Today, I’m interviewing a prolific author and mother of two, Soraya Lane. She writes full-time and has an impressive library of books to her name! I am keen to find out her secrets to juggling the writing life and parenting.
The Interview
KJ: What is an early book / author that inspired you to write?
SL: I’m not sure if it was one book that inspired me to write. I have been a huge reader all my life – I was the kid sneaking her book out at the dinner table and trying to read just one more page – and I always loved stories and wanted to write. One standout book that I’ve never forgotten, that I read when I was in my late teens or very early 20s, was The Bronze Horseman by Paulina Simmons, and that will always be one of my favourite stories. I’ve ended up writing large, historical women’s fiction novels myself, so perhaps that is the one that inspired me! Also, when I read my first romance, a Mills & Boon title in my early 20s, I became hooked on romance, and I started out writing romance early in my career after that lightbulb moment.
KJ: What is your daily writing schedule like?
SL: My daily writing schedule is more structured now that my children are older – before it was just cram as many hours of work into the week & weekend as possible! My youngest just started school, so I have slightly longer to write now, but in general I’ve always had a daily word count to meet rather than a set number of hours to work. I usually write a minimum of 2,000 words per day to stay on target (weekdays), but sometimes it’s slightly less and sometimes I surprise myself with more! It’s definitely a full time job for me. For the past few years I’ve worked each day with another NZ author, Yvonne Lindsay, and although we live in different cities we make it work! Each day we text each other and set our timers, and do 15 minute “writing sprints” together throughout the day. We text through our word count each time, and then we do it over and over again until we’ve both reached our 2k words. It’s incredible how much you can get done in short blocks of time, and we’ve found 15 mins to work really well.
KJ: What is your favourite remedy for ‘the dreaded block’?
SL: I don’t believe in writer’s block! I think if the story is feeling stale or the words aren’t flowing, then it’s probably a case of the scene not working or there not being enough conflict. If I’m stuck and I can’t figure out how to move forward, then I simply jump ahead. I will often write the end of the story (a part that’s always clear in my mind) if I am struggling, just to keep writing.
KJ: What do you hope people get out of your books?
SL: To be honest, I just want people to escape from whatever is going on in their lives and enjoy my stories. I love writing commercial fiction, and I love reading it, and I hope my readers fall in love with my characters and feel sad when that journey is over. I write about strong women during a period of time when women weren’t expected to do incredible things, so deep down I hope that makes my readers think about what the women of our past experienced, and what they fought for.
KJ: If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?
SL: Just keep on writing! Rejection is a part of being an author, and the pre-published years are simply an apprenticeship. Don’t listen to anyone who tells you that writing can’t be an awesome (and legitimate!) career option!
Thanks so much for having me 🙂
The Bio
Soraya is the Amazon Charts and #1 Kindle bestselling author of Wives of War. Writing as Soraya M. Lane, she writes historical women’s fiction for Lake Union. She has also written romance and women’s fiction as Soraya Lane.
Her latest release is Hearts of Resistance, and her next book (The Spitfire Girls) is out February 26th.
At the height of World War II, three women must come together to fight for freedom, for the men they love–and for each other.
Buy links:
This is my last writer spotlight for the year. If you are a New Zealand author (independent or traditionally published), contact me for a spot in 2019!
In the meantime, read through these other interviews of great kiwi writers I love:
