A.G. Lopes
Featured Author: A.G. Lopes is a jack of all trades that studied Graphic Arts, who makes time in her life to be a writer. She lives in a small town in the south of Portugal. It’s not meant as her permanent residence place as she likes to travel and wants to explore. She lived for a few years in Luxembourg and plans to visit Australia in the near future.
She’s a bit of a nerd, enjoying spending some of her free time reading manga and watching anime, which she happily blames a friend of hers for having introduced her to it when she was a teen.
A. G. has a close writing group. They keep her grounded and support her in the harder days when writing just seems impossible.
She uses her brother as a bouncing board for her plots, which he endures because he loves her, and not because she bakes him delicious treats.
Her first published work is “Again and Again” in the anthology Beautiful Lies, Painful Truths Vol. I. At the moment, she’s working on several other short stories as well as novel-length stories, and small series. Some of those will see the light of day sooner since they are planned for self-publishing.
You can find her on Twitter at @AlGLopes or on Facebook at @Alexandra.G.Lopes.
Featured Author: A.G. Lopes Interview
- How long have you been writing?
- What/who inspired you to be a writer?
- What genre do you prefer to write in?
- Describe your writing process. What comes first–character or plot? Do you “pants” it or outline?
- What is your daily routine as a writer?
- What are some of your biggest challenges you feel like you have to overcome in your writing career?
- Do you have a set number of words each day or a goal?
- Do you prefer short stories or full-length novels in your writing?
- Can you give some us some insight into your story?
- What advice can you give other writers?
LHP: How long have you been writing?
A.G. Lopes: Not that long, to be honest. I started writing around seven years ago. I’ve always loved reading, and I’ve been a little bookworm since I could read, but I’ve never thought I was good enough to write something of my own.
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LHP: What genre do you prefer to write in?
A.G. Lopes:Fantasy is my one true love. I confess that I’ve dabbled with other genres, and sci-fi was able to worm itself into my heart, but I always go back to fantasy. Low fantasy, high fantasy, urban fantasy, most fantasy sub-genres are what I like to explore.
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LHP: What/who inspired you to be a writer?
A.G. Lopes:It was my sister. I had just read a story, and I was complaining about something related to it, can’t even remember what it was anymore, and my sister snapped at me. She told me to shut up about the stupid story and write my own if I was so bothered by it, and then she threw a notebook at me and stomped out of the room.
At the time, I looked at her as if she were crazy. As I said, I never believed I was any good. However, her words wouldn’t leave my mind. A little while later, I shoved the notebook with the first few chapters of a story under her nose and told her to read it.
I have dozens of notebooks filled with finished and unfinished stories, all of them with little side notes from my sister about what she thought of them.
Of course, there are dozens of authors who inspire me—Tolkien and Robert Jordan made me fall in love with fantasy—but the reason why I started was my sister.
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LHP: Describe your writing process. What comes first–character or plot? Do you “pants” it or outline?
A.G. Lopes:I don’t really have a set process. Sometimes there’s a character that just won’t leave my mind, and the plot grows around them. Other times there’s a plot, and the characters evolve as the plot does.
I usually outline. Or, at the very least, know where I want to go. It doesn’t always remain that way. Sometimes, characters just do what they want, and the plot takes unexpected turns. Then there’s editing, and everything can change in that situation.
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LHP: What is your daily/weekly routine as a writer?
A.G. Lopes: I don’t have a set routine. I have a full-time job, and two little kids—my niece and nephew—running around the house 24/7. It leaves no time to form a set routine. Usually, I just take any time I can get to write which happens to be mostly at night when everyone is already in bed. I try to write at least a few hundred words every day; however, it’s only during the weekends that I can get more time to write without interruptions.
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LHP: Are there any software tools, resources, or websites you use often while writing?
A.G. Lopes: I mostly use Microsoft Word to write. As for websites, I suppose it depends on what I’m writing. I’ve been working on a sci-fi novel where I’ve looked up more science-related webpages than I ever did while I was a student.
Though, one consistent webpage I use is https://www.babycenter.com. It’s my go-to site to find names. Unless, of course, I need non-human names.
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LHP: What are some of your biggest challenges you feel like you have to overcome in your writing career?
A.G. Lopes: Time. Working full-time, and having the house full of people, makes it hard to find time to myself where I can write in peace. It’s something I struggle with, as I’m sure many other writers struggle with as well.
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LHP: Do you have a set number of words per day you target? or do you set other goals to meet?
A.G. Lopes: I tried doing that, having a 1500 word per day target; however, I noticed that it didn’t help me be more productive. More often than not, it would just stress me.
So, I set my goals differently. I mark a day on the calendar and tell myself that I need to have the novel/short-story reach this or that scene by the time I reach that date. It gives me some sort of structure, but it doesn’t force me to write N number of words each day.
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LHP: Do you prefer short stories or full length novels in your writing?
A.G. Lopes: I don’t have a preference. Both offer different type of challenges and rewards. I enjoy short-stories because it’s interesting trying to make the characters come alive with so few words. As for full-length novels, they allow me to explore the worlds I create more, and that is always a pleasure.
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LHP: Can you give some us some insight into your story?
A.G. Lopes: Again and Again is about love and sacrifice. It’s about people finding their way to each other, again and again, no matter the circumstances of their lives. It’s about giving up what you hold dear for the one you love, even knowing that it would cost you everything. Most of all, it’s about second chances, and how cruel they sometimes can be.
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LHP: What advice can you give other writers?
A.G. Lopes: We have a saying in Portugal that goes: “Quem corre por gosto não cansa.” It roughly translates to: “Those that run because they love it don’t get tired.”
I never liked that saying. Of course, we get tired. It’s hard work and it demands a lot from us. It takes up a lot of our time, and sometimes it might even feel like there’s no reward for investing hours and hours on end into it. Even so, we don’t give up. We continue to write and struggle through it. We love it one day and hate it the next, and then love it again. It’s a rollercoaster all the way through, but we don’t give up. And we don’t give up because we love it.
So, that’s my advice. Don’t give up. It’s hard, it’s tiring, and sometimes you’ll feel like you’re getting nowhere. Even so, don’t give up. It’s worth it. You’re telling a story that no one else can tell, and that is always worth it.
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Beautiful Lies, Painful Truths Vol. I
A.G. Lopes recently authored “Again and Again” for Beautiful Lies, Painful Truths Vol. I on sale now.