Inspiring teens blog hop - interview with Sibel Hodge

Today I'm pleased to be participating in another really fun event - the inspiring teens blog hop organised by Greta Burroughs and Vickie Johnstone. Today, as part of the hop, I'm hosting an interview with Sibel Hodge.

After you've read and enjoyed the interview, be sure to answer the question below and follow Sibel on Twitter, Facebook and her blog for a chance to win a copy of her book The See-Through Leopard. And don't forget to enter the raffle for a chance to win a $10 Amazon gift card.

1. Reading

Why do you think Teen Read Week is important? 
 
Young adult novels now encompass so many different styles and genres, and deal with issues and pressures that can give valuable insight to teens. It also allows escape from the pressures of life. Readers can experience challenges, thrills, dangers, and learn lessons without even leaving the house!

How do you think we could encourage youngsters to read more? 

I think the explosion in ereaders, tablets, and smartphones makes reading much more accessible for teens, even when they’re on the move. So mixing technology with reading can be fun. 

When you were a teenager what books did you like to read and did you have an all-time favourite character? 

I loved coming of age stories, and books about overcoming injustice. One of my all-time favourites is To Kill a Mockingbird. I still pick it up every now and then and re-read it.

2. Writing

Do you think today’s teens are in a better position if they want to be a writer than you were all those years ago (hee hee)? 

Hey, it’s only (ahem) a few years ago! Yes, with the opportunities for indie publishing now, anyone who can write a good book has the potential to be successful. 

What advice would you give a youngster who enjoys writing? 

Read, read, read. Write, write, write. Read to experience and understand what good writing and good story-telling is all about. Write to hone your craft, even if it’s only a few hundred words a day. But, most importantly, follow your dreams and be true to yourself. 

3. Your books

What is your latest book about?

The See-Through Leopard is an inspiring and uplifting coming of age story about fighting for survival, healing, love, and recognizing that our scars don’t define us. 

Are you working on anything new at the moment? 

I’ve just finished the 4th book in my Amber Fox cozy mystery series, and I’m about to start on an inspiring new adult novel.

What do you love about being an author? 

When I was a kid I used to get told off for lying. Now, I can do it as a job and get paid for it!

Book description 

Most sixteen-year-old girls are obsessed with their looks, but Jazz Hooper is obsessed for a different reason. After a car accident that kills her mum, Jazz is left with severe facial scars and retreats into a dark depression. Fearing what will happen if Jazz doesn’t recover, her dad makes a drastic decision to move them from England to a game reserve in Kenya for a new start. And when Jazz finds an orphaned leopard cub, it sets off a chain of events that lead her on a two-year journey of discovery, healing and love.

"A percentage of the royalties from the sale of this book will be contributed to Panthera, a leading international conservation organization dedicated to protecting and preserving the world's big cats, plus other wildlife conservation groups." -- Sibel Hodge, author.

Amazon US link
http://www.amazon.com/The-See-Through-Leopard-ebook/dp/B00EPWPP4A/ref=sr_1_3?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1380632749&sr=1-3&keywords=sibel+hodge

Amazon UK link
http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-See-Through-Leopard-ebook/dp/B00EPWPP4A/ref=cm_cr_pr_pb_t

About Sibel Hodge

Sibel Hodge is the Amazon Top 100 Bestselling Author of Fourteen Days Later and Be Careful What You Wish For. She has 8 cats and 1 husband. In her spare time, she's Wonder Woman! When she's not out saving the world from dastardly demons she writes an eclectic mix of romantic comedies, mysteries, thrillers, children's books, and non fiction. Her other books include My Perfect Wedding, The Baby Trap, The Fashion Police (Amber Fox Mystery), Voodoo Deadly (Amber Fox Mystery), The See-Through Leopard, How to Dump Your Boyfriend in the Men's Room (and other short stories), It's a Catastrophe, Healing Meditations for Surviving Grief and Loss, A Gluten Free Taste of Turkey, and A Gluten Free Soup Opera.

Her work has been shortlisted for the Harry Bowling Prize 2008, Highly Commended by the Yeovil Literary Prize 2009, Runner Up in the Chapter One Promotions Novel Comp 2009, nominated Best Novel with Romantic Elements in 2010 by The Romance Reviews, Runner Up in the Best Indie Books of 2012 by Indie Book Bargains, and Winner of Best Children's Book by eFestival of Words 2013. Her novella Trafficked: The Diary of a Sex Slave has been listed as one of the Top 40 Books About Human Rights by Accredited Online Colleges.    

TWITTER HANDLE –  @sibelhodge

FB AUTHOR PAGE – https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sibel-Hodge-Author-of-romantic-comedy-and-comedy-mystery-books/246194485016
 
WEBSITE – http://www.sibelhodge.com/
 

Giveaway

Sibel has two ebook copies of her book The See-Through Leopard to give away. To be in the running, all you have to do is follow Sibel via the links above and then post an answer to the following question in the comments below:

Tell me what your favourite animal is and why.

And make sure to enter the raffle at the inspiring teens blog hop site.


 


 

Author or narcissist

Have you been into a bookshop lately? Or more likely, have you browsed through an online booksite like Amazon? What is the first impression that you get?

I know what I think. Lots of books.

It always gets me thinking. Thinking about why there are so many books. Thinking about what would be involved in reading them all. Thinking about the sort of effort that went into writing them all. Just thinking in general that there are so many books around.

With so many books already in print - or online - why do we need to make more? Are there really any new stories we can tell? Are there any more twists we can find to tell the same old story in a different way?

And, of course, I can't help thinking about my own place in this puzzle. As a writer, why do I write? Why do I feel that I need to add to this abundance of books? Do I really have something new to say, on top of what has already been said, often by writers of substantially more talent and with deeper insight into the human condition than myself? Am I adding something significant to humanity's body of work, or am I just adding to the confusion.

Sometimes I wonder whether we writers are just supreme narcissists. That we're somehow imbued with this self-belief that our stories, no matter how tangled and mangled, are intrinsically worth reading. That the words we conjure are somehow deeper and wiser and wittier than those of our competitors.

Of course, I prefer to think that isn't the case. And yet, I'm more than happy to override any self-doubt and push my work out regardless. I suppose I just can't help it. In my mind, I'm not sure if I'm a narcissist or not, but I do know for sure that I am a writer. And that's good enough for me. 

The laziest hard worker I know

For a lazy person, I work really hard.

Perhaps I should rephrase that. For a hard working person, I'm actually really lazy.

And I do work hard. On top of my 9-5 job and sundry family obligations, I keep a cracking schedule as far as my writing goes. I set myself goals and focus myself on achieving them. At the moment I have 4 different WIPs:

1. The next Neville Lansdowne story - tentatively titled Scrawling - which I'm hoping to release before the end of the year.
2. My picture book Thomas and the Tiger Turtle which should be out in May 2014.
3. My detective story (no planned title as yet). I'm aiming for late 2014 for this one, having just finished a second draft.
4. My YA story (again no title). I finished draft #1 last year so this one is still a long way off. Maybe 2015 but maybe even later. We'll see.

In addition to these, there are always a heap of ideas bubbling in my head. Plus, of course, all my blogging and twittering and other socially network stuff. I'm actually pretty proud of what I'm managing to achieve at the moment. Especially given one big proviso - I'm very, very lazy.

I love to sleep in. I tell you, every day is a battle to get out of bed, and not just on weekdays. Even on weekends, after quite a good sleep in, I'd happily remain under the covers.

Once I'm up, it takes me ages to get going. I'll sit around and do nothing much. In fact, a number of people I know have commented on my capacity to sit around and do nothing much. It's a talent I'm quite proud of.

I guess that's the thing with all of us. We're all a bundle of contradictions. I can be both lazy and hard working at the same time. It's all part of the wonderfulness of being me.

Anyway, better go now. I have a whole week of working hard to do nothing in front of me. 

Turning my nose up at snobs

I'm a terrible snob.

I don't care about what people wear. You can look as shabby as you want. I'm not going to judge you harshly. 

I don't care about the music people listen to. Classical or pop. Hip and cool or golden oldies. Whatever gets you tapping your toes is fine by me.

I don't care about what people eat. If haute cuisine is your thing, that's cool. If you're more partial to McDonalds, that's cool too.

I don't even care what people read. If it's airport fiction or supposed literary masterpieces, it really makes no difference to me. (admittedly, I'd prefer it if more people were reading books by me, but that's another story)

But despite this apparent tolerance, I'm still a terrible snob. There's one thing in particular that gets me turning my nose up, every time I witness it.

That thing is snobbery.

I can't stand snobs. I despise them. Those people who think they are better than other people, just because they wear more expensive clothes, or believe their taste in music or books or whatever somehow makes them superior to others.

I judge that kind of behaviour really harshly. I definitely believe that I'm superior to people like that. I guess you could say that I'm snobbish about snobs.

Of course, I have to live by me own standards. If I'm snobbish about snobs, this means that I am a snob, which means I have to be snobbish about myself. I definitely think that I'm far better than myself. If I ever see me walking down the street, I'll always turn my nose up at myself.

And now that I've managed to completely confuse myself, I think I'll go and have a long lie down.

I'm not that deep

I love to read. I guess that, being a writer myself, this isn't something particularly surprising.

I'm constantly amazed at the breadth of narratives around. So many different writing styles. So many different ways to tell a story. But one thing that I really admire is the ability of writers to really dig down deep, to nail their characters in complex ways, and place them in intricate, multi-level stories.

I'm blown away with the way writers can get into their characters' heads. How they can develop lengthy interior monologues that capture so much about a character. How they can create plots that twist and turn in so many ways, beyond any reader's expectations. How they can create descriptions which make you feel like you're actually there, seeing things with your own eyes.

I'm in awe of these writers, and I'm also more than a little bit jealous. I just can't create stories like that. I can't create such complex interior worlds for my characters. I can't describe their exterior worlds in anywhere near the same detail. And there's a very good reason for that.

I'm just not that deep.

I can't do those interior monologues because I don't have them myself. My mind tends to skim over the surface, avoiding any attempts to dig down deeper. And I can't create those detailed descriptions because my eyes don't seem to register things in such a close-eyed way. They just flitter from one thing to another, getting the basic idea but not the specifics.

Is that a bad thing? Should I be upset with myself for my lack of depth? Should I make more of an effort to create more layers to myself?

I'm not sure. At this stage of my life, I figure I'm not going to change. I don't think I could ever write those "deep" sorts of stories. But maybe that's okay. Sure, there's nothing to stop me enjoying the craft that goes into creating them. But maybe there's room for my sorts of stories as well. For stories that flit around on the surface in (hopefully) surprising and amusing ways.

Who knows. Maybe readers will find their own depths in there. 

Who are you looking at? Probably not me

Have you ever tried to play spot the writer?

It's not too hard. Wherever you are, whether walking through a crowd or sitting in a restaurant or cafe, take a look around and see if you can figure out which of the people you see are writers. At least that's the easy part. The difficult part is, like me you'll probably have no idea whether you're right or not (unless you go up to people directly and ask, which may be a little on the awkward side).

That's the great thing about being a writer. How you look makes no difference at all. There are no dress requirements or uniforms. And there are also no particular requirements to look great, like there are for actors and models, or to have extraordinary physical prowess like athletes.

Anyone you see could be a writer. We come in all shapes and sizes. We also come in any kind of packaging. True, there may be cliches about the bohemian writer, sitting in a cool cafe and drinking coffee while mulling on their latest literary masterpiece. But I suspect there are far more writers who diverge from this stereotype than those who conform to it.

That's one of the really great things I like about writing. Just as there are an innumerable number of stories, so there are an innumerable number of authors, each with their own styles of writing as well as living.

And I also like that being a writer doesn't define me as a person. It's something that I do, and that I enjoy. But there's an awful lot more to me than that. Even though I would love to be successful, I'm always happy to fly under the radar. I'd hate to be the sort of person who has to fend off admirers at the local supermarket (admittedly a fairly unlikely possibility).

So whether you're playing the game of spot the author or just looking around and people watching in general, I have a feeling that the person you're looking at isn't me. 

I'm serious about being funny

I'm an extremely serious person.

You may not believe me. If you know me well, I'm sure you won't believe me.

Aren't I supposed to be a funny guy? Aren't I constantly reeling off jokes and zingers and puns and other kinds of randomly absurd observations about the vagaries of life in general and writing in particular.

All right, so maybe I do. But as far as I can tell, that's no reason to suggest that I'm not an extremely serious person.

There's a particular reason why I think I can support my claim that it's actually the fact that I am funny (well allegedly anyway) that makes me such a serious person. Here goes:

Being funny is hard work.

Don't believe me? Just try it some time. Go out there and make people laugh. It's not as easy as it sounds. Ok, I know there are some people out there who can just do it naturally. All they have to do is breathe and they can have everybody else falling over themselves in fits of laughter. But I'm not like that.

To people like me, being funny is a commitment. It's a goal that you set, and towards which you then need to work. It takes practice and dedication in order to achieve this goal at a regular level - to consistently say or write things with the requisite amount of hilarity.

And getting the amount right is a big part of it. Too little, and it will just seem anaemic. Too much and it will seem forced. It's a delicate balance, requiring hard work and skill and experience to get right. I'm not even sure I have.

So there you have it. Immutable evidence that I'm as serious as the next person, and more serious than many. I'm working hard, dedicating myself towards reaching a goal. The fact that it's a very silly goal does nothing to lessen the commitment required.

When it comes to being funny, I'm deadly serious.