Lena resides in New England with her husband, two children, and an adorable Black Lab. Her fascination with stories began at a very young age at the town library, a place where she still loves to hang out. In her not-so-murky past, she's worked as a software engineer and a web designer, and has now found her true passion in writing fiction.
She's had a young adult short story published in Girls' Life magazine and has been a finalist in several national writing contests, including the RWA Golden Heart and ACFW Genesis contests. A member of RWA and SCBWI, she also blogs on LiveJournal and is a member of the Enchanted Inkpot, a community of writers and readers of middle grade and young adult fantasy.
Q&A:
Q: What's the most difficult part of writing a story?
A: Getting stuck. Writer's block does exist (been there and bought the t-shirt). Because I've had to wrestle with this over the years though, I've found ways to demolish the blocks or at least slip around them. I wrote a series of article about these tips & tricks for getting unstuck, so at least something good has come from it! (It's one of those making-gold-out-of-straw things. lol)
Q: What's the easiest part?
A: Wait. There's an easy part?? Just kidding. :) For me, what comes most naturally is a genuine love of language. I love when there's a sort of music playing in my head when I write, when the words hit a certain rhythm. I love when a description sounds just right. I can also get lost in character development and world building, but, since none of this is ever perfect the first time it hits the page, I'm also a vigorous reviser.
Q: Plotter or pantser?
A: Whatever works. I'm not one to just sit down and type up a manuscript from front to back (i.e. someone who flies by the seat of their pants or a "panster"), but I also find that if I over-plot a story ahead of time, then I lose some of the joy of discovery and feel like I've already written the story. So it's a balancing act. I have to plot enough to keep myself from getting stuck, but not so much that writing the story becomes boring.
And just for fun...
Q: If you could be any animal what would it be?
A: Either a dolphin or a Labrador Retriever. A dolphin, because they're so amazingly joyful and elegant in the water, and they're smart. I mean, who wouldn't want to be amazingly joyful, elegant, and smart? And a Labrador Retriever, because I've closely observed my own black lab's non-stress approach to life and it looks pretty appealing, but then he's also terribly spoiled. :) |
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Member of the Enchanted Inkpot
...a community for writers and readers of middle-grade and young adult fantasy
Inkies Love Indies!
Find a local bookstore:
Lena Castle
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