Interview M. A. Street

by

Jan Netolicky

1) Your first work with Wings Press, Hands, is a fantasy romance. How does your male perspective impact a genre historically dominated by women writers?

 Hands isn’t a conventional romance.  It’s a fantasy with romantic elements.  Fantasy romance was the best category for it.  I’m not really a romance author.

2) The title of your new release, The Third Life, is intriguing.  Please say a few words about its significance.

 The book is set in an afterlife.  The first life would be prenatal. The second life would be the life we live.  The third life is the first step ‘beyond’.

3) Which character in The Third Life was the most challenging to create?  Why?

Mora. She is the seductress.  She represents the physical, the carnal—not just sexual but all the visceral of our lives.  Being an old fat guy, I have no frame of reference for that.

4) Often, your prose has a lyrical quality.  Does your writer’s background include a love of poetry?

You flatter me.  I enjoy prose.  I enjoy prose in context with a story.  I love Walt Whitman, though.  The man was supernatural.

5) For you, which comes first . . . the plot or the characters who live the story?

The story, definitely.  Obviously, I have an idea of who the characters are and what they are going to do.  But the story is everything.  You can make up for nearly any shortcoming as a writer with a strong story.

6) The process a writer uses to complete a work is unique to each author.  Are you the guy who gets the entire story on paper and then polishes, or do you prefer to perfect as you write?  Has your process always been the same, or has it evolved over time?

I always have a scenario…a scene-by-scene outline of the who, where and when.  My first draft is always to get a fairly complete what-happens-next version.  Then I flesh it out.  Then I polish.  This has evolved.  But it’s the most efficient way for me.

7) Once you have completed your manuscript, who do you trust to “test drive” it for the first time?  Are you a member of a writers’ group, or is there an individual on whom you rely to give you honest feedback?

I employ a wonderful free-lance editor.  Her name is Kelly Lynne.  She is an author and editor at Wild Rose Press.  She’s paid to edit it, of course, but she tells me if something doesn’t ring true.  If there is anything fundamentally wrong, she will let me know.

8) Generally speaking, good writers are also well-read.  What are you reading right now?

I am always writing.  So I have to take a different approach.  I read things as a distraction and entertainment—not as edification.  Right now I’m reading 77 Shadow Street by Dean Koontz.