Squeeeee!!!!! Full on Fangirling. You know how we all have our favorites? Well, I get to interview mine. Shhh. Don’t tell him or it’ll go to his head, or he’ll overthink it and turn in on himself trying to live up to what he thinks are my expectations. And don’t tell any of my other writerly buddies. I don’t want them to know that they’re not all my favorites. Because they are.
But this month I have my favorite favorite. I have the joy of hosting Francisco Cordoba. I have become friends with him over the last year and a bit, but more than that, even if we weren’t friends, I would still be a fan. His writing is fun, clear and bright. His words are sparkling, tasty little bits of prose filled with all the fun stuff.
He is also one of my regular critique partners and has been instrumental in restoring my rusty writing skills. And he’s been an encouragement in times of desperate need.
Okay, Shhhhh. Here he comes. Play it cool, and pretend I didn’t say anything. 😉
J.W. Hi Francisco. Welcome to the Half-fast Writer. I’m so glad you could join me.
F.C. Hey Julia, thanks for hosting me. I always welcome a chance to chat with you.
J.W. So, into the meat of it. How often do you write, and do you have a special time during the day to write?
F.C. I write daily. If a day goes by that I can’t write for some reason, I become stressed and
grumpy. It’s like my characters are battering on the inside of my head and must have release, while real life batters at me from the outside, so I need escape from that for a while. Time with my characters helps me decompress.
My preferred time to write is first thing in the morning. Bliss for me is to roll out of bed and hit the keyboard. In real life, this rarely happens, so I end up doing most of my writing in the evening. It’s not as productive, but it is what happens. When I’m not doing other things during the day, I think about writing.
J.W. Oh, man. I’m sorry you don’t get to write in the morning. Some day. 😀 Do you write full-time or part-time?
F.C. Full-time.I put in more hours and thought to writing and doing peripheral writing
tasks than I do to my day job.
J.W. Wow. I hope you get some time for fun in there somewhere. Any tips on what to do and what not to do when writing?
F.C. I’m not sure anyone can make that call for anyone else as far as writing goes. Basic general advice: Try not to drink so much you pass out at the keyboard. Clean the cookie crumbs out from between the keys regularly. Remember to shower and change your underwear periodically. Don’t forget that real life does exist and your family may want to see you occasionally. Oh yeah, and don’t get so hung up on other people’s opinions you become afraid to write or lose your own voice
J.W. LMAO About some of those, and yes, about the opinions. I think those stories are ours for many reasons. While we’re sort of on process, do you work to an outline or plot or do you prefer just see where an idea takes you?
F.C. In the past, I never outlined. I just grabbed an idea and ran. I never finished a story, either. At least, I never finished anything longer than a couple of thousand words. Then a few years ago, I wrote a novel that I personally love, all 165,000 words of it, but found I couldn’t finish it because lack of planning had left me with plot holes so big you could drive a semi through them. That’s a lot of frustration right there. Since then, I’ve listened to my far more organized better half, and I outline everything. Within the outline, I’m still free to follow ideas, and frequently the characters break out and take off in strange directions. I run with them and if the ideas are good, I let them have their way. If I don’t like what’s happening, I can always drag them back to the outline. They kick and scream, but usually I can wrestle them into submission.
I did have this one character though who kept proposing to the FMC in the most inappropriate times and places. Every time I turned around, he had her in a quiet corner, or under a tree, or by the pool, and was asking her to marry him. I had a hard time calling a halt to that, but I had to. The poor girl was getting completely flustered.
J.W. LMAO Brilliant. That’s funny. And I’m looking forward to the outcome. Now, where is your favorite place to write?
F.C. Anywhere I can be alone. Write now that’s my writing cave at home. It has no view of outside, I’m surrounded by books and mounds of scrap paper. In an ideal world though, I’d like to try writing somewhere inspiring and beautiful, but it’s hard to find such places that are also empty of people.
J.W. I hear that, though people are usually great fodder for random characters. 😀 Well, Francisco, this has been great getting to talk about your process. Thank you again for joining me.
F.C. Thanks for listening.
A passionate romantic and obsessive equestrian, Francisco Cordoba has been writing for as long as he can remember. However, it’s only in the last 
few years, since completing his Master’s Degree in Linguistics, and suffering regular chastisement from his wife, that he has dared to fully unleash his muse. He loves writing about romance, relationships, adventures and sex.
Francisco lives a largely reclusive life tucked away in an old farmhouse, somewhere, with his wife, teenage son, four cats, two dogs, horse, ducks and chickens. He freely admits to loving them all, although he refuses to allow more than three bodies to occupy his bed at any one time. His six-book slightly erotic, paranormally romantic, mysteriously suspenseful, thrillingly adventurous, and possibly fictional debut series, The Horsemen of Golegã, will be self-published soon.
Email: contact@franciscocordoba.com
Website and Blog: http://franciscocordoba.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/franciscocordobaauthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CordobaContact