Meet Vicki Taylor

WOW! is excited to introduce our readers to award winning author Vicki Taylor.

Welcome Vicki...

WOW!: How long have you been a writer? What made you put that firststory/poem down on paper?

Vicki: For as long as I can remember. Which sometimes isn't very long,considering menopause. Seriously, though, I think in some form or other,I've always written. Sometimes not for anyone's eyes but my own.Professionally, I was a technical writer for fifteen years then startedwriting fiction full time in 1999.I used to write a lot of poetry as a teenager. Probably nothing morethan teenage fantasies and angst, but it was an outlet for me. I wrotethe cutest little teddy bear story in high school. I got an 'A' on itand got to go to an elementary school and read it to children. Storiesjust come out when they're ready.

WOW!: What do your family/friends thing about your writing? Are they supportive?

Vicki: Everyone thinks it's great. My husband believes in me and supports my efforts. My friends like my work and clamor for more. I think my mom is my biggest fan.

WOW!: Having a supportive and understanding family makes it so much easier. What is most frustrating about writing for you? Most rewarding?

Vivki: For me, the frustration is sometimes searching for the perfect word to say exactly what I want to say. I keep my thesaurus close by. The most rewarding thing about writing is hearing someone tell me they've read my work and it touched them in some way. That beats anything else.

WOW!: Touching someone with our writing is very cool. Do you take most of your ideas from life? Or your imagination? A mix?

Vicki: I get a lot of my ideas for stories from real life. I use the newspapers, magazines, TV, etc. Some of my ideas have come from dreams. "Trust in the Wind" was from a dream I had. I dreamed the entire book and actually remembered it when I woke the next morning. I wish they all came that easy!

WOW!: How cool. Dreams are wonderful fodder at times. Do you have days when the words won't flow? What do you do?

Vivki: Sometimes. If that happens, I read or I watch a movie. It helps for me to see how others put a story together. Sometimes that stimulates me back to writing.

WOW!: That's good advice. What is the best piece of advice you've been given as a writer?What's the worst?

Vivki: Yeah, I get this question a lot. I don't mind answering it though, because it's important. The best piece of advice is 'put the butt in the chair and finish the book.' You can have all the ideas you want and start as many books as you want, but you have to finish it. No one else is going to do it for you.The worst advice I received was 'you don't need to promote your book.' Everyone needs to promote their book. Everyone. Whether you do it yourself or hire someone to do it for you. Promote. Promote. Promote.

WOW!: That's great advice for all of us. How about telling us what you have coming up, what you are working on and give us a link or two.

Vicki: Well, I have a short story coming out in the Summer 2007 issue of Mysterical-E . My website is Vicki Taylor, my blog is here and here's my MySpace page.

Currently, I'm working on a new book about a 39 year old mother of five who decides to adopt a pregnant 14 year old and the tragic results. Real life, just turned up a notch or two.

WOW!: Congrats on the short story and keep us informed on your latest project. Thanks for stopping by:--)