Well,
I haven't been posting nearly as much as I should. However, I have a good
reason! I've been working hard on my
latest manuscript. More about that
later.
Today,
I'm participating in a "blog tour."
To
tell you the truth, I'm not really sure what that means. Evidently, it's like a blog chain
letter.
Devon
Winters, the wonderful author of ThePerfect Player: Book One of the Caendorian World and avid blogger, wrote
last week and I'm supposed to be writing this week. I'm supposed to answer four questions about
my writing process. Being successfully
married for ten years now, I've learned to just do what I'm told. So here it
goes.
My Writing Process . . . :
Question
1! What am I working on?
As I reported in my last post (long,
long ago), my fantasy series Riddle in Stone is ending. The final book, Blood
in Snow, should be released in July (fingers crossed!). I might someday return to Riddle and
self-publish some additional storied about those characters; however, my agent
would like me to start an entirely new series.
It's a bit of a pain in the ass, to
be honest. I knew Edmund and Pond Scum
and Abbie so well that writing about them was nothing more than recording what
I saw them doing. Now I have to create
new people and new situations. It's
quite painful!
For example, I had this idea for a
character, Magnus . . . a cocky, street urchin type trying to make his own way
in the big dangerous world. I got about
a hundred pages into the story when I realized that he was just like every
other fantasy character out there! I mean, in every fantasy book there seems to
be the upstart kid who has nothing, but he's redeemed by his quick wit and
resourcefulness.
So that wasn't any good. I needed to come up with something new!
Something fresh! Something completely
different than what's out there.
So what I'm working on now is
developing a character that is a little more atypical for the fantasy
genre. Something readers can relate to
but still think . . . "Hey! This is pretty unique!"
I don't have everything completely
worked out yet, but I've been writing about this young kid with magical powers
whose parents were killed by this bad dude. Anyway, this kid has a
circle-shaped scar on his head and a ring that's really powerful. Not to ruin anything, but he has to destroy
the ring by throwing it into a volcano while still maintaining good grades at a
school for wizardry. I think it has
potential. We'll see.
Question
2! How does my work differ from others
of its genre?
Crap! I don't know that it
does. I mean, compared to all the great
fantasy writers (Sullivan, Rothfuss, Tolkien, Rowlings, et al. et al.) I'm
nothing!
What I try to do is create
characters who are like most "ordinary" people. They aren't big and strong and good looking and
tremendously gifted in every way imaginable.
I like characters who are incredibly
flawed and don't get what they want, but learn to deal with it.
Not every hero gets the girl in the
end. Most of us get screwed and tossed
aside when somebody better-looking comes along.
Or we work hard to accomplish something and somebody else takes the
credit. Welcome to the world. If you aren't one of the beautiful people,
it's cold and dark and filled with aching pain that lasts your entire miserable
life. Unless you have a wonderful wife
like mine. Then everything is splendid!
Question
3! Why do I write what I do?
I don't know. Honestly!
When I started writing Riddle in Stone, I wasn't trying to
write a book. I was just practicing writing. I literally started with this guy walking
down a dusty road heading out of town. I
had no idea who he was or what he wanted out of life or what would happen to
him. I just watched as he walked and
wrote down everything I saw. Characters
crossed his path. Some stayed. Some left. And things happened. That was my
story.
Why did I write about those
characters? Because they were there and they
wanted me to write about them. I'm
successfully married. I do what I'm
told.
Question
4! Final Question. How does my writing process work?
I sit down and I watch my
characters. I then write what I see.
Occasionally, my characters do
things that are kind of mindless and those parts get deleted from the
story. But, generally, I just follow my
characters and write down what they do.
It may sound odd, but they're their own people. They have their own likes
and dislikes, whims and desires. I just
let them do their own thing. Who am I to
tell them what to do?
Well, that's it. My answers to four questions!!! I want to thank Devon Winters
for having me do this! Also, if you ever
need a terrific editor...she's your person!
Seriously, she has been a huge help getting my books in good order. If you need a professional editor at
reasonable prices...contact her!
That's
it for now. I have to get back to
writing my yet to be titled story.
Hopefully I can make it into something worth reading.
Until
next time . . .
