Please welcome fellow BisMan Writer Amber Thorne to The Clog Blog! Amber, can you tell us a little about yourself and your background?
I live in Minot with my husband Zach and our 3 furry children-Fish, Amiro, and Binx. I’m currently teaching 4th grade in Surrey, ND. I’ve had career changes ranging from National Park Service ranger to Pepsi sales so I come with lots of life experience! I’ve been writing since I could string my spelling words into sentences-I would sometimes write a story with all 20 words instead of 20 plain sentences! I met Eric Kimmel in elementary school at a Young Author’s Conference and knew I wanted to do what he did. I started publishing fanfiction online in 2006 in fandoms from Avengers to Zorro. I’m currently working on a YA novel and time will tell if it ever gets finished – the fanfiction plot bunnies are pushy!
How do you make time to write?
If I’m not working, cleaning my house, or out of the house, I’m writing. I can often be found parked in front of the television with my laptop, and I’ve also dictated stories into Google Record on my phone while driving. I think it’s more ‘how do I make time to do everything else when all I want to do is write?’!
Do you believe in writer’s block?
It’s been said that ‘writer’s block is what happens when characters get fed up with you and go on strike,’ and I completely believe that’s true. I think it’s a combination of plots and character beats running out of gas and trying to find a way to get them kickstarted again.
Tell us a bit about the genre you write and why you love it.
I’m primarily in fanfiction. I like looking for those missing scenes in a show or a movie, wondering ‘what were they doing in the commercial break?’ or ‘what came after that scene?’ I like expanding characters on the screen-sometimes they can be very one-dimensional. My novel is Young Adult Fiction, and I’m convinced that half the things written for my 4th graders to high schoolers is much more interesting than anything written to appeal to me as an ‘adult.’ Most of what’s on my bookshelves at home that I read on a daily basis is YA. Kids have bigger imaginations and deal with so much-reading things meant for them is really eye-opening for me.
How are you publishing your recent book and why?
If I had one to publish, I would go with whatever would have me! The debate over indie vs traditional publishing is always an interesting read out on social media. All of my fanfiction is posted online.
Are you an Introvert or an Extrovert? How does this affect your work?
Which one means I’m a people person in small doses? I think it reflects in the kind of characters I gravitate toward – a lot of my favorite characters have secrets or double lives-they present themselves one way in public but another among close friends or by themselves.
What is your favorite motivational phrase?
“Because in the end, you won’t remember the time you spent working in the office or mowing your lawn. Climb that goddamn mountain.” Jack Kerouac.
What advice would you give to aspiring writers?
Write what you want to write. Don’t try to write what you think other people would like. Write what makes you happy, and the audience that needs to find it will find it.
Where can readers find you on the World Wide Web?
Since I don’t have my fiction completed, all of my fanfiction can be found at
Do you have an excerpt you’d like to share with us?
Adam jumped off the ladder, a chill racing up his spine that had nothing to do with the weather outside. “Nick’s not up there.”Sarah made a slow circle, looking around the two-room house. There were no places for a seven-year-old to hide.
“You don’t think….”
Adam was already shrugging back into his coat, certain now he knew exactly where their son was. “That book of his,” he realized. “We were reading it together before bed. It was the chapter on Bigfoot, and I was telling him that Clancy in town had sworn he’d seen one just the other night.” He reached for his boots, shaking his head. “It was only a joke…but of course, not to Nick. I’ll lay you ten to one that he’s out there…” he pointed out the window, “on a search for one.”
From, “The Search,” available in the anthology, “Seasons in the Dark.”
These books, 
Please join me in welcoming my fellow North Dakota Author, Justin Cancelliere, whom I met at October’s ND Library Association Meeting. Justin, Can you t
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