Interview with Margaret Fieland



When did you know you wanted to be a writer?
After I was one. I'd written poetry for years, mostly in notebooks which ended up in a box in the attic. One day I wrote a poem I wanted to keep, and things took off from there.

What genre do you write and why?
Poetry, because that's my first love, and fiction. I write poetry because I have to write poetry, and I started writing fiction after the Muse Online Writing conference in, I think, 2006. I joined a writing forum that required both poetry and fiction.

Tell us about your latest book.
It's a tween sci fi entitled "Relocated," that will be available from MuseItUp publishing in July. I created a poet, the namesake of my main character, and eight of the poems appear in the text of the novel. I actually wrote 30 or so poems, and I'll be publishing the whole collection of poems as well.

What marketing methods are you using to promote your book? 
Margaret Fieland
Ebook tours, blog interviews, hopefully some local readings.

What formats is the book available in?
"Relocated" will be available in ebook format. "Sand in the Desert," the poetry collection, will be available in both print and ebook formats.

What do you like to do when you're not writing?
Walk our dogs, go to yoga class, and play and listen to music. Also I have a day job as a computer software engineer.

Who are your favourite authors?
For poets, Rita Dove and Stephen Dunn are two of my favorites. For fiction, Lewis Carroll, J.R. R. Tolkien, and Robert A. Heinlein.

What advice do you have for other writers?
Know your mechanics - it's hard to write well, IMO, without having the knowledge of grammar, punctuation, vocabulary, and the like. Keep reading - the more widely you read, the better sense of what your strengths and weaknesses as a writer are.

What's your favourite quote about writing/for writers?
Writing is no trouble: you just jot down ideas as they occur to you. The jotting is simplicity itself - it is the occurring which is difficult.

What's the best thing about being a writer?
Getting all that stuff out of my head and onto the paper. Otherwise they bang on the inside of my brain yelling, "Write me."

Where can people find out more about you and your writing?
On my website,
or the Poetic Muselings website,

Anything else you'd like to add?
The cover is for the collection of poems and was designed by Karen Cioffi http://karencioffifreelancewriter.com/

5 Comments

  1. Margaret Fieland24 July 2012 at 13:34

    Jo, thanks for hosting me. Relocated is now available on the publisher's website:
    http://tinyurl.com/MuseRelocated
    kindle edition of poetry is as well, with print edition to follow shortly:
    http://tinyurl.com/SandPoetry

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jo Linsdell25 July 2012 at 13:02

      You're very welcome Margaret. All the best with your book.

      Delete
  2. Marie Laval24 July 2012 at 14:41

    How wonderful to be able to write both fiction and poetry! Good luck with the release of both your books.

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  3. Suzanne de Montigny24 July 2012 at 15:24

    I used to love poetry. Whatever happened to that? Maybe it's time I start again.
    Suzanne de Montigny

    ReplyDelete
  4. Heather Haven24 July 2012 at 16:38

    Margaret, being able to write poetry and prose is a real gift. Good luck with your book!

    ReplyDelete

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