Tell us a little bit about your writing career.
I’ve self-published two stories, entitled, The Dark World, and The Immortal’s Guide respectively. They are a part of a series, that is to have two more books to complete the series in the coming years. I’ve also had a short story published in my college’s newspaper, The Vignette, and have had a poem published upon winning a contest whilst in middle school.
And of course there is the short story recently published with Before Sunrise Press, A Night of Frivolity.
What writers have had an influence on how you write?
Edgar Allan Poe absolutely had an influence on how I write. I first read his stories, The Raven, and the Tell-Tale Heart and was absolutely hooked. All things dark, bloody, and psychologically troubling that I write (mostly the poems I have written), I attribute subconsciously to Mr. Poe. J.K. Rowling was an author I grew up on, and how to tell a story was further expanded with reading the Harry Potter series, naturally.
There are many more authors that have influenced in some way how I write, but those are the two that have stayed with me and have had lasting impacts on my writing style.
How early did you begin writing?
I’ve been writing since I learned how.
My earliest memories of writing include being told to write a story (I forget about what) whilst in elementary school, but I remember writing a fairly mysterious, border-line horror story that included my little brother. It became poems from there whilst in middle school (to the acclaim of the English teachers in the school), and finally full-grown novels at the tail-end of my middle school career where I started writing The Dark World.
What’s your writing process like?
Hmm. I don’t believe I have a process. Well, that is until recently at least.
Before I would only write what came to mind, and I still do to some affect, but now I make it a point to outline my bigger works, expounding on the story as I go. I find, no matter how I try to prepare for the writing journey, that I usually end up writing what comes to mind regardless of the outline sketched out.
What are some specific troubles you have with writing? How do you over come them?
Besides getting stuck in a story, wanting to get somewhere (usually more interesting) than where I am, I do get bogged down with wanting to jump over the hurdle and just write the intense action scene, or the ‘big-reveal’ scene and leave the fairly mundane stuff to someone else (but there never is anyone else, is there). I overcome these nonsensical problems by gritting my teeth and writing through the mundane scenes to get to where I’m going, or sometimes (and rarely), I’ll write the action scene I want to write, realize (usually) that it has no place in the story, and go back and write the mundane scenes anyway.
I’ve been asked a number of times about writing articles on overcoming writer’s block. For our fellow writers looking to “arouse their Muse”, how do you overcome writer’s block?
As I mentioned above, I do get stuck in my writing. I used to get seriously sad about experiencing writer’s block, but recently with my having to write the sequel to The Dark World, The Immortal’s Guide (my fans would not take no for an answer), I learned, the fairly hard way, that there was no such thing as a “Muse,” and that if I was to get paid for writing, it was a job like anything else.
In 2012, I hunkered down and threw away any fancies I had about my “Muse,” and wrote The Immortal’s Guide until I couldn’t take it anymore. I followed the outline I had penned, and within a very stressful year, completed it to meet my deadline. That was when I realized I could write without relying on a “Muse,” to motivate me. But of course there are moments where you can’t get anything out at all. These moments I allow myself to have (if I can spare them). I often go to family and friends for advice on any works as I’m writing them for inspiration as well.
When it comes to writing, do you keep a particular ritualistic schedule, or do you loosely write when the moment strikes?
Now that I’m editing The Dark World, I do make myself try to get at least a few hours of editing in every day if I can. With finals and a puppy to watch over, it is often hard to find time as of now. But I know in the summer I’ll be back to writing every day (or every other day) to get it done.
As for my other projects, I do write when the moment strikes, but as I’ve said, I’ve tried to stop that and write at least every day, and if I don’t, I don’t beat myself up about it – there’s a time and place for everything after all.
Before Sun Rise Press is a quality publisher. Can you give a brief synopsis of the work you had published with them?
When the daring Miss Clarke enters a gentlemen’s club in London on one cold day in January, the year 1714, she is met with a most cunning vampire who would only see her his before the night is through. With several onlookers, unwanted solicitations, and the watching dark eyes of the mysterious Alexander upon her, Miss Patricia Clarke is forced before long to decide whether her desired night of frowned-upon fun is worth the trouble…and the blood in A NIGHT OF FRIVOLITY.
Finish this statement; I think writing should … drive you mad, and inspire you, in-turn, inspiring others to create what they want to create without fear of disapproval or denial.
