What:
I write adventure novels which fall into the Fantasy genre, and one that is Dystopian. I have fans both male and female in all different age groups (middle school, high school, college, my age, my mom’s age, and older). My books have a strong female and male protagonist, there are twists and turns, action, adventure, love, heroes, vicious enemies, and fighting (weapons and hand-to-hand combat). All of my books focus on surviving adversity of one kind or another to become more than was thought possible.
Why:
I write because I love it. It is a piece of me, and is no longer optional. The first time I can recall writing an actual story just to write was in middle school. Unfortunately, all through the rest of my education, there had been too many people who made me feel as though I wasn’t any good at it. (I like to think that they meant that my grammar was bad, and I misunderstood.)
After my first year of college, I had given up writing stories, and this led to dabbling in poetry. I had written a handful of poems that were not horrible, which I really had enjoyed writing, but my ambition for that did not survive long. By the time I had graduated from college (1999), I had given up on writing all together. It wasn’t until 2009 that I started writing again. I used to do it in secret, usually while my kids were sleeping or I was home alone. One day my oldest son caught me at the computer, and asked what I was doing. After he was able to get me to confess I was writing because of a dream, he asked me if I was writing a book. I told him I was just writing. “You’re going to be famous!” he exclaimed with such confidence. I told him, probably not. His eyes sparkled and he said it again. Even though I doubted that my story would ever go anywhere, it did get me thinking, and helped me become a little less self-conscious about writing.
It took me two years to publish that story, because I was standing in the way. The actual writing of it was the easy part. Having the courage to let other people read it, finding the confidence to take a chance, and figuring out how to publish it took up the majority of those two years. However, the moment I decided that I could write, the flood gates opened and I haven’t been able to stop. So whenever I hear people say, “I’ve always wanted to write, but…” I tell them if you feel driven to write, then you should write. Writing is a blessing, and for me, there are not enough hours in the day to get everything accomplished. I write because it’s in my soul, sadness actually roots itself in me when life is too busy and I don’t have the time to do any writing.
How:
Inspiration for my stories comes from everywhere: dreams, music, hiking, people watching, practicing Tai Chi, curiosity (thinking “what if…”). Motivation hasn’t been a problem since I conquered the biggest of my insecurities. I don’t see writing as work or something that is a burden. I never wake up and think, “Ugh, I have to make sure I write so many words today.” I usually can’t wait to see what’s going to happen next.
Ernest Hemingway said, “There is nothing to writing, all you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.” I relate to this quote more than I probably should. I published my first book in 2011. I currently have published 13 books (1 trilogy, 2 stories with 2 books, and 5 stand alone books – although one I have unpublished to improve upon). I hadn’t expected any of this when I began writing. I thought I’d struggle through the one story and that would be it. Nothing prepared me for how it would attach to my soul, let alone that I would bleed myself (the sharing of what I have experienced and seen) onto the page. I just thought I was writing to write, but as I continue to re-read my stories, I see that there is a lot more of me in them than I would like. I have been in awe of how simply writing the people in these stories inspires and empowers me. (Although,it might just be the emotional attachment I have to them, and the heart and soul I pour into each one.) I get asked often how I keep everything straight, since, to date, I have 26 different story lines. My answer is simple: It’s just like how I don’t confuse one of my friends or family members’ life with another… because their story is important to me. The same holds true for the stories I write. Each one of them is unique and important to me, and my brain stores them that way.
I don’t do outlines. I feel this is important to point out, because when I was in school, outlines were a struggle – and it was one of the things that added to my belief that I couldn’t write. My brainstorming and outlining is me sitting down at my computer and writing. Whatever is most vivid in my head is where I start the story. It’s not always chapter one, but that’s okay. Once I begin writing, the story and people in it become more clear, and going back to add more, takes the same effort as continuing forward, sometimes easier. There have been times when I’m writing and someone in the story decides to change (to be the bad guy for example), which happens often. At which time I go back and tweak a few things so that the rest of the story makes sense and the story continues on. The first time this happened I tried to fight against allowing the person to become the bad guy, and the story stalled. When I finally swallowed my pride and let the person change, the story came together perfectly. This method, I realize, isn’t for everyone, but it is for me – obviously.
My mind is always busy with multiple things, which makes me forgetful and easily distracted in the real world, but in my author’s world it is beautiful chaos, filled with magnificent worlds and interesting people. I have 14 stories going that I am currently working on. That’s at least 42 people (a female protagonist, a male protagonist, and an antagonist) stored in my mind. This is both awesome and difficult. Not difficult in that I get stuck with creating ideas, but difficult in that it’s hard to finish anything because my brain doesn’t care if I have completed the previous story or not. My family and I joke about “the voices in my head” because I have so many stories and I decide which story I’m going to work on by which one I see the most vividly – whose voices are the loudest – and if it’s a story I started a year ago, a month ago, or a completely new story, then that is what I write.
Bio:
I graduated from Eastern Michigan University and live in Rochester, Michigan. I am a single mother of three amazing children who have helped me rediscover my love of writing. I started writing in 2009 and discovered there were many stories within me that I wanted to share. With the help of my family, friends, and fans, I have gained confidence in myself and in what I love, allowing me to live my dream to be an author who finds inspiration everywhere: my past, listening to music, in laughter, and even random moments while out hiking or practicing Tai Chi.
I discovered the hard way how important believing in yourself and your dreams is. With each story I write, I hope to take my readers into a world that will captivate their attention. I hope my stories remind you to believe in your dreams, allowing you to think outside the box, and become more than you thought you could be.
Links:
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Email: aschimdtbooks@gmail.com
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Linda K. Sienkiewicz is the author of the award-winning novel In the Context of Love, a story about one woman’s need to tell her truth without shame. Discovering who you want to be isn’t easy when you can’t leave the past behind.
2017 New Apple Book Awards Official Selection
2016 Sarton Women’s Fiction Finalist
2016 Eric Hoffer Book Award Finalist
2016 Readers’ Favorite Finalist
2016 USA Book News Best Book Finalist
“…at once a love story, a cautionary tale, and an inspirational journey.” ~ Bonnie Jo Campbell, author of National Book Award Finalist, American Salvage, and critically acclaimed Once Upon a River,and Mothers, Tell Your Daughters
“With tenderness, but without blinking, Linda K. Sienkiewicz turns her eye on the predator-prey savannah of the young and still somehow hopeful.” ~ Jacquelyn Mitchard, author of the #1 NY Times Bestseller, Deep End of the Ocean
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