Reading time: About 2 minutes
Jean M. Roberts says that writing is easy. She’s written 11 novels. It’s the selling that’s hard!
Jean M. Roberts makes her home outside of Houston, Texas. Her experiences as a military brat, a serving Air Force officer, and wife of an Air Force pilot have left her with a love of travel, history and a sense of adventure. The Last Fairy Witch is her 11th novel. She writes historical fiction, historical fantasy, and cozy murder mysteries in a fictitious Texas town. When not writing, she loves to garden, cook, read, and dream of her next book. Her books include: Weave a Web of Witchcraft, Blood in the Valley, The Heron, The Frowning Madonna, The Angel of Goliad, The Peggy Rector Cozy Mystery Series and The Women of Midsummer Series.
I was excited to talk to Jean about how she approaches writing.
Q. Roughly how much time do you spend writing every day?
I don’t really track my writing hours. I try to write most days, usually in the morning for a couple of hours.
Q. What’s a simple activity or habit that makes you a better writer?
Turning off all distractions, TV, music, etc and closing my office door. Making sure that any big thing is taken care of before I write.
Q. What interferes with your writing?
Life in general. I try to be disciplined, but I get distracted. Social media can be a huge time suck, and I have to put my phone in another room, or else I find myself scrolling on TikTok or Instagram instead of writing.
Q. How do you persuade yourself to sit down to write on days when you really, really DON’T feel like doing it?
I don’t. Forcing myself to write when I don’t feel like usually results in bad writing. I think it’s good to give yourself a break when you need it, especially when I’m stuck on the plot. Taking a few days away and diving in with fresh eyes can help me tackle my plot holes and problems.
Q. Is there a particular motto or saying that you’ve found helpful for writing?
Not yet!
Q. Which stage of the writing process do you enjoy the most: researching, writing, or editing/rewriting and why?
I write historical fiction/historical fantasy and I love the research part, diving into history and learning more about the era in which my book is set. I find the editing process tedious but also Zen-like, kind of like pulling weeds! I find the first draft to be the most difficult part, as I am a pantser and don’t really plan out the story.
Q. What’s one of the best books you’ve read (either fiction or non) in the last five years?
Maggie O’Farrell’s Hamnet blew me away. Loved it. I haven’t seen the movie yet as I loved the book so much.
Q. What book are you reading right now?
Book Club for Troublesome Women. It’s for my book club! I’m actually rereading it as I read it last year. It’s a decent book that highlights the struggles women had trying to find independence in the 1960s/70s and a reminder of what we have to lose.
Q. What do you think is the biggest misperception that new writers have about the act of writing?
I’ve met new writers who have spent months developing characters and world building yet they don’t have a story. They have storyboards and notecards, and complicated writing programs. I think it’s easy to get lost in the weeds of the process. My advice is to just write the story and fill in all those details later. Also, writing is easy; selling is hard!
