Author Bio:
Marianne Sciucco is not a nurse who writes but a writer who happens to be a nurse. A lover of words and books, she dreamed of becoming an author when she grew up but became a nurse to avoid poverty. She later brought her two passions together and writes about the intricate lives of people struggling with health and family issues. Her debut novel, “Blue Hydrangeas,” an Alzheimer’s love story, is a Kindle bestseller, IndieReader Approved, a BookWorks Book of the Week, a Reader’s Favorite, and winner of IndieReCon’s Best Indie Novel Award. A native Bostonian, she lives in New York’s Hudson Valley and, when not writing, works as a campus nurse at a community college. She loves books, the beach, and craft beer, and especially enjoys the three of them together.
What inspires you to write?
Everything inspires me to write. The world is amazing. People are fascinating. I see stories everywhere and some of them are compelling enough for me to want to tell them. Once an idea or image penetrates my brain I start filling in the details, developing a story line, building characters. If it excites me and takes off far enough, I write an outline so I don’t forget it and put it on my “To Be Written List.” Hopefully, I will live long enough to complete all of these stories.
Tell us about your writing process.
I developed repetitive strain injuries from an inappropriate computer workstation at my job, so I have a pretty unorthodox writing style. I don’t (can’t) write everyday, a practice recommended by many authors. I have to respect my limitations or suffer pain and loss of function for days. So I work in spurts, constantly prioritizing my tasks, doing as much as I can to finish the novel I’m working on and promoting “Blue Hydrangeas.” I use a number of devices to assist me: iPhone, tablet, Dragon Dictation, laptop, PC, pen and paper, whatever it takes. It’s frustrating, but I’m managing to pull it off. I outline with pen and paper, write character sketches before and during the writing phase, research as I go along, pick the brains of those I know who have knowledge of my subject, scribble down ideas and pieces of dialogue when they strike me on all kinds of scrap paper: napkins, receipts, gum wrappers, etc. I love the rewriting process, where all the good stuff happens. I use Bobbie Christmas’ Find and Refine method of editing (found in her book “Write in Style,” http://www.zebraeditor.com) and watch my story transform into something wonderful. It’s magic!
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
Oh boy, here’s where I admit to hearing voices. Yes, my characters and I do talk to one another. After all, these people live in my head. We communicate. I try to tell them what to do or say, but they can be rebellious and sometimes tell me what’s going to happen next or how they want to respond to a situation. In the end, they’re usually right. This subconscious part of the creative writing process is fantastic. There’s a certain amount of mystery to it as well. It’s truly the best part of writing a story.
What advice would you give other writers?
Don’t give up. This is a long-term commitment; you will most likely not be an overnight success. If you’re going to do this you must be in it for the long haul. Utilize all resources for promoting your book, including social media and the internet, but also local resources such as your public library and independent bookstore. Spend your marketing dollars wisely. Figure out how you define success: sales? reviews? awards? and use that as a barometer to see how you’re doing. Don’t let others determine whether you’re successful or not. I offer additional advice in my blog post “Happy Birthday Indie Author! 7 Things I Learned My First Year.” http://mariannesciucco.blogspot.com/2014/04/happy-birthday-indie-author-7-things-i.html
How did you decide how to publish your books?
Ten years ago, I took the traditional route to publish “Blue Hydrangeas” and accumulated a pile of rejection letters from agents and editors who never read my book. This was more than discouraging. I gave up for a while, wrote some other things, but kept coming back to this book because it’s a beautiful story and one that needed telling. Alzheimer’s is an important subject that affects millions of people. I thought the book deserved a chance. So I did a rewrite and tested the traditional publishing waters again and more rejection letters trickled in. Then a friend suggested I publish on Kindle. I thought, “Why not? What have I got to lose?” It took a year for me to publish. More than 100 books were given away in my first Kindle Select Giveaway, but then something amazing happened: 4 and 5 star reviews started popping up on Amazon. Readers thanked me for writing the book and shared their own personal experiences with Alzheimer’s. Seems I’d struck a nerve. Soon people started asking for a print book. I published with Create Space because it’s an Amazon company and I’d had a positive experience with Kindle. It was a more difficult process than Kindle due to my repetitive strain injuries. I almost crippled myself before conceding I needed help and hired a professional formatter. I later won a publishing package with Vook and published on iBooks and Nook through them, and then used Bookbaby to publish on Kobo and a variety of other distributors. The bulk of my sales is with Kindle. Earlier this year I published an audiobook through ACX, another Amazon company, which was an easy process and a lot of fun. I loved working with my narrator, Elinor Bell.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
The publishing industry needed a shake up. There are so many talented people writing good books and not getting the chance to see them published. The number of publishers out there is small, too small to keep up with the volume of work created. As I said earlier, I approached at least 50 agents and editors with my book proposal and didn’t get any bites. It was like trying to enter an elite club and I wasn’t wearing the right clothes to get through the door. Having the ability to strike out on my own as an independent publisher and author is a tremendous option but one that is not to be taken lightly. Authors shouldn’t self-publish just because they can – there is a responsibility to put out an excellent product. Readers demand self-published books be as professional as traditionally published books, and the self-publishing industry is harmed when mediocre or sloppy work is let loose in the marketplace. As the self-publishing movement continues to explode and more professional resources are made available to serious authors, the quality and number of these books will grow, giving readers more options and authors new avenues to success. The traditional publishers will have to rethink how they do business and make way for these independents.
What do you use?
Professional Cover Designer, Beta Readers
What genres do you write?
Literary fiction, women’s fiction, Young Adult
What formats are your books in?
Both eBook and Print
Website(s)
Marianne Sciucco Home Page Link
Link To Marianne Sciucco Page On Amazon
Link to Author Page on other site
Your Social Media Links
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18002405-blue-hydrangeas?from_search=true
https://www.facebook.com/marianne.sciucco.1
https://twitter.com/MarianneSciucco
http://www.pinterest.com/mariannesciucco/
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