The Writer's Block Interviews: Siggy Buckley

1)     Describe your journey as an author/writer.

My scribblings started as a diary when I was online dating. Then I met my now husband the 'natural 'way. He encouraged   me to put my encounters into the form of a book. Daredevil that I am, I even wrote it in English which is not my first language, although I have a master's   degree in teaching it.While waiting for my literary agent to sell my manuscript, I discovered my love for blogging. And here I am, consummate   blogger and now self-published author. Needless to say, my agent wasn't   successful. But I'm forging on.

2)     Do you specialize in any particular genre(s)?   

Memoirs which I disguise as a novel. I have a travel blog that I converted into a book: www.Intrepidhomeswappers.blogspot.com which became  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005N0N3CO.   

3)     Who are your favorite authors? How do they inspire your work?

I love thrillers for example by Elizabeth George. Unfortunately I don't have the imagination to pull off a   whodunnit.  Irish writers like female like Nuala O'Faoilan and Sheila O' Flanagan. There I'm waiting (and hoping) for their 'voices' to rub off on me...

4)     Tell us about your most current project. 

The launch of a new blog for writers www.writersgettoether.blogspot.com took a lot of my time over the past 2 months. It's a new platform for  bloggers and writers to get noticed through social media networks. My current brainchild is a book about child abuse that went on in Ireland in the sixties. It is of a similar theme as " The Magdalene Sisters", if  you have seen the movie. I 'm also finishing up book #3 called I Once Had a Farm in Ireland, also autobiographical.

5)     How did you choose your publisher? Describe that process.

Not having been successful with my agent,  I couldn't sit back and decided to self-publish. From all the possible choices, I picked Createspace because they have a good reputation, deliver quality books, and you have no costs upfront.

6)     How do you promote your work? What strategies have been the most successful? 

I rely on creating an internet presence on various blogs and websites as well as social networking. I'm also a member of the National League of American Pen Women.

7)     What else have you written/published?

I wrote a lot of articles for www.opednews.com and  www.americanchronicle.com under my maiden name, Ursula Siebert; an eBook called Intrepid Homeswappers: Secrets to Successful Home Swapping (How to   save thousands on your next vacation) http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005N0N3CO; plus a blog that goes with the website of my novel Next Time Lucky called www.Nexttimelucky.blogspot.com where I give up-to-date dating advice. Another subject close to my heart is related to everything organic and green since my days on an Irish organic farm  www.Inandoutofireland.blogspot.com.


8)     What do you plan to accomplish in 2012? 

Sell a lot of books; finish book #3; establish myself in my new role as blog talk hostess together with Angelica Harris on "Monday Lunch Hour" http://www.blogtalkradio.com/angelicaharris

9)     What advice would you give to budding writers?

Write about what you know and don't give up the day job.


10)   What is your definition of success as a writer? 

To get the response here that I was used to (as a matchmaker) in Ireland : "Yes, I've heard about you!" Even from the former Prime Minister (Taoiseach).


Author Bio:  Former matchmaker par excellence - or Dating Guru as the Irish media liked to call me- I was born in Germany. Having achieved a Masters Degree in English, I got married, had two children and then emigrated to Ireland with my family for the GOOD LIFE.

Involuntary life on an Irish farm produced a crop of misgivings and the break-up of our marriage. Single again, I launched a dating service in Dublin which eventually planted the seeds for this novel. I'm now happily married and live in the USA.

Next Time Lucky  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Next-Time-Lucky/245003752184595?ref=ts

https://twitter.com/#!/Hernibs

www.writersgettogether.blogspot.com

Posted by Raychelle Muhammad at 12:00 AM

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Great Minds Think Aloud

Great Minds Think Aloud  -  Yesterday 5:43 PM  -  Public

INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR OF "NEXT TIME LUCKY", SIGGY BUCKLEY

Hi Siggy! It's a pleasure having you as a guest with Great Minds. My first question is about your matchmaking skills. Just a rough estimate, have you had any of your couples move on to marriage?

We had dozens of happy couples that were co-habitating happily. These were mostly divorcess and had no intention of getting married again. Not to forget that Divorce was only made legal in Ireland in 1996! Until then couple had to go to England for a legal separation or if they wanted to marry again.Once burnt...they said, they would rather live together for a while. Among the younger couples, I was responsible for about 5 children...

Now you were born in Germany, lived in Ireland on a farm and now live in Florida, does it ever seem strange, and how big of a change was it for you?

Life is stranger than Fiction! My life plan was more sedate: Become a High School teacher in German, start a family and live and work there until my pensionable age. Life happens when you're busy making other plans...wasn't it one of the Beatles who said that? In that case it was my then husband who imposed the cultural and country change. I dind't have much say in it, believe it or not.Our kids grew up in Ireland, however, happy. I also changed professions while there: from College teacher to matchmaker to wine importer and seller.Ireland was a culture shock.I had been a city girl, but to become a farmers's wife is a different ball game even if you speak the language.

Ireland grew on me with all the changes that the European Union imposed on the country; it became a little more westernized and civilized like what I was used to.Definitely in the later years in Dublin.I left Ireland at the first opportunity that presented itself: when both kids had graduated from highschool, I sold house and businesses.My aim was to teach in a warmer climate, maybe France or Spain. But by happenstance,I landed in Orlando and in a new marriage.

Tell us a little more about the National League of American Pen Women.

Through a good lady friend of mine, I became acquainted with the Pen Women.Their members are writers and artists who have been published or earned money for their writings. I didn't join until I published my novel: Next Time Lucky. They were on a major recuitment drive as most of their members were in their 70s and older here in Jax. I had expected writing support like in a critique group but, instead, found the most caring and nurturing network of women friends. I have now recruited a few ladies around my own age. At the moment, I am only an International member because I 'm not a naturalized American but retain my German nationality. I serve as their sunshine lady this year, i.e. correspodence secretary that sounded too high falluting for me. It means I inform the members who is sick and in need of a little moral support (cards, calls etc.).

What other projects do you have upcoming and when can we expect your next book out?

I just started a new writers blog that is taking up my time.The idea behind it is to create a network of writers that use the new social media for extra exposure for their work and get involved by writing for this blog and then multiplying the exposure of everybody thru individual tweets, FB and Linked-In connections. My second book came out shortly after our summer vacation adventure: Intrepid Home Swapping- Insider Secrets for Successful Homeswapping, available as an eBook on Kindle.

PR, networking, and my involvmenet in a blog radio show Monday Lunch Hour (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Monday-Lunch-Hour/219825478089233) put my next project a bit on the backburner: I once had Farm in Ireland. The story of our organic life in Ireland.But it should see the light of day in 2012!

What is one of your greatest accomplishments in life as you see it?

I hate to beat my own drums.Being German, we don't do that.But friends point out to me that I reinvented myself according to my life situation, raised and fed my children after my divorce and made my small businessses flourish. The little figurine on the cover of my novel tells it all: an old=fashioned tumbler doll: "Stehaufmaennchen": You can't keep me down!

What do you like to read when or if you have time to read?

Thrillers; Elizabeth Goerge;Irish authors: Nuala O'Failoin (God bless her soul).Cook books with photos!Travel books with Photos.

Do you have any authors that have inspired you over the years?

I can tell you the books I adored. Writing styles change however like fashion.And life stories differ.So the big philosophical authors I admired over the years aren't in vogue anymore.

Being a matchmaker, are you a hopeless romantic?

Not in the slightest.I was called top-heavy (and they didn't mean my boobs). Matchmaking is a numbers game.Opportunity and right location mixed with preparedness. Was it Oprah Winfrey who said that? You can only deal the cards you have been handed....

Do you ever think about moving back to Ireland or do you miss it at all?

I never wanted to move there, couldn't wait to leave and now I miss it. I have visited several times and our next Home Sawp adventure will surely take us back to the old sod. I also have an ulterior motif: Besides extra info on my farm book, I have another one in the back of my head in the style/topic of the Magdalen Sisters. A first hand account of my former housekeeper who is now 71!

Do you have any advice you'd like to share with other aspiring authors?

Write what you know about! Lots of people say that they could write a book about their life. Let them...and they will see how difficult it is. And that's only when the really difficult part starts: to promote it and make it a seller!Don't get discouraged, make a lot of friends on the way, don't expect big money but enjoyment!

Thank you so much for your time with this interview Siggy, I hope to do it again soon!

I have to thank you for the opportunity, Kitty! This was fun!

Read more: http://www.greatmindsthinkaloud.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=interviews&thread=998&page=1#ixzz1jTTt67UZ

www.Nexttimelucky.com

NPR picked up on the Comparison of Dating and Home Swapping

When I wrote about 'Home Swapping is like Dating I had in mind that you have to separate the wheat from the chaff. The local radio station picked up on it (NPR: see link), put the emphasis on home swapping still plugging my book, however.
You may have had several phone calls with each other establishing a bond and asking critical questions. Same thing with homes.On a dating site you never know who you meet until you see them face to face. In spite of excellent profile crafting and careful answering of questionnaires, people can still hide behind the anonymous front of the Internet. Sometimes without bad intentions as I learned in my home swapping adventure. On a date you can leave as soon as you wish. If you actually stay abroad in somebody else's home...and they are in YOUR house for a duration of several weeks, it's more complicated.
Most people want to meet the person of their dreams as close to home as possible. Home swapping is different by nature. You want to travel, you want to explore foreign lands.What both types of searches have in common, however, and the corresponding websites going with it is a lack of rating system. Wouldn't it be great if at least a home swapping site evaluated the house you're interested in? or let you do it after a bad experience like we had? Like a trip adviser. No such thing even planned on the horizon.
I understand entirely that it's impossible for a dating website to evaluate people. In short, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, if we all fell for the same man/woman..God help us. What chaos and tragedy would ensue. In my time while I was actively Internet dating, a little help regarding a man's over all cleanliness and sense of order or propriety would have helped. Or in general, a background check like we used to do in my marriage bureau years ago. the days are long gone. There are very few personalized "heart-hunters' out there for the privileged few who can afford it. Maybe there is a demand for such a service in this country too. Especially older folk, second time rounders (or more) who are not internet savvy or afraid of who they might meet there, would appreciate a chaperon.

On the radio

The last week has been amazing: Two great radio interviews. One with NPR and Melissa Ross about my home swapping http://www.wjctondemand.org/...which resembles dating...}Go to that show's minute 32:48 for my interview.
And last night's in depth blog radio interview with Angelica Harris http://www.blogtalkradio.com/angelicaharris/2011/09/08/guest-siggy-buckley
Dating and people's experiences are human interest stories that always rouse curiosity.Love and happiness and the quest for it is as old as humankind and won't change any time soon.
Thank you both for the interviews, ladies.