Frequently asked questions



  • When do you write? My mind is sharper in the morning, so I slate my writing time earlier rather than later. However, if the day has been filled with distractions, I'll stay up past bedtime in order to make some headway. When I have a deadline to meet, I trim everything else to the bare minimum.

  • Are you a plotter, or a pantser? I don't write by the seat of my pants. I plot things out well in advance. The story may decide to take a different route than the planned one, but that's okay. Better than okay. The muse has stepped in to help! I go with the inspiration, then sit down and revise the plot going forward. Having at least one sure vision of the path ahead gives me confidence to keep striding on even if I end up far from my intended destination.

  • How do you handle writer's block? I take a walk. I've found that often, in my case, writer's block is my subconscious warning me that something is wrong with an earlier passage. It helps to back off and do a mental run over the recently-written material. We give it a good debate, the three of us: Me, Myself, and I. Hold a cell phone to my ear so passersby won't think I'm just a crazy lady talking to herself!

  • Where did you find all the tales in Spun Again and Spun Again 2? Two I took from well-known mythology and saga, but the others I found in rather obscure places. Several I translated out of books published in Norway, in Norwegian. A few delightful ones I heard while visiting Telemark, province of my ancestors. My greatest treasure trove was a scholarly, English-language compendium of Scandinavian folktales.