Inkygirl - Freelance writing - Debbie Ridpath Ohi

Interview: Maya Bohnhoff

Maya Bohnhoff started her writing career sketching science fiction comic books in the last row of her third grade classroom. Since then her short fiction has been published in Analog, Amazing Stories, Century, Realms of Fantasy, and Interzone; in 1999, her short story The White Dog (Interzone #142) made the short list for the British Science Fiction Award. Her debut novel, THE MERI, was a Locus Magazine 1992 Best First Novel nominee. Since, she has published five more speculative fiction novels, the latest of which, MR. TWILIGHT (Del Rey) was co-written with Michael Reaves. She also worked with Michael on BATMAN: FEAR ITSELF, which will be released in February 2007 from Del Rey and DC Comics. She has also adapted several of Sigusawa Keiichi's KINO NO TABI novels for an American audience. Maya also writes and performs music with her husband Jeff, with whom she produces original and parody music CDs. You can find out more info at her Web site.

What are your daily writing habits?

I start work around 8:30 or 9:00 am every day. I start the morning with getting Amanda up and dressed and breakfasted. Then we spend some cuddle time along with her older sister, Kris, who's 13. We usually pile onto the sofa and watch FoodTV and sip our beverages and chat.

Then Kris goes to school and Amanda gets to watch a couple of kid shows on PBS while I start my work day. That usually lasts until her big brother Alex (21) gets up to get ready for work or school. Then we switch to other activities for Amanda such as devastating her bedroom or seeing how many Barbie shoes she can lose, or Playdoh.

My workday at the computer (a lovely Apple Powerbook) goes something like this: prayers, email diving to see what's up, then I get to work on whichever project is on top of the heap for the day. I juggle three or four freelance gigs and try to keep at least one project of my own going as well. Right now, for example, I have two editing jobs (thriller/detective and western) and a two ghostwrites (sf and non-fiction) that I'm working on while trying to keep a YA novel moving forward.

I work until about 5:30 or 6:00, taking a lunch break that I spend with Amanda. Sometimes we get wild and crazy and watch a TIVOed episode of Poirot or Sherlock Holmes. She comes down to give me frequent hugs and remind me that we need to break for snacks.

My days are pretty productive. I usually can handle pieces of two projects in a single day.

Where did the idea for Mr. Twilight come from? How did you decide to co-write?

Actually, Michael came to me with the novel already begun. He had started it and then had run into some serious health problems and couldn't finish it along with all the other work he had to do (a slew of Star Wars and Batman stuff). Marc Zicree, who was the creator of the MAGIC TIME series for which I wrote the second book, introduced us to each other. I'd just lost my day job (hallelujah!) and wanted to freelance and Michael needed a partner in crime. So I looked at the project and loved it and stepped in to finish the book.

How did the co-writing process work for you? Would you do it again? What would you change, if anything?

The process worked wonderfully. Michael handed me over a third of a manuscript, a world full of characters, and the One Thing He Knew about the end of the book. There was no outline or synopsis. I found that daunting at first, but once I'd read the existing chapters and "interviewed" all the characters, the end of the book suggested itself. I bounced some ideas off of Michael and we hammered out a synopsis for the end of the book, then I finished the first draft. Then we'd edit back and forth until we and our editor at Del Rey were happy with the results.

Michael and I have collaborated on a couple of other things since - including a Batman novel for DC Comics - and I love working with him. I especially love brainstorming ideas with him. I'd do it again and again at the drop of a hat.

There's really nothing about the writing process that I'd change. Michael is a wonderful partner.

What advice do you have for anyone thinking about quitting their day job to be a fulltime freelance writer?

Go for it. I had to be drop kicked out of my day job because I was too chicken to quit--something I should have done years ago.

I don't make a ton of money doing this yet, but I've only been at it for two years and it's encouraging what's out there to be done. Also, I used to worry that doing other people's projects would mess me up somehow. It would be a drudge, etc. What I've found is that though some of the projects are less than exhilarating, they call contribute to me being a better writer and plotter. And I get excited at some point and to some degree with every one just because I'm writing and editing and not doing something completely unrelated to writing (such as managing a team of software geeks, which is fun, but it's not my calling).

Also, set yourself a decent rate of pay, learn all the "formulas" that go with it (X $ per hour = X $ per page = X cents per word) so that you can be flexible about how your clients pay you. Always ask for some money up front as a good faith thing and ALWAYS perform your best magic for each client. Be flexible but not a doormat about creative issues.

Oh yeah, be all ready to get work (in fact, apply for some gigs) before you quit the day job. Have three months' worth of salary in the bank and resumes and writing samples all ready to email.

And don't be afraid to stretch yourself. I made most of my income last year on a series of horror and sf movie scripts for an indie director. I'd only dabbled in scripts before--they were almost a mystery to me. I'd converted a couple of my short stories to teleplays but never done anything this big. I asked my screenwriter buddy Marc how you figured out how long a script should be (roughly 1 minute per page) and I started writing screenplays.

Posted by Debbie at November 24, 2006 08:03 AM

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Interview: Maya Bohnhoff