Interview with Alberta H. Sequeira [busygirl] on Whohub

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What did you first read? How did you begin to write? Who were the first to read what you wrote?

Believe it or not, I never took the time to read a book. I enjoyed magazines. It wasn't until 1998, when I heard of apparitions with six children in a tiny village of Medjugorje in Bosnia that I brought the book "The Mission" by Wayne Weible.
That was the beginning of my buying a lot of books after that one.

My family and friends were the first to read my book "A Healing Heart; A Spiritual Renewal" until the public became aware of it through book signings.

What is your favorite genre? Can you provide a link to a site where we can read some of your work or learn something about it?

I don't have a "special" one per say. I enjoy a good book whether it be fiction or non-fiction. The title has to catch my eye and then pull my interest in to the story.

I have excerpts to my book, "A Healing Heart; A Spiritual Renewal" and articles I have written on my website www.ahealingheart.net

What is your creative process like? What happens before sitting down to write?

My creative process comes from an idea for a story or for a chapter that I'm writing on at the time. I've written one memoir and have another one at the editors now. It's titled Someone Stop This Merry-Go-Round; An Alcoholic Family in Crisis. It's about my living in an alcoholic family and losing my husband in 1985 from cirrhosis of the liver.

The sequel Please, God, Not Two; This Killer Called Alcoholism is completed and being polished. It's the continuation of our lives after my husband dies and our daughter following the same path of destruction and passed away in 2006 from the same killer.

So, I guess you can say, I create from my experiences in life.

I try to write after 10am and through 4pm. I'd like it to be every day but it isn't. I try to stop at a certain time to spend moments with my husband, unless I'm going strong on a thought.

What type of reading inspires you to write?

Like I mentioned, I write from experiences and at the moment it's on alcoholism in our family. I watch the Intervention program on television and read about this disease and it helps me add fact to my story.

What do you think are the basic ingredients of a story?

Emotions! To me, that is the first. Every reader likes to be pulled into a story and share the ups and downs with a character.

Of course, characters should be described in detail with their looks and traits. If they are mean, show it. Like they tell writers, show don't tell.

If it's fiction, I like to read a a good plot that surprises me at the end.

What voice do you find most to your liking: first person or third person?

My first book was in first person. I started my second book in the third and everyone in my writer's group said they loved my writing in the first person so I switched the book back to it.

I like to write from my emotions from my experiences in life, because no one has more strong ways of showing them, than the person who has lived through the pain.

What well known writers do you admire most?

Everyone talks about Steven King, and believe it or not, I have not read one of his books. I enjoy his story in the movies.

I can't name one in particular because I don't follow one author. I admire authors who can write advice to people suffering from a tragedy and giving them hope.

I've read "Adult Children of Alcoholics" by Janet Geringer Woititz, "Love First" by Jeff and Debra Jay, and "It Will Never Happen to Me" by Claudia Black. I admire all three with them taking time to interview abusers and their families. I only wish I had read them sooner when my daughter was sick from alcoholism.

It's wonderful for a writer to leave something of themselves when they die to readers.

What is required for a character to be believable? How do you create yours?

Again, EMOTIONS! Also, make them human. Don't make something up about them that couldn't possibly happen.

Show their good and bad side; if they have both. I think readers like to follow a character that is suffering from someone but looks for them to come out a fighter in the end. Try to describe them as you would see them in real life.

Since my three books are memoirs, I have not "created" a character as of yet. I hope to write a fiction book after my third memoir is completed. I think with the tragedies in my writing, I need something funny in the next or to just have fun making up characters. I'm already playing with the idea of a mystery.

Are you equally good at telling stories orally?

I've done two private speaking engagements at alcoholic rehabilitation centers. They lasted 45 minutes. The director told me that it was the best talk they ever heard at the location.

February 7, 2007, I'm doing another talk at the Catholic women's organization called "Magnificat." It will be held at the Providence Marriott Hotel in Providence, Rhode Island. It will be at their breakfast function with over 200 women and a priest...gulp!

This will be a good test for me in front of so many people.

Deep down inside, who do you write for?

My readers. I feel I have not only a story to tell about my life behind closed doors living in an alcoholic family, but the possibility of helping other abusers and their families.

People have said to me, "I'm sure these stories will help you heal from your losses."

I honestly didn't write the books for that reason. It never entered my mind. My thougtht was, and still is, on helping others. For me, that would be a blessed gift to leave in the memory of my husband and daughter.

Is writing a form of personal therapy? Are internal conflicts a creative force?

I didn't ever think about, or had the desire, to become a writer. I wasn't looking for personal therapy.

It wasn't until my father, Brigadier General, Albert L. Gramm, came down with cancer that it entered my mind. I let a man with a tremendous military history go through my fingers. I had no idea he had more to be explored.

I started to investigate on the 26th Yankee Division Website for WWII veterans who might have know my father. To my surprise, I was sent information on my emails, telephone conversations and by letter.

He fought in the battles at Lorraine, Metz, and the famous Battle of the Bulge. There were many other locations throughout Europe.

That was the beginning of my book. I also added my pilgrimage to Medjugorje in Bosnia to it because my father wanted to travel there with hopes of being cured.

I had conflicts with my second memoir and the sequel from my husband's family. After a year of writing, they have signed a paper allowing me to use their names. There are some made up names to people I have not reached.

Does reader feed-back help you?

I like positive and negative feed-back. This is what makes an author write better in their next book. In fact, if people are comfortable telling me negative things, they are actually helping the author to become more open with themselves.

I have been lucky with positive remarks about "A Healing Heart; A Spiritual Renewal." If there are negative feelings, no one has confronted me on them.

Do you participate in competitions? Have you received any awards?

I competed in the 2008 Reader View contest with memoirs. I received the "Reviewers Choice Award 2008 Semi-Finalist" for the non-fiction Memoir/Autobiography genre. I was thrilled.

Do you share rough drafts of your writings with someone whose opinion you trust?

When I start out with a draft on any book, it's all my writing. I don't show anyone. I don't want to change my mind on "my" emotions during the story.

Editing is a different story. My second memoir and sequel is being checked over with my husband before sending it off to the editor. We both sit down and talk about an event that each thought happened differently at the time. This way, I'm getting the facts straight for a non-fiction genre.

Losing my husband and daughter was extremely emotional and some incidents were fuzzy to me. With pain, we block out things that devastated us. He is seeing things more clearly for me.

Do you believe you have already found "your voice" or is that something one is always searching for?

My losing Richie and Lori was painful beyond words. I feel a strong pull to help others. Like I mentioned, I've started speaking engagements with the talk on alcoholism.

I'm hoping 2009 opens more door with me visiting grammar schools up to the college level, businesses, Alcoholic organizations, Al-Anon or any organization that wants me to talk on my life story with living in an alcoholic marriage.

I believe this will become "My Voice."

What discipline do you impose on yourself regarding schedules, goals, etc.?

There are times, I have so much going on, I don't know where to start. This project was one of them. I had to just jump in and answering the questions to complete it.

I wake up and go directly to my computer. I "try" to limit my time on my personal and business emails because I can be on it all day answering them.

I'm waiting for the editor to send "Someone Stop This Merry-Go-Round; An Alcoholic Family in Crisis" back so I can make the changes. In-between, I'm working on the sequel "Please, God, Not Two; This Killer Called Alcoholism."

I also run Writer's Workshops for beginning writers called "Bring Your Manuscript to Publication." I not only search out locations to run them, I receive calls to teach them. I teach seasonally at the Leaning Connection in Rhode Island so that fills my space.

I'm book signing and talking at locations on my first book "A Healing Heart: A Spiritual Renewal." I enter contest for it, look for promotion and marketing ideas.

Yes, it is hard to schedule so much at once. I do what I can when I sit at the computer on any given day. I catch up to the other projects when I can squeeze the time in.

I'm holding back on some talks with alcoholism until the books are published. I'm still confused on self-publishing to get them out fast, or going to an agent. I "think" it will be sending a query letter to an agent at the Martin Library Agency in California after seeing her website.

What do you surround yourself with in your work area in order to help your concentrate?

I have a room off the dinning room that has all my computer needs, even a coat closet that had shelves put into it for all my supplies.

I had my husband put a window into the left wall next to me that looks out into our sun room. Since the room is all glass, I can look out while I write to see the snow falling from a storm or enjoy the spring, summer and fall with sites with the colorful and different birds eating off the feeding or watching a few stray deer go through the yard.

This brings complete peace to me to concentrate better because I feel close to nature and God when I write.

I'm retired with no children left at home. My husband, bless him, does his thing around the yard and house, while I'm writing. Anytime he wants to go somewhere, I stop to go with him. I don't want my writing to become my life where I push my relationship aside.

Writing should be fun and enjoyable with attaining a sense of pride completing it. When it becomes something you have to do with stress, than it's not healthy and you're writing can become affected by it.

Do you write on a computer? Do you print frequently? Do you correct on paper? What is your process?

I write everything on my computer. I add a thought or an event while I'm writing something else with a double space down and highlight it, so I can either go back to it, or move it to another place.

I do no paper print for corrections until the manuscript is completed and ready for editing. Printing out the MS helps me see the mistakes better. My husband reads and corrects the paper because I'm looking at the same mistakes every day. I then put the correction in the computer.

When I'm ready to send a query letter to a publisher, I print it. If requests are made for the synopsis, book proposal or other material, I print it unless they want it by email.

What sites do you frequent on-line to share experiences or information?

I started out over two years ago with chat lines because a writer can learn a lot with other author's mistakes. Some give websites to help with a situation you are looking for answers from.

I have to admit, it's rare that I go on them, because of all the projects I have going on at once. Hopefully, when my books are off to a printer, I can return to these sites.

I love marketing sites that offer "free" information. I try go to Google to advertise my events and also Author's Den.

Sometimes, I luck out with other sites, like yours, that email me and help me promote myself and my book without searching the internet for it.

What has been your experience with publishers?

I went with PublishAmerica with my first book. I was thrilled having them until other distributors wanted to look at my book. They won't work with them. I had two International Military Distributors because of my dad's military status. Lost it.

They went up on price with the authors books and I don't believe my paperback book is worth the new price.

I'd just had personal disagreements on how they worked with me and they do nothing to promote. All traditional publishers and self-publishing get your books online with B&N and Amazon so they aren't doing anything special for me. Plus, I'm in a seven year contract and can't change to another publisher. I won't be returning to this publisher. It's too bad, because an author, put out no money with them. But, let me say, authors spend a mint on buying their own books.

I'm going to try an agent in a few months because of the platform I have developed since my book was published. I have a background with speaking and teach workshops. I've grown a lot in two years.

What are you working on now?

My memoir, "Someone Stop This Merry-Go-Round; An Alcoholic Family in Crisis" and the sequel, "Please, God, Not Two; This Killer Called Alcoholism."

I'm also working on speaking engagements.

What do you recommend I do with all those things I wrote years ago but have never been able to bring myself to show anyone?

I teach to start "today" by starting your story in the computer. Give it a name, write your heart out, don't worry about events not being in order. Computers are an authors friend where you can cut, paste, delete or add. Worry about the editing when you're done.

The next step is to join a writer's group. I can't express this more. They can help you learn from their mistakes and give you leads to future publishing. One man helped me not to go with a publisher because of their false leadings.

Always, always, save what you write after every paragraph. Put your manuscript on a disk or pen disk. I even copy it to my lap top. Never write when there is a storm. You can lose your information.

I have my workshop booklet on my site www.ahealingheart.net. It has 45 pages of wonderful information for any beginner with writing.

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