S. J. Wilkie
The Shore of Lake Michigan
Wisconsin, USA
Good morning, S. J., and welcome to Vision and Verse. What have you written?
I have written 19 books to date.
Mysteries/Thrillers: A String Of Murder; Seroje: The Seeing Eye; The Banter With Murder Series
Young adult fantasy: The Spotted Tail series
Adult Fantasy: The Bitten Series; Tempering A Dragon, Alpha Yin and Yang; Crossing In A Heartbeat
Romance: Sleeping On The Glass Ceiling
What is your favorite genre to write?
Fantasy fiction is my favorite genre because there are no rules. If you need animals to talk, they do. If I need to break the laws of physics – no problem. Everything I’d like to see in real life is created. Magic exists. Dragons are lovely. And trolls can be nice people.
Favorite food.
Umami is my favorite type of taste. Umami trumps sweet any day for me, although I do like a square of dark chocolate on occasion.
Tea or coffee?
Black tea with cream and sugar, please.
Pizza or ice cream?
Pizza, extra cheese. Pepperoni. Ok. ok. Meat lovers. I don’t mind a bit of pineapple either.
Wine or beer or soda or what?
I never thought that I would see the day that people actually think my favorite drink is a sin. I love soda. Sugar bad. Me want that sugar in my soda.
Where would you like to visit?
I would like to visit Madagascar with all the amazing animals. It sounds like a very interesting place. But I’d have to stay a few months and follow a researcher around to get fully immersed with the animal cultures. Although North European countries sound interesting, too.
Favorite musical artist.
I love the sounds of Imagine Dragons and The Piano Guys.
Their music stirs my creativity. I even have a book idea on the
back burner that was inspired by one Imagine Dragons’s song, Demons.
Do you listen to music when you write?
I prefer silence when I write. I’m sensitive to stimuli. I want to live and taste the book I’m writing and I can’t do that will other
sounds. Even if one of my cats is making noise, I have to stop
writing until it’s quiet. Might be the reason I stay up late because everyone is in bed. No one bothers me.
What makes you laugh?
I have a newer kitten (1.5 years old). She has such exuberance when she plays. I love her energy. Her name is Stiletto.
Favorite work of art or sculpture.
There are too many to mention. If I was locked in the Louvre, I’d never want to come out. However, I am absolutely amazed at the work of Matt Bernhardt, who is my cover designer. All my covers are his original work done specifically for my books. Some of his work looks like a photograph when, in actuality, they are paintings.
How old were you when you started writing?I think I’ve always been writing. Since I was a quiet girl, too scared to go out, I created a world to live in through writing. I still have one of my original books written when I was between nine and ten. Some day I need to go back to that book and rewrite it. Even now, if I go back to read it, I see the same story telling ability that I have now, except maybe a little more imaginative now.
Do you plan out your book with outlines and notecards? Or just write?
I am a Just Write person. I start with an idea of how I want it to start and how I want it to end. Then I fill in the middle.
Describe your perfect evening.
A good meal, good conversation with a friend, then a quiet evening writing, where the wind is quiet, the cats are sleeping, and the police are busy running around town with their sirens on.
Where do you get your inspiration?
Life. Conversations with friends. Music. Youtube videos – the forensic programs help me with the murder mysteries. I know where to bury the bodies.
What do you do when you get a writer's block?
Do something else, usually something I don’t like to do. Many times just the thought of cleaning the house clears my writer’s block and I’m back at it.
Who is your favorite author?
Me. Because I am sensitive to stimuli, even the reading of someone else’s book can influence me. I want my work to be original. However, when I was younger, the rage was J.R.R. Tolkien. Although Anne McCaffrey with the dragon books is up there.
Best book you ever read.
I don’t have a best. I enjoyed many.
Last book you read.
Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows.
What would you do for a living if you weren’t a writer?
I was an IT Professional, and retired early from that to do whatever I wanted. But before I retired from that profession, I was already writing. It was a hobby. It is still a hobby. I’d be living in a tent on the beach if I relied on that income to live on.
Who is the one person who has influenced your personal life the most and why?
My dad taught me how to do things. Everyone else taught me that if you wanted it done at all, you had to do it yourself.
If you could sit down and have a conversation with ONE person, living or dead, real or fictional, who would it be and why?
I’m an introvert. I wouldn’t know what to say. The one person I should speak to is a psychiatrist.
What advice would you give someone who aspired to be a writer?
Always questions things. Research places and people. The current book I’m writing, The Smell Of Death, has an Asian/Indian taste to it. While researching cities to model for the city my character lives in I thought of Bombay. That’s when I learned, Bombay doesn’t exist anymore. It was renamed to Mumbai. My history is changing. It opens your eyes at times.
Do you have some links for us to follow you?
www.iamsara.com
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100049725112992
https://www.amazon.com/author/sjwilke
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