Sure, it’s said that the first sign of madness is when you start talking to yourself, but I’ve been doing it for years and I turned out okay.  😉

While I’m working on my convention report about this past Sunday’s Brooklyn Book festival for the StarWarp Concepts blog, I thought over here you might like to pass the time reading an interview I did that was meant to run on a review site to coincide with Blood Feud’s publication. “Meant to” being the operative phrase. Unfortunately, there was a change in policy—the site’s bosses decided to discontinue reviewing self-published books before the interview could be posted.

(What, you didn’t know I was also the publisher of StarWarp Concepts? Gee, I must’ve forgotten to mention that…  😉 )

Anyway, that was the end of the interview—until now, that is. I found it on an external hard drive last week and, after some tweaking, thought you might find it of interest. I broke it into three parts because some of the answers are a bit long—but hey, more reading for you. And you’re here because you like to read, right?

We join the interview already in progress, bypassing the introductions…

Did you always want to be a writer?

Oh, yeah! Back in grade school and high school I was always writing stories and doing comic strips. I was even appointed fiction editor of my high school’s magazine after winning a short-story contest. But when I started out as a professional writer I wanted to write comic books; in fact, I’ve been writing comics and graphic novels for a good while now. But it wasn’t until I was actually working in the book-publishing business that I began thinking about becoming more of a novelist.

If you weren’t a writer, what would you be?

Probably what I am right now: a freelance proofreader and copyeditor for a number of publishing houses. The hours are flexible and the money’s decent, and the work keeps me in touch with the industry.

What is your working style?

You mean when I’m forcing myself to sit down and write, instead of finding anything else to do that won’t involve staring at a blank computer screen until the words come into my head?  😉

My writing tends to be very fluid, changing as a new idea or better way of presenting something pops into my head, so I’m always going back and tinkering as I move ahead; usually it involves dialogue. It’s why, when I hand in a manuscript, my editors have always considered them tight first drafts (sometimes the only drafts, depending on their deadlines!).

Sometimes I’ll listen to specific pieces of music, for inspiration or scene pacing or emotional depth. I’ll give you an example: In Blood Feud, one of the most emotional scenes toward the end of the book involves Pan racing to rescue another character and then attacking the main bad guy, a fallen angel named Zaquiel. While I was writing it I kept playing on a loop a track from one of the recent Doctor Who soundtracks: “This is Gallifrey—Our Childhood, Our Home,” composed by Murray Gold.

Now I can’t listen to this piece without seeing Pan’s confrontation in my head.  😀

Do you prefer to write longhand, or on a computer?

Everything starts out longhand in notebooks—sometimes even on Post-its, if a good line pops into my head that I need to write down. And even after I transfer that handwritten material to my computer, I’ll still print out the pages and continue handwriting on those.

Do you believe in outlining?

For my own projects? No, but I’ve had to do that when working with licensed properties like the X-Men and Final Destination, and that’s because the editors and licensing agents need to know what you plan to do with their franchises. But even then I had a tendency to wander away from the outline and let the story write itself.

I know outlining works for other writers, but I’ve always found it too restrictive. I don’t even like working out a full plot because things change as I’m writing. My approach is: I know where I’m starting, I know where it’s gonna wind up—let’s see how we get there.

That’s probably not the best way to go about doing it, but it’s worked for me (so far).

Tomorrow: My big break, writing influences, and who I’d like to have seen starring in a Pandora Zwieback movie!