Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
My name is Terrance Williamson. To date I have written two books. I found my love for the literary process through unfortunate circumstances when I self-published a memoir entitled The Days That Are Given Us where I recall the short, yet impactful life of my son, Lucian. After spending over nineteen months in and out of the hospital, my son lost his battle to leukemia. While nothing can truly ease the burden of mourning, writing became a therapy of its own accord that served in facilitating and channeling sorrow.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Pagan & The Jew is my latest book. I love history and reading about the lives of those who have gone on before us. For some reason I find a sort of connection understanding that while they lived ages ago, they are still bound to the same trials and temptations as us. Others may find this sense of commonality with a colleague, I tend to find it in books, as my introverted temperament dictates. During my reading, I came across the eyewitness account of Flavius Josephus and I was stunned to find the historical fiction world was nearly void of an adaption. I charged myself with the undertaking and have thoroughly enjoyed the process!
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Dark rooms and classical music. How do those people write in a coffee shop? How can they stand the commotion and continuous distraction? Though I suppose the kerfuffle could become a static of its own. For me, I need focus. I close the blinds, turn on a single lamp above my writing desk, and smile as I sit down and find my ‘happy place’ writing and creating.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
The odd thing is I tend to shun fiction. If I do read fiction I tend to stick with the classics. The non-fiction books that have influenced me the most are William Abbot’s ‘History of William the Conqueror’ and Thomas Carlyle’s ‘The French Revolution’. They opened my eyes to how poetic history could be.
What are you working on now?
I’m working on the second installment into The Pagan & The Jew series, and I have to say I’m enjoying the process more than the first book. Not that I didn’t find pleasure the first round, but there were a lot of kinks to work out in my literary process. I’ve got a lot to learn, but I feel with each new week I’m making headway into becoming a successful writer.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
As a new author, I’m working with a few sites to discover which works best. So far, Facebook is the best method. Word of mouth works wonders, but along the way mouths seem to run out.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
As a new author myself, I shall give myself some advise. It’s not entirely pleasant, but this is what I tell myself when I get discouraged (which I’m prone to do): You will fail, this will not be easy, but don’t you dare give up. Push like hell. You can do this. I know you can. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. Fail doing what you love, rather than fail while doing nothing at all. Let people see the passion that you have for the craft, that is what will draw them.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Make connections, not sales. Build a readership in people who like your work and want to read your other books as well. Essentially, make customers for life, don’t focus simply on sales as that is a short term game plan.
What are you reading now?
Actually, I’m broadening my horizons and reading fiction. 1984 to be specific. Orwell is a master at showing rather than telling and is inspiring me to ‘up my game’.
What’s next for you as a writer?
As I said above, the next step is to finish my second installment in The Pagan & The Jew series. Other than that, I keep my sights set on working on my history blog at historyrepeated.net where I explore and examine historical characters spanning every age and era.
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?
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