bookview review interview
"How did publishing your first book change your process of writing?"
At the outset, I admittedly knew very little about the publishing industry, the Chicago Manual of Style or what it was going to take to bring my story to life. With the help of patient coaches, promotional professionals, casting directors and editors I started along a steep, but fun learning curve. The greatest challenge was not in the crafting of the words or the storylines, it was primarily about formatting, structure and dialogue punctuation. In the kind of writing that I did during my professional career I rarely used these rules and either forgot or had never learned them in the first place. Also new was exploring social media, teaser trailer production and audio auditions.
Writing my second book has been far less time consuming and has allowed more time to focus on the creative aspects. The overall process is far less daunting and I’m confident in facing and providing guidance in all the publishing process steps. You never stop learning, though!
"What sort of a relationship exists between you and the characters you created in this book?"
That’s a great question. The characters that I created are based on the kinds of people that I enjoy or like to spend time with. In the case of the antagonists, they are the kind of people whom I loathe or fear the most. In developing these characters they gradually take on somewhat of a life of their own. While I consciously determine the final destination where the book is heading, the characters themselves usually tell me what route we will take to get there. I become their special conduit to the manuscript for actions that often come as a surprise, even to me. When I explain this to some people, I get some very strange looks. Others, especially writers, understand completely.
"What kind of research do you do, and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book?"
In the genre and for the type of story that I write, establishing an accurate historical setting and precise details of locations, distances and timeline are crucial to me. This allows the story to be entirely believable while being principally fictional. Before I begin writing and later as the manuscript progresses, it requires continual research from numerous sources. I easily spend as much time researching as I do writing.
During my formal university education, particularly with history, I developed useful research habits and methods for writing papers. Now writing novels, I dusted off the old methodology and adapted for the digital world. It has been quite effective in assuring accuracy and realism.