Q & A w/ Author Susan B. Roara (The Right Family Series)

Susan B. Roara is is the author of an amazing series called The Right Family Series and I'm lucky enough to be able to read these books for her. I thought it would be nice to do a Q & A because who doesn't like to get inside the mind of an author! 

1. Where did you find inspiration for your books?  That’s a great question!  I originally started writing the book as an autobiography on my mother’s life.  Although The Right Family Series is fiction, the writing process began solely because I wanted to write down my own memories of my mother and my family.

2. Did you always want to be a writer of books?  I had never thought about writing until I sat down one day and just decided to do it. I was forty years old at the time. I was surprised as the story, “The Right Family” developed and I was even more surprised at my ability to convey it.  It was one of the most satisfying projects I had ever taken part of. 

3. Is there going to be a third book to The Right Family Series? I am currently working on “Book 3” (I haven’t named the third book yet).  I don’t want to give away any spoilers, but I’m really enjoying it so far.  I get just as much anxiety and anticipation as the reader when I’m writing.  I can’t wait to see what happens next! 

4. How did you come up with titles?  The titles for “The Right Family” and “My Mother’s Gift” came naturally to me.  I felt that the story owned the titles and I didn’t question them when they popped into my head.  The third book has yet to reveal it’s title, but I’m sure that it will come to me eventually. 

5. If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor? I have always enjoyed historical fiction as one of my favorite genres.  I feel that author’s who can write accurately about history and can bring a reader back to those moments in time, are specially gifted.  The research involved in writing historically is admirable.  Although there are many great authors to choose from, if I had to choose a mentor, it would currently be Bill O’Reilly! 

6. What are your current projects?  My current project is to finish “Book 3” of The Right Family Series.  I enjoy the emails and the text messages I receive from my growing list of readers and followers, all of which include questions about the next book and hopes that there will be a 3^rd book.  I hope to release it early summer of 2016. 

7. Who designed the cover of your books?  The covers of the books were actual pictures of antiques and barn wood that I used to sell in my antique shop.   I need to add that writing a book and running an antique shop go perfectly hand and hand.  It was never a dull moment, even though there were lots of dull moments, if you can understand. 

8. What was the hardest part of writing your book?  The most difficult part of writing a book is the editing process.  Because I had never written before, I had a lot to learn regarding proper grammar, proper narration and dialogue.  My poor editor, “Kristen” from Kristen Corrects had a bit of a challenge with my first novel. Luckily she didn’t give up on me and I think as I continued to write more, I naturally got better at it.

 

9. Do you have advice for other writers?  For all Indie writers, my biggest advice would be to hire an experienced editor.  An editor’s insight is extremely beneficial to a book, especially with grammar issues and proper formatting.  Besides that, an editor can guide your thoughts and make your book better.  At least, that’s been my experience. 

10. What is your writing schedule like when you’re writing? Well, that’s an easy question.  My favorite time of day to write is around 5:00 am, before my children are awake and my day begins.  With my first cup of coffee and a quiet household, I can get a lot done in an hour and a half’s time.  
 

11. Where do you get your ideas or information for your books?  I like to call myself an intuitive writer.  I often wonder where the ideas come from and how they pop into my head.   It’s weird sometimes how the characters can wake you in the middle of the night and all of a sudden, you have your next chapter.  I don’t think about it much when I’m writing; I just trust my thoughts and enjoy the story as it goes. 

12. What do you like to do when you’re not writing? When I’m not writing, I am busy with my family and four young children.  I continue to work part-time as a hair stylist and we enjoy the outdoors very much. 

13. What does your family think of your writing? As a mom of four children, writing is my guilty pleasure. I try not to let it interfere with my family life, although they would probably disagree with me.  I know my children are very proud of me, which makes the sacrifice worth every minute.  

14. As a child what did you want to do when you grew up?  My greatest aspiration as a child was to play with my friends and my siblings.  I don’t ever recall having big, life changing dreams that I would consider “grown up.”  I was a responsible kid but I enjoyed my childhood.   I never really thought about my future until I had to.   

15. What are your favorite genres in books?  I love historical fiction, although a juicy romance novel is always in my repertoire.

16. And for fun, do you have a favorite movie, song etc?   My favorite movie of all time is “Tombstone” with Val Kilmer.  I loved Val Kilmer and Brad Pit and Marky Mark Wahlberg.  I graduated high school in the early 90’s so, yeah, definitely loved those men!

That's ends our Q& A with Susan B. Roara. I really enjoyed getting to know her and I must say the part about editing, I wish I had  money to get someone to edit my reviews! Grammar is not my cup of tea and I would also like to write a book :-) 

Here are Amazon link's to Susan's books:

http://www.amazon.com/Right-Family-1/dp/0996782214/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1453916427&sr=1-1

http://www.amazon.com/Mothers-Gift-Family-Series-Volume/dp/0996782230/ref=bseries_primary_1_0996782230