Ask the Author: Reece Newton
Answered Questions (6)
Reece Newton
Don't let it get you. You might not be able to progress today on the one point that has you stuck, but if you've collected a lot of ideas you can go on to develop one or more of those and come back to the brick wall later. Chances are the wall will have been breached.
Reece Newton
Doing the research, doing the rewriting. Getting it just right to convey the speech, the atmosphere, the way you want it for the reader.
Reece Newton
Collect ideas like a pack rat, keep lots and lots of notes, read a lot to see how others do it, and keep writing. A rough copy is a wonderful thing to have; it's just waiting for you to come back and fix it.
Reece Newton
I have an idea for another novel, some of which is written. It will be set just before 1900 and will introduce other members of the Rountree clan but with connections recognizable to characters in "Chasing Texas."
Reece Newton
Ideas come from everywhere. They are all around you. A phrase, an incident remembered can turn into the basis for a story or just for a piece of one. I collect scraps of ideas as memos on my phone or in a pocket notebook. Scraps of conversation overheard. A line from a book or a newspaper might be something useful. The research that must be done to be sure the setting of a story is correct for the era is enjoyable and can lead to other useful ideas.
Reece Newton
The ideas came to me over time. I wrote the middle story first. It concerns a young man growing up on a ranch near the beach high on the Texas coast, an unusual setting for a western-themed story, most of which are out in desert country. Actually, a lot of cattle ranching started in this coastal area in the nineteenth century. The first story takes place partly on the road, and I find that exciting as a character can run into so many interesting people. The last story is set in modern times with modern problems, yet with a prehistorical twist, and thus wraps the series in a way that we can relate to the thread of family that runs through the book.
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