--> How many rejection slips did you get before your first novel was published?
I actually don't know. What I do know is that one of them was in the form of a two page, single-spaced, Why I Hate This Book and You, Too that the editor in question had taken the time to write. The amazing thing wasn't just that he took the time to write it, but that in writing it, he revealed a staggering ignorance of what the world was actually like to those of us outside of NYC publishing and struggling to pay the rent.
--> Have you ever thrown away a book that you just couldn't make work?
Once, but I suspect I'll go back to it. It was a bizarre revision of an old Hawthorne story that I'd been smitten with, that I was trying to revise as an odd supernatural thriller. It got mired down in exactly all the problems you would expect for such a project.
--> Is it still exciting to publish a new book even after all this time?
Absolutely, yes. ALPHA has been more nerve-wracking than most in that regard, though whether it's because it's for a new publisher (Mulholland) or a new character (Jad) or both or more, I've no idea. But it's always thrilling to know the book is in the wild, and that people now get to see what I've been working on for the past year or more!
--> Do you get ideas for new books all the time and you keep them written down, or does one come to mind when you need one?
They're everywhere. They're on Post-Its and in fire-and-forget text files and scribbled on print outs of articles and in notebooks and, most often, bouncing around inside my head like ball bearings.
--> Do you have entire story arcs mapped out when you begin a series of related books?
Not in the main. I tend to start with an idea and a direction, and as I progress things will crystalize. But I've found for my own work that being too slavish to an outline or plan does a disservice to the work, and that allowing for the work to grow on its own has, almost always, turned out for the better.
--> Do you know how a book/series is going to end when you begin it?
Yeah, though that may seem odd when compared with the answer above. I like to have - at the least - an idea of where I'm headed, but normally I have the last scene in my mind in some form or another. But, again, I try not to be too locked into such plans.
--> Do you have to enter a different mind-set to write different stories or different characters?
Honestly, it's kind of the nature of writing, isn't it? Each character is their own person, their own creation, and by necessity, I suppose, that means that my own mindset must alter to suit them. I tend not to think in terms of genre, but always in terms of character, so the mindset follows in each one's wake, I suppose.
--> Is there any kind of book you would like to write but haven't?
I'd love to try writing a solid, hard sci-fi book, but my science knowledge is such that it would be an uphill climb, and one I fear I'd never satisfactorily summit.
--> If you could change anything about your writing career, what would it be?
I wish I'd had the wisdom when I was younger to understand the commitment each book was, and the toll each one exacted. My publishing schedule hasn't been anything near what I'd have liked, and there were some decisions made on my behalf that, in retrospect, I wish I'd done a better job defending against. And honestly? I worked far too hard to please my publisher early on, and the result was that I made compromises that I regret to this day, both within and without the works.
--> What’s the most interesting question you’ve ever been asked, and what was your answer?
I don't recall one I thought was most interesting, but I remember being asked, "What's the worst thing your parents think you've done in pursuit of your writing?"
To which my answer remains, "Heroin."
--> Anything you’ve always wanted to be asked but no one ever has?
Would you like to come with us to the ISS? NO ON HAS ASKED ME THAT!!!
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