Author Interview - Ralph Ewig

Welcome, Ralph! Tell us a bit about yourself.

Hello everyone, and special thanks to Sam Richards for setting up this interview! I’m a self-described explorer of everything (from outer space to human nature), and in recent years I have started to share some of my exploits in the form of scifi novels and short stories. I was born and raised in Western Europe to parents of German, Spanish, French and Moroccan heritage, and then migrated myself to Seattle in the US at the age of 20 to study aerospace engineering. Seattle being the “Gate to the Pacific”, I picked up strong influences of Asian culture there together with three college degrees, and since then I have worked as an engineer at various space companies along the west coast. Currently, I live in Los Angeles California, and make a living working for Elon Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX).

From my brief research, I can see you lead a pretty active lifestyle – how do you find any time to write?

That is a really good question. Life does keep me busy, and I learned long ago that time is absolutely the most precious (and ultimately finite) resource there is. There is so much I want to do, and you can trade time for just about anything else, but you’ll never get it back! I do lots of work in my head while occupied with other mundane tasks – I’ve had some of my best ideas while taking a shower or working out – so when I sit down at the keyboard, it’s really just to do a data-dump of everything that’s piled up in the last couple of hours or days. Throughout the year, I keep collecting ideas for places, characters, and story lines; only when a given project has reached critical mass do I start the actual writing. It’s become a bit of a winter-holiday tradition for me to bang out a new draft for a novel (most recently for Sadaka, the second book in the Lucid Space series). I also travel quite a bit between California and the SpaceX launch-site at Cape Canaveral Florida, and those long flights are great for getting some uninterrupted writing time.

When did you begin writing and how did you develop to where you are now?

I’ve always loved reading scifi. One of my earliest addictions was my dad’s collection of original Star Trek books. When I took my first creative writing class in high school, I wrote a short story for a Star Trek episode which grew serious legs around the school. As a teenager, I took up Kendo (Japanese style sword fighting) and other students in the dojo introduced me to table-top role playing games like Call of Cthulu, Midgard, and War Hammer 40k. I created game scenarios for my friends, which was a fantastic learning experience because you literally get instant feedback on your story, and you learn how people behave in stressful situations. If you want to know what your friends are really like, share a 24 hour RGP session with them, while everybody is hopped up on caffeine and trying to navigate their favourite character through an alien attack encounter – it can be a real eye-opener! When I got into my twenties, I finally decided to try my hand at the first draft of Eleuthera. Over the years, I re-wrote that book dozens of times, until the advent of self-publishing finally made me put it in front of the public eye in 2011.

Tell us about your books – what are they about?

For me, a good story needs three essential ingredients: interesting characters, a world worth exploring, and “something to say”. In some ways, I really start with the characters and then I’m just along for the ride, watching them grow as individuals and explore the world I build around them. I’m insatiably curious about any form of exploration, both “external” as in space or ocean exploration, but also “internal” as in transhumanism and evolution of life in general. There is beauty all around us, all you have to do is pay attention to it. I want my readers to have fun with my writing and discover wondrous new worlds, but I also want to make them think a little – to look at familiar things in new ways, or maybe even realize something new about themselves.

I see you work for NASA – as a science fiction writer, how much does your work inspire your writing?

To be precise, I’m not a NASA employee; however, the work I’m involved with at SpaceX is mostly funded by NASA, since we are developing a new spacecraft to take both cargo and people to the International Space Station (ISS). In my writing, I draw on my knowledge of astronomy (all of the locations in my stories exist in reality), engineering (most technology in my books is an extrapolation of current capabilities), and even operations. In the last two years, I went through a lot of training to operate the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft from the ground during its flight to the ISS. When we work in Mission Ops, we use a voice intercom system (think radio but it goes over hardwire) to coordinate the various locations and people involved in the operation. If you listen to the conversation on those voiceloops without being in the control room, it gives you a kind of tunnel vision on what’s going on. In Sadaka, there’s an opening scene where a crisis develops on a space station, and I wrote it like a transcript of the voiceloop traffic in the mission control room. It’s like giving the reader the whole picture one pixel at a time, until the entire scene comes together in their mind and makes them go “holy [insert favourite expletive]!” when they suddenly realize what’s going on.

Who is your favourite author and why?

There are so many, it’s hard to pick one or even just a few. Growing up I read a lot of the scifi classics like Asimov and Heinlein. As I ran out of mainstream material and broadened my horizons, I discovered both old and new books which had a lasting influence on me. Going back in time, Norman Spinrad is one of my favourites, together with Edgar Rice Burroughs. Older scifi often has a range and depth of imagination which far exceeds more contemporary books; so little was known then about the realities and technology of our modern world that authors just had to make it up, and the line between scifi and fantasy gets very blurry. More recently there were William Gibson with Neuromancer, Richard K. Morgan’s Altered Carbon, and Peter F. Hamilton’s Reality Dysfunction series. All of these books project not just a technological future, but also new forms of society and human interaction. Last but not least, I’m also a huge fan of Neal Stephenson, whom I had the honour of meeting at Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space company once. His books are awesome fun to read and usually depict mind-bendingly bizarre (yet fully believable) societies; Snow Crash and Anathem are two of my favourites.

You've travelled a fair bit and worked in a variety of vocations – how has this aided you as a writer?

My family is very international; I grew up in Europe but have familial ties to both North America (Canada) and Africa, and close friendships with many people in Asia. It certainly has added to my experiences and interactions with all kinds of people, cultures, and places. But it’s not just different places, but also being a part of different strata in society which I encountered working as a musician, a roadie, a lumberjack, a vineyard apprentice, and with many government and commercial space organizations. There are some stories with great plots, but as you read them you can’t help but think “people just don’t behave that way - lame!”. As a writer, I think it helps to have had interactions with people in all walks of life. A character born into wealth and corporate power will act very differently than one who has lived perfecting the skills of craftsmanship. Two people can have completely different perspectives when looking at the same situation, because all their life they’ve had very different priorities.

Tell us a little about your use of social media to promote your books.

Social media are a powerful tool to let people know of your existence and what it is that you would like to share with them. My heaviest use of social media is probably my blog (www.onehandpublishing.com/blog/ralphewig) where I post any interesting bits on space, design, beauty, scifi, and technology I come across on during my day. All posts are pushed to my twitter feed (@OpenAerospace) which over time has gathered more than 15,000 followers. Ultimately, the work I do in space exploration is funded by the general public, so I feel a strong desire and obligation to share the wonder and excitement I’m privileged to enjoy every day with as many people as possible.

What's the biggest mistake an inexperienced writer can make?

Lack of editing - as an unpublished author, it’s really hard to find someone to edit your story. Online services charge four digit numbers (and there’s always that worry they might rip off your story), and asking friends or family can be emotionally challenging. My mother once came across a draft for a story I had typed up with some pretty explicit content – awkward to say the least! On the other hand, one of my professors in college told me: “A bad idea presented well will fail eventually. A good idea presented poorly will fail immediately.” Be a perfectionist, details matter - no story should ever see the public eye on the first draft, keep editing, polishing, chipping away at it until it is perfect; and then have someone else copyedit it for you for good measure.

And finally, what's the key to successful self-publishing?

I think the key is to look at self-publishing as a journey rather than an event. Don’t expect to wow thousands of readers with your first story when it finally hits the shelves. There are millions of books for people to choose from, and with the availability of ebooks (which never go out of print), that number continuous to sky-rocket. Even if you’ve written the most brilliant book since The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, it won’t matter unless people know it exists and have a way to get their hands on it. After you’re done writing, you need to introduce yourself to your potential readers (marketing), then the presentation of your story needs to convince them to start reading (cover design), and lastly you need to encourage them to share what they thought with as many people as possible (reviews). It takes time to build a base of loyal readers, and once you have their admiration treat them with the respect they deserve. If a tree falls over in the forest without anybody there to hear it, does it make a sound?

Ralph Ewig is the author of “Eleuthera” and other titles – find him on Barnes & Noble, Smashwords and Amazon US. Catch up with Ralph on his blog - http://www.onehandpublishing.com/blog/ralphewig

Author Interview - David Hulegaard

Let's get to know you – give us a brief summary of who you are.

My name is David K. Hulegaard and I am an American author living in historic Oregon City, Oregon. I primarily write science fiction and paranormal books, but I tend to dabble in just about every genre. My brain goes off into too many different directions to stay put in one genre for too long.

When did you begin writing?

As a child, really, but I didn’t try to do it professionally until a couple of years ago. I’m a “talker,” and my friends would always tell me that I should write books. Maybe that was just a polite way of telling me to shut up. I don’t know. After putting it off for a long time, I finally sat down in front of a keyboard in March of 2010 and started work on my first novel. I’ve been writing ever since.

Is it difficult to find time to write with all the other responsibilities of life?

You can always find time. It’s a lack of motivation that hampers most writers. Some days are more challenging than others to sit down and commit to the writing, and it’s on those days that you need to ask yourself if you really want to do this, or if it’s just a hobby. For me, writing is more like the reward I get at the end of a long day. If the day was particularly frustrating, I use that in my writing.

I see you've written a few books – tell us all about them!

I’m currently in the middle of a trilogy called Noble. It’s about a 1940s private detective that is searching for a missing girl. The catch? He discovers that her disappearance is tied to a government conspiracy and an agent gone rogue. Saying any more than that would be spoiling the big surprise twist. The first book is out now, and the sequel, Noble: Bloodlines, is due out by the end of March. I’d like to get the finale out by the end of this year, but I’m not going to force it. My brain tells me which book I need to be working on at any given time.

I’ve also got a novella out called The Jumper. It’s an old fashioned ghost story built around the twenty-five year old death of a teenage boy at a youth community center. The angry spirit of the boy haunts the building and reveals himself to the night custodian. Over time, the custodian stops being afraid and starts trying to help the boy, uncovering a mystery in the process.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t also mention that I’ve got an anthology called Strangers coming out in April. It’s a short story collection centered around the theme of train travel. Each tale explores the dark and twisted back stories of seemingly average people that meet one another on a train. A beta reader told me that he thought it was very Hitchcock-like. I can’t think of a better compliment than that!

What would you say is the key to writing effective thrillers?

Every writer would probably answer that differently, but for me, I think the key is a good twist. You need to tell a gripping story that hooks the reader, but also leave them enough room to formulate their own theories and opinions about where the story is going. Some writers are really good at throwing red herrings, and others are really good at simply protecting their secrets until the last minute. I think either device is great as long as the reader enjoys the ride.

What's your experience of self-publishing? Is it something you'd recommend to others?

Self-publishing is hard. Everything is a challenge. That said, it’s also been the best experience for me. I have complete control over both my success and failure, but above all else, I have an opportunity to share my stories. If I had submitted my books through the big publishers, I have no doubt they all would have been rejected. Why? Because they don’t contain any zombies or vampires. I’m not talking down about those types of books, I’m merely saying that they make money, and publishers are only looking for books that make money. I don’t blame them for that. I mean, making money is why they’re in business.

And what if one of books was to be accepted by a publisher? It would sit in stasis for 2-3 years before dusted off and finally greenlit for publication. No thanks. When I finish a book, I can publish it in less than 48 hours, and I get 70% of the revenue from sales. There are no money-grubbing agents and no bosses telling me to make creative changes to “spice up” my book.

Self-publishing is not a free pass, however. It’s expensive, and very hard to get noticed. You must have your writing professionally edited and you must have an attractive cover. Marketing can be done for little money, but you absolutely CAN NOT skimp out on editing and cover art. Readers need to trust that independently published books are just as good as the famous authors they read. If we abuse that trust and fail them, then we all lose.

Does social media (facebook, Twitter, blogging) play an important role in promoting your books?

Twitter has become the most effective social media tool for authors. Facebook works well for some, but I haven’t had much interest from readers there. I do maintain a blog that generates a modest amount of unique visits. There are also sites like Goodreads and Wattpad that are great for independent authors. Anywhere that a potential reader can interact with you and find samples of your work is a huge plus. For me, I like to offer different content at each site, like a literary carousel.

Which authors and books have inspired your work?

My biggest influences would be classics like Edgar Allan Poe, H.P. Lovecraft, and Charles Dickens. I also love folklore and legends. In regards to modern writers, Bernard Schaffer is my biggest influence. His novels are my textbooks.

And what other sources do you take inspiration from? Films/video-games/music etc.?

I’m sure other writers will cringe by me saying this, but I do love TV, film, and video games. Try as they might, they never seem to rot my brain. Seriously though, I love a good story wherever I can find it. Sometimes it’s in a book, sometimes TV/film, and sometimes in a video game. My Noble trilogy was inspired by a combination of the TV show Lost, the video game BioShock, and the urban legend about the Mothman Prophecies. Intrigued?

Being a writer sounds like a lot of hard work – is it worth it?

I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. It is hard, but I could never find the joy that it puts into my heart anywhere else. I think anyone who creates, be it writers, artists, poets, or musicians, probably knows what I’m talking about. The power to create and shape something with your mind is nothing short of fascinating. People ask me all the time, “Where do you come up with this stuff?” I wish I knew. If I did, I could tap into it at any time and become wealthy.

In all seriousness, I don’t do this for the money. Sure, it would be great to “retire” and call writing my full-time job, but even more than the money I just enjoy the opportunity to entertain people. Getting good reviews gives me “butterflies,” but when someone takes the time out to write me and tell me about their experience with my books, it’s something else entirely. If I could pinpoint any one thing that propels me to continue writing, that would be most certainly be it.

David Hulegaad is the author of “Noble” and “The Jumper”, available on Kindle, from Amazon US and Amazon UK. Find out more about David and his books on his website, http://davidhulegaard.com/ or Goodreads.

Author Interview: John-Paul Cleary

Great to meet you, John-Paul – tell me a little bit about yourself.

I live in a small town in the North-East of Scotland with my girlfriend and our three-year old daughter who claims to be part Disney princess and part mermaid.

It’s cold and windy up here but it’s home.

How long have you been writing? Can you pick out an influence that started you off?

I wrote my first book when I was about eight and put it in the class library at school. I think it was an Enid Blyton inspired mystery and I remember there was a dog in it called Sebastian. I was a bit disappointed because none of my classmates took it out. The teacher didn’t prepare me for that kind of rejection but it’s something you have to get used to as a writer.

What are your favourite authors and genres to read?

I’ve tried most genres but I mostly read novels and sci-fi. My biggest sci-fi influence is fellow Scot Iain M Banks. My favourite novel is The Magus by John Fowles. I’ve read it at least four times. It’s a little dated now but I love the way he messes about with fantasy and reality, and form and content. It’s full of flaws and it leaves lots of things unanswered and I like that too. There’s no reason why stories should always tie up all loose ends. Unanswered questions make you think.

Your book is called Convergent Space – tell us all about it!

Convergent Space is a dramatic sci-fi space opera. The premise I think is quite original. Normally space operas either have Earth at the centre of some grand federation or are about a different galaxy where Earth doesn’t feature. In Convergent Space there is a grand federation called the Renaissance but Earth isn’t part of it. Earth is a faded power, a has-been, an outsider. It was implicated in a terrible galactic crime that destroyed thousands of worlds and has been shunned ever since.

The story revolves around Earth’s 200 year obsession with trying to prove its innocence and thereby regain its lost status. We pick up events when one of Earth’s space-faring investigators finally finds a clue that might just lead to the truth.

All this happens against a backdrop of galactic war as a dark force is rising out of the ashes of the worlds most affected by the earlier catastrophe. And both stories – the one in the past and the one in the present - eventually intertwine.

How important is it for you to receive reader reviews for your book?

Hey, good reviews can make your day; bad reviews can ruin it.

Why did you publish your book as an electronic text rather than a physical book?

Necessity. Convergent Space was turned down by the first 7 or 8 agents I sent it to. I got fed up with the rejection letters so I decided to publish it myself. Actually it was my girlfriend’s idea. It’s one of the best things I ever did.

What are the pros and cons of self-publishing?

There are only pros. You control you own destiny and you don’t have to share your royalties with agents and publishers. And you get to meet nice people like you Sam.

With work, family, and other commitments, how you find any time for writing?

I tend to write secretly when no one’s looking! That means from about 5 am. So it doesn’t encroach on the rest of my life but it does mean I can get quite tired after writing for 2 hours first thing and then spending a full day at work.

Do you have any essential elements in your creative process e.g. time of day, location, silence/noise etc.?

We moved house recently – same town, different street – so I’m looking forward to trying out our new study. I’ll let you know how I get on!

What's your top tip for writers who are considering self-publishing?

I’m no expert but if you’re going to self-publish be prepared to switch from writer to marketer when you finish your book. You will need to devote a serious amount of time to market your book, and I mean serious, like it’s your new job.

Also don’t rush your book out. I got one or two poor reviews at the start for putting Convergent Space out without proofing it properly. That was unforgivable considering I worked as a magazine editor for four years. I should have known better. The version on sale now has been fully proofed I should add!

John-Paul Cleary is the author of “Convergent Space”, available on Kindle, from Amazon US and Amazon UK. Or you can read a free excerpt on John-Paul’s blog - http://convergentspace.blog.co.uk/2011/11/08/excerpt-from-convergent-space-12138037/

Author Interview: Natalie Binder

Who is Natalie Binder? Tell us your story!

I’m 26 years old. I live in rural Florida where I work as a public librarian. It’s a great job in a great community, but I’m not from here. I travel a lot. I went to Bard College at Simon’s Rock when I was 16. After I got my A.A. I went to work with AmeriCorps, which gave the opportunity to travel all over the country and meet all different kinds of people. I worked with a lot of different charities and government agencies, which is what inspired me to go into public service. In 2007, I went to Indonesia as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant. It was an amazing experience that still affects me every day—especially through my writing. I recently graduated with my Master’s in information science. I now get to be a librarian during the day and a writer and book reviewer by night.

How long have you been writing and what first inspired you to express yourself in this way?

I wrote my first play when I was eight. It was about dogs. I was a really quiet and isolated kid, so creative writing was a way to express myself and connect with people. I wrote all through my childhood. But I didn’t finish many stories, and I didn’t publish any. It took me a long time to work up the confidence to show my writing to other people. I’ve just started writing real, complete stories and trying to get published. It’s been an incredible learning experience.

Tell us about your book, “New Year's Day”, Redshift Vol. 1 – what's it all about?

Redshift is a time travel story about a twenty-first century man, J.D. Mitchell, who is suddenly and unexpectedly transported into the distant future. He falls in with a group of prison escapees and ends up as a pirate, traveling across the galaxy in search of a way home.

“New Year’s Day” starts at the end of Mitchell’s story, when he’s been captured by the military and forced to confess to everything that he’s done. Eventually we’ll learn how Mitchell came to be a pirate and why he was “kidnapped” by the future.

There were two real scientific “gimmicks” that inspired the Redshift storyline. The first was that in 2011, when I was working on an early draft of “New Year’s Day,” scientists discovered how to hide events in time. The second is that we are beginning to learn how to record people’s dreams and thoughts. I love that conflict between secrets and exposure. I’m planning to really dig into guts of that with Redshift, while also writing what I hope is a fun space adventure story.

The book is the first in a series of novellas – why did you choose this particular format?

I believe in a relationship between form and function. It was a hard decision. People love novel-length stories. The biggest complaint I’ve gotten about “New Year’s Day” is that it’s not long enough—it ends before people expect it to end. It only takes Mitchell through his first set of obstacles. But for very important structural reason Redshift can only hold together the way I’m writing it. I think that will become clearer when I publish “Surprise, Surprise” and “Deal of the Century” this year. The whole thing is built like a Mobius strip. It’s going to turn back in on itself at the midpoint.

I do think that shorter forms, like story collections and novlets, are a great fit for e-readers. The only problem is that I can’t do a Redshift story every week or even every month. Each one takes a lot of time and effort.

Why did you choose to self-publish, and why did you use Smashwords in particular?

Redshift is kind of a mad concept. I believe that it can compete on quality, but it’s not something a publishing company would or could ever gamble on. And that’s OK. The world is big enough for all kinds of writing and publishing now and many different levels of success.

As a librarian and a student of books, I wanted to self-publish to prove that I could do it. A lot of this has been an experiment for me—OK, how do I make an .epub version; OK, how do I get on a bestseller list; OK, how do I get into this or that category. I spent a lot of time in graduate school making web pages and gaming search engines. Now I get to do it as a hobby. A publishing company would never let me do that.

I chose Smashwords because of their extended delivery service. They put “New Year’s Day” on iPads and Nooks. You can even download it plaintext onto your computer. The ebook market is huge. I didn’t see any reason (and still don’t) to limit my distribution to a particular format. I did format my own Kindle version of “New Year’s Day.” Kindle is a very important platform for self-pubbers. I wanted to be personally involved in that process.

How do you make use of social media (facebook, Twitter, blogging, etc) to promote your book?

I am a huge fan of Twitter. It’s my preferred social network. I’ve also used my Facebook to page to document the writing process and share news. I blog about the books sometimes on http://nvbinder.com/blog/. Generally, though, I’ve found social media a pretty tough nut to crack. I think it’s easy for writers get caught up in the marketing side of self-publishing when they should be focused on craft.

In the months since I published “New Year’s Day” I’ve cut way down on self-promotion and used Twitter to get to know other people, ask questions, and talk about things I like. I’ve also started a blog, http://launchscifi.com to help promote other writers. I still tweet about my new books and blogs and things as they’re released, but I try not to do that too much.

How do you balance spending time writing and all the other pressures and responsibilities of life?

It’s not easy. I’m so lucky to have a full-time job that I love, and that has to be my priority. I’m also involved in the community. And there’s a lot of pressure to tweet and blog and read and on and on during my free time. I have to take my writing time in big chunks on the weekends and very late at night. 10 p.m.-2 a.m. is my usual writing time.

What do you consider the most challenging part of the creative process?

Finishing.

Which books/films/television shows inspire you the most?

I’ve taken inspiration from so many different shows and books that it would be difficult to say for sure. Anyone who reads Redshift, and especially “New Year’s Day,” will see Firefly and Farscape in its lineage. I can’t help that. I love those shows. I’m a very straight-laced person in real life, but my other car is a smuggler’s spaceship.

But take Farscape—the person who created that, Rockne O’Bannon, took his inspiration from Flash Gordon. So when I was writing “New Year’s Day,” I had to go back and read Flash Gordon. OK, well, Flash Gordon was created in the 1930s to compete with Buck Rogers. And without H.G. Wells and Jules Verne, you could never have had Buck Rogers. So Redshift’s great-grandparent is really Wells’ The Time Machine. That doesn’t mean I’ve rewritten “The Time Machine,” or Buck Rogers, or Flash Gordon, or Farscape—or that I’m claiming to be as good as them. I can’t make that judgement. But Redshift fits within a cultural milieu which is all around us and has a long history of literary influences.

You can trace anything back the same way. Star Trek and Firefly have a similar family tree to Redshift. You look at something like House—which is a huge mainstream hit—and it’s just Sherlock Holmes with a different name. At the same time they’re releasing modern versions of Sherlock Holmes that are clearly influenced by Hugh Laurie’s performance as House. That’s been going on since the first time Holmes was adapted for the stage. It’s very circular. So who’s to say who had the first idea? Or what will come out of it next?

What would you say to someone who wants to write and publish a book?

You should do it. If you really have that urge to write, you won’t be able to stop yourself. But I have these pieces of advice: 1) Don’t do it alone. Every successful creative work is a group venture. Get help from other writers. Get help from published writers. Let 40 people read it before you put it out in public. 2) Learn to accept criticism. If you have to explain why a character did such-and-such, or why such-and-such happened, you either need to rewrite that part, or accept that not everybody will get it and move on. You can’t convince people to like the book after the fact. 3) Study craft, not marketing. If you want to sell your story, you need to tug at people’s hearts, not at their wallets. 4) Don’t expect financial success or fame. The average book sells less than 100 copies. That’s not per month. That’s ever. Success is magic, and it’s made by audiences, not writers or publishers. 5) Be willing to spend some of your own money. At the very least you need to hire a smart editor and a talented cover designer. Rock bottom, you’re looking at an investment of at least $600-1000 per book—not counting your time.

I say these things not to discourage people, or to be negative, but to make sure they come into this with their eyes open. Some indie writers seem to take it really hard if their book isn’t a bestseller. Your book is doing OK if you’re selling just a few copies a month. Writing didn’t suddenly get easier because publishing did.

That said, there are huge opportunities and rewards out there for people who are willing to make the leap. No matter what, it’s an amazing life and learning experience. I am so proud of what I did with “New Year’s Day,” and I’m looking forward to publishing “Surprise, Surprise,” very soon.

N.V. Binder is the author of “New Year’s Day (Redshift #1),” available for free on Kindle, Nook and other reading devices. She reviews books at http://launchscifi.com.

My New Year's Resolution: Self-Publishing

Countless times in the past I've made grand plans for New Year’s resolutions, which in reality haven't lasted past the halfway point in January. However, this time I'm really determined to achieve my goal – to self-publish a novel.

Why self-publish? Through my brief work experience in a couple of literary agencies in London, I've seen how frustratingly difficult it is to get a novel published through the traditional means, especially in a genre like science fiction or fantasy. However, self-publishing seemed to be a cop-out in comparison – lots of work and risk, with little chance of reward. Recently though, I've been researching self-publishing through ebooks and have been astonished by the success that a skilled and motivated writer can achieve. In particular, the science fiction author Michael R. Hicks has been a real inspiration – through hard work, perseverance and brilliant stories, he's living the dream!

Here’s my plan in brief:

• Start work on a new novel idea – plan in detail and begin writing (‘This Dark World’ is shelved for the moment)
• Redraft my science fiction short story collection – written for degree, 10,000 words
• Publish collection as a trial run – test the waters, generate interest, maybe earn some pennies!
• Eventually publish novel!

I’ll try to keep you all updated on my progress with regular posts. I’ll have to balance this new project alongside Tweet RPG, but I’m sure they’ll feed and support each other. If you have any advice, insights or opinions on self-publishing, feel free to comment below or send me a tweet!

What do you do when you think God's got it wrong?

An interesting response to the recent debate sparked by Rob Bell's book, 'Love Wins'.

Writing a novel - tips from an amateur

I've been writing my novel 'This Dark World' for about eight or nine months now, and have learnt so much about the process of novel writing in that short space of time. Obviously I've only discovered a microcosm of what there is to know about writing, through my university education and personal experience as a writer. Nevertheless, I think the knowledge I've picked up during my creative process is worth sharing, and will hopefully be useful to other budding novelists out there.

Don't be perfect - I'm terrible for redrafting before it's required. I could probably spend an hour or longer trying to shape a paragraph into perfection, rather than pressing on with writing. It's more time-efficient to keep going regardless of the 'quality' of your work, because redrafting can wait until you've got a finished first draft. I remember reading a quote from an author, who said that her protagonist could switch genders multiple times during any of her first drafts, but she wouldn't worry about it until she had finished, which I think illustrates the point that you need to just slogging on!

Start with the bare bones - This tip kind of leads on from the previous one. It can be really easy to include details in your novel which aren't necessarily relevant to the story, but help you as a writer to understand the narrative and your characters. Try to catalogue these particulars in a journal so that you have them to draw upon if necessary, but don't worry about adding the flesh to the skeleton until the second or third draft. For example, my first chapter of 'This Dark World' contained loads of detail about my protagonist and his environment, but didn't drive the plot at all. I therefore cut this chapter, but I still benefited from writing it because I can use those details when adding the muscles and skin to the text later on.

Generate inspiration, don't wait for it - It can be really hard to make yourself write when you're not in the mood, especially when writing doesn't have a clear/definite financial incentive at the it's conclusion! When you start your novel, you'll probably be brimming with inspiration and drive, but inevitably this will fade. Don't wait for the honeymoon period of writing to magically return; find ways to regenerate it. I often find that my favourite music, books and films can be good catalysts to spark my creativity, so listening to an album whilst I do the washing-up generally gets me in the right mood to crack on with my novel when I'm done! 

Use your time effectively - Achieving progress in novel writing is a difficult task if you aren't organising yourself effectively. I'm not just talking about making time to write - I'm talking about your whole 'life' organisation. Even if you're not in full-time employment or education, you've probably still got loads of different elements of your life demanding your attention. If these responsibilities aren't being addressed properly, you shouldn't try to focus yourself on writing. I say this because there is a real danger that you could turn writing into a sin, something you do when you should be taking on your higher priorities. Once everything else is addressed, find your best time-strategy to get your writing done. You may find it easiest to set aside a certain time of the day/week to write, or you may work best by writing whenever you get a scrap of time. Whatever approach you choose, make sure your family/friends/job/etc doesn't suffer for the sake of your art. At the moment I'm juggling part-time employment, job hunting, youth work and music responsibilities at church, freelance proofreading, spending time with friends and family and being a good husband, as well as writing my novel! It's not easy and sometimes I may fail, but if I can do it, you can too.

Chart your progress - It's really important to feel that you are getting somewhere with your writing, so that the task doesn't become a monotonous grind. Set yourself some targets and try to stick to them - but don't beat yourself up too much if you don't! Remember also that your word count isn't always the best indicator of progress. For example, after showing my incomplete first draft to a small publisher, I was advised to cut a large amount of my writing, so as to speed up the flow of my narrative, and to adjust some of my fantasy concepts. This was a bit soul-destroying, as it felt like I was taking massive leap backwards, but now I can see that even though I had to go from 26,000 words back down to about 10,000 words, the whole event allowed me to improve my story and the overall shape of my novel. Make sure you chart these points in your writing progress, so you can look back and see that regardless of how many words you have on the page, your idea has been growing and evolving.

I've been quite fortunate recently to be experiencing the twin blessings of time and inspiration, which has helped me make a lot of progress with 'This Dark World'. I've now written 20,315 words, which is about 43 pages of A4. This is roughly a third of target word length (50,000 - 60,000). I've separated my draft into seventeen chapters so far, which vary from being less than a page in length to being four or five A4 pages long. I've really been focusing on the 'bare bones' of the novel at the moment, knowing that the incidental notes can be added at a later stage. I'm currently writing a section during which Paul has to face a set of trials, each of which relate to taking up a different piece of the 'Armour of God'. These chapters have been fun to write, as I can let my imagination run wild whilst being inspired by the Word of God.

Click here to see a sample chapter from my novel!

Let me know if this has been helpful or interesting by commenting below or on my twitter/facebook page, I'd love to hear about any writing or other creative ventures that you're taking on at moment!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part One - Review

Directed by David Yates, starring Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint, written by Steve Kloves.

Dark times are coming. All across the land of Britain, men and women huddle in shadowy corners, whispering to one another of the inevitable fate that none of us can elude. Every second draws us closer, ticking away the remaining time before the ominous fear will become reality...when we reach the end of the Harry Potter movie saga!

OK, so that was a bit of a dramatic intro, but it truly is a shame when great film series reaches its conclusion. Think of how you felt when the Lord of the Rings films came to an end (bad example: Return of the King had about fifteen endings); it's a difficult thing to come to terms with. Although the first part of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows does bring with it the beginning of the end, it is nonetheless a thrilling and effective adaptation of J.K. Rowling's insanely popular novel.

HP 7: Part One depicts the outbreak of civil war in the wizarding community, forcing Harry, Ron and Hermione to abandon their studies at Hogwarts as they go on the run, Voldemort's Death Eaters hot on their trail. Harry must follow his task of destroying the seven horcruxes, dark magical items created by Voldemort in a bid to gain immortality. This challenge, given to Harry by Professor Dumbledore before his death, will not be an easy one. As they embark upon their quest, confronting the mystery of the Deathly Hallows along the way, the trio will face all kinds of dangers and trials, threatening their lives as well as their friendships.

After re-watching the entire Harry Potter series so far, it's amazing to see how much the three main actors have grown in their skill and ability. I'm guessing that by now they are pretty much best friends in real life anyway, and so it isn't much of a stretch to portray this on screen. However, this doesn't tarnish the performances of Radcliffe, Grint and Watson in anyway, as they draw you into the fraying relationship between Harry and his best friends. However, it's hard to highlight the three leads in this movie as giving the best performances, when the entire cast is a role-call of the cream of British thespians. If I was going to pick one person who shone brightest for me, it would be Jason Issacs, playing disgraced Death Eater Lucius Malfoy. His portrayal of a broken man who knows he has lost his former status and power is chillingly believable, making you almost pity him.

No doubt there will be those who will cry sacrilege at the choices made by screenwriter Steve Kloves and director David Yates when adapting this novel to the screen, but I agree with their decisions for the most part. I especially liked their choice of where to split the book in two, leaving my taste-buds tingling for the next installment. There were a couple of instances where I felt that tricks had been missed and events mishandled, the blunt addressing of Mad-Eye Moody's death being one example. I felt that the pacing of the narrative work really well however, the drawn-out bleak sections of the story having exciting action sequences interspersed at the appropriate points. I my opinion, this is a very faithful adaptation, with some interesting and effective changes made here and there to made the story suitable for the visual medium. For a more detailed summary of my views on book-to-film adaptations, click here.

Visually, HP 7: Part One is spell-binding (I'm really sorry, I had to use it somewhere!). From start to finish you are sucked into the magical world of Rowling's books, with a mixture of incredible visual/special effects and artistic cinematography. Some of the most beautiful moments of the movie are those set in the wild countryside of Britain, which would feel as much at home in an indie arthouse film as in a fantasy blockbuster. Also worth mentioning are the totalitarian themes and imagery used to depict the Ministry of Magic, now infiltrated and controlled by Voldemort's minions, invoking hints of distopian films such as Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984) and Brazil (1985).

One thing I will admit about this, the latest in the Harry Potter saga, is that the film is definitely intended for those devoted to the previous books and films. There isn't much point watching this movie if you haven't seen those that precede it. I would even go as far as saying that you won't completely understand the plot if you haven't read all the books. Some elements of the story, such as the importance of the wizard Gellert Grindelwald, are included with the assumption that the viewer doesn't require a thorough introduction, which may confuse those less familiar with the series. I don't necessarily think this is a flaw however, because this is the seventh installment of the story, meaning there is a little bit too much to recap at this point. Another small disclaimer; don't take young children to see this movie. It is quite scary at points and contains suggestive and adult themes that are unsuitable for younger viewers.

So, to conclude, my high expectations were very much met by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part One. The first section of Rowling's epic teen fantasy has been cleverly and lovingly brought to life on the screen, with a wealth of excellent performances and beautiful imagery. I can't wait for the finale, although I feel a tinge of sadness that the end is nigh. However, there has to be a conclusion, even for the Boy Who Lived.

Visit Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part One's IMDb page

If you liked this, then try: the Lord of the Rings trilogy, the Narnia saga, the Star Wars saga and the Twilight saga.

Adapting books to the screen: a brief consideration

With the seventh installment in the Harry Potter film saga being released in the cinema this week, the subject of 'book-to-film' adaptations has been on my mind. It's a topic that is very easily seen in polemic terms, with one camp stating that the book is always superior to the film, and those at the other end of the spectrum saying the exact opposite. However, I think a little more consideration needs to be taken before any judgements can be made.

It is short-sighted to judge the film adaption of a novel by the same criteria as the original text. I get really annoyed when I hear a movie being criticised for 'leaving out' parts of the book; if a literal adaptation of a novel was ever attempted, it would be an extremely tedious and dull experience for the viewer, not to mention the longest film ever made. The director's job when making a screen version of a written work is to put across the essence of the story, using the elements of the book that are most relevant to the visual medium. With some books this task is quite simple. For example, Cormac McCarthy's novels read very much like screenplays and embody a cinematic tone, meaning that the film adaptations of No Country For Old Men (2007) and The Road (2009) easily retain the qualities that made the books so enjoyable. With longer fantasy-based novel's like Harry Potter, the director's retelling has to be much more subjective.

This leads me onto my next point: the role of a film adaptation isn't to provide a carbon copy of the original. Like it or not, but the director has a duty to present their own interpretation of the story, not just regurgitate the author's views and sentiments. When Katsuhiro Otomo adapted his own manga classic Akira (1988) to the screen, he made drastic alterations to the narrative, presenting the version of his story that works best for film. I will admit that I haven't always agreed with the choices a director/screenwriter has made during the adaptive process, but I'll defend to the death their right to make those choices. In a way, the activity of adapting a novel to the screen is just a continuation of the tradition of oral storytelling. As the narrative is passed on by one teller to the next, it is warped and contorted, gradually leaving behind many of the elements that made up its original form. In this case the director becomes just another link in the storytelling chain, passing on their version of the tale.

Don't get me wrong however; I'm not saying that cinematic retellings of novels should replace the original written document. Both are equally valid versions of the story, as long as they told with skill, imagination and integrity. Although I don't like people automatically attacking an adaptation movie, I also detest it when someone states that they won't read a book because they can just watch the film version. This attitude ignores the fact that all films start out as a written document; a screenplay. Without reading, and the imaginative processes it generates, there wouldn't be any films.

There is one situation where I do oppose the adaptation of books into films, and that is when 'Hollywood' gets involved. By this I mean, when studio execs look at a literature masterpiece and only see dollar signs. When this happens all the truth of a text is lost, replaced with the shallow goal of generating the biggest box office success. My example for this phenomenon would be I Am Legend (2007). Richard Matherson's original novel is a horror classic, chilling and inventive, with a really powerful if bleak conclusion. Director Francis Lawrence's adaptation removes almost all of the tension, replacing it with off-the-shelf jumps and scares, and reduces the vampires (yes, they are vampires, not weird zombie things) to unrealistic CGI ghouls. And the altered ending; don't get me started! Without wanting to spoil the story, the film's conclusion has no meaning at all, it says nothing new. But who cares when the film took $585 million worldwide? Isn't that what filmmaking is really about? I'm not so sure.

So in conclusion: not all novel-to-film adaptations are bad, in fact some books feel like they were written to be converted. I think I'm right in saying that Chuck Palahnuik actually acknowledged that he considers David Fincher's version of Fight Club (1999) to be superior to his novel. However, that doesn't mean that reading should now be obsolete; film cannot exist without the written word. I'll let you know what my assessment of the latest Potter adaptation in the not-too-distant future. In the meantime, keep reading AND watching!

'This Dark World' - the story continues...

A few posts ago I informed you that I had started to write a novel. There's been a fair bit of progress within the past couple of months, so I thought I'd bring you all up to date, and go into a little more detail about the concept of my story, 'This Dark World'.

Paul Highcroft, a disillusioned Christian teenager, has reached the point where he needs some clarity. Why is he still going to church when it's just boring and pointless? Why does life seem so unfulfilling? Why is he the biggest female deterrent in the Southwest of England? So, he challenges God. Show me that all this 'Christian stuff' is real, or I don't think I can carry on. Put it right in front of my eyes, or I don't think I can believe anymore...

Paul gets a lot more than he bargained for when his prayer is answered. God opens his eyes to spiritual battles he and all Christians face day by day, as a part of the struggle to live out the victory that Christ won on the cross. He must enter the spiritual arena and face Satan's onslaught, taking up his armour and slaying his enemies though the power of God's word. Anger, doubt, pride - all these opponents must be faced. And when the fight is done, there's still dull homework, annoying siblings, bullies and young-love's cruel sting to be dealt with.

Phew! There's my pitch out of the way. I really want to get people on board with the concept, because I think if people can be seen to get behind that, you know you're on a good foundation. As I said before, I want this story to be a really exciting look at spiritual warfare, that will encourage Christian teenagers to take hold of their beliefs and help them tackle the issues they face as they grow up. I also aim to make this a book that will generate an interest in Christianity from non-Christian youths, who will want to know more after reading the story.

There have been a few major developments since I last wrote on this topic. I had emailed the author of the article that was the catalyst for this project, stating my purpose to undertake the task of writing a fantasy novel for Christian teenagers, and asking if the publisher they worked for would be interested in seeing the finished product. To my surprise and elation I received a message back saying they would like to see the first three chapters in their initial draft stage! This was a massive confidence boost, and a real encouragement that I was on the right path with my idea.

I sent off a submission to the publisher, and continued to write, reaching 26,000 words before received a reply from them. I also let one of my friends from church, who is an English teacher and avid literature fan, have a look a section of the draft. She really enjoyed it, in terms of the concept, plot and writing style, and has been pestering me to write more every time I see her!

The week after our church youth camp, I opened my emails to find a response from the publisher. It wasn't good. They liked my writing style and thought some of the sections were very vivid and imaginative, but had found huge doctrinal issues with the fantasy aspect of my story. I was initially very disappointed and frustrated, because I think I had elevated this situation to being 'my shot at the big time'. This taught me to be realistic however, and not to peg all my hopes on one opportunity.

After studying the criticisms and issues raised, I determined that while the publisher was completely within their rights to make these statements against my novel, my early draft have not shown that I agreed with them on all the points raised. I emailed them back, arguing my case but without being rude or big-headed, because let's face it, they know a lot more than I do about publishing. I asked if they would be interested in a finished draft that covered the issues raised, and thought I'd leave it at that.

Once again, God really reaffirmed that I am on the right path with my story, because the publisher sent me another message, saying they were pleased I had taken the issues raised into account, and would definitely want to see a finished draft in due course. They also gave me a couple of really useful tips and recommendations, that have helped me reshape my plan and my story. As a young author, this experience has been invaluable to me, because I may have already avoided one wave of rejections through having this dialogue with the publisher.

I went back to drawing board, because I wanted to sort out the Biblical issues that the publisher had raised. The last thing I want to do is lead young people astray with dodgy doctrine and fictional ideas that don't mesh with the truth of God's word. So I've shelved my original fantasy concept, but I'm keeping it in reserve because I think it could work really well in another form. My new concept involves Paul being transported into an arena, where he faces his spiritual battles in gladiatorial combat. Without going into too much detail, the elements that make up this new concept fit with the Bible's teaching, and work really well as a fictional concept, so the fantasy nature has not been compromised to crow-bar the correct doctrine into the story.

I received another encouragement, and I believe this was all God's doing as well, when I met an employee of a large secular publisher at my cousin's wedding a few weeks ago. He was also a youth leader, and was very interested in my story and my progress so far. We chatted for an hour or so, and he gave me loads of advice on the publishing world and suggested a few avenues for me to pursue. I don't think all these events have come about by chance. I really feel God's anointing upon this venture, and want Him to be glorified as a result of this process.

So all that's left is to actually write the book! I had to go back and take out a lot of the content from my first draft, but I still have about 10,000 words that I can cannibalize and add into the new version of the story. One of the recommendations the publisher gave me was to make the story more concise and cut down my target word count, which I've decided to do. Now I'm aiming for the novel to be 50,000 words in length, and have set myself the target of finishing my first draft by my birthday, December 14th. I will keep you posted on my progress (13,000 words at the mo), and hopefully we'll be seeing 'This Dark World' in a bookshop near you very soon!

My Current Preoccupation

So I realised the other day, I haven't updated y'all on my latest creative project. No, it's not the rebirth of Helvetica Outbreak, Britain's premier d'n'b/metal act, sorry to disappoint.

I had planned for quite a while that when I finished uni I would use my spare time (before I get a proper job) to get a head-start on writing a novel. I was going to adapt my science fiction/noir screenplay for this purpose, but I figured that I've spend almost a year working on that narrative and it needs some time to ferment.

Whilst I was pondering what to use as my subject matter, an article in Christian Marketplace, an industry magazine for booksellers and buyers, was brought to my attention. The article was about the lack of fantasy fiction aimed at Christian teenagers, and how there's no viable Christian alternative to the popular specular fantasy sagas like Harry Potter, Twilight and the His Dark Materials books.

As soon as I read this I had the 'lightbulb flicking on above head' moment of realisation; this is what I could write. I started working on my idea and began writing a couple of weeks ago when I got home from uni. So far I have written 17,500 words, with my target being roughly 80,000 words, depending on how the narrative evolves.

I won't give away too much of the story, as I want to plug the gap in the market before anyone else does, and don't want any idea thieving going on! But I will say that the novel is about a Christian teenager who discovers he has the ability to cross over into the spiritual realm, where he is given the task of defeating the demons which manipulate people to sin the physical world. It's pretty dark stuff, but I figure that's what kids like these days. The protagonist also has to deal with the everyday pressures of being a Christian teenager, but I'm trying to avoid being 'preachy' and just sticking to basic helpful life-lessons, as well as encouraging the reader to develop their relationship with God.

There you have it. Like I said earlier, I hope to be approaching publishers by the end of the summer. We'll have to wait and see if I have any success, but I do really feel that this is something God has placed on my heart and that it is a way I can use my gifts to serve Him and bless others.

On another completely unrelated note, I can't wait to see Inception! It looks like it's going to be amazing. When you consider Christopher Nolan's track record, you can't really expect him to go wrong now. I've watched The Dark Knight over and over and every time I find some new aspect of it I didn't see before. Anyway, I think it's safe to say that Inception is gonna be my film of the summer, if not the year.

Also, on the topic of films, I started watching Princess Mononoke again the other day, and had forgotten what an incredible anime it is. If you like Studio Ghibli movies and haven't seen it yet, go and get a copy now, it is a breathtaking classic. Don't know if it's my favourite Miyazaki film, cos Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle are also brilliant; and then there's My Neighbour Totoro, who could forgot that. Any movie that contains a cat that is also a bus gets a thumbs-up in my book!