Friendly Friday - Tina Scott

Tina Scott

 Benjamin, me, Christina, Mike (in back) grandson Johnathan, and husband Randy outside of Carthage Jail, Illinois

Christine, Thanks for letting me be a part of your Friendly Friday. I’d love to tell your readers a little about myself and my journey as a writer.

In the beginning: I climbed trees (it’s true). The pecan tree in my front yard was my personal reading room. I’d climb up there and read and fantasize. (It also gave me a great view for spying on the neighbors and trying to decide if they were up to no good. They never were.)

With no television/tranquilizer, my brother or friends and I spent hours of every day pretending. Robin Hood, Peter Pan (for my brother) Tinker Bell (for me), hobos, movie stars, artists, and dancers were among our favorites. In the dark, car headlights became ghosts, and houses turned into ghost towns. It was during this time that I dreamed of becoming an author.

My favorite childhood book was Pippi Longstocking. I couldn’t get enough of her and her crazy adventures, and even tried sleeping with my head at the foot of the bed a couple of times.

The murky middle: Through the rigors of school and life, I forgot about my writing goals until college. (I must insert that I was a late bloomer of sorts and didn’t go to college until after the last of my seven children started school.) Here my desire to become a novelist was reborn. Shortly after that, I read an article in the newspaper telling about writer’s groups in the area and one of them was ANWA (American Night Writer’s Association). I called my sister who was in the process of writing a novel and we both joined.

The ever-changing end: I still don’t have a published novel under my belt, but I continue to write with the hopes that one day I will. I currently have two historical/romance novels—one is complete and I’m trying to get it published—the other is in the re-write/editing phase. I also have a women’s fiction/fantasy that I’m re-writing. Regardless of the genre, I like to write stories with a little bit of adventure and romance.

Along the way, I’ve received lots of ridiculous advice such as ‘wake up two hours before your family does, to write.’ It supposedly helps you write with the creative side of your brain. I actually did set my internal clock for 3am, and wrote like that for months. At the time everything I wrote seemed brilliant. Unfortunately, when fully awake it was far less so.

Another crazy one was: ‘put your query on a post-it note to get publisher’s attention.’ Luckily, I never followed through with that one—I found out differently before embarrassing myself.

The single most influential book that I’ve read on writing is Plot and Structure by James Scott Bell. I actually won it at the LDStorymaker’s conference two years ago. Afterward, I was able to go back to these two historical novels and my women’s fantasy, which are projects that I care about, and improve their stories exponentially.

One of the most influential quotes I’ve read: A goal without hard work is merely a dream.

So, to keep my goal of being published fresh, I continue to work, to improve, and to strive, in the hopes that one day my efforts will be recognized.

Tina's Blog: http://totallytinascott.blogspot.com/

***By Christine - Thanks for being my guest today Tina. I love getting to know my fellow authors better and this was no exception. You sound like a wonderful mother, wife and writer. I also love the illustrations you've posted on your blog in the past. You definitely have a lot of talent.