Gareth S. Young - - 1000 Trillion Suns

Two things every writer needs to do: 1) Write. This is a no-brainer. 2) Find your own voice. And what I mean by this is, don't write for the market. By the time you've finished your "Barry Popper and the Wizard's rock" story, Vampires are the new game in town. Or, Hunger Games. Write for yourself and to your own strengths, then have some faith that your audience will find you. My next victim on the blog is Dan Dillard and he embodies these two important traits. A prolific writer, Dan has several books already available, with a new one coming out on June 1st. He also found his own voice, writing in a genre that he loves. And while he writes, he waits for his audience to find him...by following the blood trail... The Dude abides... Q - Hi Dan, tell me a little about your newest book. The new novel is called "Giving Up The Ghost" and it will be available on Amazon ( http://www.amazon.com/author/dandillard ) June 1st... It's part love...

Gina West: Questionatrix and goofball Read the first part of the interview here: PART ONE ...and now, the conclusion... 18. I know you love comics. How have they influenced your writing? Look out…here comes the boring… Comic books are deceptively complicated. Okay, perhaps not every story, but to create a story in around 26 pages takes a lot of work. The writer has to write as if this is your first ever issue of the comic you’ve just picked up while not boring the guy who’s been following it for a thousand years. Much like a television writer, they have to write to beats so that they end in a way that will make you pick up the next one. They also have to write to the strengths of the artists they work with. And it all has to fit into a picture or a speech bubble. I’d liken individual comic books to the chapters of a story, a long ongoing story, except in each chapter you have to introduce your main character over again and the chapter has to be a stand-alone story while...

Hello everyone! Regina West here. How are you all doing? Today, I’ve donned my leather boots and my favorite corset and whipped the Spartan into submission so that I could take over his blog! He's currently whimpering in the corner. (There, there, Gareth. Yes, you may kiss my boot. Such a good little Spartan.) Kidding, kidding. Mostly. I met Gareth on Twitter where our first conversation was about music and playing guitar. I made the mistake of bragging that I knew how to play a Scottish folk song, and he promptly challenged me to record myself playing it. Although my strumming fingers went numb at the mere mention, I, nevertheless, recorded the song (about 50 times until I got it right) and sent it along with apologies for my clumsy playing. True to form, Gareth was gracious and supportive and forcibly overlooked all my missed notes, a kindness I very much appreciated. Since then, we’ve talked about everything from writing (obviously) to olives (he hates them; I lov...

Where there are Jedi, there are Sith; for every Gryffindor, a Slytherin and in a world where there is chocolate there are also creepy, multi-legged, speedy, crawly things, which run up pant legs and bite you on your ghoulies. (special thanks to ten year old me for the word ghoulies). And, for the purposes of this blogpost, where there is a writer, there must also be an EVIL TWIN! ...MWAHAHAHA... *cough* Okay, maybe not EVIL per se, but, writers do talk to themselves a lot. (Some of them are only capable of holding conversations with their characters!) So, with another book to be released in a matter of moments...and likely wrapping up another by the end of this interview...I welcome back to my corner of space - CAREY HEYWOOD - the wonderfully sweet, and sweet-toothed author of STAGES OF GRACE. Gorgeous cover!! Only this time she's not getting the questions... ...this time I'm going to talk to her EVIL TWIN and ask all the weird crap I deleted from the last interview...

Editing.  Wait! Don't run away, I've brought some help today so, there's nothing to be scared of. Writers discover quickly that writing is basically made up like this: Planning, scheming, ruminating, procrastinating - 10% Actual writing of story - 10% Editing, rewriting, editing again and again and again - 2356% Ok. Maybe my math isn't very good but, the point is, writers spend more time rewriting than writing. Editing is a huge component of the process and it's a horrible drain on your time and your will to live. Luckily, there are peculiar people out there who actually enjoy the process. They live in caves and forests and can be lured from their hiding places with the promise of a good story. These people are called EDITORS. I've been fortunate enough to lure an EDITOR onto my blog. Her name is Danielle Fine, and she might be able to help you produce the story you've always wanted to tell... Danielle Fine Q - Congratulations on your ...