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Space Cadet, "writer for hire", Author,
Interviews
I started writing when I was eleven or twelve. My first story was about nuclear Armageddon. Though it wasn't a school assignment, I showed it to my teacher. My mother recieved a note the next day. The story was only slightly less disturbing than the time when, in Grade 5, I told my teacher I was going to see the obstetrician. "Optician," my mother assured him. In any case, I was hooked on writing. If I wasn't writing stories, I was making them up in my head or roleplaying them in my room. Often lost in other worlds, I soon gained the reputation of being the family space cadet. I wrote my first novel when I was eighteen when I was supposed to be taking notes in class. I lost my manuscript in the second floor women's washroom in the Quad, at Ryerson. (If anyone finds it, please return.) My next work was a short story that would lead to a series of books - or so I envisioned. It was rejected by Isaac Asimov Science Fiction Magazine and Analog. I foolishly gave up trying to get published and gave away my copy of I Robot. I kept writing, but I didn't want to risk rejection again - one of my few regrets in life. Despite continuing to write stories in the margins of my class notes (or sometimes the other way round) I managed to graduate with an Honours BA in History and Philosophy from the University of Guelph. If I could have afforded post-graduate studies, I might have become a Philosophy professor. Instead, I got a job managing a comic store. Writing for business started at Collage Card and Comics. I designed ads, wrote and edited newsletter material. The turning point in my career came when I was between jobs and I was asked "What do you write?" At the time, I was wrestling with a couple of stories but I answered, "What do you want written?" "alison bruce... writer for hire" was born.
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"writer for hire"
In 1999, having established myself as a copy writer, editor and entrepreneur - not to mention the mother of an active toddler - things fell apart. In one month, my mother was diagnosed with aggressive small-cell lung cance, my sister was diagnosed with breast cancer, and they found a malignant tumor on one of my father's kidneys. For a while I was busier than ever, taking care of my sister Joanne's business while she took care of her health. This included learning new skills like graphic design and layout. It gave me little time to think about what was happening. My mother died on my sister's birthday. Eight months later, my son was born, my c-section incision fell apart and shortly after that, so did my marriage. I was only just recovering from all that when my sister started to get sick. Taking care of your family is good for the soul but bad for business. Despite midnight runs to the ER and caregiving four children as well as my sister and father, I managed to meet deadlines and keep my clients happy, but I had little time to seek new business and worse, I had little time to write stories. Joanne changed that. When I had an idea for a fantasy novel, she organized her care so I'd have a couple of hours a day to write. Then we'd go over it and edit as I read aloud to her. My sister was forty-two when she died of cancer. Almost to the end she was working at her own business, BelleFare Communication Services, and editing my novel. She made me realize that life's to short not to do what you love.
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Alison Bruce, Author
Since Joanne died, I have completed five other novels in three different series. All of them have gone through at least one edit. All were written with publication in mind. Ironically, my first published novel is an older story that started off as an escapist fantasy. In this case I was trying to distract myself from post-operative pain and my roommates in hospital. The manuscript went through a series of adventures, going from handwritten pages to published novel, which I tell in The Trail to Under A Texas Star. I write the kind of books I like to read. Since my tastes are eclectic and tend to cross genre boundaries, my novels do too. My readers have pointed out a few common threads to my work. There is almost always a mystery and a romance in my stories - whatever else is in the mix. My heroes aren't perfect, but they are persistent and they have the ability adapt (sooner or later) to new situations and to learn from adversity - as I did. They also drink coffee.
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| Author Interviews
September 26, 2011
Morgen Bailey's Blog Interview with Morgen Bailey
July 1, 2011, Wildflower Interview with Sherry Isaac
June 21, 2011, Romance and Beyond Interview with Sharon Clare
May 22, 2010, by Kindle Author Interview with David Wiseheart
July 1, 2010, Wildflower Interview with Sherry Isaac
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