Well, that isn't exactly a question, but I've heard the same thing. I'm going to assume you are asking if I myself drink and smoke. If so, the answer is no. I find other outlets for my stress besides being a chain-smoking alcoholic. The benefit of this choice is that statistically, I should be getting a little more creative work done than my traditional counterparts. Now, if you had a question that actually comes in the form of a question, check one of the lists below.
I have a policy in place regarding derivative works such as fan fiction. You can read this policy on my blog to determine if what you intend is within what is allowed. For legal reasons, I have to be careful when I read any work of fan fiction based around my own works. Some fan works could open up a lot of second guessing that is best avoided entirely.
That is a very open-ended question. I read so many books in a year. While not all of them are superb, there's a fair number with interesting ideas or exceptional writing. I may at some point sit down and work out a list of my top five books for each genre that I actively read. I might also list non-fiction works I consider noteworthy. For now, we will just call this one TBA.
If you already follow some of my other social media, you'll notice that anything important shows up on all of them equally. You'll also notice, that each is slightly different in what tends to appear there beyond those important items. This is most pronounced on Twitter.
One of two things has happened to explain why I'm not on the social media in question. The first is that I haven't heard of it, though this is mostly true of newly formed social media or obscure variations. The second and most likely reason is that I have seen the site, but decided not to join. Since I try to do something a little different on each, they take up precious time. I don't want to spend a lot of time on social media if I can help it (better to spend the time on my writing), so I am very slow to adopt new sites.
I ask myself what a media does that none of the others do. I also ask myself how will I utilize that media to offer something of value to my readers. If I can't come up with something for both questions or if the answer I do come up with isn't very compelling, I don't join. I'm sorry if this means I am not on your favorite site, but take heart in the fact that it means I spend more of my time writing the things that drew your attention to me, to begin with.
Yes. Her name is Droya. She appears in The Platinum Chain. She's the central character in the novel and is something of a mascot for me. The idea for her story is the first time I focused myself on writing as more than a hobby. While hers isn't the first book I've written and published, it still holds a place in my heart as a symbol of my professional work.
Unfortunately, not all of the sites I once wrote for still exist. The most notable example of this is from when I was writing for Yahoo. While they are still around as a company, they went through several changes on their freelance writer system and eventually closed their freelance article service entirely. When they switched to in-house only, they reverted all existing articles back to their owners. In my case, any that were sufficiently unique were added to my blog after editing.
If the sites listed are no longer functional, it can be readily blamed on the shifting nature of the internet. I've seen a lot of excellent sites disappear and a lot of good sites shift venues entirely. Suite101 is an example of such shifting. The site went through several major shifts before closing entirely. Before the end, the article layouts had been heavily altered and the majority of the images were lost to the sands of time.
At this time, no. Sorry about that. I am pretty picky about the photos I take, so having them is rare by default. I intend to get some professional headshots done, but for now, the photos that are there are what I have.
The short answer is that it is a page for the press. Most of my fans don't really have any reason to care about that page, but media outlets, interviewers, magazines and other members of the press can find what they need quickly there. They can access relevant information all in one spot. Cover images, press releases, and similar things are what appears there. Readers are free to wander over that page too, but it's just a quick resource tool.
I liked each of the old designs, but I needed to redesign periodically. Several aspects of the original site were no longer serving a valuable function for example. Later designs have been more dynamic and offer cleaner layouts. I've tried to incorporate aspects of the original site, certain color elements. I hope that my readers who liked an older design understand why there is a need to grow and change.
You can find it on the biography page, after the biography itself. It includes dates, but with regard to online articles, it only references when I started working with a company.
I am qualified to teach children age 3 through grade 3 in a school setting, but I am not currently employed as a teacher. I learned a lot of useful things in college, but when it was all said and done, I wasn't comfortable working for the education system as it currently exists. With that said, my education has come in handy both for aspects of my writing career and in homeschooling my own children.
I was first introduced to the trail through boy scouting and became captivated after meeting a few thru-hikers. A close friend and I decided we both wanted to try our hand at it and began researching. He finished his college with a two-year degree and decided he had to go then if he was ever going to. I was still in the middle of college at the time, so couldn't join him. When he completed his own hike successfully, it further inspired me to succeed. It took another five years to afford the time and money to take the trip myself.
I think the most eye-opening job I've ever done was working with the Maryland Department of Corrections. It was far different than a lot of my expectations and a revealing look into human nature. What I learned of both officers and inmates has profoundly impacted my views on both heroes and villains in stories. Another interesting job was working for Kemmer's Greenhouse in Pennsylvania. My understanding of plants and how they grow expanded greatly while there. It has helped me to improve the quality of what I produce for my family. Looking back, I think it was actually my favorite job outside of writing.
Does 'because I was an idiot” count? At the time, it had a lot to do with my belief that online was not the right venue for success. I kept focusing on the wrong areas. This was compounded by the loss of the MacBook I'd been writing on. I still had the files from a few short stories and the RPGs, but nothing to write with. It threw me for a loop.
I didn't begin seriously trying to make a go of my writing again until I was working a day job with a surplus of downtime. When someone I knew found success with online articles, I decided to try. Even then, my activity level didn't jump until 2013. If I had it to do over, I'd kick myself into action way earlier.
After releasing the beta version of the system, my playtesters were no longer able to assist in testing the system. It took a good bit of time to find another set of playtesters who were able to offer helpful insights. I have done some revisions and expansions of the system, but am currently building up funds to pay for the artwork needed for the final release version. Be watching for it.
As I update this FAQ, a book under the working title of Meddle Not. On the off chance that I have somehow forgotten to update this page recently, double check on my social media sites and blog. I do try to update this periodically, but sometimes things slip past notice.
Ignoring for a moment that, once again, this isn't really a question, let me note that I am not my characters. They aren't me. I know that is a shock to some, so I want to get that out there up front. Every protagonist I write has made both good and bad choices in life. They have ideas and opinions that I don't agree with. Each has talents and flaws that make them more complex. There isn't a single character I've ever written who champions my ideals.
This is true of my antagonists also. Unless I'm writing something about Satan, don't expect them to be absolutely evil. Even if I do write the devil, he'll probably have traits that make him sympathetic. This isn't me advocating anything. It is me giving characters the depth and variation required to feel real. I'm sorry you think I'm terrible because of something a character did. Remember the character did something that managed to draw a passionate response from you. He or she wasn't so flat that you brushed them off. I'll count that as a victory for my characterization.
Sometimes I agree with what happens in a story, sometimes I don't. I tend not to write towards a moral, though by the nature of storytelling, a moral will form regardless. Some of my favorite authors lost my interest over the years when they focused on the same few things. They began to circle the wagons around a moral stance and everything they wrote settled firmly into it. It's off-putting when novels in a series have a flow that suddenly shifts in a jarring direction towards some new belief on the part of the author.
I think the worst case of this was where the author got so caught up in a single viewpoint that it broke the fourth wall in a series where that wasn't a feature. In the final novel of the series, they were all but beating the reader over the head with the author's personal beliefs. The entire final chapter was so off-putting that I never picked up another book by the author in question. An author who'd helped forge my desire to be an author!
I don't think that is fun to read sermons. I doubt it's fun to write. Yes, some of my beliefs will appear in some of my works, but since there will be beliefs very different from my own as well, I hope that they won't stand out. To me, I want to respect each character enough that the reader can empathize with them.
By that, I'm assuming you mean besides proof-reading. I do, but only after time's passed. I like putting distance between myself and the story. It lets me enjoy the work as a reader and also offers me a chance to review what I've written with fresh eyes. It's amazing how many typos and plot holes you catch when you have had time away from a work of fiction. If I did my job well, they won't matter because the story's just too engaging.
All over. I get ideas while I am hiking. I get ideas from dreams. I get ideas from some passing phrase I overhear. I even get them from watching nature programming. One of the big reasons I've moved around so much in life and tried out so many jobs is that I love to experience and learn new things. I think some of the best authors have made a point of continually taking on new tasks. It's very easy to get into a rut if you never grow.
I don't seem to suffer from it way some authors do. I think some of why I don't find myself at a loss for ideas because of how I have remained active in expanding my knowledge and experiences. The rest of it is the willingness to slow down and let my subconscious mind work on problems right along with my conscious mind. Despite this, as I'm not putting out six books a year, I'm clearly not super productive despite avoiding writer's block. I tend to suffer more from depression and anxiety. No matter how many ideas I have, it is hard to get myself working in a low period. Making my daily word count becomes a struggle, not because I don't have the words, but because I just feel so drained that getting them out is like pushing a boulder up a hill.
The short answer is yes. I don't believe that being born with a name determines who we become. That being said, in literature it's a way to convey something about the character right away. They may be true to their name or play against type. I also believe that your name influences how you grow up and behave. Someone with a common name may seek to distinguish themselves, for better or worse. Certain names are targets for being picked on. Our names don't decide who we are, but they're a factor in how we develop.
Honestly, it varies with each new work. With short stories, I do a basic outline of key elements and events, then brood on it for a few days. When I sit to write, I adjust that outline based on any new ideas I came up with. With novels length works, I often build the world and some of the characters. I then work out potential plots, themes and set a general direction for the story. The degree outlining varies greatly, but lately I've done outlines almost 1/4 of the book's finished length. By contrast, however, the project under the working name of MEDDLE NOT is being written without an outline at all. One day I may settle on a permanent method that works best for me.
That's tough to give an answer to. Short stories usually get two drafts, but sometimes more. Novels get an outline (which is more or less my first draft), an initial written draft, a second draft for line edits, and a third draft for copyedits. From there, it's a matter of what goes on between the agent/editor and I. The results of that dialogue decide how many more drafts I go through.
While I don't intend for my works to be public domain while I'm still alive, I like the idea of a universe written where others can share beyond just fan fiction. Much as the works of H. P. Lovecraft have grown into a much richer tapestry thanks to the additions from other authors, I would like to see the same of my own horror universe.
I never saw myself as a horror writer. I think it's clear I see myself more firmly rooted in the realm of fantasy. That being said, I discovered I have a skill for writing horror. From the very first horror story I wrote, others were drawn to the worlds I was building. They would speak about how the fear had seeped into them to a degree that it followed them into the real world. I know not everyone would feel that way, but it was entirely unexpected for me.
I pondered my feelings on the matter for a long time and realized that many of the stories were shorter works about small parts of what could easily be a larger universe. Many followed events around strange creatures that existed unknown to the better part of their own world. Strange and haunting creatures that somehow escaped modern knowledge. In a word, Cryptids.
More importantly, I have seen several universes that had extended beyond their original authors. Not just works that have gone public domain fall into this category. Some modern writers have opened their universes up for others to write in. Their works are their own, but the rules of their universes are open for others to use. The things they've created may appear in new stories from other authors. For that, I decided to expand this setting into an open world for others to write in.
I suppose I could have, but one of the elements of Lovecraft is that much of it is tied up in the Cosmic Horror. A reality so far from what we know that it invalidates even our sanity. We are insignificant beings who occupy a meaningless moment between greater events. For the Cryptidverse, I wanted to focus on things a little more grounded. The fear isn't the unknowable, but instead the unknown. Things that can exist, yet elude us despite our belief that we've explored all there is to see.
I wanted a world populated with beings more visceral and real for the people of that world. Not so alien that sanity falls away before them, but instead just plausible enough that those who've encountered them can't deny them. Things just alien enough that those who’ve not encountered them refuse to accept that they could exist. That thin line between unimaginable and undeniable where horror can coexist with our own real world.
Since the Cryptidverse is a shared writing universe, the following rules are required for anyone who wishes to write within it.
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