction or 100% accurate. I strive for the 100% accurate of the region and its places and people. I’m sure I’m only at 95%, but I strive for perfection. I want the reader to step out of the book and into the location that was described in it and feel like they know it. That is my goal when I write about actual places.
TS: When did you write your first book and how old were you?
KM: My first book was Spaghetti Eddie and was written when my son was about three or four. It has finally seen the light of day now and is published with Amazon! I was in my early 30s when I wrote it and just tucked it away until I had a chance to find someone to illustrate it. Turned out it was my son and his class that did the illustrations six years later!
TS: What do you like to do when you're not writing?
KM: When I’m not writing I love to listen to music, read and be with my family. I love to ballroom dance and haven’t spent much time on the floor lately, but I’m always surfing the net for new songs and the dances that people are doing to them. I enjoy range shooting with my husband and trips to Duluth to see my favorite places.
TS: What was one of the most surprising things you learned in creating your book/s?
KM: Oh wow, where to begin! I would have to say how people have taken Sugar into their lives and love her. I was truly surprised by the emotions the book brings out in people and how many wonderful stories I have gotten from readers because of it.
TS: How many books have you written? Which is your favorite?
KM: I have written Sugar’s Dance and Spaghetti Eddie and just finished the melody of Sugar’s Song. They all hold special places in my heart for so many different reasons. I see my own Spaghetti Eddie growing up and I’m happy to have this book, a little snapshot in time of him when he was nine and a third grader. I’m sure when I’m 60 and look back at that book I will be smiling. Sugar’s Dance has defined me as a writer and I think as a person. I took a character that was floating through my mind and made her my own and I know for sure there is a lot of me in Sugar. In defining her I was finally able to define myself.
TS: Do you hear from your readers much? What kinds of things do they say?
KM: All the time and I love it! I get texts, emails, tweets and Facebook posts from people in different stages of the book or having just finished it. They tell me stories about themselves, share how the book made them feel and my most favorites are messages the ones that say, “I can’t put Sugar down and I should be sleeping!” I had a reader tell me that “Sugar lingers in your mind long after you finish the book and because of her I have a different outlook on things and people in my world.” That was satisfying and unbelievably humbling.
TS: What do you think makes a good story?
KM: Every story is a good story depending on the listener. Do I like horror stories? Nope, but my brother in law does! Does he like romance stories? Nope, but I do! That’s the wonderful part of imagination, there is something for everyone!
TS: As a child, what did you want to do when you grew up?
KM: Well I started out wanting to be a veterinarian then I saw a dog being spayed in my 7th grade science class and I changed my mind ON THE SPOT! I wanted to be a chef/baker and did that for many years until an injury didn’t allow me to follow that dream anymore. All told I knew I wanted to be a mother and a wife and in some shape or form a writer. I am a mother and I am a wife and my kids and husband are my everything! I am an official author, but more importantly I am a writer. I wrote Sugar’s Dance, but I am writing Sugar’s Song. I will always be writing...
TS: Katie, thank you very much for this interview! I really appreciate the time you took for this! And I really enjoyed it! I wish you good luck with your future projects and of course with Sugar´s Song!
Website: www.katiemettnerbooks.com
Twitter: @KatieMettner
TS: When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?
KM: I have always loved books and I loved how words went together and how you could start off with a clean sheet of paper and as you wrote your pencil became duller and duller, but when you finished you had something that could make someone feel happy, sad, lonely or angry. My parents always had us at the library and reading and exploring. I loved holding a book in my hand and saying “Someday my name is going to be on one of these.” So I think I have always wanted to be writer and still do. I think being a writer isn’t something that is accomplished by being an author. Being a writer is a lifelong lesson.
TS: How long does it take you to write a book?
KM: Generally a year. It takes me four months to write and six months to edit, cut, edit and cut! I don’t want to rush the work if it’s a full length novel and turn out something that isn’t exactly what I want it to be. My children’s book that I recently published took a week to write and six years to get published!
TS: What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
KM: I’ve been told that it is most unusual that I usually have the last line of the book written before the first! I also create one big scene and work my way through the book using that scene as the base point. It works for me. I build and grow the story on what is going to be the culminating scene of the book.
TS: How do books get published?
KM: These days books get published in so many different ways! We have the traditional publishers, many new indie publishers, self publishing and of course the ebook publishing. I have published both of my books through self publishing. I have found it to be a good experience so far and will not hesitate to self publish Sugar’s Song this fall when it’s ready.
TS: Where do you get your information or ideas for your books?
KM: I write about events in my life, stories in my mind and my favorite places. I do a lot of research, for example in the Twin Ports of Superior/Duluth. I always say if you are going to write a book make the location 100% fiction or 100% accurate. I strive for the 100% accurate of the region and its places and people. I’m sure I’m only at 95%, but I strive for perfection. I want the reader to step out of the book and into the location that was described in it and feel like they know it. That is my goal when I write about actual places.
TS: When did you write your first book and how old were you?
KM: My first book was Spaghetti Eddie and was written when my son was about three or four. It has finally seen the light of day now and is published with Amazon! I was in my early 30s when I wrote it and just tucked it away until I had a chance to find someone to illustrate it. Turned out it was my son and his class that did the illustrations six years later!
TS: What do you like to do when you're not writing?
KM: When I’m not writing I love to listen to music, read and be with my family. I love to ballroom dance and haven’t spent much time on the floor lately, but I’m always surfing the net for new songs and the dances that people are doing to them. I enjoy range shooting with my husband and trips to Duluth to see my favorite places.
TS: What was one of the most surprising things you learned in creating your book/s?
KM: Oh wow, where to begin! I would have to say how people have taken Sugar into their lives and love her. I was truly surprised by the emotions the book brings out in people and how many wonderful stories I have gotten from readers because of it.
TS: How many books have you written? Which is your favorite?
KM: I have written Sugar’s Dance and Spaghetti Eddie and just finished the melody of Sugar’s Song. They all hold special places in my heart for so many different reasons. I see my own Spaghetti Eddie growing up and I’m happy to have this book, a little snapshot in time of him when he was nine and a third grader. I’m sure when I’m 60 and look back at that book I will be smiling. Sugar’s Dance has defined me as a writer and I think as a person. I took a character that was floating through my mind and made her my own and I know for sure there is a lot of me in Sugar. In defining her I was finally able to define myself.
TS: Do you hear from your readers much? What kinds of things do they say?
KM: All the time and I love it! I get texts, emails, tweets and Facebook posts from people in different stages of the book or having just finished it. They tell me stories about themselves, share how the book made them feel and my most favorites are messages the ones that say, “I can’t put Sugar down and I should be sleeping!” I had a reader tell me that “Sugar lingers in your mind long after you finish the book and because of her I have a different outlook on things and people in my world.” That was satisfying and unbelievably humbling.
TS: What do you think makes a good story?
KM: Every story is a good story depending on the listener. Do I like horror stories? Nope, but my brother in law does! Does he like romance stories? Nope, but I do! That’s the wonderful part of imagination, there is something for everyone!
TS: As a child, what did you want to do when you grew up?
KM: Well I started out wanting to be a veterinarian then I saw a dog being spayed in my 7th grade science class and I changed my mind ON THE SPOT! I wanted to be a chef/baker and did that for many years until an injury didn’t allow me to follow that dream anymore. All told I knew I wanted to be a mother and a wife and in some shape or form a writer. I am a mother and I am a wife and my kids and husband are my everything! I am an official author, but more importantly I am a writer. I wrote Sugar’s Dance, but I am writing Sugar’s Song. I will always be writing...
TS: Katie, thank you very much for this interview! I really appreciate the time you took for this! And I really enjoyed it! I wish you good luck with your future projects and of course with Sugar´s Song!
