Most writers were writers before
Q:
Most writers were writers before they even realized it. What's the first story
you remember writing? What was it about? How old were you? Do you still have a
copy?
A: I have two that I remember. The first my grammie drags out every so often and
basically it was fanfic of this book series about a tall tale teller named
McBroome. I don’t remember what it was about except I was clearly cribbing from
the existing series.
The second was called The Mouse From the Cheese Planet and was for my fourth
grade Newberry-Caldecott award project. It was about a mouse name Nosaj who was
so sick of cheese that he found a veggie planet and basically epoxied it to his
home world. I had no idea of the chaos in the cosmos realigning the planets
would have caused, but I liked the story… a bound copy sits on my shelf at
home.. maybe I’ll bring it to a reading.
Q: I'm your best friend. Tell me about Dead To Me.
A: Dude. I wrote it. That’s all you need to know to get your ass into the store..
chop chop!
Q: I'm your worst enemy. Tell me about Dead To Me.
A:
They always say “know your enemy”, whoever “they” are. Don’t you think you
should get to know me better and read my book?
Q: I'm a stranger on the street. Tell me about Dead To Me.
A:
Hey! You! C’mere! You like Buffy or The Dresden Files? Good. Then I think
you’ll like me… here’s the gist of the book: A new urban fantasy featuring a
man working on the right side of law-with talents that come from left field.
Psychometry-the power to touch an object and divine information about its
history-has meant a life of petty crime for Simon Canderous, but now he's gone
over to the good side. At New York's underfunded and (mostly) secret Department
of Extraordinary Affairs, he's learning about red tape, office politics, and the
basics of paranormal investigation. But it's not the paperwork that has him
breathless.
After Simon spills his coffee on (okay, through) the ghost of a beautiful
woman-who doesn't know she's dead-he and his mentor plan to find her killers.
But Simon's not prepared for the nefarious plot that unfolds before him,
involving politically correct cultists, a large wooden fish, a homicidal
bookcase, and the forces of Darkness, which kind of have a crush on him.
And hey, Charlaine Harris likes it, so you should too!
Q: How did the idea for Dead To Me find you?
A:
You know, I’m not really sure. I like to say it came out of missing Buffy and
Angel when they went off the air, but I was working on it even before then.
Then the other day it hit me. Ghostbusters happened to be on and as I’m
watching, I started thinking “Huh! THIS is why Dead To Me exists…” I like a
nice mix of mystery, paranormal and the funny. I think I owe Bill Murray and
Harold Ramis a quarter or something…
Q: Most writers have a "working atmosphere" of sorts. Where do you do your best
writing? What time of day? Every day or a few times a week? An hour or five at a
time?
A:
This has changed now that I have actual deadlines with my editors and such, but
for the most part I love to write between ten at night and two in the morning.
It’s when my brain has marinated on plot points all day and has been
Pavlovian-ly trained to deliver then. I try to keep writing every few days if
not every day, just to keep momentum and flow going in my narrative. I like
background noise, be it G4 or Mythbusters on the television or music, preferably
something Crystal Method-y.
Q: How do you flesh out your characters in your mind? Do you use scent, music,
clothing, pictures, etc. to help you figure out who these people are? Or do you
let them tell you who they are through their actions? (Who's in charge here, you
or the characters?)
A:
I think I’m in charge in the beginning given the way I write, then the
characters eventually show me who’s the boss. Let me explain my process. My
first draft usually starts with some skeletal ideas and out of the corner of my
eye I can see an end to the tale, but I never look at it directly. I then flesh
out the bullet points of plot that have come to me in a linear fashion and
eventually the characters take over about halfway through. In my mind’s eye, it
reminds me of building that model of the invisible man, starting at the skeleton
and working my way out to the skin.
Q: What was the easiest scene to write?
A:
Without ruining the book for anyone, there’s a scene where Simon & Connor go to
check out a warehouse looking for a certain someone about three quarters of the
way through. This is probably the last scene I wrote and it came about a month
before the absolute final draft had to be in. There had been a transition that
my editor had said was missing so I wrote this scene to bridge the gap. So
between knowing the total story at that point of writing it and knowing my
characters so well at that stage, it was a quick and fairly clean write.
Q: What was the hardest scene to write?
A:
I find scenes where people have to be honest and sincere with each other the
hardest. In my own heart, I’m very sincere, but when I write it there is always
the fear that it will come off as Hallmarky or a leetle too Lifetime Movie of
the Week. Most of my books are people struggling and that’s the way I like to
see them. When it gets all nice or mushy, that’s when I get uncomfortable with
‘em!
Q: Do you find that being a Famous Author has smoothed the edges from your writing
angst? Or has it added a whole other dimension?
A:
It’s certainly put the pressure on to deliver, that’s for sure. Knowing there
is a growing audience for what I write waiting for the next book, it keeps me
focused and hopefully keeps me true to my course with delivering another great
story. I’m now aware that I have AN AUDIENCE and like the eye of Sauron, I feel
their gaze upon me constantly. I don’t know if I rocked the angst thing so much
as the rampant insecurity thing….
Q: You're stranded on a tropical island. You get three luxury items. What are they?
(And you can't pick me.)
A:
Dammit!
Lessee… I’d have to go with a lifetime supply of insulin, which is more
necessity than a luxury really… but hey! What else, what else? A solar powered
mp3 player loaded with all my music… and Iron Chef Masiharu Morimoto to make me
an endless supply of fresh fish sushi during my stay.
Wait… can I get something to fight off a smoke monster should this island have
one?