Talkative Tuesday: Interview with Bettie Sharpe

Bettie Sharpe is a Los Angeles native with a fondness for hot weather, classic cars, and air so thick it sticks in your teeth. When she’s not busy attempting to metabolize smog into oxygen, Bettie enjoys romance novels, action movies, comic books, video games, and every other entertainment product her teachers said would rot her brain.

Bettie loves to write almost as much as she loves to read. Since childhood, Bettie has dreamed of seeing her name in shiny gold cursive on the cover of a luridly titled paperback book. Bettie and her husband share their house with two cats, numerous computers, and the possum in their palm tree.

Bettie recently made her first sale to Samhain Publishing. Her novella, Like a Thief in the Night was released as part of the Strangers in the Night anthology in January, 2008.

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Seven random facts about Bettie:

1. I know the place of purchase and price of every article of clothing I own, no matter how long ago I got it. If I bought it on sale, I can also tell you the original price and how much I saved.
2. I love fabric. I am, in fact, a fabric whore, known to wander the aisles of fabric stores across Los Angeles admiring the color and weave of wares I rarely purchase. Bonus: every story I’ve ever written contains at least one fairly detailed description of fabric–the material, the color, the weave, the pattern or the dye-process.
3. I am just under six feet tall.
4. The reason I use a lot of exclamation points in my blog posts and comments? I really talk that way. Really!
5. I love false/created spaces. Las Vegas, Disneyland, miniature golf courses, malls built to look like 19th century European or American towns, odd little houses around LA that look like hobbit houses or castles or pagodas.
6. I’m fascinated with trains. From 19th Century steam engines, to 20th century trollies, to Angel’s Flight (Los Angeles’s late, and much missed funicular rail line) to subways to light rail. Trains are cool.
7. I am almost unbeatable at “Connect 4″

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Will you tell us a little about yourself?

BS: I was born and raised in Los Angeles, left for college, and came running right back the instant I graduated. I’ve been back for ten years, and I love it. I’m married. We have no kids and two cats, three video game systems and many, many dusty old computers.

When did you begin writing?

BS: When I was a kid, my mother would tell me stories. They’d be these long, fantastical stories about girls who had adventures. She’d often pause in the middle of them, and I’d say, “What happened?” She’d say, “What do you think happened?” I’d tell her what I thought happened, and darned if I wasn’t right, every time. Her stories were always identical to my “guess” about what would happen. The other thing about her stories was, they never ended. She’d just stand up and say, “Okay, that’s all for tonight. Go to bed.” When I protested that she hadn’t told me the end of the story, she’d say, “You can make up the ending.” So I did. Next, I started making up my own stories from start to finish. Whenever I had trouble sleeping, or when I was bored, or when I was in math class, I’d make up a story and tell it to myself in my head. I still do. The only difference between then and now is, these days I write some of them down.

What writer has influenced you the most?

BS: That’s a tough one. Or an easy one. Easy to start rattling off names, and tough to stop. I loved Robin McKinley’s books all through my childhood, and I still love them, and reread my favorites every few years. But I’m also a fan of Neal Stephenson, Connie Willis, Dashiell Hammett, Walter Mosley, Dorothy Parker, Anita Loos and Neil Gaiman. As a kid, I was obsessed with folktales, fairy tales, ancient myths, murder mystery novels and, for some reason, the Black Plague. Ok, so I was a morbid kid. I still adore fairy tales and retellings of fairy tales. I read and reread Angela Carter’s The Bloody Chamber and Tanith Lee’s Red as Blood quite a few times in high school.

I also find a lot in non-fiction that captures my imagination. As an example, a few years ago I read a fascinating book called A Perfect Red: Empire, Espionage and the Quest for the Color of Desire. It was about the Spanish empire’s cochineal trade. Cochineal are these insects that live on the agave cactus. Their dead bodies can be crushed to make a vivid red dye. For centuries, Spain had a monopoly on the best red dye around. Nobody else even knew what it was made of. Other countries engaged in all sorts of spying, bribing and outright thievery to discover the secret. All that over dye. Ever since then, dye and the process of dying fabrics has been turning up in my stories.

Another nonfiction book that set my imagination off in new and interesting directions was a book called The World Without Us which is a well-researched discussion of what the world would look like if human beings suddenly disappeared. This book repainted the landscape of the post-apocalyptic sci-fi stories I have on my hard drive. It is so detailed, thorough and fascinating. I recommend it for anyone who writes (or reads) sci-fi.

What are you currently working on?

BS: I’m working on my first full-length novel. It’s a fantasy called Rohais. I started it a little before I started my free novella Ember, and one of the reasons I chose to make Ember free was because I thought the two stories were very similar in tone and content. Like Ember, Rohais is a first-person fantasy novel, loosely based on a fairy tale. I’m not yet sure whether it’s a romance or a “with romantic elements” story. In writing Ember, I discovered that the two main characters are not as similar as I’d thought, and now that I’ve started to work seriously on Rohais I’m having a great time fleshing out this character I’ve always liked, and figuring out what her story is.

I’m also working on a steampunk novella called Heart of the Sky which has zeppelins, sky pirates, swashbuckling, difference engines, locomotives, intrigue, and, of course, true love. It’s a lot of fun.

Which of your books is your favorite?

BS: That’s easy: the one I’m writing now.

What is the hardest part about being a writer?

BS: Writing. That’s also the best part. And the most frustrating. And the most rewarding. For me, it’s hard to stay focussed. There are so many stories I want to write, but between work and school, I have a limited amount of time. I have to choose which stories I want to spend my time on, and, since I would one day like to make a living writing, I also have to try to choose the stories that will best help me achieve that goal. Those are tough decisions and I second guess them all the time. I hope I’ll get better at it in the future.

What is a typical day like for you?

BS: Depends on the day. I have class two days a week, and I work three days. In the fall, I’ll be starting a graduate program in library science, so I’ll attend class more and work less. Most of the time, I wake up read email, and news. If I wrote the night before, I reread what I wrote. Usually I’ll have thought of something I want to change, so I make those changes, and maybe write a few more paragraphs. Then, I go to work, or study and go to class, run errands,come home, read or waste time on the Internets, make dinner, hang out with my husband for a while, write from about 10 or 11 pm to 2 am, and go to sleep. Rinse. Lather. Repeat.

What is one piece of advice you would give beginning writers?

BS: Have fun! Really. I’ve been writing for ages. Ten years ago I said to myself, “I’m going to write a novel. I have to be serious about this.” So I plotted and planned, I wrote outlines and character motivation charts. I did everything the books tell you to do, and it always felt like work. But, worse than that, what I wrote was boring! I have a half-dozen half-finished stories from those years, and not a single one of them is worth the bits they’re stored on.

Last year, my husband gave me Stephen King’s On Writing for my birthday, and I found out that Mr. King does not bother with all that convoluted pre-planning. He just writes. I decided to give it a try. I wrote without planning, and kept writing, just to find out how it would all end. That was the first story I finished. I sent it in to Samhain Publishing’s call for submissions for the Strangers in the Night anthology. I expected a rejection because Like a Thief in the Night was, after all, the very first story I’d ever finished and submitted to a publisher. Instead, Samhain bought the novella. It was released in January as an e-book, and will be released as part of the Strangers in the Night print book, along with Bonnie Dee’s The Valentine Effect, and Veronica Wilde’s Erotics Anonymous in January 2009.

Can you tell us three favorite books that have helped you become a better writer?

BS: a) On Writing. I don’t just recommend it, I order any writer who hasn’t read it to go out and buy it.

b) I love Karen Elizabeth Gordon’s books on grammar, punctuation and word usage. I hated grammar until one of my professors recommended her book, The Deluxe Transitive Vampire: The Ultimate Handbook of Grammar for the Innocent, the Eager and the Doomed. First off, that is a great title. Second, the example sentences are so amusingly goth — I dare you to keep a straight face while reading them. Gordon’s books aren’t the most efficient reference books around, but if you want irreverent, fascinating guides that will make you look at grammar in a new light, give them a try.

c) Bruno Bettelheim’s The Uses of Enchantment. This is a must for anyone who is fascinated by fairy tales. I don’t always agree with Bettelheim’s Freudian take on fairy tales, but his advocacy of fairy tales as helpful to children is wonderful. His analysis is always interesting, and his breakdown of the psychological hooks in various familiar stories is very useful if you’re planning on writing a re-telling of a fairy tale.

What are your writing strengths and weaknesses?

BS: I think there are some elements of writing that I feel very comfortable doing, such as first person. There are elements I feel I need to work on, such as strengthening scenes written from the hero’s point of view. And then there are elements I don’t think any amount of work will fix. Specifically, humor. My friends say I write light and bubbly emails, but I can not write light and bubbly fiction. I sit down at the keyboard, and out comes “dark.” Go figure.

I have a list of things I try to work on when I write, of things I want to work out. Generally I follow my list. If I have a definite strength in writing, I’d say it is my ability to be strict with myself about practicing the way I want to write. My weakness is that I am never strict enough with myself about when I write. I feel like I often let life come in and drag me away from writing, which is strange because writing is one of my favorite things to do.

Tell us about your first contract and how it made you feel.

BS: Ecstatic. Just really, really happy. When I sent Like a Thief in to Samhain, I hadn’t shown anyone my writing. I didn’t have a crit partner; I didn’t have anyone else’s opinions on the story because I was just so shy about writing. My editor was the first person to read Like a Thief and the whole time I was waiting for a reply, I was certain no one would like it. After I got the email from Laurie, I was giddy for days — months, even.

Do you listen to music when you write?

BS: Rarely. I tend to listen to music when I want to take my mind off of something — on a drive, while exercising, or cleaning house. I’m not one of those people who needs Absolute Silence in order to concentrate, but listening to music does make it more difficult. This is not to say music has no place in my writing. Often I’ll listen to certain songs immediately before I write.

I love old blues songs–there are so many great metaphors in the blues. There’s love, sex, longing and regret. The songs always tell a story. I’m a big fan of female-singer/songwriters: Nina Simone, Tori Amos, Alicia Keys, Shakira. I love any version of the song, “House of the Rising Sun” which was a very old blues song when the Animals made it famous with their 1966 version. In fact, the name of the brothel in Ember, Maison d’Aube is a reference, since the house referred to in the song was a New Orleans brothel. In a sci-fi story I’ve got, it shows up as “House of the Rising Sun Resort and Casino”.

In addition to all that, I like cheesy pop music.

Plotter or pantster?

BS: Pantster. Definitely. I used to think I was a plotter, but I was wrong. I’m a pantster, through and through, and it’s so much fun.

What are your future goals for your career?

BS: I’d like to make a living writing some day. It’s my dream. Of course, I’m still hedging my bets and going to school for my library science degree. One way or another, I will find a career that lets me spend all day, every day around books.

Tell us about your hobbies!

BS: Reading. I love to read. It’s still my favorite thing to do, and it gives me a great opportunity to indulge in another of my favorite pastimes, going to the library. Writing, of course. I play video games. I like classic movies–especially pre-code films from the early 1930s. I love animation. On my website, I have a list of my favorite directors — Preston Sturges, Pedro Almodovar & John Woo. I left Hayao Miyazaki off that list, which was very bad of me because I adore his movies. His most recent films are Howl’s Moving Castle and Spirited Away. His movie Kiki’s Delivery Service is one of my all-time favorite comfort movies. I watch it when I’m having a bad day, and it always makes me happy.

In addition to all that reading and movie-watching, I dabble in drawing, painting, sewing, knitting, web design, graphics and gardening. I love to go to the beach and swim in the ocean.

Thanks so much for a fun and informative interview, Bettie. It was great having you!

“Ember is Tanith Lee on acid. It’s the bestest, baddest take on the Cinderella story and turns every last familiar element on its head …[Ember] is, without a doubt, one of the best heroines (protagonists) I’ve ever read, anywhere…A+“
– Sherry Thomas Guest Reviewing for Dear Author

“Literary crack. One little taste and you are hooked.”
–Shiloh Walker

“This is an incredibly fresh and unique take on a story that’s been told dozens of times, with characters that sparkle and a story that draws you in like a riptide.”
–Heather of Errant Dreams Reviews

“Ember is a witty anti fairytale… fast paced and clever.”
–Brie

“Ms. Sharpe flips this classic on its head and shakes it around until you’re left reading a truly original work.”
– Grace Draven

“One of the best erotic romances I’ve ever read…the book is raw, edgy, erotic and beautifully written.”
–Shiloh Walker

“This is one twisted, violent, bloody read and I kind of loved it. “
–Meriam