Me, myself, and I
During the day, I science for money. Sometimes, I math instead. At home, I write low/urban fantasy when I’m not chasing my toddler and two dogs. They’re faster than I am.
Does it count as a secret identity if no one cares who your alter ego is? I’m asking for a friend, I swear.
Beginnings
I’ve been compelled to write since I was tiny. My first stories were in crayon, and became gradually more sophisticated once I saved up for my first typewriter, one nickel and dime at a time. I wrote through high school and college, even sending articles and essays to the school newspaper and entering contests. Once I started graduate school, I took on longer works, not the least of which was my dissertation. Drafting something new has never been my trouble, as I love discovering where a story will take me. Knowing when not to edit any further is something I struggle with.
Influences
In high school, I gave my English teacher fits. I never got the knack for Dickens, but I loved Dumas, the more unabridged, the better. I obsessed over L’amour, and at one point collected every single thing he ever wrote. I still have them all, but Haunted Mesa is my favorite.
As an adult, I lean towards Koontz, King, and Crichton, who all gave me a taste of the fantastical. They flavored my own writing, which tends to erupt with unplanned fantasy and horror elements. I was thrilled when I discovered magical realism, urban fantasy, and low fantasy were genres. I belonged.
The Manuscript
The MS I’m submitting to Pitch Wars is an adult low/urban fantasy. I’ve been working on it for several years, and it’s currently going through re-writes following read-throughs by two critique partners. Is this draft 7? 12? 20? I think it’s 12, but I lost track a long time ago. If you’re curious, I write about it here a fair amount – those posts usually have ‘Marcy’s book’ as a category.
Tag line? When the only surviving family member of a young graduate student goes missing, her search for him pulls her into a centuries-old war between two supernatural groups.
There’s no werewolves or vampires, sparkly or otherwise. Just shifters.
Favorite time and place to write
I’ve moved ten times in twelve years. Pretending I have a routine time and place to write would be silly, but I do tend to write a lot on my lunch break, the evenings, and weekends. I’m not one to get up before work, but then I leave for work at 6:15 am.
Favorite tools
Scribophile has helped break me out of my introverted shell. I’m not one for social media (I have no idea how to do pictures or gifs on here – this is a fledgling effort to avoid the dreaded text wall), and it got me more comfortable talking to people and letting them look at my scribblings. I’ve found several wonderful critique partners through the Novel Exchange group, and the contests are also fun. I highly recommend the Octagon.
Scrivener – I don’t know how I managed before Scrivener. I wrote my first novel in a plain word processor, and I may never go back and edit it. It’s one huge wall of text. With Scrivener, I can tackle scenes out of order, and if an edit I need to make pops into mind, I can find the location quickly and move on. After the iOS version was released, I’ve had my files ready for notes, scribblings, and edits wherever I am – computer, tablet, phone.
Favorite beverage and snack
I’m a tea drinker. I switched to drinking coffee socially during graduate school, but stopped when I was pregnant and never got the taste for it back. I love trying different loose leaf teas, and luckily have some good inexpensive spice shops near where I live. I’m fond of dark chocolate, but too much sugar makes me excitable. Refrigerated chocolate and caramel are the best.
Favorite writing ritual
I write and edit better if I read for an hour first. Granted, it can be dangerous – sometimes I never put the book down to work on my own.
Favorite rule to break
Oxford commas are the only grammar rule I can’t let go of. As for ending with prepositions, I read somewhere it’s not a real rule, and chose not to research to find out otherwise.
Favorite crutch words
Then. Common motions, shaking and nodding of the head, blinking, shrugging. Doors, and turning of knobs to open and close said doors. Locking and unlocking of doors. All things door. Door is even in the name of my Pitch Wars MS. I have a problem. Send help. (Knock first.)
Favorite challenge
The Pitch Wars community has been exciting, and I hope to get to fully be a part of it. If not, it’s still shaken me up out of my little box, and gotten me talking to people and sharing my writing. Without it, I don’t know that I would have every gotten the nerve up to query anyone.
If you don’t know, Pitch Wars is a contest run by Brenda Drake each year that pairs authors with published mentors. If chosen, the author works with their mentor for two months putting a final polish on their manuscript and getting it ready to query agents.
Shameless self-promotion
Follow me here. Come find me on Scribophile or Facebook under Rachel C. Hanner. My twitter handle is @Rachel_Hanner.
R.C.Hanner 