February | 2011 | Author Jen Wylie's Blog

Wonderful author Stephen Brayton is stopping by today! Stephen is the author of Night Shadows coming Feb 15 2011.

So, I’m tinkering with this action mystery while writing a few short stories and suddenly the sequel hits me hard. I mean the ideas start rolling in and I can’t stop them. Down goes the first story entitled Alpha (for the moment), and up comes Beta (due out from Echelon Press July 15).

So I’m tinkering with Beta and one night I’m listening to a nationwide radio show called Coast to Coast AM. I stumbled onto the show years ago while working overnights. The host and his guests discuss all sorts of supernatural stuff, UFOs, Bigfoot, science, conspiracy theory, etc. One of the programs dealt with people’s encounters with shadow beings. Something clicked and I thought, “What if I have a madman use an ancient book to release killer shadow creatures into our world?” My homicide detective’s name and character quirks came first then the FBI agent’s soon followed.

I think the most fun part was the research for the project. Since Night Shadows is set in Des Moines, I interviewed various people and visited several locales. The Des Moines and the Windsor Heights police departments were wonderful assets. I enjoyed visiting several parks and neighborhoods for realistic descriptions. In the story, I wanted to use areas familiar to the locals.

I encountered two problems before I finished. The first minor problem was during my writing Night Shadows, the city completed a major street reconstruction project and all but wiped the small block I had been using for the madman’s house. The street I want to use still exists (sort of), as is the cemetery across the street mentioned in the story. I think I worked around the problem quite well by just ignoring it and instead of keeping everything as is, I kept everything as was.

The second problem I struggled with for months before a friend provided an answer. I needed a portal to another dimension through which the shadows emerge. I looked at several areas around Des Moines, including a large piece of art downtown, various corners and stairwells in the skywalk system, even the aforementioned cemetery. Nothing seemed good enough. Then another member of my critique group mentioned an art exhibit in one of the Principal buildings. She set up a tour and when we entered this one particular room set aside for the exhibit, I knew I had found my portal. So, when you read Night Shadows, keep in mind, the room and the ‘portal’ exist. Whether the exhibit actually is a doorway to another dimension, well, that’s something to be discovered later.

I think one of the beautiful aspects of writing is authors can create anything. From anything. If you want a motorcycle to travel 300 miles per hour, a sword fight in the middle of a parking garage, or a police call box be a time machine, you figure out how to make it work. The imagination is boundless. And to discover what is around the corner is so fascinating. Writers help people escape.

I cannot remember from where I heard this saying, probably from some Saturday morning cartoon break, but “Reading is fundamental.” I never understood the meaning behind this until I started reading, then further when I started writing. Reading took me to places I’ll never visit, took me on adventures I never wanted to end.

Writing gives me a chance to give those experiences to someone else.

PS. Look for a Night Shadows contest tomorrow at my blog and website.

Some of you may have noticed I’m big on supporting my fellow authors (whether published traditionally or self pubbed), mainly by doing author interviews.

Making up personalized questions started to take hours (yes literally) out of each day, so I made up a list (SEE BELOW) and ask authors to pick. Unfortunately, the questions aren’t overly exciting.

So, I call out to all my most amazing friends, be you authors or readers! Help me out with some author interview questions. What do you want to know? Give me some interesting ones too, funny, crazy, whatever. Authors are people too and we all want to learn more about them!

Please post below! Post as many as you like, but PLEASE keep them ‘clean’!

Thank you and have fun!

(for those who also do interviews, feel free to nab questions! I’ll be leaving this post up!)

Just to help out some more… Here are some of my questions…

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
What do you do when you are not writing?
Do you have a day job as well?
When did you first start writing and when did you finish your first book?
How did you choose the genre you write in?
Where do you get your ideas?
Do you ever experience writer’s block?
Do you work with an outline, or just write?
Is there any particular author or book that influenced you in any way either growing up or as an adult?
Can you tell us about your challenges in getting your first book published?
If you had to go back and do it all over, is there any aspect of your novel or getting it published that you would change?
How do you market your work? What avenues have you found to work best for your genre?
Have you written a book you love that you have not been able to get published?
Can you tell us about your upcoming book?
Is anything in your book based on real life experiences or purely all imagination?
What was your favorite chapter (or part) to write and why?
How did you come up with the title?
What project are you working on now?
Will you have a new book coming out soon?
Are there certain characters you would like to go back to, or is there a theme or idea you’d love to work with?
What has been the toughest criticism given to you as an author? What has been the best compliment?
Do you have any advice to give to aspiring writers?
Is there anything that you would like to say to your readers and fans?

NEW! Oct 2011:

I’ve now started some FUN and Wacky questions for those interviewed on my site. Try your hand at some if you’re making up an interview!

Examples:

Have you ever gone out in public with your shirt on backwards, or your slippers on, and when realizing it, just said screw it?
Do you prefer fuzzy or tub socks?
Are you a person who makes their bed in the morning, or do you not see much point?
Be honest, how often do you wash your hair?
Do you get road rage? What pisses you off the most about other drivers?
Do you go out of your way to kill bugs? Are there any that make you screech and hide?