Author interview no.384 with writer Paul Fox

Welcome to the three hundred and eighty-fourth of my blog interviews with novelists, poets, short story authors, biographers, agents, publishers and more. Today’s is with science-fiction / fantasy author Paul Fox. A list of interviewees (blogged and scheduled) can be found here. If you like what you read, please do go and investigate further.

Morgen: Hello, Paul. Please tell us something about yourself, where you’re based, and how you came to be a writer.

Paul: I think I’ve always had an interest in telling stories and writing them down.  When I was nine, a local radio station sponsored a story writing contest which I entered and my story won the top prize which included being read on the air–pretty heady stuff for a nine-year-old.  However, I had, and still have, a love affair with science which for many years pushed aside the desire to write stories until it resurfaced while I was studying chemistry at the university.  I actually began a novel at that time, but abandoned it because of an increasing workload.  Then, after many years of technical jobs I got a renewed interest in writing, took some classes, joined a writers’ organization, attended conferences and have this past year published two books.

Growing up, I lived for a time in Japan and on Guam, and I lived in Texas for many years.  However, I now live and write in the Portland, Oregon area where I have lived for about 19 years.

Morgen: I’ve had so many authors say they had an interest in writing when they were young but life took over – I know that feeling. What genre do you generally write?

Paul:  My first love is Science Fiction but I also enjoy good fantasy.  I also like reading and writing poetry.  I occasional toy with the idea of writing mysteries and historical fiction, but I’ve made no really serious efforts in those directions.

Morgen: I’ve had agents telling me they want more crime and historical so they’re clearly very popular genres. What have you had published to-date? Do you write under a pseudonym?

Paul:  I have two books published.   The first is a collection of poems, “Seasons of the Mind, 2nd Edition,” written using the pen-name, Wayne Howard, and it’s available as a paperback from Amazon.com or as a PDF download from Lulu.com.  The second is a fantasy novella, “Sea-Change”, which is currently available in eBook formats from Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble Nook and iTunes, and as a paperback from Amazon.com and Lulu.com.  “Sea-Change”, was written under my own name, P. W. Fox.

Morgen: Have you had any rejections? If so, how do you deal with them?

Paul: I like to view rejections as a potential learning experience.  I was encouraged to self-publish “Sea-Change” as an eBook by a publisher’s rejection that said “The story is interesting but too short.”  My favourite rejection was a short story rejected by the editor of a fantasy and science-fiction magazine with the refreshingly honest comment, “Your story just didn’t grab me.”  I took another look at the story and decided that it didn’t grab me either.

Morgen: It is useful when you get feedback as you then know where to start changing, if indeed it really does need changing. It’s great when we get reader feedback too. Do you have an agent? Do you think they’re vital to an author’s success?

Paul:  No I don’t have an agent.  I have, however, spoken with a number of published authors with whom agents have been helpful in advancing their careers.  The problem these days, of course, is that it’s difficult for new authors to get an agent to take them on unless they already have an offer from a publisher.

Morgen: And it’s well-known, certainly in England, that it’s easier to connect with a publisher than an agent but I do think most agents are worth their commission. Are your books available as eBooks? Were you involved in that process at all? Do you read eBooks or is it paper all the way?

Paul: My novella, “Sea-Change” is being marketed as an eBook because it is short, about 17,000 words, which is too long for most magazines, especially from a new, basically unknown writer; and too short for traditional publishers.  This book is also available in paperback as a print-on-demand book.  I’m afraid that because of rather limited financial resources I had to be involved in just about every step of the process: book and cover design, pre-publication formatting, distribution and marketing.  I had the same degree of involvement with the publication of my poetry collection, “Seasons of the Mind, 2nd Edition”, but without the necessity of formatting for the conversion to the eBook formats MOBI and EPUB.

Morgen: I’ve done everything start to finish with my eBooks so no apology needed Paul. Even authors with top publishers are heavily involved in the marketing of their books. How much of the marketing do you do for your published works or indeed for yourself as a ‘brand’?

Paul: Well Morgen, I am the marketing department.  I maintain a website, www.pwfox.com, do the social media things, email notifications to people on my contact list, etc.  I’m trying to establish P. W. Fox as a brand for fantasy and science fiction.  I gave my poetry writing alter-ego, Wayne Howard, his own page on the site, and I hawk his poetry on the site’s home page.  I would like to say here, that blogs like this one of yours are very helpful to those of us who are just coming up, in getting the word out about ourselves and our writing.

Morgen: Oh, thank you very much. My blog wouldn’t be what it is without my guests so thanks right back to you. You say you were involved in the titles / covers of your books? How important do you think they are?

Paul: Yes, I am, for better or worse, the one responsible for the titles and the covers.  When you are self-publishing on a very limited budget, all the jobs fall to you, whether you’re a seasoned professional in that area or not.

Morgen: Indeed, and for me, that was part of the fun. What are you working on at the moment / next?

Paul: I’m currently working on a science fiction novel, which I expect to finish this year.  If I get good feedback from my novella, “Sea-Change”, I’ll be developing an outline for a novel length sequel.  Wayne Howard, my other self, is working on a children’s story and a book that will be a rather curious mixture of prose and poetry with a working title “The Last Wizard: a Metaphysical Journey.”

Morgen: I love that; having two people doing two different things and it must help you maintain an interest in them both. Do you plot your stories or do you just get an idea and run with it?

Paul: I usually start with an idea and then outline the plot in very broad terms, although I find that as I’m writing, the plot often takes me in directions that were not in the original broad outline.

Morgen: Isn’t that great. Do you have a method for creating your characters, their names and what do you think makes them believable?

Paul: I’m not sure I have a particular method for creating characters.  The main character in “Sea-Change” was suggested by a picture, and the plot was developed to get the character to the scene depicted in the picture and to carry the action forward to a logically satisfying conclusion.  At other times I started with a plot idea and then constructed a character that I thought would make the story work as an entertaining narrative.  To make the characters believable, I develop back-story for them and catalogue things such as likes and dislikes as well as habits, both good and bad.  When these things can be worked into the flow of the narrative, it makes the character seem more “real.”

Morgen: You write poetry, do you write any non-fiction or short stories?

Paul: I’m guilty on all three counts.  I spent a couple of years writing and posting regular articles on green business issues for Examiner.com as the Portland Green Business Examiner, and I do write the occasional short story–I have one currently in the works.  As for poetry, I just let Wayne handle that.

Morgen: Do you do a lot of editing or do you find that as time goes on your writing is more fully-formed?

Paul: I’m a compulsive editor and tend to try to edit as I go.  I know that this often gets in the way of the creative process and so try to resist the urge to do this, but it’s a constant struggle.  I have observed that the more I write the more fluid the process becomes, and the fewer edits are actually required.

Morgen: It’s practice, isn’t it, like playing the piano. Do you have to do much research?

Paul: Most sci-fi has to intersect the real world when it comes to physics, chemistry, biology, etc.  Since most of us are not universal experts, research is very important into those areas where we have little or no knowledge so that the story has plausibility.  Even in fantasy, where the whole universe may be a figment of the author’s imagination, research into things like human customs, psychology and anthropology can lend an aura of reality to the story because it will then strike a familiar chord with the reader either consciously or subconsciously.

Morgen: And if you don’t get your facts right, someone will tell you. What point of view do you find most to your liking: first person or third person? Have you ever tried second person?

Paul: I’m most comfortable with third person.  I’ve written one short story in first person.  I only recently became aware of second person narratives.  It is definitely an interesting point of view, but I’m not sure it would work for me. At any rate, I haven’t tried it—yet.

Morgen: I love it (and it has its own page on this blog) but it’s an acquired taste that doesn’t suit many, especially for longer works. Do you have pieces of work that you think will never see light of day?

Paul: Yes!  Thankfully!

Morgen: What’s your favourite / least favourite aspect of your writing life? Has anything surprised you?

Paul: My favourite part of the writing life is working on the plot and characters and watching the story unfold as you write.  My least favourite aspect is marketing the works after they’re finished, but this interview has been a blast.

Morgen: Oh good, thanks very much. I agree with you that the creation is my favourite. What advice would you give aspiring writers?

Paul: Be persistent.  Build your networks, both personal and professional.

Morgen: Absolutely. Are you involved in anything else writing-related other than actual writing or marketing of your writing?

Paul: I do some freelance editing work.

Morgen: What do you do when you’re not writing?

Paul: I enjoy hiking and camping and I play the recorder.

Morgen: Oh wow. Are you on any forums or networking sites? If so, how valuable do you find them?

Paul: I am a member of a number of writing groups on LinkedIn.com, and I’ve found them to be quite helpful, especially with marketing ideas.

Morgen: Ah, that’s probably how we ‘met’. What do you think the future holds for a writer?

Paul: Even though eBooks are on the rise, there will always be a place for print.  In the future writers will be called on to do much more than just write to get their works out.  This is already the case for many of us.

Morgen: Indeed it is. I’ve only had one or two authors say their publishers do all their marketing but then they’re still active on Twitter, Facebook etc. Where can we find out about you and your work?

Paul: The best place is to visit my web site www.pwfox.com and my blog www.pwfox.com/blog, although I’m an erratic blogger.

Morgen: Is there anything else you’d like to mention?

Paul: I would like to thank you for having me appear on your blog.  It provides a really great opportunity for new writers like me to be exposed to a wider audience.

Morgen: You’re very welcome. Thank you for wanting to be involved. Is there anything you’d like to ask me?

Paul: Yes, Morgen, do you ever have time to get any sleep?

Morgen: <laughs> It would be nice if we didn’t have to. I’d certainly get more writing done. I do have a little more sleep now I’ve given up the day job but still less than I used to before I started this blog. Of course I have a choice but I enjoy it too much. Thank you, Paul.

I then invited Paul to include an extract of his writing and this is from Sea-Change…

Agatha, when her husband was once again occupied with his work, timidly came over to Seldon.  “Please, young sir, would you let me bind your hair in a braid, as I used to do for my son.  You remind me so of him and my fingers yearn to remember him too.”

Seldon looked into the woman’s eyes and saw the emptiness and the sorrow.  “Very well,” he said.

The woman took his hair in her hands and tried to run her fingers through it.  The hair was just as long as it had been before the transformation spell and it was now hopelessly tangled and matted, but the woman was not deterred.  She produced a basin of water and rinsed Seldon’s mangled mop.  After the rinsing she applied some of the olive oil she had for cooking and then brought out a sturdy comb and gingerly combed out the tangles. Only then did she begin weaving the hair into a single braid.  When she had finished, he looked around to thank her, but the woman turned her head away and with her eyes filling with tears, she quickly left.

If you are reading this and you write, in whatever genre, and are thinking “ooh, I’d like to do this” then you can… just email me and I’ll send you the questions. You complete them, I tweak them where appropriate (if necessary to reflect the blog ‘clean and light’ rating) and then they get posted. When that’s done, I email you with the link so you can share it with your corner of the literary world. And if you have a writing-related blog / podcast and would like to interview me… let me know.

You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything… and follow me on Twitter where each new posting is automatically announced. You can also read / download my eBooks and free eShorts at Smashwords, Sony Reader Store, Barnes & Noble, iTunes Bookstore, Kobo and Amazon, with more to follow. I have a new forum and you can follow me on Twitter, friend me on Facebook, like me on Facebook, connect with me on LinkedIn, find me on Tumblr, complete my website’s Contact me page or plain and simple, email me.  I also now have a new blog creation service especially for, but not limited to, writers.

Unfortunately, as I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t review books but I have a feature called ‘Short Story Saturdays’ where I review stories of up to 2,500 words. Alternatively if you have a short story or self-contained novel extract / short chapter (ideally up to 1000 words) that you’d like critiqued and don’t mind me reading it / talking about and critiquing it (I send you the transcription afterwards so you can use the comments or ignore them)  on my ‘Bailey’s Writing Tips’ podcast, then do email me. They are weekly episodes, usually released Monday mornings UK time, interweaving the recordings between the red pen sessions with the hints & tips episodes. I am now also looking for flash fiction (<1000 words) for Flash Fiction Fridays and poetry for Post-weekend Poetry.

 

Author interview no.379 with writer Robert Spiller

Welcome to the three hundred and seventy-ninth of my blog interviews with novelists, poets, short story authors, biographers, agents, publishers and more. Today’s is with multi-genre author Robert Spiller. A list of interviewees (blogged and scheduled) can be found here. If you like what you read, please do go and investigate further.

Morgen: Hello, Robert. Please tell us something about yourself, where you’re based, and how you came to be a writer.

Robert: I am a former Mathematics teacher (university, high school, middle school), who recently retired after 35 years to write full time.  I live in beautiful Colorado Springs, Colorado.

When my second marriage evaporated, I went on a three-week bike ride and brought along 5 spiral notebooks.  What I wrote on this emotional excursion turned into my first novel, a science fiction piece entitled The Children of Yei.  The novel won second prize at a Writing Conference but I couldn’t give that epitome of fine literature away.  It wasn’t until I started writing mysteries: The Witch of Agnesi, A Calculated Demise, Irrational Numbers, Radical Equations (to be released in print copy later this month) that I became published.

Morgen: A novel in three weeks, wow. That’s better than NaNoWriMo. In the introduction I called you “multi-genre”, what genres do you write?

Robert: I write an amateur sleuth mystery series with a female Mathematics teacher who solves murders in a small Colorado town.  I have written two sci-fi novels, two historic Young Adult novels, and am currently working on a horror piece that gives me nightmares.

Morgen: Ooh great, then it’ll give us nightmares… or you may not mean it like that. What have you had published to-date?

Robert: The Witch of Agnesi – 2006, A Calculated Demise – 2007, Irrational Numbers – 2008 and Radical Equations – print release Feb 2012

The first three were with Medallion Press, Radical Equations is through Courtney Literary.

Morgen: (they’re brilliant covers) Have you had any rejections? If so, how do you deal with them?

Robert: I just recently threw away over a hundred rejections that I promised myself I would keep until I died.  Obviously, I didn’t keep that promise.  When I was trying to sell the first Bonnie Pinkwater mystery, The Witch of Agnesi, I sent out so many queries and packets that once I received 12 rejections in one day.  As for how I deal with rejections, I really don’t let it get to me (I just assume they don’t understand my genius).

Morgen: Absolutely. It’s just the right thing for the wrong person, and you kept going. I only have 20-something rejections but I’ve made myself that same promise because I think any author who has had a bumpy road can see how far they’ve come… plus they get to stick their tongue out at rejectors (I don’t suppose that’s even a word but hey, if we can’t make them up, who can?) when they are successful. Have you won or been shortlisted in any competitions?

Robert: My first novel, The Children of Yei won second prize in the Paul Gillette Writing Contest at the Pikes Peak Writing Conference.

Morgen: Oh well done. I bet you were thrilled. Do you have an agent? Do you think they’re vital to an author’s success?

Robert: I have had a few agents, but at the moment am unrepresented by a literary agent.  I would love to find someone to help me find a home for my Historic YA mysteries.

Morgen: Let’s hope one’s reading you now. I’ve had three (British) tell me they’re after more historical so it is a genre that’s being sought after. Are your books available as eBooks? Were you involved in that process at all? Do you read eBooks or is it paper all the way?

Robert: All of my books are available as e-books: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords.  In fact the most recent, Radical Equations was published as an e-book in December but will only be available in print later in February 2012.  A good friend gave me a Kindle for a retirement gift and so I’m reading more and more e-books.

Morgen: I’ve had a Kindle since January and I love it, although I’ll still read both formats. How much of the marketing do you do for your published works or indeed for yourself as a ‘brand’?

Robert: I am working with a wonderful promoter, Deb Courtney, who has given me a marketing plan that requires me to do a list of tasks for each reiteration of the plan.  I have done signings, speaking engagements, readings, interviews, taught classes at conferences, visited schools.  I am actively involved with Goodreads (I have two giveaways running), have a blog: http://spillerwrites.blogspot.com, a website: http://rspiller.com, use Twitter, Facebook, and am a member of a whole slew of author sites.

Morgen: You’re certainly doing all the right things by the sound of it – you just have to keep plugging away. Do you have a favourite of your books or characters? If any of your books were made into films, who would you have as the leading actor/s?

Robert: Truth is I have thought of this a bunch.  I always picture one particular actress playing Bonnie – Bette Midler.  Annette Benning also works.  My current favourite book is Radical Equations – but I’ve always liked whatever I’m working on.  My favourite character besides my sleuth Bonnie Pinkwater is Rhiannon Griffith, Bonnie’s Wiccan sidekick. She’s the perfect female foil for Bonnie’s analytic nature: smart, compassionate, generous, and she doesn’t take guff from Bonnie.

Morgen: Bette Midler is great. I like Annette Benning but Bette, in my opinion anyway, has more of a stage presence… she’s cheeky. What are you working on at the moment / next?

Robert: Two books really.  The next Bonnie Pinkwater mystery, Napier’s Bones.  And a horror novel set in the aftermath of World War II.

Morgen: They all sound quite in depth, do you have to do much research?

Robert: Each Bonnie Pinkwater mystery features a historic mathematician, so I research their lives.  Each is used in some fashion to give Bonnie that AHA moment necessary to solving the murders.  The Witch of Agnesi featured Marie Agnesi, A Calculated Demise featured Hypatia of Alexandria, who herself was murdered, Irrational Numbers featured Sonya Kovalevskaya, and Radical Equations features Leonhard Euler.  So along with a satisfying mystery the reader gets to learn about these fascinating people.

Morgen: I have to say I’ve not heard of them (history isn’t my strong point) but I know there are people out there who will know so you do especially have to get your facts right because they’ll be eager enough to tell you. If you could invite three people from any era to dinner, who would you choose and what would you cook (or hide the takeaway containers)?

Robert: 1.  Hypatia of Alexandria (we would have cheese, bread and seasoned olive oil).  She was the daughter of the last librarian of the great library.  She was an advocate of reason and many people believe her murder was orchestrated by a man who later became pope.

2. Ghandi (we would fast)

3. Tecumseh, the great Native American chief.  Back when the North America had more Indians than white folks he almost succeeded in driving us out.  We would dine on pemmican (whatever the heck that is).

Morgen: Um… Google tells me it’s an indigenous sausage. http://www.natureskills.com/wild-foods/recipe-pemmican Is there a word, phrase or quote you like?

Robert: I’ve always been partial to ‘Remember the Snodens of Yesteryear’ from Catch 22.  I also like ‘Don’t Panic.’ from the Hitchhikers Guide to the Universe series.

Morgen: Brain the size of a planet and all they ask me to do is pick up pieces of paper. Actually Douglas Adams said one of my favourite quotes… something like ‘I love deadlines – the sound as they woosh by’. Are you involved in anything else writing-related other than actual writing or marketing of your writing?

Robert: I am currently using my blog (http://spillerwrites.blogspot.com) to develop a class on Setting.  I teach writing classes in Humor, and the Care and Feeding of Critique Groups.

Morgen: I like the sound of those, especially the latter (because I belong to four). What do you think the future holds for a writer?

Robert: I believe more and more writers will go the self-publishing route, as it becomes increasingly easier to put work out yourself.  I’ve heard the argument that this will precipitate a decline in quality, but I have faith that people will read what is exceptional and tell their friends.  Plus there are more and more avenues of review that readers could access (Goodreads, etc) to learn what is good and what is drek.

Morgen: Exactly, that’s what I think; that the reviews will out. Where can we find out about you and your work?

Robert: First of all a reader could check my website: http://rspiller.com.  All my work is available in e-book and print form on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords, and can be ordered through most bookstores.

Morgen: Brilliant, thank you Robert.

If you are reading this and you write, in whatever genre, and are thinking “ooh, I’d like to do this” then you can… just email me and I’ll send you the questions. You complete them, I tweak them where appropriate (if necessary to reflect the blog ‘clean and light’ rating) and then they get posted. When that’s done, I email you with the link so you can share it with your corner of the literary world. And if you have a writing-related blog / podcast and would like to interview me… let me know.

You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything… and follow me on Twitter where each new posting is automatically announced. You can also read / download my eBooks and free eShorts at Smashwords, Sony Reader Store, Barnes & Noble, iTunes Bookstore, Kobo and Amazon, with more to follow. I have a new forum and you can follow me on Twitter, friend me on Facebook, like me on Facebook, connect with me on LinkedIn, find me on Tumblr, complete my website’s Contact me page or plain and simple, email me.  I also now have a new blog creation service especially for, but not limited to, writers.

Unfortunately, as I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t review books but I have a feature called ‘Short Story Saturdays’ where I review stories of up to 2,500 words. Alternatively if you have a short story or self-contained novel extract / short chapter (ideally up to 1000 words) that you’d like critiqued and don’t mind me reading it / talking about and critiquing it (I send you the transcription afterwards so you can use the comments or ignore them)  on my ‘Bailey’s Writing Tips’ podcast, then do email me. They are weekly episodes, usually released Monday mornings UK time, interweaving the recordings between the red pen sessions with the hints & tips episodes. I am now also looking for flash fiction (<1000 words) for Flash Fiction Fridays and poetry for Post-weekend Poetry.

 

Author interview no.375 with writer Caron Rider

Welcome to the three hundred and seventy-fifth of my blog interviews with novelists, poets, short story authors, biographers, agents, publishers and more. Today’s is with sci-fi and fantasy paranormal author Caron Rider. A list of interviewees (blogged and scheduled) can be found here. If you like what you read, please do go and investigate further.

Morgen: Hello, Caron. Please tell us something about yourself, where you’re based, and how you came to be a writer.

Caron: I have always been a hard worker. Up until last year I worked 3 jobs. I taught high school history during the day, taught high school students at night, and taught online classes to high school students. Then my dad began having health issues, leading me to quit and move to Missouri to help him out. So I was used to being extremely busy and suddenly I wasn’t doing much of anything except keeping house (remodelled the bathroom, put down a new floor in the kitchen / dining area, and painted all throughout), a little yard work (built a greenhouse and a hen house), raising 2 kids, 2 cats, 4 dogs, 6 guineas, and my father. What can I say? I was bored. So amidst all that, I wrote my first novel.

Morgen: Wow. A bit of a contrast between sitting writing and being so active. What genre do you generally write and have you considered other genres?

Caron: Well, my book has been classed as young adult but really any age can read it. I did write it with the thought that teenagers would read it, so it’s clean. I am most familiar with sci-fi and fantasy so that’s probably what I’ll stick to. Although Silver Knight has been called paranormal as well.

Morgen: All popular genres and really I think anyone can read a family-friendly book, and many do. What have you had published to-date? Do you write under a pseudonym?

Caron: Silver Knight is published under my name, Caron Rider. That’s it for published so far, but the second book in The Silver Series is Silver Demon and it will be out in June 2012.

Morgen: Oh great, not long then. How exciting. Have you had any rejections? If so, how do you deal with them?

Caron: I really didn’t consider sending it to any of the big publishers because I figured I would be rejected.  If they come knocking, I’d naturally consider it, but with the Internet and technology, it’s so easy to just do it yourself, that I just decided to go for it. So I haven’t had any rejections so far. And (fingers crossed) so far everyone that’s given me any feedback, has enjoyed it.

Morgen: Authors have been ‘found’ that way and a lot of authors are going it alone. Having done so yourself, presumably you don’t have an agent, do you think they’re vital to an author’s success?

Caron: I don’t have an agent so I certainly hope they’re not vital to an author’s success.

Morgen: Is your book available as an eBook? How involved were you in that process? Do you read eBooks or is it paper all the way?

Caron: Yes, it’s available as a paperback and an ebook. I created everything with regard to my book (I naturally had input and suggestions). I read both ebooks and paperbacks and hardbacks. I love books in any form they come in.

Morgen: Me too, although it’s time I struggle with. How much of the marketing do you do for your published works or indeed for yourself as a ‘brand’?

Caron: It’s a full time job! I am just amazed at how much “social networking” is necessary to get your name out there. I’m finally getting the hang of it but it’s taken several months.

Morgen: Isn’t it. What are you working on at the moment / next?

Caron: Currently I am putting the finishing touches on Silver Demon, which picks right up where Silver Knight left off.

Morgen: Do you manage to write every day? Do you ever suffer from writer’s block?

Caron: Yes, in some form or fashion, I write every day and occasionally have a block. I just call my brother and bounce some ideas around and that usually clears it all up. Then I’m off and running again.

Morgen: A useful brother. Do you do a lot of editing or do you find that as time goes on your writing is more fully-formed?

Caron: I do a ton of editing. I don’t think my writing will ever be so “fully-formed” that it doesn’t need editing. Some of my most creative moments come during the editing process believe it or not and then I have to re-edit!

Morgen: I think even the top authors aren’t fully-formed. Having input from someone else isn’t just about punctuation and grammar. My editor comes up with some wonderful suggestions. Do you have to do much research?

Caron: Yes, but fortunately I really love history. My story involves different time periods and I like to pull in famous names or incidents and put my own spin on them. One fan called them “twistories”.

Morgen: I love that. Patent / copyright it quickly! Is there a word, phrase or quote you like?

Caron: Fear is the gun for which your mind provides the bullets.

Morgen: What do you do when you’re not writing? Any hobbies or party tricks?

Caron: Well, of course, I love to read! But I also cook, crochet, and garden. Sorry, no party tricks.

Morgen: That’s OK. Raising 2 kids, 2 cats, 4 dogs, 6 guineas, and a father is no mean feat. Where can we find out about you and your work?

Caron: Website (www.caronrider.com), Blog: (www.caronrider.blogspot.com), Facebook, Twitter: Caron_Rider and Amazon.

Morgen: Thank you, Caron. All the best with book two.

In the 1990s Caron Rider began teaching adults to use computer software, hardware, and networking. After several years, her clients became younger and younger until she found herself tutoring high school dropouts to pass the GED. She found working with at-risk teenagers so rewarding that she changed her undergraduate major to Education. Upon graduating from the University of South Alabama with a B.S., she began teaching high school history and continues to teach history classes online. She currently lives in rural Missouri with her two kids, two dogs, two cats, and father.

If you are reading this and you write, in whatever genre, and are thinking “ooh, I’d like to do this” then you can… just email me and I’ll send you the questions. You complete them, I tweak them where appropriate (if necessary to reflect the blog ‘clean and light’ rating) and then they get posted. When that’s done, I email you with the link so you can share it with your corner of the literary world. And if you have a writing-related blog / podcast and would like to interview me… let me know.

You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything… and follow me on Twitter where each new posting is automatically announced. You can also read / download my eBooks and free eShorts at Smashwords, Sony Reader Store, Barnes & Noble, iTunes Bookstore, Kobo and Amazon, with more to follow. I have a new forum and you can follow me on Twitter, friend me on Facebook, like me on Facebook, connect with me on LinkedIn, find me on Tumblr, complete my website’s Contact me page or plain and simple, email me.  I also now have a new blog creation service especially for, but not limited to, writers.

Unfortunately, as I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t review books but I have a feature called ‘Short Story Saturdays’ where I review stories of up to 2,500 words. Alternatively if you have a short story or self-contained novel extract / short chapter (ideally up to 1000 words) that you’d like critiqued and don’t mind me reading it / talking about and critiquing it (I send you the transcription afterwards so you can use the comments or ignore them)  on my ‘Bailey’s Writing Tips’ podcast, then do email me. They are weekly episodes, usually released Monday mornings UK time, interweaving the recordings between the red pen sessions with the hints & tips episodes. I am now also looking for flash fiction (<1000 words) for Flash Fiction Fridays and poetry for Post-weekend Poetry.

 

Story A Day May 2012: May 14th – Don’t Talk to the Food

Late April 2011 I discovered http://StoryADay.org and the project that is to write 31 stories in 31 days. Anyone who knows me or follows this blog, knows how passionate I am about short stories so my clichéd eyes lit up at this new marvel. And just a few days later there I was, breathing life into new characters. This went on to become (with some editing of course) my 31-story collection eBook Story A Day May 2011.

And here we are a year later doing it all over again. Today’s prompt was a fish out of water; write a story about a human on another planet or alien on ours. I dictated the first part of this on the morning’s dog walk (usually when I write these pieces) but then had a busy day so typed it up / finished it off just before midnight (and posted not long before the next morning’s interview) so here is my 622-worder.

Don’t Talk to the Food

It was at times like this that he wished he wasn’t human, that he didn’t look odd, different to everyone else.

He knew they could change their shape, their form, be different colours, but he was just one: pink, and sometimes it got boring.

He was still trying to work why he was there, what his purpose was. There must be a purpose. He’d watched the movies; the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy where there was someone like him, on a strange planet, and Mork & Mindy, and The Wizard of Oz, although Mork & Mindy was different, it was someone who looked human, on earth and this most definitely wasn’t earth.

He’d moved a few times; from Cornwall to London, then London to Hull, Hull to Birmingham then Birmingham to Dorset. He knew all about cultures, each place was different. He only had to move a few miles and it felt odd. It would take a while to settle in, for the roads to become familiar.

What he wouldn’t give for a road right now, instead of the tram-like cars flying above his head. Everything vertical.

This must be a tiny planet, he’d decided, he could see from one side to the other. There was little space to build around but boy did they use every inch.

There were arguments, accidents, that part of this bizarre world was like earth. He was beginning to realise that regardless of the outside, the inside was pretty much the same. All feeling, arguing. Couldn’t understand a word, of course.

The thing that struck him as most odd was that no-one was taking any notice of him. There were lots of different creatures but they were all weird – they couldn’t possibly think him weird, and therefore normal, could they?

He’d not been there long. He wasn’t sure how long was, how the time went. It seemed to go the same sort of speed, it felt the same.

There was no sun, just a huge spotlight, made everything warm, not unpleasantly warm like underneath a takeaway heat lamp but on a beach on a pleasant day – not quite so hot that you need high factor sun cream but that if you stay out in it too long you might burn. He’d always been a bit of a fair skin.

He was trying to remember what had lead him here, but he could only remember from when he woke up. It felt like the alien from Terminator 1, Arnold Schwarzenegger as it turned out, only unlike Arnie he had arrived clothed. He wasn’t sure what he would have done if he’d turned up naked – he wasn’t sure if they’d take any notice of him then either.

He decided there was only one thing to do; to attract someone’s attention. The adults looked intent on wherever they were headed but little ones were more curious, looking around.

So he decided to try to speak to one of them. They walked in grooves, a few feet apart, never colliding with anyone on the same level so he stepped out, between an adult and child, and the child stopped.

It looked fearful at him then on to its parent. The adult hadn’t noticed it lagging behind.

“Hello,” he’d said.

The ‘child’ had replied, scared, but not in words that had made sense to him.

Finally the adult had noticed and come back, angry. The parent and child argued, the man unable to follow, until the adult had turned to him and spoken. Again he couldn’t understand.

It put out an arm and touched his forehead with a flat palm. It opened its mouth again and this time he did understand. “Be on your way, we don’t talk to the food.”

You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything… and follow me on Twitter where each new posting is automatically announced. You can also read / download my eBooks and free eShorts at Smashwords, Sony Reader Store, Barnes & Noble, iTunes Bookstore, Kobo and Amazon, with more to follow. I have a new forum and you can follow me on Twitter, friend me on Facebook, like me on Facebook, connect with me on LinkedIn, find me on Tumblr, complete my website’s Contact me page or plain and simple, email me.  I also now have a new blog creation service especially for, but not limited to, writers.

Unfortunately, as I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t review books but I have a feature called ‘Short Story Saturdays’ where I review stories of up to 2,500 words. Alternatively if you have a short story or self-contained novel extract / short chapter (ideally up to 1000 words) that you’d like critiqued and don’t mind me reading it / talking about and critiquing it (I send you the transcription afterwards so you can use the comments or ignore them)  on my ‘Bailey’s Writing Tips’ podcast, then do email me. They are weekly episodes, usually released Monday mornings UK time, interweaving the recordings between the red pen sessions with the hints & tips episodes. I am now also looking for flash fiction (<1000 words) for Flash Fiction Fridays and poetry for Post-weekend Poetry.

 

Author interview no.355 with writer Bobby Nash

Welcome to the three hundred and fifty-fifth of my blog interviews with novelists, poets, short story authors, biographers, agents, publishers and more. Today’s is with multi-genre author Bobby Nash. A list of interviewees (blogged and scheduled) can be found here. If you like what you read, please do go and investigate further.

Morgen: Hello, Bobby. Please tell us something about yourself, where you’re based, and how you came to be a writer.

Bobby: Thanks, Morgen. My name is Bobby Nash. I’m based out of Bethlehem, Georgia in the United States. And yes, an oh little town it is. I started out with the grand dream of being a comic book artist. To that end I started writing stories for myself to draw. Eventually, others started asking for scripts. Then one day I got the urge to write a novel. Then another. The rest, as they say, is history.

Morgen: I’m the same with NaNoWriMos; once you do one, you get hooked. What genre do you generally write and have you considered other genres?

Bobby: I write in many different genres. My novels tend to be suspense thrillers, but I have written others. I have a sci fi novel slated for release in April or May called Earthstrike Agenda. My shorter prose work and comic book work runs the gamut from sci fi, to mystery, to super hero, to western, to fantasy, and so on. Certain genres play to my strengths, but I’m open to pretty much any genre as long as I have a good story to tell.

Morgen: Me too. I can’t stick one… ‘dark and light’ is a good a description as I can give them. What have you had published to-date? Do you write under a pseudonym?

Bobby: It’s quite a list, but here you go. My published work includes:

Novels: Evil Ways [out of print for the moment, but returning in 2012 from New Babel Books], Fantastix [out of print], and Deadly Games! [BEN Books].

Short stories, novellas, anthologies: Lance Star: Sky Ranger Vol. 1, Vol. 2, and Vol. 3 [Airship 27/Cornerstone Books], Startling Stories Magazine [Wild Cat Books], Sentinels Widescreen Special Edition [White Rocket Books], Full Throttle Space Tales Vol. 2: Space Sirens [Flying Pen Press], Sentinels: Alternate Visions [White Rocket Books], Domino Lady: Sex As A Weapon [Moonstone Books], Real Magicalism [Daemon Press], A Fistful of Legends [Express Westerns], The Green Hornet Casefiles [Moonstone Books], Lance Star: Sky Ranger – “Where The Sea Meets The Sky” [iPulp], Ravenwood: Stepson of Mystery [Airship 27/Cornerstone Books], Pro Se Presents: Peculiar Adventures #3 [Pro Se Press], Golden Age Good Girls [Mini Komix], Domino Lady: “Target – Domino Lady” [iPulp], and Blackthorn: Thunder of Mars [White Rocket Books].

Comic books and graphic novels: Life In The Faster Lane, Fuzzy Bunnies From Hell [FYI Comics], Bubba The Redneck Werewolf [Brass Ball Comics], Demonslayer [Avatar Press], Threshold [Avatar Press], Doc Dresden: The Immortal [Odyssey Comics], Jungle Fantasy [Avatar Press], The Garden [Planetary Stories], Fantastix [FYI Comics], Yin Yang [Arcana Comics], Lance Star: Sky Ranger [BEN Books], Urbnpop #1 [Urbnpop Comics], I Am Googol: The Great Invasion [Point G Comics], Domino Lady vs. The Mummy [Moonstone Books], and Airship 27 Presents All-Star Pulp Comics #1 [Airship 27/Red Bud Studios].

And there’s more to come.

I’ve not written under a pseudonym, but I did come up with a couple of good ones that I liked in case I ever decide to use one.

Morgen: Good grief, you could make a book out of your book titles. Have you had any rejections? If so, how do you deal with them?

Bobby: Oh, of course. Rejections are part of the job and I get more of them than I’d like. You have to have a thick skin and not take the rejections personally, which is far easier to say than do. Rejections sting. You just have to set the rejections aside and keep moving forward.

Morgen: You do. Just the right thing for the wrong person. Have you won or been shortlisted in any competitions?

Bobby: I’ve had a few nominations for the Pulp Ark Awards and the Pulp Factory Awards. I’ve not won, but it is nice to get nominated.

Morgen: Other than blogger awards (I’ve won three ) I’ve not been Do you have an agent? Do you think they’re vital to an author’s success?

Bobby: I do not have an agent. I have been looking for one, but the agent search has been a very demoralizing process so far. I will need one eventually as I would like to work with some of the larger publishing houses and the only way to make that happen is to have an agent.

Morgen: I’d say it is really, yes but you just have to keep plugging away. Are your books available as eBooks? Were you involved in that process at all? Do you read eBooks or is it paper all the way?

Bobby: Many of the books I’ve worked on are ebooks. Some are not, although I hope they will be eventually. With most publishers I have no say in how the print or ebook editions are put together. Deadly Games! was an exception. I set that one up myself.

Morgen: I’m sure they all will as it’s where books are going. How much of the marketing do you do for your published works or indeed for yourself as a ‘brand’?

Bobby: I do a little bit of marketing work daily. The sad fact is that you’re only going to get so much of a marketing push from publishers. That’s just a fact of life. So I make sure I’m out there talking up my books. I learned early on that no one was going to promote my work more than me so I’d best learn how to promote my work if I wanted to let readers know it’s out there.

Morgen: All but one of the authors I’ve spoken to do their own marketing (and the other author does really via social networking) but the advantage is that we get to speak to our readers. Do you have a favourite of your books or characters? If any of your books were made into films, who would you have as the leading actor/s?

Bobby: Not sure if I have a favorite. Each book has a special place in my heart. It’s like choosing between your children. The one that is my favorite today might not be tomorrow.

I’ve not really given a lot of thought to who would play any of the characters in my books, but I’m sure if a production company wanted to make a movie out of one of my titles I could come up with a short list.

Morgen: Did you have any say in the titles / covers of your books? How important do you think they are?

Bobby: Sometimes yes. Sometimes no. It depends on the publisher and whether or not I take the project to the publisher or whether I come on to do work for hire. Mostly not as I do a lot of work for existing books so I’m hired top write a story only.

Titles are important. I think I’ve come up with some good ones so far.

Morgen: So do I. What are you working on at the moment / next?

Bobby: At the moment I am putting the finishing touches on a graphic novel script I’m co-writing with Mike Gordon for New Legend Productions. Not much I can reveal about that one at the moment. I also just started working on a novel featuring the pulp character Domino Lady for Moonstone Books. After that I have a couple of novellas due for a few different publishers then it’s back to work on Evil Intent, the sequel to my soon to be re-released novel, Evil Ways from New babel Books. 2012 is going to be a busy year.

Morgen: Aren’t they all? Do you manage to write every day? Do you ever suffer from writer’s block?

Bobby: I write almost every day. There are some days where things happen and I just can’t get any work done. Like everything else, writing takes discipline. Since this is my job, I make sure to treat it as such so I don’t miss deadlines.

I don’t believe in Writer’s Block. As a writer friend of mine often says, and I quote, “Do plumbers get Plumber’s Block?” Sometimes the words don’t flow as well as others, certainly. When that happens I switch over to another project so I have a fresh perspective. Or I take a walk, do the laundry, or just get away from the computer for a bit. When I come back I’m relaxed and ready to go back to work.

Morgen: I interviewed crime writer Mark Billingham back in November and he said exactly the same thing (writer’s vs plumber’s block) and I agree. There are ways to get around getting stuck and as you say if you treat it as a day job your brain is likely to keep up. I should actually be saying that writer’s block is terrible (which it is if you do get stuck) and that I have a writer’s block workbook for sale but like anything if you don’t take something too seriously it doesn’t become an issue. Do you plot your stories or do you just get an idea and run with it?

Bobby: A little of both. I always have a loose idea when I start. With shorter pieces that’s usually enough to carry me through the storytelling process. With novels I have the major beats I need to hit plotted out and then I follow the characters and see which path they take to get from point A to point B. What I don’t do is outline. I’ve tried and it just doesn’t work for me. When I go back to start writing a story I’ve outlined I lose interest quickly because I feel like I’ve already told that story and don’t want to write it again.

Morgen: I don’t plot much although I’m just going back through my novels and am wondering whether I should put more down so I keep track of the threads but we’ll see. Do you have a method for creating your characters, their names and what do you think makes them believable?

Bobby: I don’t have a specific form I fill out or anything, but I try to get to know the characters I create the same way I would anyone I meet. I listen to them deal with situations and learn their quirks, habits, and expressions. If I truly get to know my characters then I can drop three characters into similar situations and each one will react to it differently, including coming up with a different resolution.

Morgen: We were talking about this in Helen Hunt’s workshop on Saturday; that some of us get images of what we think our characters look like (either from magazines or Google Images… other websites are available ). Do you write any non-fiction, poetry or short stories?

Bobby: I don’t write non-fiction or poetry. I do write the occasional short story for anthologies. I write for several anthologies. Pulp, action, sci fi, westerns, and more. Anthologies are a fun way to scratch certain creative itches. It’s nice to take risks by writing in unfamiliar territory. Anthologies help me do that.

Morgen: I’ve just had a story placed in a (charity) anthology and would love to have more out there. I reviewed some Sexy Shorts anthologies for my Short Story Saturdays page a couple of days ago and I’d love to have been in the other authors’ company. I guess it would help to send stories out, wouldn’t it? Do you do a lot of editing or do you find that as time goes on your writing is more fully-formed?

Bobby: I’d like to think that every word I type is pure gold, but the truth is that I need editing just like everyone else. I do a lot of my own editing during the writing process, but I’ve also worked with some really talented editors as well.

Morgen: Mine is great. Hi, Rachel. Do you have to do much research?

Bobby: I do a lot of research. How much or how little depends on the project. Google is my friend.

Morgen: Google has a lot of friends. What point of view do you find most to your liking: first person or third person? Have you ever tried second person?

Bobby: I generally write my stories in third person, although different chapters may focus on a singular character’s point of view. I’ve written a few first person narratives when required, but it’s not my preferred method. I’ve not attempted second person. Not even sure how I’d begin.

Morgen: I write loads of it and am so passionate about it that I gave it its own blog page. Do you have pieces of work that you think will never see light of day?

Bobby: Probably. I’ve got a lot of started and abandoned pieces. Some may never be finished.

Morgen: I have loads of those but I’m hoping it’s only a time thing and that I will get round to going through them all. What’s your favourite / least favourite aspect of your writing life? Has anything surprised you?

Bobby: I love telling stories. I love getting positive feedback from readers and publishers. I’m not crazy about submitting or the hoops that seem to be involved with finding an agent. That’s not fun. As for surprises, I’m always surprised whenever someone recognizes me or my work.

Morgen: I had a lady at a party know my name (and loved my blog / podcast apparently)… told to / by one of my Flash Fiction Fridays podcast contributors. It still gives me a warm glowy feeling. What advice would you give aspiring writers?

Bobby: If you want to write, write. If you want to write as a career, then remember that it is a job and treat it accordingly. Sometimes that means sitting at home all weekend when you’d rather be out doing anything else. Sometimes it means sleepless nights, but the payoff is worth it. Ask yourself what success is for you and shoot for that as your goal.

Morgen: I sit at home all weekend (and weekdays) not wishing I’d rather be elsewhere but certainly that I did more writing. It’s worth it though because I get to meet some great authors. If you could invite three people from any era to dinner, who would you choose and what would you cook (or hide the takeaway containers)?

Bobby: Wow. Good question.

Morgen: Oh, thanks, it’s one of the most recent.

Bobby: First, Stephen J. Cannell because I never got to meet him in person, although we did converse via email a couple of times. Second, Tom Baker, who was the Doctor Who I grew up with and it would be incredibly cool to meet him. Third, Stan Lee, who was partly responsible for the comics I read as a child that inspired me to start telling my own stories. As for the meal, I’d let them pick the place.

Morgen: I’ve only heard of Tom and he was my Doctor Who too – I had a scarf (probably knitted by my mum) just like his. Is there a word, phrase or quote you like?

Bobby: I say “cool” a lot. Usually, when I get a question like this I pull out a movie quote. Here’s one I use often from my favorite movie, JAWS. “Smile you sonuva–BOOM!” Dr. McCoy quotes from Star Trek are usually good too. Bones had the best lines.

Morgen: I didn’t watch much Star Trek (actually I think I did, I grew up with an older brother after all) but none of it has stuck, other than “beam me up Scottie” of course. Are you involved in anything else writing-related other than actual writing or marketing of your writing?

Bobby: I’ve dabbled with editing. I co-write a weekly column for New Pulp (www.newpulpfiction.com) with fellow writers Barry Reese and Mike Bullock called Table Talk. I am one of the co-hosts of the weekly Earth Station One podcast (www.esopodcast.com) along with Mike Faber and Mike Gordon. I also write blog entries about writing at my website (www.bobbynash.com) as well as on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, etc…

Morgen: What do you do when you’re not writing?

Bobby: Not writing? That’s usually eating, sleeping, or watching TV. It’s a very simple life I lead, no? I do the normal things that people do. I go to the grocery store, hang out with friends, catch a movie here and there, go out to meals, read, do yard work, spend time with my family, things like that.

Morgen: I’d agree with the first bit. If I’m not writing (or rather involved with this blog) I’m eating (actually I do that at the same time), sleeping (ditto ) and the occasional movie, either at home or the cinema. Are there any writing-related websites and / or books that you find useful?

Bobby: I don’t spend a lot of time reading how to sites or books. Not because I don’t think they’re a great resource, but because I’m usually too busy writing to read about the process of writing. One resource that I do use often is Preditors & Editors (http://pred-ed.com).

Morgen: Ah yes, I’ve recommended that on several occasions. Are you on any forums or networking sites? If so, how valuable do you find them?

Bobby: Absolutely. I am on many forums and social networking sites. Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Linked-In, several writers forums, marketing forums, book forums, published author forums, comic book creator forums, and on and on. I even started a Pinterest page recently although I haven’t quite got the hang of that one yet. I have a list on my website, www.bobbynash.com.

Social networks and forums are great ways to connect with fans, readers, peers, publishers, friends, and potential customers. I find them very helpful and quite fun to use.

Morgen: I’d only just heard of Pinterest really recently and still have no clue. Fortunately multi-genre author and interviewee Phyllis Zimbler Miller is going to do a guest piece for me (and everyone else of course) on the topic on Tuesday 5th June so hopefully I can get suitably excited then. What do you think the future holds for a writer?

Bobby: I think the future is bright. The publishing industry, like so many others, is currently in a state of flux. I look forward to seeing how the publishing industry evolves and I hope I get to come along for the ride.

Morgen: Where can we find out about you and your work?

Bobby: My main website is www.bobbynash.com and there are links to my work all over the site. Plus, I’m all over the internet. Just Google Bobby Nash and you’ll find me.

Morgen: Is there anything else you’d like to mention?

Bobby: I’d like to thank you for the opportunity to appear on your site. Thanks.

Morgen: You’re very welcome. Thank you for taking part. Is there anything you’d like to ask me?

Bobby: With all of the interviews you do for the website, what are some of the more surprising responses you’ve received?

Morgen: One that comes to mind is crime novelist Sheila Quigley who said that it had taken her 30 years to get published. I have 23 to go. But seriously, that’s some staying power. Thank you, Bobby, lovely to speak to you.

I then invited Bobby to include an extract of his writing and this is an excerpt from his latest novel, Deadly Games! from BEN Books (http://BEN-Books.blogspot.com has more information).

The Rusty Mug Pub was widely known as a favored hangout for the city of Atlanta’s Law Enforcement Professionals. 

Simply put, The Mug, as it was affectionately called, was a cop bar.

From the outside, the Rusty Mug Pub looked like a relic from a bygone era where everything had a rustic, old home feel.  The wrought iron grating running along the outer edges of the concrete tiled sidewalk was older than most of the bar’s patrons.  The walls were made up of deftly placed red bricks made from red Georgia clay.  The bricks had probably been manufactured not far away from the very spot many, many years earlier.  Who knows, perhaps maybe even before Sherman’s famous fire sale all those many decades past.  The place looked like it should have been on a historic tour line instead of serving as a local dive. 

It was the kind or place Norman Rockwell would have painted in his day.

And thanks to the clientele, it was a place where everyone truly knew your name and one place no one would ever dare think of robbing.

The Mug was a beautiful place on the outside and the patrons loved it, but the inside told the true tale.  On an average night thick smoke would fill the air and the smell of alcohol and cheap cologne would mingle with the smoke from at least a dozen cigars, forming a fragrance unique to the Rusty Mug.

From his secret lair in the wilds of Bethlehem, Georgia, Bobby Nash writes. A multitasker, Bobby’s certain that he does not suffer from ADD, but instead he… ooh, shiny. When he finally manages to put fingers to the keyboard, Bobby writes novels, comic books, short prose, novellas, graphic novels, and even a little pulp fiction just for good measure. And despite what his brother says, Bobby isn’t addicted to buying DVDs and can quit anytime he wants.

When not writing fiction, Bobby attends conventions and writers conferences, promotes his books, teaches writing courses and panels, and is a part-time extra in movies and television. Bobby is the co-host of the weekly Earth Station One podcast (www.esopodcast.com) and writes for New Pulp (www.newpulpfiction.com) and All Pulp (http://allpulp.blogspot.com) news sites.

For more information on Bobby Nash please visit him at www.bobbynash.com, www.facebook.com/bobbyenash, www.twitter.com/bobbynash, www.lance-star.com, and http://BEN-Books.blogspot.com among other places across the web.

If you are reading this and you write, in whatever genre, and are thinking “ooh, I’d like to do this” then you can… just email me and I’ll send you the questions. You complete them, I tweak them where appropriate (if necessary to reflect the blog ‘clean and light’ rating) and then they get posted. When that’s done, I email you with the link so you can share it with your corner of the literary world. And if you have a writing-related blog / podcast and would like to interview me… let me know. You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything… and follow me on Twitter where each new posting is automatically announced. You can also read / download my eBooks and free eShorts at Smashwords, Sony Reader Store, Barnes & Noble, iTunes Bookstore, Kobo and Amazon, with more to follow. I have a new forum and you can follow me on Twitter, friend me on Facebook, like me on Facebook, connect with me on LinkedIn, find me on Tumblr, complete my website’s Contact me page or plain and simple, email me.

Unfortunately, as I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t review books but I have a feature called ‘Short Story Saturdays’ where I review stories of up to 2,500 words. Alternatively if you have a short story or self-contained novel extract / short chapter (ideally up to 1000 words) that you’d like critiqued and don’t mind me reading it / talking about and critiquing it (I send you the transcription afterwards so you can use the comments or ignore them) on my ‘Bailey’s Writing Tips’ podcast, then do email me. They are weekly episodes, usually released Monday mornings UK time, interweaving the recordings between the red pen sessions with the hints & tips episodes. I am now also looking for flash fiction (<1000 words) for Flash Fiction Fridays and poetry for Post-weekend Poetry.

 

Author interview no.329 with sci-fi fantasy writer Rachel Cooper

Welcome to the three hundred and twenty-ninth of my blog interviews with novelists, poets, short story authors, biographers, agents, publishers and more. Today’s is with fantasy and science-fiction author Rachel Cooper. A list of interviewees (blogged and scheduled) can be found here. If you like what you read, please do go and investigate further.

Morgen: Hello, Rachel. Please tell us something about yourself, and how you came to be a writer.

Rachel: Hi there, I’m a compulsive dreamer in sunny Australia. I have always been a big reader and because of this I’ve always had the compulsion to write stories of my own.

Morgen: I used to read a lot in my teens (Stephen King mostly) and other than limericks for colleagues in my 20s, it never occurred to me to write until I went to evening classes in my 30s (definitive light bulb moment). I was clearly missing out all those year. What genre do you generally write, Rachel?

Rachel: Fantasy and science fiction because that is what I prefer to read. I sit down to write something else and it always turns out having elements of fantasy.

Morgen: They’re both very popular. What have you had published to-date?

Rachel: My self-published début novella, called ‘We Of The Universe,’ has just been published on Amazon and Smashwords.

Morgen: How exciting.  Have you had any rejections? If so, how do you deal with rejection?

Rachel: I’ve had a few for short stories I’ve sent out to magazines that have received form rejections. Rejection is hard for me, because I immediately take it back onto myself. Fear of failure is something that I have been trying to get a grip on for a while. I’m trying to get myself in the mind frame that everyone has their own opinions and my work is not going to appeal to every body. It should be interesting getting my first negative review.

Morgen: I’ve had a couple of those on Goodreads recently (1* because they couldn’t go any lower), one of which said that my story (Feeding The Father) had put her off reading me for life. Initially I was disappointed but then I found it quite amusing that someone would feel so strongly. Sadly it dragged down the average of a 4* review but hey, at least I’m being read (although not by that lady anymore ). But yes, it’s just one person’s opinions and that’s what I say in my Short Story Saturday reviews and my podcast red pen episodes. Are your books available as eBooks? Were you involved in that process at all? Do you read eBooks or is it paper all the way?

Rachel: My work is only available in ebook format. I read both paper and electronic versions of work. I have trouble letting go of paper books because I grew up with them. I am not however too stagnated in my ways to appreciate what a good invention ereaders are.

Morgen: Aren’t they great. I’ve only had a Kindle since January but I love the fact that I can’t damage the spines of eBooks. And of course having 400+ books with me at any one time. How much of the marketing do you do for your published works or indeed for yourself as a ‘brand’?

Rachel: I am still learning a lot about marketing and branding. I am not going to be doing too much of either until I get some more work up and I’ve got some solid reviews. Building a brand without work to back it up seems a waste to me.

Morgen: I’m exactly the same. I’ve not touted myself (other than the blog itself) as my novels aren’t online yet. That’s the master plan for the next few weeks. If any of your books were made into films, who would you have as the leading actor/s?

Rachel: Hmmmmm, for the three main viewpoint characters it would be:

Captain Haslow – George Clooney

Marta – Emily Blunt

Legeve – Yvonne Strahovski

Morgen: I don’t know Yvonne but good old Wikipedia told me she was in the TV series ‘Chuck’ so that would explain it. And the title / cover of your book? How important do you think they are?

Rachel: I created my cover on my own. I think they are very important. I myself choose or ignore a book by the cover on the front. Titles aren’t that important. The only thing I want from a title is it’s not boring or generic.

Morgen: I love titles but I don’t not buy because of them – I even bought James Patterson’s ‘The Quickie’ (which I think is a terrible title) not read it yet though but having it co-written by Michael Letwidge helped (he co-wrote ‘Step on a Crack’ which I thought was brilliant). What are you working on at the next?

Rachel: The next book in the ‘We of The Universe,” trilogy. Also a dark, gothic novel and a fantasy work.

Morgen: Do you manage to write every day? Do you ever suffer from writer’s block?

Rachel: I’m currently studying to be a teacher and I have a six-month old, so I’m not getting done as much writing I would like. Unless essays count. I’ve found writer’s block exists for a reason. If I try to be too analytical about a story, instead of letting the story just happen is when writing block happens to me.

Morgen: Fantasy’s often have very elaborate plots, do you plot your stories or do you just get an idea and run with it?

Rachel: I start with a story seed from creative visualization and then I write from there, using picture or quote prompts if I get stuck.

Morgen: What point of view do you find most to your liking?

Rachel: I prefer third person to read and write with. First person is difficult but I have read some books where the author has done it well. Hats off to them.

Morgen: If you could invite three people from any era to dinner, who would you choose and what would you cook (or hide the takeaway containers)?

Rachel: Cleopatra, to see what the appeal was. Was she beautiful or did she just have a beautiful mind?

Herodotus because he’d be so interesting to talk to. I’ve read ‘The Histories.’ and they are just so entertaining. Not really fact driven history but he sure knew how to tell a good tale.

My Great Grandma Hilda because she led such an interesting yet sad life. I’m a bit of a family history buff and she is the person who has captured my imagination the most. She had four husbands, one of whom was a bigamist. All of her husbands were at least forty years older than her.

I would cook roast duck, with date stuffing, with gravy. I think that would appeal to all three and if not I’ll just eat it all.

Morgen: Wow, your Great Grandma Hilda sounds fascinating – definitely a story there. Cleopatra has been one of the most popular choices – I bet she’d be thrilled. Is there a word, phrase or quote you like?

Rachel: Que Sera Sera, Whatever will be will be, the futures not ours to see, Que Sera Sera.

Morgen: Ah yes, Doris Day. Are there any writing-related websites or books that you find useful?

Rachel: The Artist Way by Julia Cameron is a great book for those who wish to get more in touch with your creative side. Chuck Wendig at Terribleminds is great for writers who want to be told how it is, with the cussing and swearing included. Mur Lafferty at I Should Be Writing is also a great motivational resource.

Morgen: I Should Be Writing was one of the first podcasts I listened to and definitely an influence on starting my own. What do you think the future holds for a writer?

Rachel: I want to one day be able to write as a job but until then to have people read and enjoy my work… priceless.

Morgen: And even better when they get in touch. Where can we find out about you and your work?

Rachel: I don’t have a website as yet. It’s something I’m working on.

Morgen: I’d highly recommend a blog with WordPress. I have a website as well but just leave it as a static page with contact form as the software with this blog is SO much easier, and it’s free. Thank you, Rachel.

I then invited Rachel to include an extract of her / his writing…

“Weavers are dropping like flies,” the captain said to the ship girl, “so either they’re all weak girls, which is always a possibility, or I’ve found yet another probe.”

The ship girl sat in a metal chair, a plotted hologram of space spiralling around her head. Every now and then its position changed, as the ship girl looked at it from a different angle. “Another probe,” she said simply, “locating its position.”

You never got much good conversation out of ship girls. Their minds were too busy working along the lines of the ship — maintaining shields, life support systems, relaying instructions to the personnel. The implant they received at the start of their traineeships took away most of the communication part of their brain.  Talking to them was rather like talking to the now defunct ship’s computers of old, and the captain often had to remind himself that he was speaking to a human.

If you are reading this and you write, in whatever genre, and are thinking “ooh, I’d like to do this” then you can… just email me and I’ll send you the questions. You complete them, I tweak them where appropriate (if necessary to reflect the blog ‘clean and light’ rating) and then they get posted. When that’s done, I email you with the link so you can share it with your corner of the literary world. And if you have a writing-related blog / podcast and would like to interview me… let me know. You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything… and follow me on Twitter where each new posting is automatically announced. You can also read / download my eBooks and free eShorts at Smashwords, Sony Reader Store, Barnes & Noble, iTunes Bookstore and Kobo. My eBooks are now on Amazon, with more to follow, and I also have a quirky second-person viewpoint story in charity anthology Telling Tales.

I have a new forum at http://morgenbailey.freeforums.org and you can friend me on Facebook, like me on Facebook, link with me on LinkedIn, find me on Tumblr, complete my website’s ‘Contact me‘ page or plain and simple, email me.

Unfortunately, as I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t review books but I have a feature called ‘Short Story Saturdays’ where I review stories of up to 2,500 words. Alternatively if you have a short story or self-contained novel extract / short chapter (ideally up to 1000 words) that you’d like critiqued and don’t mind me reading it / talking about and critiquing it (I send you the transcription afterwards so you can use the comments or ignore them) on my ‘Bailey’s Writing Tips’ podcast, then do email me. They are weekly episodes, usually released Monday mornings UK time, interweaving the recordings between the red pen sessions with the hints & tips episodes. I am now also looking for flash fiction (<1000 words) for Flash Fiction Fridays and poetry for Post-weekend Poetry.

 

Blog interview no.290 with sci-fi satire novelist and screenwriter Joe Velikovsky

Welcome to the two hundred and ninetieth of my blog interviews with novelists, poets, short story authors, biographers, agents, publishers and more. Today’s is with sci-fi satire novelist, screenwriter, games designer and poet Joe Velikovsky. A list of interviewees (blogged and scheduled) can be found here. If you like what you read, please do go and investigate further. I’m known as someone who can talk for England and today I have definitely met my match so I hope you’re sitting comfortably with a very large mug (or glass) of something.

Morgen: Hello Joe. Please tell us something about yourself.

Joe: I’m currently based in Sydney, Australia… I’ve translocated myself a few times. Before this, I lived for 5 years in Melbourne – “the UNESCO City of Literature”, and before that for 5 years in Adelaide – (the city of Churches, some of which, ironically are converted into nightclubs), and before that, I was 5 years in Sydney (the City of – um, Infrastructure), and – before that, for 5 years in Newcastle, NSW (the city of Steel, also, occasionally rust), when I was studying at University there…

And before you ask – no – I’m not a communist – and, have never (consciously) had a `five-year plan’, stuff just seems to have worked out that way. Mostly due to various Game Writing & Game Design jobs appearing in places that required me to move there… Before university in Newcastle, I was a simple farm-boy from the desert planet of Mudgee, Australia. Henry Lawson (a famous Australian writer-type) wrote a poem, which my great-great grandfather is mentioned in, The Days When We Went Swimming. Gramps used to chase the young Henry and his childhood buddies with a whip, when they went swimming, in gramps’s drinking well. True story. I’ve also spent a few months at a time in London, Bangkok and Los Angeles… But, I’m back in Sydney now, mainly as I’m doing a Doctor of Creative Arts (in Film) at a uni in Sydney.

Oh no… Now, you’ll want me to talk about my Thesis… Okay, so I’ll try and be brief: I’m studying a certain set of feature film scripts, to find if there are any common ‘narrative patterns’ underlying them – and then, I plan to make a film like them. And – Why do that? (Uh-oh, see what happens, whenever somebody talks about their thesis?) Some years ago, when I was at the Australian Film TV and Radio School (studying Screenwriting), for a research project, I read about a hundred textbooks on ‘Screenplay Writing’ and ‘Story Structure’, and summarized them all down into a page each*.

(* The results are in a free PDF here, by the way: http://www.lulu.com/product/ebook/feature-screenwriters-workbook/15459299 and, the Summary / Literature Review itself is actually used nowadays in many universities, as a Fiction Writing teaching aid… It’s actually probably well worth a look, if you’re doing any kind of fiction writing… Also, it’s free.)

Anyway – as a result of all that reading – I got interested in Story Patterns, and that whole area of inquiry was also encouraged by Chris Vogler (The Writer’s Journey author), who was one of my teachers at film school, way back in the day. So; yeah. Anyway – I’m based in Sydney.

Morgen: Wow. A load of experience to write about. It sounds like you’d never run short of material. I have Chris Vogler’s book and although I don’t write scripts (apart from the beginning of one for Script Frenzy) it’s really useful. So, Joe, how did you become a writer?

Joe: I started writing sci-fi comedy stories, at age 8 or so… and later wrote some comedy sketches and short films, at school… Went to uni in Newcastle and did a Bachelor of Arts in Communications (screenwriting major)… While at Uni, in a 2nd year ‘Creative Writing’ class with John Hughes, I read out a satirical play I’d written (it was our weekly assignment) and, Jamie B Lewis, who was the Director of the Uni Revue at the time, was in the same class … The play got a laugh in class (an intentional one), and Jamie thought it might be a good fit for the Uni Revue… Then, the Revue went really well, and later on, Jamie also got me involved in a local Newcastle comedy-theatre company, Footlice Theatre Co… initially as a writer, and later on as an actor, director – and, whatever else (prop-maker, stage manager etc). Jamie and I later ended up working on a bunch of short comedy films together at Uni, and were also flatmates for a year… And in third year at uni, I got work writing TV comedy sketches, for a primetime TV show called THE COMEDY SALE! in Sydney… I used to commute every week from Newcastle to Sydney on the train and read books about Woody Allen, Mel Brooks, Monty Python, all those early TV sketch-comedy guys. Then after graduation, I worked for a year at the University, in the Video Department, as a Technical Officer – teaching basic video production, editing and CG (computer generated) animation skills to students. That was a fun time, as I was still working in comedy theatre as well.

Then the year after (in 1995) I was accepted into the Australian Film, TV and Radio School, and that 2 years of fulltime study led onto other work as a Game Writer, Film Writer, and sometimes, an Actor and Director here and there. While I was studying at film school, I also started worked as a Script Reader / Story Analyst, for the major film studios in Australia (i.e. Fox, Universal, PolyGram, etc).

Funny thing is, while I was at Uni, I really wanted to end up writing novels, but at the time, I ended up getting yanked over into Filmmaking and Games. Good thing too. It was loads more fun, taught me so much – and also, kinda less lonely than writing novels… I did start writing a couple of Stephen King-style novels at Uni, but I abandoned them both after Chapter 2, as I wasn’t sure what I was doing, and anyway, all the film stuff, and having girlfriends, was all keeping me too busy…

Also in 2nd year I took Horror Film Studies, I soon got fascinated with the psychology of Horror… What scares us, and why, and also – why does Horror-Comedy work so well? I was studying things Aristotle’s theory of Catharsis, and watching films like Evil Dead 2, and writing essays on the semiotics of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Tod Browning’s Freaks, and Rosemary’s Baby, etc. Good times. By the way Morgen – I really dug your short story, APRIL’S FOOL. Great horror story, deliciously dark, and a truly-satisfying end-twist. I’m a massive fan of ‘end-twist’ story writers, people like Rod Serling, Roald Dahl, Phillip K Dick, etc…

Morgen: Oh, wow, thank you. I’d not thought of April’s Fool as horror but to be compared (even in a small way) to Roald Dahl (my favourite author)… his complete short stories would be my desert island book.

Joe: Speaking of funny and dark twists, as it happens – Jamie (the guy who got me started in writing at uni) has just made (written, directed, and starred in) an amazing – and brilliant – comedy film – MIKEY’S EXTREME ROMANCE. Keep an eye out for it… easily, the funniest – and, edgiest – comedy feature film I’ve seen in years (and I watch a lot of comedy). Black-comedy genius… totally original, off-the-wall – and with loads and loads of heart. It’s `the video-diary of a stalker in love’. (Great tagline too – It’s not “stalking”, it’s “extreme romance”…)

Morgen: I always say I write dark and light and that sounds like a great mix. What genre do you generally write?

Joe: Lately, I mostly write Sci-fi satire… I’ve written a few novels in that genre, and a few feature film screenplays, that have been optioned – as well as many produced short films, and some TV.

Some of my film and game work is online, here: http://www.youtube.com/joeteevee

I also wrote a thriller-horror feature film, CAUGHT INSIDE which is coming out in North American cinemas this year (2012). It’s won a few awards…

Last year, I also wrote a Zombie-Bushranger Horror-Comedy-Action Musical Spaghetti-Western Buddy Satire stage play… There’s a Blog for it here: http://theabercrombiezombie.wordpress.com

It’s based on the true story of a very famous 1830’s Australian bushranger, who nobody knows about. Ten men were hanged in Bathurst in 1830, as a result of it. (As a result of all the bushranging, not as a result of my stage play.)

Morgen: <laughs>

Joe: But as a “Transmedia Writer” (i.e. film, games, tv, comix, novels etc), I’ve actually written in a lot of genres… In games – I’ve written sci-fi comedy, sci-fi thriller, and sci-fi horror. In film, I’ve written sci-fi, comedy, thriller, horror, mystery, and a road movie. In comics, mainly sci-fi comedy.

I really like genre-blending, and genre-bending… As Charles Darwin might say, it results in ‘hybrid vigour’.

Morgen: I like that. What have you had published to-date? Do you write under a pseudonym?

Joe: In games, I wrote LOONEY TUNES: ACME ARSENAL (2007) which sold over a million copies on Sony PlayStation2, Nintendo Wii and Xbox360… I also wrote on a few very big games over the last year, but legally I can’t actually talk about them, until they’re released (another year or two).

Morgen: Your secret is safe with me (because I don’t own a games machine, unless you call Word Drop on Facebook any kind of competition ).

Joe: In comics, I wrote Dr N Sayne, which was a mobile-phone comic strip, written under the pseudonym `Tesla & Taylor’. Deane Taylor (of Tim Burton movies-and-games fame) was the artist, I was the writer, and Tesla is my middle name (as in: Joe T Velikovsky).

As for pseudonyms, my new satirical novel, A Meaningless Sequence of Arbitrary Symbols is a ‘confessional’ tale, and also a ‘Bangsian fantasy’ (i.e. the narrator is totally dead) written by an unreliable narrator – and – that one was actually written under his name. (Oscar.)

Morgen: Ooh I love unreliable narrators. Have you had any rejections? If so, how do you deal with them?

Joe: After working for 20 years as a professional writer (mainly in Screenwriting, i.e. film, TV, and games) I think I have had about more rejections than most Gen-Z kids have had hot-downloads of pirated TV shows… I find, the best way to deal with rejections, is to draw a really-unflattering portrait of the person rejecting your stuff, and then, put it up on a dart-board inside your house. Also, maybe later, you can sell them the lousy portrait that you did of them, as long as they don’t mind all the weird little holes in it, and stuff. Also, if they ask you “Why all the little holes?” you can just say, “It’s the new thing”. And, if they reject that idea, then sheesh – maybe all they can do is reject things, and – if so, then, I ask you – Isn’t that a little ‘negative’? – I say, we should embrace things in life, not reject them. Also, whenever I get rejected, I re-read this book, and instantly feel like I’m on the right track, by being rejected.

Morgen: That’s hilarious. I especially love the Normal Mailer one. I’m not sure that publishing has caught back up. You mentioned earlier that ‘Caught Inside has “won a few awards”, could you elaborate and have you had any other successes?

Joe: Yes, my produced films and games have won loads of awards, but I always request cold hard cash, over an award… I mean – can you buy a cool new car, and impress babes-who-are-impressed-by-cool-new-cars, with an award? Award, schm-award… CAUGHT INSIDE actually won the Audience Award at the Sydney Film Festival, and a few others as well. Some games I’ve written have also won awards. I’ve had about 20 short films produced, and many of them have actually won lots of awards… A film I wrote called Retro Sheilas won over 30 awards, I think.

Morgen: Wow.

Joe: I haven’t yet entered any of my novels in any competitions. Maybe I should… I hadn’t even thought of that. So, Morgen – I’m very glad we spoke about this; thank you for bringing it up.

Morgen: You’re very welcome.

Joe: As it happens, in the past I’ve actually been a judge for the national Writers Guild, and also the Director’s Guild… So, it’s probably high time I stopped judging other people – and, started being judged… But people are always so quick to judge, and especially if they’re overseeing a Supreme Court Case. Judge Judy is the worst of them all; shameless.

Morgen: Comes with the job description. Do you have an agent? Do you think they’re vital to an author’s success?

Joe: Yes, I have an excellent agent – Rick Raftos. Rick’s one of the biggest and best agents, and he also handles people like John Marsden, the author of the Tomorrow series of novels and films, which you may have heard of. Great series.

Morgen: I had a quick peek – they have done well and probably reached England but I haven’t heard of them, sorry. Are your books available as eBooks? Do you read eBooks or is it paper all the way?

Joe: Yes – my new novel A Meaningless Sequence of Arbitrary Symbols is an eBook on Kindle, and I self-published it, as it’s too controversial for a mainstream publisher. And yes, I also read lots of eBooks… I love both paper and eBooks, even though my very good friend and best-selling author Marcus Gibson recently made a very convincing info-tainment video on “Nine Reasons Why E-Books Are Better Than Tree-Books”.

Morgen: It’s hilarious (I’ve put the link on my forum as there’s just that very discussion going on). As an owner of both formats I do love them both but there’s no doubt that electronic books are here to stay, and take over, although I don’t believe that we’ll lose paper books.

Joe: I’m like the annoying guy who loves PC and Mac equally, and likes Blogger and WordPress equally, and likes E-Books and Tree-Books equally… Most people really want you to ‘pick a side’ so you can argue about it, and I flat-out refuse. (Unless of course one side is very-obviously winning, and has way-better weapons, in which case – I’m with them, and let’s annihilate the other guys and then take all their stuff.)

Morgen: I’m with you on the eBooks vs pBooks but sorry, not on the PC vs Mac (Mac every time) and Blogger vs WordPress (WordPress – as if anyone reading this had to guess). I’ve had all four and find my two choices far less troublesome. How much of the marketing do you do for your published works or indeed for yourself as a ‘brand’?

Joe: Not as much as I should… I Blog a little (e.g.: http://on-writering.blogspot.com and http://am-so-as.blogspot.com) but I really should do more. But `Marketing Time’ eats up `Writing Time’…

Morgen: Oh, doesn’t it. I have snippets of writing time at the moment, mostly when I’m at the park with the dog. Do you have a favourite of your books or characters? If any of your books were made into films, who would you have as the leading actor/s?

Joe: I like Oscar in A Meaningless Sequence of Arbitrary Symbols. He’s 18, so I’d maybe cast a younger Ed Norton or Michael Cera. Someone who could do a goofy Gen-Z nerdy kid. But then, the producer would probably make suggestions like these: http://storynotesfromhell.com

Morgen: Wow, he wouldn’t be backwards at coming forwards would he? (I love that expression ) Did you have any say in the title / covers of your book(s)? How important do you think they are?

Joe: Yes – at first I did this amazing piece of digital artwork for it, but then I realized the spirit of the work is the `punk’ aesthetic (i.e. “three chords and the Truth in a badly-ventilated garage”) – so then I made the cover as minimalist as possible. I also made sure that the website looked like it was made in a hurry. The spirit of the novel is a satire of Holden Caulfield in The Catcher In The Rye, so he (Oscar) sort of has a serious case of the “who cares?” and I really wanted that to come through. Uber-Disaffected American Youth.

Morgen: A legend to follow. What are you working on at the moment / next?

Joe: Apart from my PhD thesis – a satirical novel, about the CIA. I bet they’re reading my emails now, and this interview too. So, if I disappear mysteriously, don’t call the CIA, they’ll just pretend they never heard of me, or, if they have – that they don’t even like my books anyway. Call the FBI instead. Or the Freemasons, or something. Those guys know everything, they’ll know where I am.

Morgen: I could offer you MI5, MI6 or Scotland Yard? You said about ‘writing time’, do you manage to write every day? Do you ever suffer from writer’s block?

Joe: Yes, I write every day, it’s a compulsion I guess. And, Morgen, I agree with your point about 300 words a day = 100K words a year… Luckily, have never suffered from Writer’s Block, possibly as in Film and Games writing, you don’t ever have the luxury of it… It’s like “Do you want capital-A ‘Art’, or, do you want it by Tuesday?” sort of thing.

Morgen: I’d only just worked out that equation (not because I’d tried) recently and it’s astounding. 300 words sounds (is) so little yet if we keep doing it we’ll have a NaNoWriMo novel in six months (or you could do what I did and write a 43,000-word one in the October then a 117,540-word one in November . Do you plot your stories or do you just get an idea and run with it?

Joe: Yes, I actually Plot them up the yin-yang – with Outlines, and Scene Breakdowns (a sentence or 2 about “what happens” in every Scene). Of course, whether I then “stick to that Scene Breakdown religiously” when I’m in the middle of ‘writing it all out, in prose and dialog’ – is another thing, as of course – once you’re “there”, in the Scene, writing it out, sometimes a Character may independently really want to take their own action off in a whole different direction than the one that seemed (and felt) “most right” during the Outline / Scene Breakdown stage…

So – yes I do start out with a very clear plan, and then I do try and execute it, and – usually – it works… If not, I find you can always fix it, in the rewrites. That may be why I’ve never had Writer’s Block… Also I have about a hundred of these Story Templates, and sometimes, I’ll choose one (depending on the Genre, and Style of the story, etc) but other times, when I’m tired of formulas, I’ll mix a few of them together to defy everyone’s expectations, including my own sometimes. After seeing (and studying) how certain Story Patterns work (from that research project, back at film school) I arrived at place where, I realized “Structure gives you the freedom to be creative”… So, I think it’s the old ‘Agency (freedom) versus Structure (rules)’ philosophical question… You need both. In screenwriting (for film and games, anyway), there are about a zillion rules (again, see my free PDF on it), and yet – within that set of very strict, formal rules – you can also have infinite combinations of things. And have any Story / Theme / Characters, that you want. Structure is just a shaping tool, like a cake mould. You still need to choose the ingredients, and whatever. Maybe also lots of nutmeg, and some banana-skins too.

My novel A Meaningless Sequence of Arbitrary Symbols is based on the Joe Campbell / Chris Vogler ‘Hero’s Journey’ template, but it’s also a satire of that Story Form – so it intentionally subverts the form, as well. And it’s also a mash-up of 3 other myths, which is a device I wanted to try – as these crazy days – as Paul Schrader (the guy who wrote the movies Taxi Driver and Mishima) wrote recently, most readers / audiences / people are in a state of ‘narrative exhaustion’ (possibly also due to ‘ubiquitous and omnipresent media’ – on games, and iPods and smartphones*), and – the ‘mash-up’ is in vogue – for example, sampling in pop music, and in satirical literature like Pride & Prejudice & Zombies, and Android Karenina, Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter, etc. (* See Paul Schrader article here)

Morgen: My favourite aspect of writing is when the characters take over but nutmeg and banana (skins)… mmm, yum. Do you have a method for creating your characters, their names and what do you think makes them believable?

Joe: For choosing names, I kinda just cheat – and use websites, that show you the meaning and origin of names… (Such as http://www.meaning-of-names.com/names/a-names-1.asp) – And you Morgen? (I did see the Tip for this, in your ‘365 Days Workbook’… which, also strikes me as a great idea.)

Morgen: <blushes> thank you

Joe: And, in general, I think ‘Believability’ comes from ‘nailing’ something specific in your “3 dimensions of Character” (i.e. Physical, Psychological, Social, and Cultural) as early as possible, then as long as the character stays `consistent’ in their thoughts, behaviour and dialog, and doesn’t break the old rule “A Martian wouldn’t say that”.

And yes, I know that’s 4 dimensions, and not 3, but that’s because “three-dimensional characters” is a misnomer, and by golly, I say everyone needs to stop calling it that… People should say four-dimensional characters: “These characters in this novel aren’t believable, I just don’t feel they’re four-dimensional”. I think we all tend to forget that we live in a 3-dimensional Universe, but also, Time is the 4th dimension, and that’s why, the Earth and sun traces out a DNA-spiral, as it moves through Time. If this makes no sense, then watch this 5-minute clip by this utterly-crazy guy… He’s crazy, but – he’s actually got a valid point, in this instance. (And besides, sanity’s overrated…) Why Earth Is Not Orbiting The Sun As We Are Taught

Morgen: I started to but then got distracted (as I do easily) by a 19-second UFO clip touted on the right-hand column then one with a woman walking through a ghost then… sorry, where were we? Do you write any non-fiction, poetry or short stories?

Joe: Yes, I write all of the above… Non fiction would include – things like my Writer’s Workbook (see link above), and there is also sometimes some poetry in my books… I’ve had a few short horror-comedy stories published (I, SPARTACUS and ROADKILL). I’ll also publish my DCA-thesis findings, as a textbook… (er, in about 3 years).

Morgen: Do you do a lot of editing or do you find that as time goes on your writing is more fully-formed?

Joe: Great question!

Morgen: Thank you.

Joe: 20 years ago, there was tons of editing needed on my stuff… Mostly, my dialog all needed rewriting – as every single character sounded (spoke) just like me, and – only Woody Allen, Quentin Tarantino and Don DeLillo can get away with that… So I had to do an editing pass for each character, and make very sure that, their dialog style was ‘differentiated’ from each other…

But then, after about 10 years, one day, or, overnight (or both) – I noticed something had ‘clicked’, and it had somehow sort of mostly become subconscious or instinctive. And, now – after 20 years of fulltime screenwriting, luckily, most everybody who reads them, says that my `first drafts’ read like most writers’ fifth drafts, or whatever…

So, in my case, it’s just a matter of practise… but I’m a great believer in The Systems Model of Creativity, as developed by Mike (Mihaly) Csikszentmihalyi… I highly recommend reading his work ‘Creativity’, and also a book by Keith Sawyer called “Explaining Creativity”. It says that, most so-called ‘creative geniuses’ usually spent about 10 years, learning and practising their craft, before creating their “masterworks” that we all know and love them for.

Which also ties in to Malcolm Gladwell’s theory, outlined in ‘Outliers’… where he says, guys like The Beatles and Bill Gates all spent about 10,000 hours, before they ‘cracked’, er – whatever field they eventually ‘cracked’… either in music, or computer coding, or whatever. Also Bill Gates was a keen poker player, which probably sets you up great, for a career in business. Stanley Kubrick was a genius chess-player, so, he really understood the consequences of all the ‘choices’ he had available as a filmmaker, before making any given choice… no wonder he was a cinematic genius, as I think filmmaking is one of the most complicated things anyone can do. Apart from making videogames, which is: ‘filmmaking’ plus – software engineering – and with ‘emergent systems’ thrown in for good luck. Insanity, pretty much. The fact that any feature film, or any ‘10+ hours videogame’ ever gets made just amazes me, let alone, if any of them are actually any good.

Morgen: I always say it’s about practice. New writers can be too hard on themselves. If they were put in front of a canvas or piano would they be expected to draw / play a masterpiece? You seem so knowledgeable about a lot of things, do you have to do much research?

Joe: Yes, and no. I actually did 20 years of fulltime research, for my novel A Meaningless Sequence of Arbitrary Symbols, as – it’s a satire on the whole process of making VideoGames… So I just looked back over my professional working life, and “wrote what I knew” pretty much.

But – as a Game Writer and Designer – you do an incredible amount of research… Mainly as a Game Designer has to “play God” (which is exactly the Theme of my novel) – and, has to not only understand all the ‘entire ecosystems of the game world’ that they’re creating, and how they all interact, but also – even those aspects that are outside the limits of their game – just in case, they have any effect on the ‘game world’ itself… As a result, most Game Designers “see the world” very differently to most people, as they tend to (involuntarily) look at the entire world, and all the systems within it, through the ‘lens’ of a Game Designer. Pretty soon, you can see which systems are inefficient, and how many things could be designed better… In fact, it seems that most things happen in the world either ad hoc or by accident, and, the world, by and large, runs on mistakes and misunderstandings. Most things are actually utterly-ironic, when you examine them really closely. For example, the old rule that “people are promoted to the level of their incompetence”. You’d expect everyone who’s at the top of their field to be “the best at what they do” or “the best person for the job” … yet, on close examination, that’s actually incredibly-rarely the case… We have this illusion that ‘everything’s under control’, but in fact, the world is one big outta-control snowball, careening down a hill – and, we’re all tap-dancing on it. That’s all another utter miracle, that never ceases to amaze me.

Morgen: Tap dancing on a snowball, now there’s an image. What point of view do you find most to your liking: first person or third person? Have you ever tried second person?

Joe: I love first-person POV, as I love stuff like The Catcher In The Rye, Generation X and also White Noise by DeLillo. My novel AM SO AS is written in first-person… It’s just fun to really ‘become’ the narrator character. Third-person POV can be fun too – but is not as interesting – or flexible as ‘unreliable first-person POV’…

But Game Writing is essentially all 2nd-person, in a way… Game Design ‘Walkthroughs’ (when the game is being designed and written) are essentially (if not literally) something like this… (i.e. where ‘You’ is ‘The Player’):

“You open the holo-door, and You go into the inter-room. You pick up the hyper-sonic-screwdriver-gun lying on the table in front of You. You turn left, and You see: a 3 and ½ headed goober-monster. The goober-monster lunges and bites You! You unleash heck on the goober-monster with the H-S-S gun. BLAM! Goober-monster implodes sideways; (awesome). You totally pwned that GM. You now hear a cry for “Haaalp” coming from the holo-cupboard in the corner and You move to investigate…” (etc)

So, after 20 years of game writing, 2nd person POV is very familiar to me… But ‘unreliable first-person POV’ is where ‘the most fun’ is to be had in a novel, in my opinion. Mainly as anything goes.

Also – I always like to show my screenwriting students this film, when First-Person POV comes up: The Lady in the Lake (1946) – Trailer

Also Morgen, I read your short story THE DARK SIDE and obviously it is 2nd person POV. I thought it was great; very effective, as in the 2nd paragraph, my heart-rate went way up, and I got an adrenaline shot, and that continues, right through to paragraph number 5… It’s very effective as a thriller, very visceral and scary. Could actually even make for a very cool videogame sequence…

I also liked GHOST from your Story a Day May compilation.

Morgen: Yvonne, if you’re reading this, you have competition for being my number one fan. And I have a feeling your fellow Australian Rosanne Dingli will be the first to ‘like’ this interview on Facebook. Thank you for all your kind words, Joe. I’m going to go and blush in a corner now… well, after the interview. You mentioned second person in games and I used to love Steve Jackson & Ian Livingstone’s adventure books (where you skip around the chapters like a snakes and ladder game) so it’s no wonder I love second person now. You’ve done so much writing over the years, do you have pieces of work that you think will never see light of day?

Joe: Yeah, actually – loads of my very early stuff, things written when I was, like, 12… But lately, I have been thinking of publishing some of that stuff, as it’s sometimes super-interesting to see someone’s writing, before they actually “learnt the rules”. It’s pure ‘agency’, and no ‘structure’, just intuition… It’s actually the same reason that I much prefer the ‘rawness’ of kid’s pictures (and, paintings), to viewing adult artworks. ‘Adult stuff’ (artwork) is so ‘polished and perfect and consistent’. I really wish I could draw with the same freedom I had as a kid, rather than, now… (I was also a professional cartoonist for a few years, at uni).

Morgen: I love cartoons (and part of the reason I had Adrian Teal do my avatar). My mum dislikes it and most people say (when they see photos of me) that it doesn’t do me justice (which his flattering) but I love it. What’s your favourite / least favourite aspect of your writing life? Has anything surprised you?

Joe: Favourite thing is being in what Mike Csikszentmihalyi calls the ‘flow’ state, also known as being in “the zone”, and what Joe Campbell calls “bliss”. Mike has a great TED-Talk on it here.

My least favourite thing is, when you work on a project (like maybe a film, or a game) with about 10 Producers – and maybe also as many Executive Producers – and, they all want to contribute ‘creatively’, and – they all think they “know how a good story should go” – despite, maybe never having studied Story, nor Writing, nor done any of it professionally, before…(!) Sometimes, it’s great fun on a really big project – with loads of stakeholders – if they’re all ‘on the same page’ to begin with… But, oftentimes it’s also a complete nightmare, that drives the writer utterly insane. I’m thinking of ‘Story Notes From Hell’ again…

Most surprising stuff? Hmm, probably, learning just how many Writers – who are now considered literary giants – were unappreciated in their lifetime, and, even had to initially publish their own stuff, before everyone realized they were a `genius’. e.g. Kafka, Poe, Flann O’Brien, and JK Toole… Even guys like James Joyce and Marcel Proust had to pay to self-publish their work, initially… they were rejected(!) So, what does that tell you..? Possibly, something about, an out-of-control snowball. See: http://www.onlineuniversities.com/blog/2010/11/10-incredible-artists-unappreciated-in-their-time

Morgen: They do say a successful writer is one who didn’t give up and I believe that Dean Koonz had over 500 rejections and he didn’t do badly… and just look at the rejection list you posted earlier. What advice would you give aspiring writers?

Joe: Three things…

Firstly, read as much as you can, in your chosen Genre. Read the ‘classics’ – and the new stuff – and, all the in-between stuff. In fact – if you can, read every book on this list: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_books

Second, I would suggest read this thesis by Dr Elizabeth Paton – in its entirety. I am serious. It’s brilliant: Creativity and the Dynamic System of Australian Fiction Writing (see `02whole.pdf’)

The researcher interviewed 40 published authors with 400 fiction books published between them.

Even though it’s focussed on Australian authors, the information in it equally applies, across all nations, creeds, colours and lederhosen sizes.

Also the 3rd advice I would give, is – get into a writers group, much like the ones you run Morgen…! It’s crucial to have a small group of writers, who can workshop or give feedback on each other’s work. I’m in a few groups, one is called The Decent Ventriloquists, and includes novelists, and screenwriters and even comics guys, who do things like this: http://www.darkoz.com.au/decay.html

And the 4th piece of advice would be, probably – even if you’re not feeling blocked, to buy your 365-Day Writer’s Block Workbook, and – even if you don’t try all the exercises, just read all the ‘Tips Of The Week’. In my opinion, there is actually much more than AS$2 worth of really sage writing craft advice there, in those Weekly Tips, alone. For example, What if – that bunch of tips, in fact, even just one of those tips, becomes ‘the tipping point’ for an aspiring writer, between ‘not getting published’, and actually being published? – is that worth AS$2? So, in fact, that’s probably, my hottest tip. And what’s more, Morgen, I tip my hat to you, for writing that book.

Morgen: Oh my goodness, praise indeed. Thank you. :*) I labelled it Volume 1 because I have plans for other volumes and am delighted that someone of your experience could find it useful. <peeling smile off face to resume serious interview> If you could invite three people from any era to dinner, who would you choose and what would you cook (or hide the takeaway containers)?

Joe: Maybe James Joyce (and, I’d ask him to explain what Ulysses ‘really’ means…), Carl Jung (just seems like a nice guy), and Flann O’Brien (author of The Third Policeman, my favourite novel, and I highly recommend the audiobook, read by Jim Norton). As for the menu – I would arrange it all for 11am, and we would just drink tea – and, like in Proust’s In Search Of Lost Time, we would have madeleine cakes, and dip them in the tea, and then, see if we all were reminded of anything. I think, that would be a pretty good ice-breaker, also.

Also, if I could do it twice, the next night: Virginia Woolf, Jane Austen and Cleopatra. I think they’d all have some pretty good stories… (Also, Cleopatra was supposed to be pretty hot.) In a perfect world, I would also invite Billy Shakespeare, but nobody seems to know who he really was, not even him. Was he Christopher Marlowe, or Sir Walter Raleigh, or what?

Morgen: They do look like each other don’t they (Shakespeare / Raleigh) and not far apart in years (1564-1616 vs 1554-1618). Mmm… And I love the fact you have the men in sensible day time then the women in the evening to let their hair down (Cleopatra had a lot, I think?). Is there a word, phrase or quote you like?

Joe: Yes – “Everything’s ironic – even this sentence…” (It’s the first line of my new satirical novel about the CIA.)

Morgen I liked in your short story FEEDING THE FATHER, how you said this: The letterbox voices have gone quiet. ‘Neighbours’ starts and I laugh. “Everybody needs good neighbours” the voices sing to me. Well we don’t. Neighbours are nosey.

And not just because I’m from the Antipodes… (I’ve only seen one episode of Neighbours…) I just thought it was a really great ironic moment, in context. And I love irony… can’t get enough of that good stuff. I also really love the irony all through Charlie Kaufman’s film ADAPTATION.

Morgen: I saw ‘Adaptation’ a while back and didn’t really get it so I must definitely watch it again. And thank you for enjoying FTF. My last review (on one of the sites it’s on, I can’t remember which, said that it put her off reading any of my writing ever again and she was glad it was free or she’d have asked for her money back) so it’s interesting to see how two different people feel about it. I’d had a few 4* and 5* ratings so I wasn’t that bothered – pleased actually that my work is being read and that someone feels so passionately (albeit it negatively) about it to leave a comment. Only about 5% of people do, which is a shame because authors love to hear what people think – it’s they only way they know if they’d doing something right (or wrong in this case, not that I’m going to change anything). Are you involved in anything else writing-related other than actual writing or marketing of your writing?

Joe: Yes, quite a bit of stuff, I guess… I teach ‘Transmedia Writing’ (films, TV, games, novels, comix) now and then, at various universities and film schools. I’m also a professional Story Analyst and Script Reader for various government institutions… I was also a professional Script Reader for the major film studios for many years, but haven’t had time to do that lately, as I’m too busy writing my own stuff… I’m also currently Script Editing a feature film, for one of Australia’s most successful writer-directors, which is actually loads of fun. I do some Transmedia Consulting, too (helping people turn a novel into a film, or a film into a novel, or a film into a game, or all of the above).

Morgen: That’s why you don’t get writer’s block because you’re too busy doing so many different things. What do you do when you’re not writing? Any hobbies or party tricks?

Joe: Yes, I actually play darts at home a lot, mainly with some pretty-average drawings, of people who have rejected my work… And – actually, I used to do all this super-macho stuff, like boxing, and body-building, and hunting, and shooting stuff, and camping and surfing and motorbike riding, and, skydiving and all that – but, that’s probably because I had way too much testosterone – like, I dunno, a Hemingway-type or something. Maybe lately, I’ve just become lazy… I still seem to make films a lot, and maybe that’s why I don’t have time for anything else, much. Currently, I’m mostly just reading like a nutcase, but that’s because of this PhD (or DCA – or whatever-it-is I’m supposed to be doing). I play guitar and write songs sometimes too… I have a band, our 2nd album is being released this year… Some of my solo stuff is online also, it’s pretty silly and goofy, just me fooling around: http://www.myspace.com/joeteeveemuzak

Morgen: Just listening to ‘When you drop a lightsaber’. I love your titles. I’m on MySpace but haven’t done anything with it. Maybe I should put my podcasts on there… or something. Are there any writing-related websites and / or books that you find useful?

Joe: Loads! My free workbook on ‘Story and Screenwriting’ (but it has awesome tools for any fiction writer, really)

Dr Paton’s thesis: Creativity and the Dynamic System of Australian Fiction Writing

Explaining Creativity by R Keith Sawyer

Creativity by Mike (Mihaly) Csikszentmihalyi

Save The Cat! by Blake Snyder

On Literature by Umberto Eco

Reflections On The Art Of Living by Joseph Campbell

Morgen: I’ve heard such good things about ‘Save the cat!’ I must check it out. And I didn’t know Umberto Eco (he of ‘The Name of the Rose’) had written a how-to book. Are you on any forums or networking sites? If so, how valuable do you find them?

Joe: Yes, lots. YouWriteOn, Book Country, Goodreads, Authonomy, WAENetwork, and a whole bunch, on LinkedIn. They are actually all terrific – for feedback, reviews, contacts, info – and all of that good stuff.

Morgen: Ah, beloved LinkedIn; probably where we met. What do you think the future holds for a writer?

Joe: Mostly poverty, and being totally mis-under-appreciated, in your own lifetime… Ah me, it’s all glamour, this Writing Life. But, on the other hand – if you write, maybe you’ll ‘come to know yourself better’ through your own work – and, what’s more, you’ll probably actually have a deeply meaningful and rich, rewarding inner life, which is actually pretty rare, these days and apparently money can’t buy that stuff… My favourite film of all time is Fight Club, and favourite novel right now is Generation X by Douglas Coupland, so that should tell you something about where I’m currently coming from… Or, not.

I also think Transmedia is the future of writing. Creating a Storyworld across multiple media (novel, film, games, comics, etc). See here, for more on that. That was a talk about ‘Transmedia Writing’ that I gave at last year’s National Young Writers Festival. Also, we’ll see more and demand for content as robots take over and we have more leisure time. If this sounds crazy, maybe have a read of George Friedman’s book, The Next 100 Years, and check out the documentary Transcendent Man by Ray Kurzweil. I sometimes consult for The Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence, which Ray’s involved in.

And also, the near future is writing content for when Games Invade Real Life, and I recommend Jesse Schell’s 2010 DICE TED-talk on that. The DICE awards is like the Oscar awards for games.

Morgen: I’m three days away from leaving my day job so already on the bread and water in preparation. (Still listening to MySpace, although it’s gone on to a random selection. It’s great; like the radio without the sometimes-annoying DJ. Where can we find out about you and your work?

Joe: At my Writing Blog – http://on-writering.blogspot.com

Morgen: Is there anything else you’d like to mention?

Joe: Yes, thank you Morgen – as I’m in Kindle Select, I’m going to try and co-ordinate it – so that – the day that this gets posted, on your Blog, my book (the satirical novel one, A Meaningless Sequence of Arbitrary Symbols) is free to download that day, on the Amazon Kindle store. (And, you can maybe use ‘Kindle Reader for PC’ if you don’t have a Kindle… also free)…

So, if anyone would like to download it (my satirical novel about Videogames and God), then in theory you will save AS$3… as – that’s how much it is, when it isn’t free. Then again, you’re not really ‘saving’ that AS$3 in money, if you weren’t going to download it, in the first place. And yet – there it is.

Morgen: I do have a Kindle (a month-old one). Thank you. Is there anything you’d like to ask me?

Joe: Yes! I love asking other Writers this question…

Do you think a novel can actually ‘change a life’? (And/Or – have you ever seen it happen?)

Also, Morgen, before you answer, please allow me to unpack that a little – I know that, quite a lot of people, who say “Wow, this novel is awesome, it totally changed my life…” but in fact – and ironically – as far as I can see, that book only made them more the way they already were… (i.e Novels are wonderful – for expressing things that we didn’t know we already felt, until, we saw how the author expressed it so beautifully, or succinctly or, just plain clearly…)

But, it seems to me, what people usually mean by that statement – is: “After I read that book, I started seeing: the world / people / my dog / alfalfa / war / the government / short people / gays / straights / those crazy 3-D ‘magic-eye’ pictures / Generation X / or, whatever – in a different way…” And that’s brilliant, but – to be honest, they never actually changed their lives, in any major way…? (Or did they?) Usually, they always: kept the same job, lived in the same place, stayed in the same relationship, voted the same way they usually did etc etc…

Just for example, did anyone who ever read any Beat Generation classics, like say On The Road suddenly: go hitchhiking in Mexico, take loads of drugs, have loads of wild casual sex, and listen to jazz, etc – who, wasn’t already probably going to do something like all that, before they read it, anyway…??

I mean, I’d absolutely love to think that, a novel could affect someone, so profoundly – that, say: a ‘right-wing voter’ could read a given novel – and then, totally change – and vote left-wing... (say.) And I know people who swear by Ayn Rand’s stuff (Atlas Shrugged, etc), but they were possibly always right-wing psychopaths in the first place, and Ayn Rand just gave them a philosophical and ethical framework to do it in so they didn’t need to feel guilty. (Not that they felt guilty anyway, as that’s what psychopathy is.)

But – as far as I can see – and I’ve been slightly vexed about this, for over a year – this has never happened, not even once…(?!) Also, just for the debate’s sake, let’s exclude people who: have ever read a novel, and, it made them (inspired them) become a Writer, because – in a way, if this theory is correct, that’s actually just more people writing stuff, that (potentially) doesn’t change anything.

And – one more thing – (that also informs this question) – I actually wrote my novel, hoping to change something really BIG in the world (and I’m not going to say what it is, you will need to read the book to see what it is… And also – if, going in, you already know what it is I’m trying to change about you, then – you may avoid my book – so that, you don’t risk changing that exact thing about yourself, just in case, my book actually works. And if it does work – then, hmmm, that’s pretty amazing.)

Anyway – Morgen? What say you? (or – anyone who is still reading this, LOL)

This is a super-tough question, I know… (and, no Non-Fiction books allowed! LOL )

Morgen: To (sort of) answer, I often come out of the cinema (I have a cinema season ticket so see at least a couple of movies back-to-back a week) and often feel profound (the latest being ‘Extremely Close and Incredibly Loud’) but then it fades and I go back to being me. Not sure if it makes me any more of me but films definitely make me feel more positive (usually – even that film – I lost my father just before 9/11 so I was crying buckets at that film… not difficult, I’m a slush). As for books, if a book doesn’t push you into having some reaction at the end then it’s failed… failed may be a strong word but I know if I’ve got to the end of a story and it’s felt a damp squib then I’ve sort of resented the time. At least with a duff movie (I’ve some of those because there’s only been one film I’ve wanted to see so see one I’m not sure of) it’s only an hour and a hour. That said, since I’ve started writing (about six years ago) I find I do analyse books (so it takes me longer to read than most people) and if I can work out why a book has left me with no emotion then it’s not a complete loss.

Thank you so much, Joe, I really enjoyed chatting with you. My bum’s gone numb so I’ll probably go and stand in the corner until my blushing’s gone.

I then invited Joe to include an excerpt of his writing and he said…

Okay, thanks Morgen. Below is a poem I wrote (about writing), using: the 100 most-commonly-used words in the English language. As an interesting aside: (and, I use the word “interesting” very loosely here)

No matter what language we speak only 100 words make up about half of daily speech.
The average person uses only about 2,000 words, and that is all it takes to be fluent in any language. http://www.duboislc.org/EducationWatch/First100Words.html

“100 WORDS”
(The 100 Most Commonly-Used Words in English, rearranged by JT Velikovsky)

What were we…?
The Word:
Write!
Find…!
Come get!
So many!
Use each one.
Look;
Two more go…
Into Time..!
See their number:
Oil on water.

No way – I can have them at call-?!

My “first part”, down now;
Made.

These – would make her like him.
(Had – but not by all…)

This was for “He”, or from out “his”
About an “Up…”
(More) than – who has been its “other”…

How, if people will,
Then – some could.

Be that as it may;
Which did she do?

When your long day is said there -
They are with you.

Award-winning Transmedia Writer Joe T Velikovsky is often writing a feature film script, a game, a novel, and a graphic novel, all at once.

His published writing credits include: a satirical Transmedia Novel about videogames, A Meaningless Sequence of Arbitrary Symbols, the thriller-horror feature film Caught Inside, a non-fiction work, The Feature Screenwriters Workbook (available free online), the mobile-phone comic strip, Dr N Sayne (illustrated by Deane Taylor) and the comedy stageplay, THE ABERCROMBIE ZOMBIE.

He works as a Transmedia Writer (film, TV, games, novels, comics) and Consultant, and is also a Script Assessor for the Writers’ Guild. He has frequently been an invited guest speaker at the National Screenwriters Conference, the National Young Writers Conference, and the National Game Developers Conference.

Currently he is writing a satirical novel about the CIA, script editing on a feature film, and researching a PhD on `Story Patterns in Successful Feature Films’. He also writes a weblog on writing, at http://on-writering.blogspot.com.

I’ve only just twigged that Joe’s other initials are TV and he writes scripts. I’ve got a cold, I’m allowed to not be with it.

If you are reading this and you write, in whatever genre, and are thinking “ooh, I’d like to do this” then you can… just email me and I’ll send you the questions. You complete them, I tweak them where appropriate (if necessary to reflect the blog ‘clean and light’ rating) and then they get posted. When that’s done, I email you with the link so you can share it with your corner of the literary world. And if you have a writing-related blog / podcast and would like to interview me… let me know. You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything… and follow me on Twitter where each new posting is automatically announced. You can also read / download my eBooks and free eShorts at Smashwords, Sony Reader Store, Barnes & Noble, iTunes Bookstore and Kobo (Amazon to follow).

Unfortunately, as I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t review books but if you have a short story or self-contained novel extract / short chapter (ideally up to 1000 words) that you’d like critiqued and don’t mind me reading it / talking about and critiquing it (I send you the transcription afterwards so you can use the comments or ignore them) on my ‘Bailey’s Writing Tips’ podcast, then do email me. They are weekly episodes, usually released Monday mornings UK time, interweaving the recordings between the red pen sessions with the hints & tips episodes. I am now also looking for flash fiction (<1000 words) for Flash Fiction Fridays and poetry for Post-weekend Poetry. And I have a new forum at http://morgenbailey.freeforums.org.

 

Blog interview no.274 with writer JT Lewis

Welcome to the two hundred and seventy fourth of my blog interviews with novelists, poets, short story authors, biographers, agents, publishers and more. Today’s is with mystery, action, adventure (and more) author JT Lewis. A list of interviewees (blogged and scheduled) can be found here. If you like what you read, please do go and investigate further.

Morgen: Hello JT. Please tell us something about yourself.

JT: I hail from South-eastern Indiana in the US, where the men are men, but the women run everything. I am married and have four kids, all now out of the house in various stages of college and life away from home.

Morgen: SE Indiana sounds great!. What genre do you generally write, JT?

JT:  Mystery, Action, and Adventure pretty much sums up the genre(s) I generally write in. Whether a murder mystery, a YA series, or even a sci-fi story, I almost always seem to find a way to insert a mystery into the story, and (hopefully) make it an adventurous story with enough twists and turns to keep the pages turning.

Morgen: What have you had published to-date? Do you write under a pseudonym?

JT: My first published book, ‘Murder! Too Close To Home’, (formerly ‘The Ghost Murders’) is an action-packed murder mystery and the first in the series ‘The Adventures of Gabriel Celtic’. It was released in December by my publisher Trestle Press in e-book form, with a paperback version coming out soon. Following close behind will be the second in the series, ‘Gabriel’s Revenge’, which is now going through revision.
I have also started a YA series called ‘Pepper and Longstreet’, the adventures of 16 year old Pepper Jones and her mysterious sidekick Jacob Longstreet. More than one person has likened the series to the old Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew mysteries, with a paranormal twist. The first of the series, ‘The Beginning’, has also been recently released by my publisher as an e-book.

Also on the immediate horizon is a Sci-Fi blog series called ‘Circles’. Since I had a minute one day, I started writing the Sci-Fi serial based on something that kept bouncing around in my head, called Circle Theory. There are two chapters of this serial on my blog now (http://jt-lewis.blogspot.com), and my current plans are for it to remain a blog serial… but who knows?

Morgen: It’s fiction – it could go anywhere. Do you have an agent? Do you think they’re vital to an author’s success?

JT: I do not have an agent per se, but I’m of the persuasion that the new e-book concentrated publishers like Trestle Press act as more of a combination agent / publisher, with some publicist thrown in.

Morgen: You mentioned ‘Murder!…’ is available as an eBook, do you read eBooks or is it paper all the way?

JT: Both books are out in e-book form. I only recently got a Nook, and I love it, especially for reading other authors’ works for review. I still like reading a good paperback though, and still do most of my reading for enjoyment that way.

Morgen: I think most people do. I bought a Kindle last month and I love it but I’ll still read paper books at home. You mentioned your ‘some publicist’ publisher, how much of the marketing do you do for your published works or indeed for yourself as a ‘brand’?

JT: I try to use all of the ‘Social Media’ available… without overdoing it. Getting one’s name out there is the main thing; people need to know who you are. It is also the most difficult aspect of being an author in my estimation. People look to Amazon and B&N and see a cornfield of authors all hawking their stories. Becoming the one stalk that catches their attention is a monumental task.

My publisher does a good job of getting the names of their authors out there in front of people, so that helps a lot. Still looking for the secret formula though!

Morgen: I think we all are. If you find it first, do let me know and I’ll pass it on. Actually, I’ve found LinkedIn to be wonderful. I already loved it (caring and sharing of information) but I put a new thread in (about these interviews) in the groups I belong to and have been overwhelmed by the response. Do you have a favourite of your books or characters?

JT: Gabriel Celtic is my hero… and I would love to meet him in person. Like a lot of authors, my intent was to base Gabriel on myself, of course with a few more admirable attributes and many more adventures. Gabriel however quickly took on a life of his own, and as he is apt to do in the books, he did it with finesse and strength of character that I can only aspire to.

Morgen: Creating new characters has got to be one of my favourite aspects. You can never be lonely when you write fiction. Did you have any say in the title / covers of your book(s)? How important do you think they are?

JT: Yes, I was asked for input, but my strength is not in the cover as far as the design goes, so I defer to the experts, so far with excellent results I believe. Covers are VERY important… an author has to catch the eye of the reader, and there is no quicker way than a cover that catches the eye…and the imagination.

Morgen: There’s a big debate going on in LinkedIn at the moment about covers and whilst I don’t think someone would turn away from buying a great book if the cover wasn’t catching, given a choice of great or mediocre would certainly get a reader to the great one first. What are you working on at the moment / next?

JT: Doing revisions for the next Gabriel Celtic adventure is my next focus. After that, I hope to get started on the third book… tentatively titled: ICOD (In Case Of Death).

The Pepper and Longstreet mysteries are an ongoing project, as are the serial chapters of Circles.

Morgen: Agents, publishers and readers love series. Once they grab hold of a wonderful character they don’t want to let go. Do you manage to write every day? Do you ever suffer from writer’s block?

JT: I do not write every day. The damnable day job gets in the way a lot, as well as spending time with my wife and household chores. Sometimes I can get an hour or two in at night during the week, but most of my writing is done on the weekends.

I wouldn’t call it writers block, but there are some days that I’m not sure what I am going to write about that day. Usually though, if I sit down with the work and read the two or three chapters previous, my addled mind will kick in and the story will continue.

Morgen: Do you plot your stories or do you just get an idea and run with it?

JT: Mostly, I write by the seat of the pants. Many times I see the beginning of the book in my head, and I have a general outline of where I want it to go with it, and some of the characters I want to bring in, like that. But mostly, the story comes to life as I write.

Morgen: Most of the authors I’ve interviewed have been ‘pantsers’ and I am too. I plotted my first novel (for NaNoWriMo 2008 – the longest thing I’d written over 3,000 words up to then) fairly thoroughly then once I started I put it away as Sam had other ideas. He’ll be seeing light this year. I only have short stories out so far (and a writer’s block workbook) but most people prefer novels and I have four (and a bit) of them so it would be good to do something with them. We’ve touched on characters a few times, do you have a method for creating your characters, their names and what do you think makes them believable?

JT: Hmmm…I think what makes a character believable is in large part their flaws, or quirks. Everybody has little quirks that make them who they are. If a character is too perfect…well, who’s going to believe that!

Morgen: Absolutely. None of us are perfect, are we? If a character is perfect it has to be for a reason, and something made of it.

JT: My characters are created in my head, where I visualize who would fit this situation. Whether that would be someone of a “typical’ nature, or in a lot of cases, someone that one wouldn’t expect when they thought about it. As far as naming the character, I use a lot of local names for my characters, which seems to add a lot of personality.

Morgen: Do you write any non-fiction, poetry or short stories?

JT: No… well actually, I have written a non-fiction book. It is an Estate Planner, and it is an idea that had been floating around in my head for years and it seemed an important tool.

Morgen: Ideas have a habit of doing that don’t they, and it’s great to get them out. Do you do a lot of editing or do you find that as time goes on your writing is more fully-formed?

JT: My writing gets better as I go… I was not someone that paid much attention to English classes when I was in school.

Morgen: It’s all just practice. New writers worry about the quality but I look back at my early stuff and cringe. But now I have the experience to buff and polish. Do you have to do much research?

JT: When needed, but I tend to concentrate more on the story than the exact surroundings or the procedures. In Gabriel’s Revenge, the book starts in Peru, and I felt that I needed to learn a few things about the country and the culture to write about it with any kind of a realistic narrative.

Morgen: A great excuse for a holiday. Some writers like quiet, others the noise of a coffee shop etc., do you listen to music or have noise around you when you write or do you need silence?

JT: Generally, I listen to oldies when I write…on the Radio! (What’s a playlist?)

When I write however, I barely ever notice what’s playing, I guess I zone out. When I take a break or get some more coffee (a trait I share with Gabriel), I hear the song playing, maybe even sing along (badly).

Morgen: I’m a tea girl. And I sing too if I have my iPod on – the dog thinks I’m mad if he can’t hear any music. What point of view do you find most to your liking: first person or third person? Have you ever tried second person?

JT: Second, no. The Gabriel Celtic Adventures are written in both first and third person, with Gabriel’s POV always in first. I like this as a way of identifying with Gabriel, and the books are laid out as a retelling of a story from the point of view of Gabriel.

Morgen: Oh do try second person. I love, love, love it. Do you have pieces of work that you think will never see light of day?

JT: Not yet! There is always hope!

Morgen: No, that’s great. Writing should be for reading. What advice would you give aspiring writers?

JT: Just do it! I spent many years thinking about it off and on, but never really committing to it. When I did finally start writing, I didn’t tell anyone! I didn’t want to be someone that said ‘I’m writing a book”, and then never finish it.

Thinking back about it now however, it seems a silly thing to worry about. Not everything one writes is going to be good…at least not at first. But like any craft, one has to practice to master it.

Long story short, my advice is to write whenever you can, as often as you can. And read! Read everything you can get your hands on, especially when it is the type of story that excites you.

Finally, write a fantastic story! Editors can fix errors, Beta readers can suggest changes to make it flow, but no one can right “your” story. My underlying goal is to write an epic story, one that will pass the test of time. I’m not there yet, but I am convinced that if one works at it long and hard, that it CAN be done!

Morgen: So many authors I’ve spoken to have said they wish they’d started writing earlier. I had an email from a young lady the other day (who started her email with “I’m young!!”… well, after the title of “I love your book!!!” which is always an attention-grabber). We got chatting and she’s entering the BBC Radio 2’s 500 word short story competition which has an age limit of 13 so she is young. The book, by the way, was one of my free (and most downloaded, possibly because it’s the longest) eShorts, April’s Fool).  Is there a word, phrase or quote you like?

JT:  Two actually: “I’ve lived an unusual life, in the usual way.” (Gabriel Celtic)  and “Are you going to do something with the time you have left, or are you just going to fill a hole in the ground.” (Julien Taylor in Gabriel’s Revenge)

Morgen: I love those. Where can we find out about you and your work?

JT: http://jt-lewis.blogspot.com, Facebook, Amazon.com (Murder Too Close Home) and Amazon.com (Pepper Longstreet Mysteries Beginning)

Morgen: Is there anything else you’d like to mention?

JT: My thanks for having me on your awesome interview series!

Morgen: <laughs> You’re very welcome, thank you for taking part.

I then invited JT to include an excerpt of his writing…

The man walked determinedly toward his car, but his mind was elsewhere; on the case, or cases as it were. He was actually making good headway on the investigation by his reckoning, disturbing headway. He had found the link in the cases he had been looking for two days before, and it had changed everything! Even he couldn’t believe the ramifications of his find.

The night was warm and he removed his jacket and hung it over his arm, folding it carefully first. He rubbed his free hand through his military cut salt and pepper hair, letting his mind wander, enjoying the weather.

Reaching the car, he dug into his pocket and pulled out his keys to unlock his government furnished sedan, but his keys suddenly fall from his hand. He looked down in confusion and wonders why he did that, and why all of a sudden he couldn’t seem to move to correct it.

He felt a hand then on his shoulder, hot breath on his neck. “I hear you’re looking for me,” the stranger whispers in his ear, “thought I would save you the trouble.”

JT Lewis is an author living in South-eastern Indiana with his wife Susan and their two dogs. They have four kids in various stages of college and life away from the home. During the day, JT Lewis is an electrical contractor, morphing into the crime fighting author at night and on the weekends.

If you are reading this and you write, in whatever genre, and are thinking “ooh, I’d like to do this” then you can… just email me and I’ll send you the questions. You complete them, I tweak them where appropriate (if necessary to reflect the blog ‘clean and light’ rating) and then they get posted. When that’s done, I email you with the link so you can share it with your corner of the literary world. And if you have a writing-related blog / podcast and would like to interview me… let me know. You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything… and follow me on Twitter where each new posting is automatically announced. You can also read / download my eBooks and free eShorts at Smashwords.

Unfortunately, as I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t review books but if you have a short story or self-contained novel extract / short chapter (ideally up to 1000 words) that you’d like critiqued and don’t mind me reading it / talking about and critiquing it (I send you the transcription afterwards so you can use the comments or ignore them) on my ‘Bailey’s Writing Tips’ podcast, then do email me. They are weekly episodes, usually released Monday mornings UK time, interweaving the recordings between the red pen sessions with the hints & tips episodes. I am now also looking for flash fiction (<1000 words) for Flash Fiction Fridays.

 

Blog interview no.264 with author P.I. Barrington

Welcome to the two hundred and sixty-fourth of my blog interviews with novelists, poets, short story authors, biographers, agents, publishers and more. Today’s is with multi-genre novelist P.I. Barrington. A list of interviewees (blogged and scheduled) can be found here. If you like what you read, please do go and investigate further. You can also read P.I.’s spotlight here.

Morgen: Hello P.I. Please tell us something about yourself and how you came to be a writer.

P.I.: It kind of chased me down. I didn’t want to be a writer—my first love and always will be is music. I actually started out as a journalist. But somewhere deep down I knew I’d end up writing fiction.

Morgen: I didn’t have a clue. I went to a writing workshop and was hooked. What genre do you generally write and have you considered other genres?

P.I.: I write in several genres actually. My first published short stories were urban fantasy. Very tongue-in-cheek those, but my first novel(s) published by a publisher were a futuristic crime thriller trilogy, I’ve written sci-fi romance, sci-fi military, cozy mysteries and a short horror-ish story. One day, I hope, I can write in my secret favourite genre’ ancient historical! Oh, and maybe police / military procedural thriller.

Morgen: Like me then. I write whatever comes out although I met three agents in June 2011 who want more crime and I love reading it so I want to write more. Oh, and they also want more historical (not my subject at all). How much of the marketing do you do for your published works or indeed for yourself as a ‘brand’?

P.I.: I do almost all of it for both my sister and myself—we co-author books and write independently—and these days budgets from publishers are scant, understandably, so much of my time is spent marketing. P.I. Barrington IS a brand, lol!

Morgen: I think there’s only one interviewee I’ve had who doesn’t need to do any marketing, that their publisher does all the work. There is an upside, that we get to meet our readers. Do you write under a pseudonym? Do you think they make a difference to an author’s profile?

P.I.: P.I. Barrington is a pseudonym. At times I publish under that name, others as I’ve said, I co-author with my sister under the Barrington name. My sister, Loni Emmert, has independently published under her name as well. Personally I do believe that pen names are a great help in more than one way. First as we talked about as a brand. P.I. Barrington is easily recognizable and memorable—it has a great rhythm to it; it’s kind of ‘catchy’ in a way. Second, because of that, it’s easier to market and brand because people immediately associate it with genre and style. Plus, pen names usually sound better than someone’s real name. And then there’s the golden rule of publishing: when you change genre you should change names, either with a pen or with initials and your real or devised name. That’s why Nora Roberts also writes under J.D. Robb as a mystery author.

Morgen: As do a few other authors (Joanna Trollope, Ruth Rendell to name a couple). Do you have an agent? Do you think they’re vital to an author’s success?

P.I.: I’m probably ripe or over ripe for an agent. I’ve been writing so much I haven’t really had time to approach one and there are several great ones I’d love to submit to that I think could understand how and what I write and what my priorities as an author are.

Morgen: It sounds like you and your sister are doing well as you are. If it ain’t broke… Are your books available as eBooks? If so what was your experience of that process? And do you read eBooks?

P.I.: Last question first: I do not read anything at all since I’ve returned to writing seriously. Not that I don’t want to, but I have my own voice which is different and I’m very paranoid of absorbing anyone else’s. Plus I’ve read everything from Milton to Mad Magazine during my life so that’s given me a wonderful base for writing.

Morgen: I have a rubbish memory (author Steve Bowkett told me off once for saying that! )

P.I.: Addressing the first two questions, all of my books, excepting the cozy mystery in print, are ebooks. As I said, my first real novel (trilogy) was with a new e-publisher, Desert Breeze Publishing, and that experience was beyond lovely! The process was both a learning experience and a joy. I truly am happy that I began with a publisher rather than self publishing since it prepared me for self-publishing later. I learned to work with a fiction editor, learned revision is not a horrible torturous process and that working with professionals makes you that much more professional yourself!

Morgen: I think any experience has got to be a good thing, even if something doesn’t work out (where some authors have had and let go of agents, for instance). Did you have any say in the title of your book(s)? How important do you think they are?

P.I.: Yes I pretty much have the entire say, although for my first trilogy, the overall umbrella title of Future Imperfect was in collaboration with my Editor. I came with the individual titles of the books myself and pretty much any after that. Titles are HUGE. In any genre the title is the major hook of the story. That’s the first thing a reader sees and triggers their interest. There are tricks to coming up with good titles, like keep it simple. There are others but talking about them would turn into a class, lol!

Morgen: I love titles and the quirkier the better, but yes, simple and clever is good. Apart from anything else they have to tell the reader what the book is about… or hint at. Who designed your books’ covers?

P.I.: All of my covers with Desert Breeze Publishing were done by the in-house artist Jenifer Ranieri who kicks major ass. Her covers are better than many of the big houses. She’s the best out there I think.

Morgen: They are very striking. What are you working on at the moment / next?

P.I.: I’m too superstitious to talk about them—an old Hollywood habit I can’t and won’t break, LOL!

Morgen: No problem. Do you manage to write every day? What’s the most you’ve written in a day?

P.I.: I don’t always manage writing every single day unless I’m on deadline with a publisher and then it’s constant until I go to bed. I’m the type that needs deadlines desperately or I won’t get anything done! I think the most I’ve ever written in one day was five thousand words.

Morgen: I need deadlines – give me a Story A Day or NaNoWriMo and I write like crazy – I just find the time.  Do you ever suffer from writer’s block?

P.I.: Some people think it doesn’t exist but I experience it constantly. I think it comes from author insecurity—can I come up with something as good as my previous work? What if I can’t? And most of all, can I come up with anything at all? I get literally “stuck” at points, even if I’ve got the plotline(s) all worked out except the details. I can’t get out of it by walking away usually. The only thing that really works for me is to get up, put on my favourite music and blast the hell out of it. I don’t listen to music when I write though. Many authors do but I cannot. I have to concentrate on one or the other but never together. Music takes me to another place and frees me from the frustration of writing. Yeah, I know I’m weird.

Morgen: If that’s the case then there’s a lot of us weird people out there. A question some authors dread: where do you get your inspiration from?

P.I.: Oh, I don’t dread it at all. I do have a secret place (hmm, I seem to use the word “secret” a lot…) that I go to that always, always kicks me into gear and that I will never reveal. But so many things can trigger creativity—the weather does it for me a lot. Since I live in Los Angeles I don’t get to experience a lot of rain and so I revere it when we do get some! Travelling also triggers things and also gives a wider experience of casual ‘research’—it’s difficult to set a story somewhere you haven’t been. Pictures from magazines help too.

Morgen: And I’m sure the internet helps considerably. Do you plot your stories or do you just get an idea and run with it?

P.I.: I’d say half and half these days. I used to just “pants” it (writing by the seat of your pants rather than plotting it out) but how I picture my plots is a double rainbow. The top rainbow is the overall theme and plot of the novel or novels and the lower rainbow is the details and actual story itself.

Morgen: So many interviewees have been ‘pantsers’ (as I am) – I guess it’s what works for most writers because their characters take over. Do you have a method for creating your characters, their names and what do you think makes them believable?

P.I.: Many times the name comes first. In my latest novel, Isadora DayStar, came from the term DayStar. I used watch a show called “CreationScapes” which showed astounding landscapes with Biblical quotes. The channel itself was called the DayStar network. I thought “what a great last name for a sci-fi space character!” The first name Isadora just popped up and voila it fit perfectly. I was trying to see if I could create a heroine that I hated (long story about another author) so I was trying to make her repulsive as possible. That didn’t happen and she became a labour of love for me (I have a definite thing for losers, lol). As if destined, I happened to be looking at a website of hairstyles, not really thinking of anything and in the middle of a page of about 75 head shots of men and women with styled and glamorous coifs was a picture of an extremely thin woman, perched on a column and a softly spiked haircut. It was Isadora come to life.  Other times the picture comes first. For Crucifying Angel, my heroine Payce Halligan, came from a shot of a woman doing target practice in uniform. I loved the picture and kept it thinking I’d use it someday for something. When Future Imperfect began, I knew she was Payce. I LOVE casting my characters with pics of actors or in the case of Isadora, some unknown woman. One day I’ll post that shot and I’ll find that woman whoever she is! I generally know what they look like, but pictures gives me their physical details. I give my characters names that are both memorable and unique and try not to go over the top with too odd names. As for them being believable, I give them lots of guilt. Lots of it. It’s their psychology that makes them real. People deal with guilt and for the most part it’s a universal experience. Plus the more intense the internal conflict, the more intense the plot. Suspense is a big thing and that guilt drives it along.

Morgen: I quite often use pictures in my Monday night workshops and it’s amazing what we come up with from just a photo of someone random. I love it. You mentioned earlier that you write short stories. Apart from the word count, what do you see as the differences between them and novels and why do you think they’re so difficult to get published?

P.I.: Novels differ from shorts in that in a novel you can expand on the story, include subplots, generally take your time in writing it and make it as complex as you want. In a short, you’ve got to establish the characters, their problem, the plot and resolution and make it all make sense in the end and within a set amount of words—it can be more of a challenge than a novel in those ways. As for more difficult getting short stories published—I’ve never really had a problem with that. I once heard an adage from an editor at a major publishing house (before I even started writing seriously) that publishers / editors are hesitant to publish short stories because they are afraid that the author lacks the discipline to write an entire novel. I have to admit that I’m a tight concise writer, probably from being a reporter, and word count is difficult for me but not because I can’t sit down and write something the novel out fully—I can but I tend to use say, five words rather than twenty-five, a definite word count killer.

Morgen: Which is certainly no bad thing… especially for the likes of (being a short story writer more than anything else). Are you involved in anything else writing-related other than actual writing or marketing of your writing?

P.I.: I belong to major writing organizations like Sisters In Crime and previously Romance Writers of America. They are major support systems for writers of all levels and great for mingling with other authors.

Morgen: A few authors have mentioned Sisters In Crime and every time I say I’ll check them out and then get distracted. Who is your first reader – who do you first show your work to?

P.I.: Believe it or not my mother. She’s honest enough to point out weak spots but incredibly supportive.

Morgen: Oh so’s mine but she dislikes most of what I write because it’s too dark (she likes Pam Ayres light and fluffy poetry). Do you do a lot of editing or do you find that as time goes on your writing is more fully-formed?

P.I.: I try to edit as much as I can while writing, again the journalism background, but I did once have an editor who told me I had a “fear of grammar” lol! She was right of course.

Morgen: How much research do you have to do for your writing? Have you ever received feedback from your readers?

P.I.: Since most of what I write is futuristic I’m freer to create and make rules up as long as they have verisimilitude (look it up authors and readers). I occasionally do some research usually for setting and protocol if it’s a military based story such as Future Imperfect or Isadora.

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

P.I.: First the trigger happens to give me the initial idea. Most of the time I’m running errands so I have time to let the idea percolate in my head—setting, characters, a premise that’s workable or unique or interesting. I pull out my pen and pad collection and try to write up a little scenario if I can maybe a motive or two. Then I think about the characters—who they are, what they want, how many of them there should be, what type personality my main characters have and how they feel about each other and how they interact. How the setting affects each character and the story. It’s all in very general terms at that point however. Plus, I’ve been trying to get a ritual before I write like other authors do but I can’t. I have to just sit down and write, damn it!

Morgen: That’s my trouble – too many distractions. I’ve just been invited to join a group called Tuesday Tales which is great as it gets me writing a short story a week. I can find the time – I’ve written more than 50,000 words each November the past four years for http://NaNoWriMo.org (and http://StoryADay.org last May) as I mentioned earlier. Do you write on paper or do you prefer a computer?

P.I.: You know I do get the occasional urge to write out a scene on paper. It finally came back to me a few weeks ago—that urge to pick up a pen or pencil and just scribble. I prefer the computer because it’s faster and it makes creativity move faster. But I really worry when teachers say they think that teaching cursive writing should be stopped. It’s how mankind learned to first communicate and has always been at the base of civilization. If they stop teaching children this, I believe their tactile learning will diminish or disappear altogether and we’ll have future generations of regressed intellect because they won’t have the capacity to write, communicate or advance intellectually. Their foundation of learning and advancing will be gone. If you look at all man’s eras of civilization that were developed successfully, they all had some type of writing by hand or rock when necessary that allowed ideas to develop, communication to occur and history to be written and remembered. If we remove cursive writing we’re doomed. Okay, that’s my little soapbox.

Morgen: Oh no, carry on, I like a good soapboxing. Some writers like quiet, others the noise of a coffee shop etc. Do you listen to music or have noise around you when you write or do you need silence?

P.I.: I like to have silence but I don’t get much. My desk sits in a corner of the living room and the television is constantly on in the background. I’ve lost some masterpiece phrases or sentences because a commercial comes on and invades my brain and distracts me. Music I never listen to while writing and as for a coffee shop? No way in hell. I’ve tried it several times but I get more distracted by the people there than I do with the TV blasting in my ears!

Morgen: Oh so would I. It takes me forever to concentrate when there’s something going on, to the point when I sometimes stop, which is not good. What point of view do you find most to your liking: first person or third person? Have you ever tried second person?

P.I.: I only write first and third. I don’t really like any of the others to write or even read. Some I even find annoying and off-putting as a reader.

Morgen: Second is certainly an acquired taste. I love it but then I did say (agree with you earlier) that I’m weird. Do you use prologues / epilogues? What do you think of the use of them?

P.I.: There should be some type of rule that prologues and epilogues should never be over a page and a half and that’s sometimes too long! I’ve used both and love them but I try to keep them short and as a teaser in the prologue. Pages and pages of prologue lose me and pretty much everyone I’ve ever spoken to, lol! That’s the key to the problem with prologues; authors think they have to explain things that should be taken care of in the book and plot. Epilogues the same way; they should tie up any loose ends not explained away in the novel. But again keep it short.

Morgen: Absolutely. Do you have pieces of work that you think will never see light of day?

P.I.: Oh my God, yes! But at least I don’t burn them in the fireplace like I used to when younger—which may not be a good thing, lol. Some of them should deserved to burned!

Morgen: No! You’d never know whether you’d change your mind. Sometimes I go back to stuff that I think was rubbish and realise that it’s not that bad (other times, of course, I don’t ). What’s your favourite / least favourite aspect of your writing life?

P.I.: Favorite is when I have a character(s) that I literally love and writing scenes that I particularly love even though those may be hardest to write. Isadora had scenes like that where I had to reduce her to utter desperation and humiliation. That was both agonizingly difficult but also the most intense and rewarding. Oh, and casting my characters—that is the most fun of all for me!! My least favourite things I’d count as doing promotion and marketing myself mainly because it takes so much time and energy.

Morgen: This has been one of my most consistent questions / answers. We all want to write and let someone else do the marketing. If anything, what has been your biggest surprise about writing?

P.I.: I think it would have to be my dedication to it and the professionalism and discipline that I’ve learned and hopefully mastered.

Morgen: Because you want to do it. What advice would you give aspiring writers?

P.I.: They’re going to hate this but I tell everyone the same thing: be your own harshest critic because then no one else will have to. Be brutally tough on yourself without beating yourself up. But you have to be honest: if something isn’t working or is trite and clichéd you have to be professional enough to admit that and to fix or remove it without whining.

Morgen: What do you like to read? Any authors you could recommend?

P.I.: Oh, man, I’ve read everything on the planet! But my personal taste in fiction is ancient historical; Christian is okay but it doesn’t have to be religiously themed. I love Taylor Caldwell even though she’s not contemporary; Colleen McCullough and her Masters of Rome series is my current favourite and she’s my latest hero, a genius and a great writer! Stephen King although that might seem clichéd but I always recommend him for new and experienced authors—pay attention to the way he treats inner monologue.

Morgen: Stephen King’s book ‘On writing’ has been the most recommended so not clichéd at all. Is there a word, phrase or quote you like?

P.I.: From Mary Stewart’s The Crystal Cave: “The gods only go with you if you put yourself in their path.” It’s never failed me.

Morgen: What do you do when you’re not writing?

P.I.: I’m crazy over flower gardening! Music is my life and always will be and travelling is a must for a half-breed Rom Gypsy LOL!! Parties? I LOVE hosting them because I love cooking!! You have to be creative, inventive and be gracious enough to make every visitor feel they’re the only one there! One day I’m going to invite all the authors I know to a huge party!! It may even be a costume ball or party!! Yeow! I’d love that!

Morgen: Oh so would I (you know me now ). Are there any writing-related websites and/or books that you find useful and would recommend?

P.I.: Yes as a matter of fact!! I’m a great believer in random generator sites especially for science-fiction, fantasy and even historical assistance!! I did an entire two-part blog post on them! Below is a list of the best ones I’ve found though I’m sure there are tons more!

1. Seventh Sanctum: This is one of the best for science fiction and magic and if you have some development skills you can even contribute your generator for others to use! Highly recommended!
2. ChaoticShiny: This is the other best generator, especially for fantasy based on RPG and is for “people who write game or live in fantasy worlds of their own creation”. Highly recommended for fantasy & alternate history writing.
3. ScaldCrow: Interesting but limited and limited to actual RPG rather than directed at writers.
4. Squid: Intense generator with real and imagined world generators (Afghanistan, Egypt, France, Japan and Congo to name just a few!). Definitely worth checking out!
5. Serendipity: Revamped and based a lot on Les Mis but specifically for fantasy authors! Serendipity has name generators from French to Japanese and bonus villain names. Recommended.

Morgen: I could add http://scriptfrenzy.org to that list. In which country are you based and do you find this a help or hindrance with letting people know about your work?

P.I.: I’m USA born and bred so to speak. A thorough American, lol! I live in Los Angeles and of course my career was mostly in entertainment—radio, record labels, films, TV—where else could I be? It’s a definite help because you learn what is commercially viable and what isn’t and what works and doesn’t and how to keep abreast of trends. Plus it’s the craziest industry on the planet Earth!

Morgen: So I’ve heard. If a form of travel is invented that’s quicker than planes and it’s impossible to get travel sickness on, I’ll be there. Are you on any forums or networking sites? If so, how valuable do you find them?

P.I.: There’s nothing better for a new writer than a Yahoo writing group! The best and first one I ever joined led me to my first published novels! My favourite is still writingandpublishing (no spaces). Search Yahoo Groups & tell AlleyPat I sent ya’!

Morgen: I’ve signed up to Yahoo and these interviews are automatically posted but I’m not sure where to – I’ve not investigated yet – I’m such a slacker, aren’t I? Where can we find out about you and your work?

P.I.: Several places: my official website: http://thewordmistresses.com, http://desertbreezepublishing.com, http://Amazon.com, http://smashwords.com and finally my blog: http://www.pibarrington.wordpress.com (Future Imperfect). If anyone would like to communicate with me directly: wordmistresses@yahoo.com

Morgen: Is there anything you’d like to ask me?

P.I.: Yeah. How the heck do you manage to do all this stuff? You’re a SuperHero!!

Morgen: Ah, thank you. I started these interviews in June 2010 and it’s snowballed from there. I love doing it but the only way to fit everything in is by sleeping too little. I rectified that – quit my day job as of Christmas Eve eve but am still trying to escape! Thank you P.I., lovely to speak to you again.

I then invited P.I. for an excerpt of her writing and the following is from ‘Isadora DayStar’:

After she’d serviced him, she stood fluffing the Mohawk ridge on the top of her hair in quick nervous movements before a small mirror, glancing back at him and her black bag with her gun inside it, waiting for the chance to kill him. He stood up and began pulling on his clothes and she walked to the table where her bag lay, sliding a hand into it and grasping the gun to slowly pull it out. Before it was halfway out he yanked it out of her hand, spun her around to face him and lifted her up, slamming her against the wall making the mirror jump. He thrust the gun up against her crotch.

“Let me give you three pieces of advice on assassinating people,” he hissed at her. “One, never get close enough to your mark to give them an advantage. Two, never put down your weapon, and three, always, always, get half the money up front.”

If you are reading this and you write, in whatever genre, and are thinking “ooh, I’d like to do this” then you can… just email me and I’ll send you the questions. You complete them, I tweak them where appropriate (if necessary to reflect the blog ‘clean and light’ rating) and then they get posted. When that’s done, I email you with the link so you can share it with your corner of the literary world. And if you have a writing-related blog / podcast and would like to interview me… let me know. You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything… and follow me on Twitter where each new posting is automatically announced. You can also read / download my eBooks and free eShorts at Smashwords.

Unfortunately, as I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t review books but if you have a short story or self-contained novel extract / short chapter (ideally up to 1000 words) that you’d like critiqued and don’t mind me reading it / talking about and critiquing it (I send you the transcription afterwards so you can use the comments or ignore them) on my ‘Bailey’s Writing Tips’ podcast, then do email me. They are weekly episodes, usually released Monday mornings UK time, interweaving the recordings between the red pen sessions with the hints & tips episodes. I am now also looking for flash fiction (<1000 words) for Flash Fiction Fridays.

 

Blog interview no.251 with writer Darlene Jones

Welcome to the two hundred and fifty-first of my blog interviews with novelists, poets, short story authors, biographers, agents, publishers and more. Today’s is with Darlene Jones, author of ‘Embattled’ which she describes as “adventure and romance with a touch of sci-fi magic”. A list of interviewees (blogged and scheduled) can be found here. If you like what you read, please do go and investigate further.

Morgen: Hello Darlene. Please tell us something about yourself and how you came to be a writer.

Darlene: I live on Vancouver Island, Canada and spend winters in Mexico. I write, read, and body board when I’m in Guayabitos. I love my granddaughter, the views of the ocean from my desk, and chocolate, which should be its own food group.

Morgen: I have a friend from (in) Mexico. I’ve not been but it sounds lovely. And I used to work at a chocolate factory (in the office but I was in charge of the sample room, which made me a very popular person!). I’ll jump straight in and ask you whether you have an agent for your writing and whether you think they’re vital to an author’s success?

Darlene: I used to think an agent was important until I went to a large writing conference in the US in August. We learned that, with the advent of eReaders, traditional publishing is rapidly falling by the wayside and that the big publishing houses no longer give advances or do any marketing for you. That was when I decided to self-publish.

Morgen: Me too, and isn’t it great? The tide (sorry to pun your earlier reference to body boarding, which does look like fun!) is definitely turning (a terrible cliché, I’ll try not to do that again) in the author’s favour. You said “self-publish”, are your books available as eBooks? If so what was your experience of that process?

Darlene: My books are available in all eReader formats. It was relatively easy to do (I hired a pro to do the formatting) and uploaded my manuscript. I think that’s the way of the future and think how many trees we are saving!

Morgen: And less lorries to transport them, and so on. I mentioned ‘Embattled’ in the introduction, presumably you have a say in the title / covers of your books?

Darlene: I have total control and love that aspect of self- publishing.

Morgen: Oh, me too. What are you working on at the moment / next?

Darlene: I have published the first of 4 books. The second and third are done and I’m working on the fourth. Since I just published the first one, most of my energy now is going into marketing.

Morgen: It does take a lot, I’m learning that. Do you have a method for creating your characters, their names and what do you think makes them believable?

Darlene: Good dialogue makes characters believable. Names are so hard. An author lives with his or her characters for a long time. You have to like the names and they have to suit the character you are creating.

Morgen: Do you write any non-fiction, poetry or short stories?

Darlene: My blog is a series of non-fiction short bits that readers seem to enjoy.

Morgen: I’m biased (being a short story writer / reader) but short is good. What’s your favourite / least favourite aspect of your writing life? Has anything surprised you?

Darlene: I love the creative process, playing with ideas. I’ve been surprised at how characters can take over. I’d heard that happened, but didn’t really believe it, until it happened to me.

Morgen: I know! Non-writers / readers would think we’re mad to say such a thing but it’s got to be my favourite aspect. What advice would you give aspiring writers?

Darlene: Don’t give up!

Morgen: The best three words next to “I love you” (or in the case of my dog “Want a cuddle?”). Where can we find out about you and your work?

Darlene: www.emandyves.com

Morgen: Thank you so much for answering these questions today,

Darlene: Thank you for giving me this space to promote my book.

Morgen: You’re very welcome. Speaking of which, Darlene’s books can be found on Amazon.com (for the Kindle) and Smashwords.com (for all other eReader formats).

If you are reading this and you write, in whatever genre, and are thinking “ooh, I’d like to do this” then you can… just email me and I’ll send you the questions. You complete them, I tweak them where appropriate (if necessary to reflect the blog ‘clean and light’ rating) and then they get posted. When that’s done, I email you with the link so you can share it with your corner of the literary world. And if you have a writing-related blog / podcast and would like to interview me… let me know. You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything… and follow me on Twitter where each new posting is automatically announced. You can also read / download my eBooks and free eShorts at Smashwords.

Unfortunately, as I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t review books but if you have a short story or self-contained novel extract / short chapter (ideally up to 1000 words) that you’d like critiqued and don’t mind me reading it / talking about and critiquing it (I send you the transcription afterwards so you can use the comments or ignore them) on my ‘Bailey’s Writing Tips’ podcast, then do email me. They are weekly episodes, usually released Monday mornings UK time, interweaving the recordings between the red pen sessions with the hints & tips episodes. I am now also looking for flash fiction (<1000 words) for Flash Fiction Fridays.