Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Hey there! I’m from the great white north of Canada, and have a Bachelor’s degree in English Literature. I’m a new author, so I haven’t written that many books yet, but I’m working on it. My debut book is in poetry, but I’m going to be publishing some fiction ones soon. I generally like writing darker things, but I like experimenting with happier stories as well. Basically, I don’t like to commit to one genre. But I do commit to writing the best story (or poetry) that I can. Generally when I start a new story I don’t think “Oh, I’m going to write a romantic thriller,” but rather, I write the story and then decide the genre after it is written.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is called Playing in the Dark. It’s a collection of dark poetry. What inspired it was I noticed a theme to my poetry over the years, that the poems were rather dark, so I thought: hey, why not? Thus a collection of dark poetry was born. Some of the poems are completely fabricated from my imagination, well, pretty much all of them are. But some of the poems in the book were inspired by real emotion, and written when I was feeling that emotion.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I feel like I probably should…but I don’t think I have any. I just sit down and start writing. I suppose sometimes I get ideas in weird places. One time I was in a lecture for school and should have been paying attention, but I got an idea for a book. Then that idea unfolded like a movie for me on the way home. Sometimes that happens, and sometimes I only get a snippet of an idea.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Abarat by Clive Barker was the first book that influenced me to start writing. It was in the summer going into grade ten and after I finished that book I decided that I was going to write a novel. And I did. It’s not published yet but I’m working on it. Other than that I don’t have any huge influences. I read books regularly and I’ll see what the author is doing and experiment with it in my own writing.
What are you working on now?
Right now I am working on Christmas short story that I hope to be ready at the beginning of November. I also have a romantic thriller in the works (also a short story) that will come out sometime near the beginning of the new year. And I am working on a full length novel which I’m not exactly sure of the genre, but it centers around light and dark, and I suppose is a fantasy of some sort. It’s the idea I got in the lecture that I mentioned earlier. I’m not sure when it will be out but hopefully before or near early summer.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I haven’t really figured that one out yet. I do use twitter, but it hasn’t really sold much books, like any. I also use Google+ but that has performed about the same. I’m hoping that Awesomegang works well as a promotion site. I also only have one book out, and it’s poetry, not exactly a popular genre. So it’s not surprising that sales aren’t rocketing through the roof. But from what I’ve heard the best thing for promotion is to just keep writing, and that’s what I’m doing. And really, you look at the top charts on Amazon or some other book site, and unless the person is popular from some other avenue like YouTube, or a huge blog, most of them have more than one book to their name.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
I would say write what you want to and don’t worry about what other people think or that you’re writing in an unpopular genre. That doesn’t mean forego editing or suggestions by people, it means take other’s suggestions into consideration and then decide for yourself if you agree or not. Also, let there be some rest time between the first draft and the second draft. It doesn’t have to be super long, just a few weeks (but it can be longer if that helps you), and you can a start another project in the mean time. Also, when writing the first draft don’t worry about it being perfect or agonize over doing everything write. Just write the book and then when it’s done you can edit it into a masterpiece.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
The best advice I’ve ever heard is to go where your character wants to. You can have it all mapped out in your head (or on paper) but if your character wants to go a different direction, you have to let them go that way. This sounds a bit schizophrenic, but you have to be flexible. Sometimes you’ll think something will go one way, and then you start writing and it goes a completely different way. Which is fine. If you really want it to go the way you intended you could always just go back and edit it that way. But I think part of the magic of writing is when you just let the story unfold and don’t try to force it to be something that it’s not.
What are you reading now?
Right now I am reading Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. I bought the eighth book not realizing it was part of a series, and then decided to give Outlander a try as I’d heard good things about it and it’s wildly popular. And I must say, it is quite good so far, although I’m not very far into it.
What’s next for you as a writer?
What’s next for me is continuing to write. As I mentioned earlier I have a Christmas short story coming soon, a romantic thriller in the new year, and some sort of fantasy that I’m working on.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Well, I would bring Outlander as I’m not finished reading it yet. I think I would also bring Fiend by Peter Stenson as it’s a zombie novel and if I ran into some other stranded people we could read it around the campfire and scare each other. I think I would also bring Spanking Shakespeare by Jake Wizner, as being stranded on an island I think I would need a good laugh.
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