Today we’re chatting with Patricia Loofbourrow, author of The Jacq of Spades: Part 1 of the Red Dog Conspiracy.

Tell us something unexpected about yourself!

I have a photo of myself at nineteen (long before Photoshop!) standing on the Great Wall of China.

What kind of books do you write?

Speculative fiction, mysteries, and non-fiction.

What inspired you to write?

I've been writing off and on since high school but I joined NaNoWriMo for the first time in 2005 because I had always wanted to write a novel. I got hooked.

What makes your writing stand out from the crowd?

I find cultures the most interesting thing to write about, since culture is what shapes our actions and viewpoints so much. If you understand a culture you can often predict what people will do and say, as well as the conflicts that they experience, both inner and outer. Many writers focus on the people, forgetting that people are usually just a product of the culture they grew up in. You would be a very different person if you had grown up in the mountains of Afghanistan, or on the plains of Mongolia, or on a remote Pacific island.

What is the hardest part of writing – for you?

Editing.

Where do you like to write – what is your routine?

I write at my desktop computer. I usually write in the evenings or on weekends.

What do you do when you are not writing – do you have a day job?

I work from home, also writing – I run several online businesses. Since I like writing, I don't see one as work and the other as not work: I do the writing I need to do at the time.

Do you work with an outline or just write?

I have an outline, but within that I just write.

What advice would you have for other writers?

Whether you're ready to publish your work or not boils down to two things: If you can't take criticism and you have an issue with being paid for your work, you aren't ready to publish. Keep writing, just don't try to publish until you get your head on straight; you'll be a lot more successful that way.

How important is marketing and social media for you?

Your book isn't going to sell itself.

What’s your next step?

I plan to publish book 2 in the Red Dog Conspiracy in March 2017. I wrote the first draft during NaNoWriMo 2015, and I'll probably start editing it after New Year's.

The Jacq of Spades: Part 1 of the Red Dog Conspiracy by Patricia Loofbourrow is available here.

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