Check it out, if you get the chance. Until that time, meet the author now.
1. Tell
us a little bit about yourself. What else do you do besides writing?
Hello, I am SB Jones the author of The Eternal Gateway trilogy. Other than
writing Science Fiction Steampunk novels, I am part owner of an insurance
agency. I take random break fix calls from Chase bank. And lastly I test the
quality of beer while sitting under the sun at a fresh water spring lagoon.
2. How did you first get into writing?
I got into writing after being laid off by Dell in 2010.
I wanted to do something that was as far away from a cube farm
as possible. I had story ideas bouncing around in my head for a while so I
took the opportunity.
3. Tell us about your latest book.
Requiem was published June 20, 2011. It is the first book of
a planned trilogy. It is set in an alternate world dominated by the Steampunk
genera. I threw in a fantasy twist by having magic users and the popular
complications that time travel can bring. It finished up at 74,500 words and
the paperback version is 318 pages long.
4. Is it part of a larger series?
Yes, it is the first book of a planned trilogy. There is
material and back story to do dozens of more books. I plan to work on those
once The Eternal Gateway trilogy is complete. The Keratin Nation and The War of
Antiquities quickly come to mind as additional projects. Also with the time
traveling guardian character, I can write a book that takes place at any time
and any where.
5. What was
your inspiration for your book?
Most of the inspiration comes from a decade of playing pen
and paper role playing games like Rifts, Dungeons and Dragons. Of
course modern films, books, movies all add their influence as well like Star
Wars, Star Trek, Dr. Who, Lord of the Rings. Video games as well. Final Fantasy
and Destiny of an Emperor all shaped my imagination growing up. I think story
telling is a lost art on most writers. They all can write, but
what separates them are the ones who can story tell as well.
6. What motivates you to want to write? What do you
enjoy about it?
I am very goal oriented. So my goals are to write book one
(complete). Write book two (in progress), Write book three (outlined).
Complete trilogy. I am putting all of my time
into completing the trilogy, once it is finished, I will re-evaluate
were I am at and either continue, or walk a different path. But no matter what,
I want to be able to look back at my writing and have it be something I am
proud of.
One thing I am enjoying right now is when people find out
that I have written a book, their eyes light up and their whole attitude
changes. There is a definite status that comes with being an author.
7. Do you have any
advice for new writers about perfecting their craft?
Do not go back and rewrite anything until the first draft is
done. You NEED to finish the draft before you edit. If you start to edit before
the story is finished, you will never finish the story. Even if you know there
are problems, ignore them and continue on. This is what happens to the people
who have spent 2-10 years and not completed their book, they get stuck editing
an unfinished story.
Take notes, know where you want your story to go. When you
get stuck, you can look at your notes and see where you need to go. Good
notes/outline will eliminate almost all of your writer's block.
Links:
Twitter: @Starbuck_Jones
Amazon: http://amzn.to/j15LaA
Barnes and Nobles: http://bit.ly/jr5emX
I've always liked the gateway idea because it really does open up endless possibilities.
ReplyDeleteYou were raised on Final Fantasy? Wow, that dates me. I never played Final Fantasy because I was too old when it came out!
I disagree about not revising before you've finished the first draft. Revising is a great thing to do when you're stuck, because it can get you unstuck. As long as you don't use it as an excuse to stop writing new material, it's OK.
All writers have a different process, though, so if you don't like revising before you get that first draft down on paper, by all means don't.
There is a difference between revising and editing before you are finished. I feel a lot of authors get stuck in edit mode because they don't know where to go.
ReplyDeleteThere were two spots in Requiem that I had to revise the outline because I ran into a logic hole. The results were one character got to live when they were supposed to be killed off, and the original fight at the end had to be switched around because it no longer made sense to do it that way.
I didn't go back and edit/revise the previous stuff to make the original outline work. Book two already has a couple of rough spots that will have to be re-written, but it can wait till the first draft is done. If I go back now, the story will never get told.
I outlined 5 short novellas the other day. Time travel really does open up endless material to expand the world.