Local Author Spotlight: Sara Marks
Local Author Spotlight
Sara Marks
Please describe your writing routine. Is there a time of day or place that is most productive for you?
I dislike people who tell you that you *have* to write every day and in the morning. It doesn’t work for me. I get most of my writing done on weekend afternoons and evenings. I rent desk space from a friend with an artist studio. It allows me to show up any time I want and work for as long as I want. There are no distraction. I put on my music and write in sprints. I write first drafts two to three times a year and edit the rest of the months.
Is there anything in Lowell or in the surrounding area that has inspired your work? Such a place to take nice walks or a piece of artwork?
Everything around me inspires my work. I write Romantic Comedies set in a town that’s a mix of the places I’ve lived in Massachusetts. I also write horror and fantasy and some of my plans for the books involve the darker side of the city.
What do you believe are the most important elements of writing? How do you incorporate it into your own work?
Knowing how to use your strengths to write. I have a writing coach who talks a lot about making writing work for you, not trying to force yourself to write the way others do. I love sharing what I learned and getting to know my characters. I use that to make my stories better.
What advice would you give to a young writer and/or a writer starting their first creative work?
I’m a firm believer that your first draft is your draft. I talk with a lot of writers who think their first draft has to be perfect and fantastic. I like to write the first draft to tell myself the story. I put in the details I can think of, the dialogue I know, and all the world building I need to remember. When I edit that book, I then think of what the reader needs.
What were your favorite books when you were a child?
I was a voracious reader and didn’t commit to one genre. I read Sweet Valley High and the Babysitters Club, but I also read Christopher Pike and R.L. Stein. My father read me J.R.R. Tolkien before I could read.
Do you have any reading recommendations?
Read your genre! Find books like the story you want to tell so you know how they’re structured.
After a mid-life crisis and failing out of college at the age of twenty, Sara Marks decided to live the life she wanted, not the one expected of her. Now a librarian with two masters degrees, she plans to never stop getting over educated. She started writing as part of the National Novel Writing Month program over fifteen years ago. She likes to write women who are like her: feminists who learn to live their best lives; rarely worrying about their age, weight, marriageability, or fertility. They fail and find second, third, and (sometimes) fourth chances to correct their mistakes. She writes romance, fantasy, and horror focused on modern women and their classic problems.
Her works are written under Sara Marks for romance and S.R. Marks for fantasy and horror. Learn more about her books and other projects at http://saramarks.net/and https://srmarks.net/