Photobucket
Photobucket

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Maria Hammarblad on how she wrote a book on an iPod

Lynette: Kidnapped is a very creative book, with lots of scenes we've never seen or thought of before. Where do your ideas come from?
Maria: My ideas come from all sorts of places. Many come to me when I dream, and I wake up and need to start writing. Some come when I’m doing things in everyday life – I’m writing on a story right now about an undercover cop in a motorcycle gang, and that one struck me when I was driving to the store one day. The most mundane things can make me start thinking, “What if…” and off it goes.
Lynette: How long did it take you to write this book? Edit it?
Maria: That’s a funny story. A few years ago, my husband bought me an iPod for my birthday. I started transferring all my music to it and stumbled over an old song, “Misguided Angel” by Cowboy Junkies. It triggered a memory of a story I scribbled on as a teenager. (I listened to that song the first time I wrote it, back in the 80’s.) I sat there in bed in the middle of the night, trying not to wake my husband, and thought, “Hey, that was a pretty cool story idea. I should write this down.” So, I started writing on the iPod, and wrote most of the night – I thought it was so cool with the touch screen and the tiny little keyboard. I wrote almost the entire book on the iPod, e-mailed it to the computer, and put all the pieces together. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve re-written it since.
Lynette: Wow, and I have trouble typing fast enough to be productive on the iPad. You must have limber hands! How many books have your written? And how many of those have been published?

Maria: I have written eight novels and a short story collection. I have self-published a few of them, but “Kidnapped” is the first to find a home with a publishing house. My second book with Desert Breeze Publishing will be released September 11, it’s called “Undercover” and is a spy/thriller romance.
I can't wait to read that one, too. I promised my readers I would give a short review of Kidnapped for them.

Kidnapped is a well-written Science Fiction story of a woman kidnapped from earth and taken on a whirlwind tour of the universe with a captor whose heart is thawed by her innocence. This does not please his commander, who persues, captures and loses both characters.  In the process there is fun, adventure, sizzle and an introduction to different worlds and their impact, one day, on our own. Be sure to pick up Kidnapped by Maria Hammarblad available May 11 at http://stores.desertbreezepublishing.com/-strse-292/Kidnapped-Maria-Hammarblad/Detail.bok - Lynette Endicott

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mariahammarblad
Blog: http://www.scifiromance.info
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/mariahammarblad

6 comments:

  1. Wow. A whole book written on an iPod? I'm impressed. I don't think I'd be able to do that. I write my first draft long hand. Good luck with your release.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you Susan! Lynn mentioned the iPad in the interview - we have one and I can't write on it at all, but the little iPod touch works great for me for some reason. I sit in bed in the middle of the night and write, write, write. Weird huh! Thank you for stopping by! =D

    ReplyDelete
  3. COOL!!! I've written scenes on mine but never an entire first draft. I love that you did that! Good luck with the book and sales!

    ReplyDelete
  4. An iPod. You never cease to amaze me! LOL. I couldn't write a draft long hand, either. I'm a keyboard kind of girl. If I write anything long hand, I keep thinking, "Oh crap. I'm going to have to retype all of this. Is this worth it?" I'm better off just sitting at my computer and saving myself the cranky complaining. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Remember the ARte Johnson character on Laugh-In who always was hiding behind the foliage? Very interesting! Sadie and I usually keep a pencil and paper nearby wherever we are so we can write stuff as it comes to us. I'm thinking i-pad or i-pod would be much easier to read later on!

    Great interview! Sophie

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hiding behind the foliage? LOL!

    I used to scribble on everything and have little pieces of paper all over the place. I would have one chapter in a notebook, one chapter in a computer, one chapter on loose papers in my purse... The iPod is much easier to keep track of, and much easier to handle when it's time to put everything together. I just e-mail everything to myself and copy it into a word document. Ta-da! =D

    ReplyDelete