Monday Musings: The Writer's Tag

I've had a number of friends do this tag in the last couple weeks, so I figured I'd jump in.

1. WHAT GENRES, STYLES, AND TOPICS DO YOU WRITE ABOUT?

Genres: Fantasy (high, urban, contemporary, epic), magical realism (or something that's not quite full-blown fantasy), and I've got ideas for sci-fi and horror stories/novels that haven't been written yet

Styles: Well, I only wrote in third person omniscient for a long while, but I've tended to use more first person in my writing in the last ten years or so. I almost always write in the past tense in my fiction.

Topics: I haven't really written topically, but I have touched on some issues like infidelity, homosexuality, personal identity, and religion in my short stories and novels. One novel-in-planning will deal very heavily with child abuse and its effects on both the victims and their friends and families.

2. HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN WRITING?

I've been coming up with stories and writing them down since I was in elementary school (so 20-some years now) but I started writing my first novel in 2002 or 2003 (I'd have to check out my original notebook for it to be certain) and since that's when I think of myself writing "seriously" (i.e. for publication and something longer than 3 pages typed in large font) that means it's been 14-15 years now.

3. WHY DO YOU WRITE?
Because the days I don't write, I tend to be far less happy than the days when I write horribly. There's something joyous, therapeutic, and satisfying about writing. I can't imagine giving it up.

4. WHEN IS THE BEST TIME TO WRITE?
When the iron is hot. Or the muse is speaking. Or the computer is on. Or you have breath and consciousness.

5. PARTS OF WRITING YOU LOVE VS PARTS YOU HATE?

Love: completing a story (especially a novel); getting a scene just right; putting together a perfect phrase; getting into my characters' minds (well, some of them).

Hate: Not knowing where to go with a scene; having to choose a single project to focus on; the prospect of editing (I've come to appreciate editing itself a lot more over the years, but I hate sitting down to do it).

6. HOW DO YOU OVERCOME WRITERS BLOCK?
Usually, by forcing myself to write. If that doesn't work, I take a break for a day (or a week) and don't worry about writing. I play video games, I read books, or I just spend time gathering ideas and letting my creative aspects regenerate.

7. ARE YOU WORKING ON SOMETHING AT THE MOMENT?
I'm beating out the last third of Albion Apparent, the second book in the Albion Quartet. I've also got notes for several other novels dancing in my head (not to mention the need to finish There's No Place Like Home?) and I've just started a short story inspired by one of Mirriam's sketches she shared on her Facebook page.

8. WRITING GOALS THIS YEAR?

• Finish first drafts of Albion Apparent and There's No Place Like Home?
• Get Albion Apparent through beta readers and then (hopefully) edited and to the publisher.
• Finish/polish several short stories that are either being written or have been sitting around for a while.
• If there's any year left after that, I'll start on either Albion book 3 or one of the other novels waiting in the wings of my mind.

If you're a writer reading this and haven't done the tag yet, consider yourself tagged. You can leave answers here in the comments or on your own blog (leave a link so I can see your answers, please). If you're not a writer, let me know what you think about my answers.