A Mini-Interview, thanks to Jay Lake

From Jay Lake:

1) What creative project are you working on right now?

I'm noodling around with a YA science fiction series, the first book of which is called Sabertooth Dawn. The short version is: When a space ship of orphaned kids is marooned on a world of prehistoric animals and even more ancient alien ruins, the fate of the colony depends on teens Danica, Eli, and Anjali, Eli's foster kid sister. But in order to work together, each must overcome their own fears and deeply-buried secrets.

I'm also starting to think about the next Darkover book, in which the Terran Federation returns to Darkover. I have a nebulous idea about a clash between machine-created psi and Darkover's natural laran psi. I keep throwing things into that "back burner" pot until they start to ferment. Or turn into bouillabaisse. Or something.

I'm also co-editing (with Irene Radford) an anthology of re-telling of fairy tales for Book View Cafe. It'll be out next March and oh, my, are there some seriously wild and twisted stories! And some wonderfully touching ones, too. And... and... you'll just have to wait!

2) If you’re stalled, why?

Stalled? Sorry, don't know that word. Frustrated, discouraged, unable to understand why this dratted story isn't working, sure. I put in my fair share on all these. But there's always something to lift my spirits. That's the joy of working on more than one project at a time. I try to pay attention to what I daydream about because that's where the creative juices are flowing.

3) How do you motivate yourself?

By working on stuff that's way too much fun. That's the snappy answer. Sometimes I've made a commitment, I have a contract or a deadline and I just have to buckle down and work. Fortunately, I'm pretty disciplined about doing that on a regular basis. I don't like to work under crisis-level pressure, so I use that antipathy to make sure I get some progress every day. Usually that's 5 or 6 days a week, sometimes 7 but rarely less. I learned how to do this when I was working full time as a single mom. I'd get up in the morning, do my 10 minutes of exercise, and throw together lunches and breakfast in enough time to sit down at the computer for another 10 minutes. (Since I don't wear makeup except on special occasions, that gave me 10 minutes right there!) All I have to do, I'd tell myself, is look at the last paragraph I wrote. Okay, now add one sentence. Okay, now add one paragraph. Sometimes, depending on the length of the paragraphs, I'd get in two. Repeat after dinner. Weekends meant longer sessions -- 5 to 10 pages. For me, the key was "All I have to do is..." and then something so easy, I could slip into doing it without a huge amount of internal resistance.

4) What would you tell the world if you could, today?

Be kind. To yourself, to others. Find out what you love to do, what fills you with wonder and joy.

Jay added, Especially clever and/or interesting answers may be promoted to blog posts of their own hereabouts. So I put up my own. They're pretty good questions.