What first inspired you to start writing?
I've enjoyed reading and writing since about age 5. As a child I wrote "books" that were molded like my childhood favorite "Choose Your Own Adventures." Unfortunately none of those early works survived, and that's probably a good thing! I was a child of the late 70's, 80's, and 90's, so I was greatly influenced by epic movies like Star Wars and TV series like Star Trek.
Are you a planner? Or do you prefer to dive straight into writing?
At the very beginning of writing 'The Elementals' I tried to just dive straight in, and it was a complete and utter disaster. After about 5 chapters of...whatever-you-want-to-call-it, I decided to start over and map it entirely out. This took several months, and after some 200 pages and nearly 200 chapters I figured that I had a trilogy on my hands.
If you could write anybody's biography, whos would it be?
Movie-wise, I'd say George Lucas. Book-wise, I'd say J.R.R. Tolkein.
What do you enjoy most about writing?
Most enjoyable would be fleshing out an action packed scene exactly how I envisioned it. The novel played in my head like a movie, and when I nail it, it's quite satisfying.
And the least?
Least enjoyable would definitely be the re-writing and editing. I don't even have to think about that for a second. *shiver*
What advice would you give new and aspiring authors?
Have a plan in place from the very beginning. Map out your novel, write it, re-write, and edit it. After you feel it is sufficiently done, grab some fellow writers or friends to read it and give you constructive criticism. Tell them to bleed on it, if needed, and to not worry about hurting your feelings. If they don't understand certain events or your have mistakes, then how would the general readership view it? After making those necessary adjustments, put a plan for marketing it into place. The book won't sell itself! Seek out blogs, reviewers, and sites that are beneficial to authors (like this one!).
What are you working on at the moment?
I am currently working on book two of The Elementals. It is a planned trilogy, and I hope to have book two completed by the end of 2013. Book three hopefully by 2014 or 2015.
Tell us about your latest work and how we can find out more.
The Elementals is my first novel. You can check out details on it, my blog, and other things at my website: http://www.tempestworks.com. The book itself is available at B&N and Amazon, and will be available at other places such as i-books and Kobo soon.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Elementals-ebook/dp/B009TD48BQ
Thanks to Troy for sharing his thoughts with us, only Friday we welcome Cheryl Yeko to the hot seat.
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