1: What is the most productive
time of the day for you to write?
When I write my first draft, I am
most productive when I am isolated; in my busy household, that only occurs very
early in the morning before anyone else is awake. I am rarely able to just jump
right into the writing; I have to ease in slowly, let myself be drawn into the
narrative, and when I’m completely immersed, I fall into a writing groove and
can pound out page after page.
When I’m editing, on the other hand, I’m not bothered by such distractions
and can edit anytime and anywhere.
2: Do you start your projects
writing with paper and pen or is it all on the computer?
I may just have the worst
handwriting on the planet. That’s one of the main reasons I learned to touch-
type at an early age. I’m lost without a computer: When I’m outlining, I create
a dozen notepad documents – one each for theme, logline, short synopsis, long
synopsis, outline, character roster, plot points, random notes, and a separate
character history for my mains. I usually have all these documents open at the
same time while writing.
3: What do you draw inspiration
from?
I’m a big fan of “what-if”. Whenever I hear a news story, or a
friend relates an anecdote, my mind immediately spins it into the most extreme variation. Most often, I need a half a dozen of
these what-if situations combined before I begin plotting out a story.
4: Do you set goals for yourself
when you sit down to write such as word count?
Ideally, I would love to
consistently put out two thousand words a day, but I word count is a secondary
consideration, and I take a note of my progress only after I’ve completed a
writing session. Some days I’ll write four thousand, other days four hundred,
and some days I’ll cut out thousands of words if the story is heading in the
wrong direction.
5: Are you a published or a self
published author and how do you come up with your cover art?
As a self-published author, I am
responsible for every aspect of the end product. While I’m confident in my
writing and editing skills (although beta reader response is integral to this
process) and I’m fairly handy with photoshop, I immediately recognized that I
do not have the ability to draw or paint in a professional capacity. Also, due
to a limited budget, I was not able to commission an original work of art. I
spent hours and hours browsing stock photo websites and artist websites until I
lucked out with both cover pieces. For my fantasy novel, the artist was willing
to provide a license to use one of his completed paintings at an extremely
reasonable price. For my science fiction novel, the artists had been
commissioned to produce that artwork for another science fiction book, but the
sale did not go through, and he put the painting on a stock photo website at a
bargain price.
6: What drives you to choose the
career of being a writer?
My imagination is way out of
control; the only way to temper my thoughts is to organize and write them down.
I would love to be able to make a living as a novelist, but even if I were never
paid a penny for my writing, I would still write.
7: Do you own an ebook reading
device?
I want one, and I’m going to get
one. I’ve tested many of the
brands on the market and I think I will make my final choice within the next
few months. In the meantime, I use Kindle for PC and Adobe Digital Editions on
my laptop. Both look great, but the laptop can be awkward when I read in the
bathtub (just kidding … I don’t do that!)
8: Who are some of your favorite
authors and What are you reading now?
I love fantasy and science
fiction, and for the most part, I stick within my genre. My literary heroes for
science fiction are Isaac Asimov, Arthur C Clarke, Robert Heinlein, Frank
Herbert, Spider Robinson, Robert Sawyer, and Ben Bova. My favorite fantasy
authors are RA Salvatore, Steven Brust, Charles deLint, and Dave Duncan. Once
in a while, I’ll poke my head out and sample from other genres: James
Patterson, Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Jeffrey Deaver, and Douglas Preston &
Lincoln Child.
9: What do you think of book
trailers and do you have any plans to have any?
I made book trailers for both my
novels, and while I recognize it as a marketing technique, I have never
purchased a book because of a trailer. I’m not convinced the mediums mix well
enough. Having said that, I think for my third book I will move in a slightly
different direction; instead of a trailer, I’ll either do an author interview
with myself, or read from the book, or render an essay on the subject of the
book.
10: How did you come up with the title
of your latest book?
Due to the limitations of current
technology, humankind is unable to reach the stars. In a sense, until we find a
power source capable of sending us through space at better than light speeds,
we may as well be forbidden the stars …
11: What are you working on now
that you can talk about?
I’m working on a contemporary
fantasy novel at the moment called Angel Fire. It’s a paranormal drama
concerning a young woman who accidentally kills her parents in a house fire
started by her pyrokinetic ability, and how she tries to re-integrate with her
home town ten years later. With
any luck, I should be able to release it early 2011.
http://kobobooks.com/search/search.html?q=Valmore+Daniels&t=none&f=author&p=1&s=averagerating&g=both
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