What is your favorite part about writing? Your least?

My favorite part is the actual writing of the book. I love being surprised by where the story goes. Least favorite is the synopsis.

When you sit down to begin a new work, how much of it do you already have? i.e., just an idea, a beginning and ending, or a full plot?

With Sisterwife, I just had an idea. It took two years and hours and hours of rewrites to make that one work, however, and I realized I could have avoided a lot of mistakes if I had plotted it out first. So, with Twisted Sister, I tried the synopsis method. It really helped the flow of my writing, although the story ended up being nothing like the synopsis. My plots are complicated, so if I don't put them down in a synopsis, or at least an outline, it's easy to miss things. Wives and Sisters was a story in my head that I knew I had to tell. I outlined it, not detailed, and then wrote it. And rewrote it. And rewrote it again. Until it finally worked. Then came the job of convincing someone ELSE that it worked. I'm thankful every day that I was able to do that.

Why do you write?

Because I can't NOT write.

What influences as you grew up (or presently) have a bearing on your work? Perhaps your environment, people you know/knew, culture, traditions, etc.

Of course my culture influences my writing. I was raised a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon). It is a very unique culture, that most people knew or know little about. In the past few years this has changed dramatically, 2002 Olympics being held in Utah, and also with the high profile cases of polygamist Tom Green and the Elizabeth Smart kidnapping. People want to understand how these things could happen. In my writing, I can MAKE them understand the culture. Incidentally, both Sisterwife and Wives and Sisters were written long before Elizabeth Smart was kidnapped. I've heard a few comments that I am capitalizing on that publicity, which is simply not true. I knew something like this could happen. I wrote about it and published it before it ever happened.

What are your views on self-publishing?

Self-publishing is a very hard road, and a decision to do so should not be taken lightly, but also, self-publishing should not be dismissed as easily as some do. Big New York publishing is actually incredibly small, considering how many people are writing books. It's a tight market, especially for fiction. Sometimes, making a name for yourself means self-publishing. The problem is many people self-publish books that should never see the light of day. Those make me want to yell "HIRE AN EDITOR!" Those books give self-publishing a bad name. But other authors self-publish books that are superb, but simply didn't hit the right editor at the right time, or the right house at the right time. It's really all about credentials, and building readership, and making a name for yourself. If you choose to self-publish, please be educated. Hire an editor. Make sure your book is the best it can be. And know what you are in for. Don't think you are writing this book to make money. It is highly unlikely you will. Instead you will probably put more money into it then you will ever get back.

What would you like to do if you weren't a writer?

I would love to be a painter, but I simply don't have the talent. I like to sing, but don't have a fabulous voice, and can't read music. If I weren't a writer, I don't know WHAT I would do.

What are some of your favorite writing books?

Other than Strunk and White's The Element's of Style, I think you can learn far more about writing from reading OTHER writers, than by books on writing. That, of course, is only my opinion. What advice would you impart to new writers? Be wise and informed. Go into this business realizing how difficult it is. You simply must have the skills necessary and developed to the very best of your ability, and you must be aware that you will be rejected far more often than you will EVER be accepted. If you are realistic, and determined to not give up, and you have the necessary talent, sooner or later you WILL make it.

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Diane Domingo is the owner of Bookshelf Editing Services and is also a regular contributor and editor to WritersBreak.com. Diane can be contacted at editor-dd@earthlink.net.