interview: jo feliciani

This is part of an interview exchange for the Book Blogger Awards Week. I was nominated by some kind soul but I didn't end up on the ballot. Sigh. Actually, not too big a deal since I'd never heard of it prior to my nomination. But anyway here's Jo Feliciani, writer of the blog Writers and Authors. Incidentally, she's posted an interview she did with me at Writers and Authors, so go read and say hi to Jo for me.


What was your hardest piece to write and why?
Probably my poetry as it's the most personal writing I've done so far. When I write non fiction at most someone could not like how I present the information but my poetry comes from inside and therefore makes me feel more vulnerable.

Tell me about your writing community or "tribe."

I'm part of several social networks including facebook, myspace, twitter and various ning and yahoo groups. Having a group of writers to learn from and being able to support each other helps me a lot. It can be hard sometimes when none of my family or friends understand exactly what I'm doing. I live in Rome, Italy too and most of my friends here don't speak English. Having a writing community helps keep my sane :)

What have you realized about yourself through writing?

That I'm capable of more than I first thought. There's so much more to being a writer than just writing. I've learnt that I'm also good at marketing and have learnt a lot more about the industry in general.

What do you hope for your career in five years? Ten?

Obviously to have written a bestseller and be super rich :) No seriously, within the next five years I'd like to have set up my own marketing company for writers. I'm at the start now, researching Italian laws and what paperwork is needed.

What writers most influence you?

I read a large variety of books. I love to read both fiction and non. So far I've written mainly non fiction, inspired by Rome and Italians. I guess I'm influenced by good writing in general. It makes me want to improve my own.

What are you working on now?

I'm planning on writing the first draft of a mystery romance during NANOWRIMO this November. The aim is to write 50,000 words in a month. I'm working on a rough outline now and doing research so I'll be able to concentrate on the writing once it gets started.

Thanks Jo!