Fresh Voice Sarah Scharnweber!

"we do not believe in ourselves until someone reveals that deep inside us is valuable, worth listening to, worthy of our trust, sacred to our touch. once we believe in ourselves we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight or any experience that reveals the human spirit."- E.E. Cummings

Welcome to the latest edition of Fresh Voices. We are delighted to share with you the voice of Sarah Scharnweber!

What is your ultimate writing goal?

I would like to write for a living. I guess that's a goal that most people have and it's pretty general, but that's about as true and realistic as I can be.

Why do you write?

I write because I have to. It's not one of those things I've ever really looked at as an option. I write because there are stories and they want to come out.

Have you worked to achieve your voice or is it just a natural style for you?

A little bit of both. My natural style combines with my inner editor and comes out with a voice.

Who are your favorite authors and why do you like them?

Oh goodness, I like so many writers. I enjoy Stephen King a great deal, he was the first modern writer that I fell in love with and my adoration continues today.

Neil Gaiman is amazing. His voice is strong and he has a great will to interact with his fans.

Chuck Palahnuik has an awesome sense of story that grips a reader and keeps them from putting a book down.

I recently read my first Joe Hill novel and I am pretty impressed with him as well. I think I learned a great deal from reading his work and that's a great pay off.

What most attracts you to the life of a writer?

Number one would be not having to punch a time clock. I have a regular day job and the stress really takes away from the energy that I have to write. Some days I come home and I just can't deal with writing; it also doesn't help that I'm in a high stress field with a high burn out rate.

If you couldn't be a writer but knew you were guaranteed success at a different career, what would you choose?

I suppose I would want to be in the field. Maybe an editor or an agent. Anything that would put me in contact with people who could accomplish their dreams. As it stands now, I work in the mental health field and helping people in any capacity seems to be the thing that fuels me, so I think that would help keep me feeling like I was doing something positive.

If you had to describe your writing in one word, what would that word be?

enticing

What's the best writing advice you've ever gotten?

In Stephen King's on writing, he said that the road to hell is paved with adverbs. I agree and found that information invaluable.

Sarah Scharnweber lives in Rockford, Illinois with her husband. She primarily writes horror, but often strays from that. She has a twitter page, and a facebook page, and is participating in this year's NaNoWriMo. One of her stories can be found here and another can be found here.