Sunday Speak: All Authors Blog Blitz (Interview with Andrea Houtsch)

Andrea (Andi) Houtsch, Wordsmith

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Welcome Awesome Readers!

In this edition of Sunday Speak, we're in for a special treat.  This year, I am part of the 2nd Annual All Authors Blog Blitz, and I am proud to host Andrea Houtsch.  In this interview, she gave me permission to delve deeply into her inner workings.

1.  Describe your journey as a writer.

My “journey” began at the young age of nine. The entire fourth grade class of my elementary school at the time (there were a few elementary schools in my childhood) was given the opportunity to write a story and have it printed and bound. I had never tried to write before but applying my young brain to storytelling and, more specifically, to words awakened something in me that quickly became a life long passion. Seeing the fledgling story printed and bound (a story about orphaned kids living in the prehistoric days pasted between two covers sporting floating astronauts – clearly I wasn't thinking anything in the moment of choosing the cover except ‘ooooh, astronauts!!’ because this was also around the time that I was convinced I wanted to be one when I grew up) gave me that first taste of production – something I had written was now memorialized forever. I still have that book almost thirty years later. 
From there I wrote whenever and whatever I could. Genre didn't matter to me; it wasn't even a word in my vocabulary until my sixth grade advanced English class. I just wrote whatever story came to mind. To me writing was more than just stringing words together to make a sentence. Words were my lifeline to the rest of the world. I could express myself with them in ways that no other medium offered.
I wrote a lot for my sixth grade English class, which is probably why I loved my teacher, Mrs. Suarez almost zealously. She was the first person to show any genuine interest in my stories, and in the writing.  Her praise and attention was rewarding on a deeply emotional level, and her support only helped me to further realize I had been born to write. 
I continued to write prodigiously throughout my teenage years, also much supported by a creative writing/journalism high school teacher, Mrs. Jackson. It was in her class that I learned how to sculpt and shape my art; how to find my individual style and work on honing it. My upcoming debut novel She Will Become was born of a visualization exercise she gave us in my sophomore year. This became a constantly evolving story that would occupy nearly all of my waking idle/thinking time for the next twenty years.
I went through a most difficult period in my life in my early twenties. As a result most of my creative endeavors were put on indefinite hold, but all to the good in hindsight. These were the most experience-rich years of my life and without them I would have no fodder for the stories I now want to tell in my mid-thirties. She Will Become could not have been written without that break in creativity. It has all the angst and heartache and unexpected resounding joys, ultimate highs and lowest lows of that time period for me, only rewoven into something new and infinitely more beautiful.

2.  What music gets you in the mood to write the following scenarios?

• Crush
• Getting to know you
• Aching with desire
• Culmination
• Being with each other despite opposition
• Torn apart because of opposition

This question is a toughie.  I don't always go to the same musicians and groups, sometime choosing music on a whim or the mood I need to access and write from.

To inspire ideas and the emotions that arise with a "crush" I might listen to an album or two by Body Language. Their sound is upbeat and bouncy while simultaneously funky and groovy. I once wrote an erotic short story or four to their latest album "Grammar", tweeted them about it and was challenged to write an erotic short involving them or their music. I'm still mulling over ideas.

To inspire that “getting to know you” phase I like to listen to ambient music like the groups Helios, The Album Leaf and Explosions in the Sky. Songza has some amazing playlists designed especially for writing or reading to, filled with orchestral landscapes that map out worlds upon worlds of emotional possibilities.

Morcheeba’s deep rhythmic grooves always call up that yearning that goes so deep it feels like your bones ache. Their lead singer Skye has a delicious sensual quality to her voice that embodies what it is to pine for something. The Sneaker Pimps’ first two albums, “Becoming X” and “Splinter” are rife with raw sexual and sensual urgings. 

For writing those most intimate of moments of culmination Enigma's music is always a guaranteed winner. Listening to any of their albums can be the best soundtrack to erotica. Massive Attack delivers without complaint, seeing many a lover's satiation. 

More dramatic affairs send me into listening to movie or television soundtracks. Bear McCreary's music for SyFy's Battlestar Galactica moves me in ways no other music can. Johann Johanssen's score to the movie "And in the Endless Pause There Came the Sound of Bees" and his score for "Free the Mind" never fail to conjure up tumultuous thoughts, emotions and situations. Ironkid's music cannot help but be dramatic, charting emotional highs and lows. Both albums by the ill-fated pairing The Civil Wars' evoke bittersweet memories and wistful pangs of the heart, so full of sadness and beautifully tragic.

3.  How did you adopt the moniker "Wordsmith"?

Going back to your earlier question on my journey, the moniker “Wordsmith” came about as inspired by and homage to Cornelia Funke, author of the Inkheart trilogy as well as a few other delectable books. In her Inkheart she gives us a character by the name of Fenoglio. He is the author of an incredibly rare and infamous book at the heart of the story, and he calls himself the Inksmith, for his finesse with words written on a page in ink. It was of paramount importance to him that each word of a story must be chosen with great consideration. Ink and paper were expensive or difficult to come by so Fenoglio could not waste a single word when recording his stories.

I associated with Fenoglio to a great degree. Funke gave me a character that I felt knew exactly how I felt about the art of putting words together to tell a story – that the words and the rhythm of the sentences are just as important. I have an intense dislike for redundancy. I write each sentence with supreme awareness of the words that preceded it as well as those that will follow. It’s something that is both a subconscious urging and a deliberate focus. And words being what they are to me – my ultimate connection to the world – I compose them in my head long before I put them on paper. I think in words, which may sound odd, but it works for me. Isn’t this something any craftsman dedicated to their art does?

So I adopted the moniker of "Wordsmith" because that is what I am. I am a writer, through and through. I love my art and pursue it with all the desperate passion of two lovers who can never seem to find enough time together. I am a craftsman, always learning, always practicing, always striving for the next level.

4.  There are some erotic works that mainly focus on the sexual aspect.  Yet in my opinion, erotica is an art that is tried by many but mastered by few.  Would you agree with this assessment, and do you think an oversaturation of those aforementioned works sullies the genre as a whole?

I would and do agree with your assessment. I’ve read a great deal of outstanding erotica but with the advent of indie publishing the erotica genre, along with a gamut of others, has seen a tremendous oversaturation of poorly written works that fizzle rather than sizzle. Contrary to sullying the genre as a whole, I think it makes readers all the more aware of what they are looking for, whatever the qualifications may be, and what they will accept and give their hard earned money for.  It does, however, make the authors who are committed to offering up quality material work just a little harder at quality control in order to be recognized and this can only be a good thing. Attention to quality is an utmost priority and the greater quality control the better the genre will become. Sometimes it takes a sea of baubles for the precious gems to stand out. 

 5.  The two short stories I’ve read (“Between the Pages” and “Stitching Inseams”) skew more romantic than anything.  How important is it for you that romance and erotica go hand in hand?

For me the best erotica is that which explores the dynamics of human relationships. Romance just happens to be the greatest evocatuer of emotional bonds and motivations and provides the richest fodder for meaningful sexual encounters. It is through a character's emotions that we most connect with them, and it is that connection that erotica thrives on.  In order for us to be aroused by what we are reading, there must be something there to draw us in. We're there for the sex, naturally, but it's the people having it and what has led them to that moment of extreme intimacy and sharing that supports the erotic endeavor.

My erotica does skew more romantic than  most for these reasons, but that is not to say that erotica must contain an element of romance for it to be exemplary. I often don't even think of my stories as erotica but stories revolving around romance, those emotional bonds, behavior motivations, and connections. Sex just happens to be the most intense emotional connection two (or more) people can establish.

Erotica is and should be as varied as the interests, emotional bonds, kinks, fetishes, and general turn-ons of the readers imbibing it. I both read and write erotica with a strong romantic flavor because it's my personal preference. It's what turns me on and I write what I want to read.

6.  Out of all of your works, which character or character(s):

Most closely resemble who you are currently:

I would have to say Tristen, from She Will Become, is the closest to matching who I am currently. Her struggle is mine only rewritten into something… more. 

The person you dreamed you'd like to be but aren't yet:

Tristen is the person I used to be, the person I am now, and the person I want to be someday. This was both the challenge and the joy in writing her story. In being able to map her progress and development I was graced to acknowledge my own path – where I’ve been, where I’m at and where I want to go. But just like me, she hasn’t learned all of her life lessons yet so both of our futures are as yet uncharted and rightly so. 

Took you out of your comfort zone:

Teresa “Rezz” Parker, ala From Ashes Arise, takes me most out of my comfort zone. Her character is based on some darker facets of my personality that I don’t usually give the light of day let alone write about and as such working on this novel has been a challenge on multiple levels. 

Reflect your philosophy towards love and life:

This would undoubtedly be Tristen Callayas. Her constant questioning of things status quo, her irascible desire to do the right thing despite the pain it will cause her, her eternal struggle with trust and acceptance of love from others and her eventual coming to terms with who she is mentally, physically and spiritually all reflect my personal philosophies. 

7.  Are any of your works based on elements of your actual life? Does that make them easier to write about or more difficult?

All of my works are based on elements of my actual life. For me to write stories that feel and read as authentic I often turn inward, searching through my mental archives for situations and past experiences to fit the current scene or mood that I am attempting to establish. 

While I never base a character solely on one person, most of my characters are bits and pieces of different people I known or have known all woven into one.  Once, years ago, when I was floundering creatively, someone told me most firmly to “relax and write what you know”.  I know people and what makes them tic – what behavioral motivations will propel them from one situation, emotion or relationship to another. So I write what I know and in most cases it does make the writing easier. 

She Will Become encompasses all of the emotional upheaval I experienced in my twenties but was unable to articulate as it was happening. Now, after much life experience to draw from, I was able to tell the story I first envisioned as a sophomore in high school. 

In the case of From Ashes Arise which focuses on a much darker aspect and time period in my life, albeit translated through Rezz’s point of view, the depth of authenticity is daunting. I constantly weigh how much of my darkness I am ready to not only admit to myself but give to a character and thus share with the world. 

My short stories are meant to be explorations of secondary and tertiary characters that inhabit the world of Abiniam, where She Will Become is set. I am a huge fan of the Myers Briggs Type Indicator as part of my studies in human psychology, behavior and inter-relational dynamics, and it was fun to draw on my knowledge in this area to pair two couples of opposite personalities and see what kind of connection between them would give rise to sexual intimacy. 

8.  What are your upcoming and future projects?

At the moment I'm in the editing stages for She Will Become, an erotic LBGT-themed romance/drama, having completed the manuscript in February. Since it's a lengthy story this stage is moving a little slow but my editor is going over everything with a keen eye which will only benefit the end result. I'm anticipating a potential release date somewhere near the end of the year.

Otherwise I am working on a gamut of projects. As mentioned before From Ashes Arise is an upcoming dark erotic urban fantasy based on the phoenix mythology but giving it what I hope will be an intriguing twist.

7 Years Passed is an erotic novella revolving around Misha and the choice she finds herself faced with when her long estranged ex Anna shows up unexpectedly after seven years have passed since their parting. Misha has moved on with Nan but discovers that the bonds of love are not so easily dissolved with time. 

I'm also working on what was meant to be a short story but has somehow grown to novella, or even novel potential, called Making Patterns. It's the story of how Castle Westphalia's court seamstress Nyra Sellet and her business and life partner Astrid met and came together. These two play an integral but secondary role in Tristen's journey in She Will Become and of late have been clamoring for me to explore their story with more attention than I had previously lent them.

Lastly my best friend and I have been working on a co-authored fantasy series titled The Children of Saldona, where the three races of people live in disharmony: the humans, the otherworldly and mystical Fey, and the Kurban (Sacrificed), once members of the Fey become victims of a worldwide pandemic and deliberately set apart from their brethren over a thousand years before the first book Adagio opens. Adagio focuses on a small group of young Fey as they come into adulthood and realize there is more to the world than the caves their existence and survival have forced them into living in.

9.  What are three qualities of a story that you feel can transcend genre preferences?

Characters that live and breathe on the page are of paramount importance. I read a variety of genres both for personal pleasure and professionally, and the ones that snag me the most above and beyond genre labels are the characters living out these stories. Does the author love or hate them as much as they want the reader to? Are their motives plausible, interactions believable? 

Attention to detail, intimate knowledge of back story and how it influences the present,  and well managed plots will carry a story a long way. 

A story must be written with confidence and a distinct voice. There is no room in the literary world for weak writing and even weaker plots that have seen no deep pondering, planning, or the light of originality. Everyone has a story to tell but the voice in which is told is equally important as the story being told. If the author’s passion bleeds through in his/her words the genre will not matter. 

10. Marketing the work involves a few doses of extrovertedness from time to time.  For an introvert like yourself, has it been a challenge and what have you done to confront those challenges?

Being an introvert (as in, one of the most extreme introverts in that my primary cognitive functions in thinking are introverted intuition and thinking, second to external feeling and sensing) I tend to spend a majority of my time inside my own head. Coming out if it requires a great deal of energy that must be strictly budgeted for this wordsmith to keep a genuine smile on her face and appreciation for all mankind in her heart. For my "paid" job I work as a manager for a local grocery store chain which requires a tremendous amount of energy. At the end of the day all I want to do is come home, snuggle into my recliner, turn on some music, throw on the headphones and plunge into a book or writing. Get online and talk about myself - put myself out there beyond the intimacy I am already offering up to the world through my writing? Attract attention to myself when I am most comfortable lingering on the fringes watching the events unfold without anyone ever knowing that I'm observing? Heaven forbid.  

Marketing is a definite challenge for me, but one I see as a necessity in overcoming. With millions of voices clamoring to be heard in this industry I have little choice but to step into the limelight in order to make my voice heard above the rest. It's been a slow process, learning the proper outlets and mediums. I have been fortunate thus far in garnering the social media network I have. All Authors Publications and Promotions have done much in the way of support and guidance in learning the ropes and expanding my internet presence. Despite having all of that knowledge in place however, I still feel awkward in the usual ways that I see other authors promoting their works. 

So I take a more indirect approach in simply sharing my thoughts, ideas, progress, new or free stories. I invite prospective readers into my world and encourage them to become intrigued by the characters and stories I am telling them by taking them with me on my creative journeys. I suppose you might call it "organic marketing" - a field carefully tended and cultivated with the knowledge that the fruit, once harvested, will never fail to delight or provide sustenance for a word or story hungry soul. 

Inevitably there will come a time when this indirect will be less effective and I will be required to take on more of an active presence in self promotion. When that time comes I'll utilize a technique called Free Trait Agreement, a theory explained by Susan Cain in her book "Quiet": "According to Free Trait Theory, we are both and culturally endowed with certain personality traits - introversion, for example - but we can and do act out of character in the service of "core personal projects." 

In other words, introverts are capable of acting like extroverts for the sake of work they consider important, people they love, or anything they value highly. 

Writing is my passion, my purpose and calling in life. It is my "core personal project". When the time comes you will probably never suspect that I am a quiet super-introverted author who'd rather hide than shout her victories to the world- and publishing my first novel is a supreme victory. 

Just don't be surprised if I disappear into the woodwork for a span of time afterward. After all, I'll need to recharge my introvert batteries for the next round!

11.  What three nuggets of wisdom would you give an aspiring author?

• Make time for writing. If you’re waiting for a convenient moment in your busy schedule to jot a few words down you’re never going to get that story out for the world to read, or if you do it’ll be twenty years later than you ever intended to. If you can’t make the time don’t get down on yourself and give up all aspirations. That busy life is giving you experience and more material for the time when you can make time to write it all down.
• Get out of your own way. If you’re like me and had to think and over think every single plot detail and word I wanted to use for fear that it wouldn’t be absolutely perfect the first time around before ever setting pen to paper, cut it out. Stop pre-judging the material you’re going to produce in that next ten, thirty or sixty minutes you’ve allotted yourself. It doesn’t need to be perfect the first go around, or even the fifth. What matters is that you’re writing something and isn’t that what’s it’s all about? Let the editor worry about whether it’s “good” or “bad”. Just get out of the way of the words and let them flow.

• Participate in NaNoWriMo. If you haven’t ever participated before considering joining National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) in November. Believe me, coming up with 50,000 words in thirty days teaches even the most established author a thing or two about writing a book. My experience with it in 2012 taught me the two bits of advice I’ve already given and I guarantee that you, your writing, and any future stories you will tell will only benefit from the experiment.  

Dear Wordsmith, thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule.  

To read her two short stories, "Between the Pages" and "Stitching Inseams" please visit her page on Scribd.

Enjoy your Sunday dear Readers.  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Until next time,

Desire