Ask the Author: Clare T. Walker
Answered Questions (9)
Clare T. Walker
I'm not sure this mystery is substantial enough to be a plot for a book, but I have always been puzzled by this: every year, sometime in early January, I take down my Christmas decorations. At that time, the lights on the Christmas tree all work. Yet, 10 or 11 months later, when I lug the Christmas decorations up from the basement, sometimes I discover that the lights no longer work. Why, universe? Why?
Clare T. Walker
I would travel to Middle-earth and offer to help Barliman Butterbur run The Prancing Pony.
Clare T. Walker
"Inspiration" in the form of story ideas comes from random events and meetings in my daily life: a news article, a conversation, something that happened at work, a book, story, movie or TV episode that makes me think about something in an odd way, something I observe outside. I'm one of those people who remembers and makes connections between disparate things.
"Inspiration" while working on a piece often comes from research. Learning how a task is done, or the history of a location, or an unusual fact about a person, object, or event--these can be a launching point into a scene or a subplot or a key character trait. Also, for my fiction, I've found it helpful to compile a playlist. I especially like to find one or two songs to serve as a character's "theme." This helps me experience the emotion that I would like to evoke in the reader and guides the character's personal "story arc."
"Inspiration" to actually sit down and write--put words on the page--well, that's a tough one. Some work tasks can be done while listening to news, audiobooks, or podcasts, or having a conversation. Not writing. Writing is lonely and must be done in relative silence. By me, anyway. I can listen to music, but only if it's music without words. Sometimes I just "don't feel like" writing because I want to do something more personally entertaining or something easier. Once I get going, though--just make myself sit down and start--the creative energy usually starts to flow. As Picasso said, "Inspiration exists. But it has to find you working."
"Inspiration" while working on a piece often comes from research. Learning how a task is done, or the history of a location, or an unusual fact about a person, object, or event--these can be a launching point into a scene or a subplot or a key character trait. Also, for my fiction, I've found it helpful to compile a playlist. I especially like to find one or two songs to serve as a character's "theme." This helps me experience the emotion that I would like to evoke in the reader and guides the character's personal "story arc."
"Inspiration" to actually sit down and write--put words on the page--well, that's a tough one. Some work tasks can be done while listening to news, audiobooks, or podcasts, or having a conversation. Not writing. Writing is lonely and must be done in relative silence. By me, anyway. I can listen to music, but only if it's music without words. Sometimes I just "don't feel like" writing because I want to do something more personally entertaining or something easier. Once I get going, though--just make myself sit down and start--the creative energy usually starts to flow. As Picasso said, "Inspiration exists. But it has to find you working."
Clare T. Walker
Follow the advice of poet Jane Kenyon and "have good sentences in your ears" by reading voraciously: fiction of all genres, non-fiction, and poetry.
This will improve your writing with regard to style and correctness. It will also help you learn how good stories are structured.
Not all writing is "good," however. Some bestselling authors write dumb stories. Some bestselling authors write bad prose. If you read enough, you'll be able to figure this out and will soon have a list of books that are so bad you wonder how in the world they got published. They will serve as examples of what NOT to do.
Outstanding writers include (in no particular order--this is just the order in which I thought of them): Annie Dillard, E.B. White, C.S. Lewis, Edgar Allan Poe, Orson Scott Card, Arthur C. Clarke, Walker Percy, Flannery O'Connor, Ray Bradbury, Hugh Lofting, Madeleine L'Engle, P.D. James, Anne Perry, Michael Crichton, Michael Connelly, Michael D. O'Brien, Lemony Snicket, Jack London, Mark Twain, J.R.R. Tolkien, Beatrix Potter, Mary Norton, Judd Winick, R.A. Salvatore, Agatha Christie, Arthur Conan Doyle, Dean Koontz, Joyce Carol Oates, Malcolm Gladwell, Jordan Peterson, John Berendt, John Irving, James Herriot, P.G. Wodehouse, Jane Austen, H.G. Wells, Robert Louis Stevenson, Hilda van Stockum, Mary Shelley, Ursula K. LeGuin, David Foster Wallace...
I could go on. But should probably stop.
Do read some guides to writing: On Writing Well by William Zinsser, On Writing by Stephen King, The Elements of Style by Strunk and White, Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss.
Also, the barriers to becoming a published author have been demolished by the independent publishing movement. Up until maybe ten to fifteen years ago, you had only two publishing options:
1 - Submit your work to agents, editors, and publishers and hope you didn't grow old and die before one of these gatekeepers decided to give you a chance. Then hope your book sold well right out of the gate, because if it didn't, the publisher might not give you another chance.
2 - Hire a "vanity press" (i.e. a book printing company) to produce several thousand copies of your book (a typical minimum print run was anywhere from 2000-5000 copies). Then try to sell these yourself. Most of the time, hopeful authors were stuck with a garage full of their own books.
But now, "vanity press" has become "self-publishing" and "independent publishing." Anyone can upload a formatted manuscript to an online bookseller and in a few moments have an ebook and a print-on-demand paperback for sale to anyone in the world. The fact that there are no gatekeepers anymore means that a great deal of dreck is for sale online. But there's gold, too. It's a whole industry unto itself now. Independent authors now have access to publishing professionals--editors, manuscript formatters, and book cover designers--that were previously off limits to all except publishing insiders.
Start here: https://reedsy.com They'll help you find resources to help you publish your books independently.
Beware: there are scam artists out there who will gladly take your money and your intellectual property rights in exchange for doing a poor job of publishing and promoting your book. Here's an article on Reedsy that may help:https://blog.reedsy.com/guide/publish...
This will improve your writing with regard to style and correctness. It will also help you learn how good stories are structured.
Not all writing is "good," however. Some bestselling authors write dumb stories. Some bestselling authors write bad prose. If you read enough, you'll be able to figure this out and will soon have a list of books that are so bad you wonder how in the world they got published. They will serve as examples of what NOT to do.
Outstanding writers include (in no particular order--this is just the order in which I thought of them): Annie Dillard, E.B. White, C.S. Lewis, Edgar Allan Poe, Orson Scott Card, Arthur C. Clarke, Walker Percy, Flannery O'Connor, Ray Bradbury, Hugh Lofting, Madeleine L'Engle, P.D. James, Anne Perry, Michael Crichton, Michael Connelly, Michael D. O'Brien, Lemony Snicket, Jack London, Mark Twain, J.R.R. Tolkien, Beatrix Potter, Mary Norton, Judd Winick, R.A. Salvatore, Agatha Christie, Arthur Conan Doyle, Dean Koontz, Joyce Carol Oates, Malcolm Gladwell, Jordan Peterson, John Berendt, John Irving, James Herriot, P.G. Wodehouse, Jane Austen, H.G. Wells, Robert Louis Stevenson, Hilda van Stockum, Mary Shelley, Ursula K. LeGuin, David Foster Wallace...
I could go on. But should probably stop.
Do read some guides to writing: On Writing Well by William Zinsser, On Writing by Stephen King, The Elements of Style by Strunk and White, Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss.
Also, the barriers to becoming a published author have been demolished by the independent publishing movement. Up until maybe ten to fifteen years ago, you had only two publishing options:
1 - Submit your work to agents, editors, and publishers and hope you didn't grow old and die before one of these gatekeepers decided to give you a chance. Then hope your book sold well right out of the gate, because if it didn't, the publisher might not give you another chance.
2 - Hire a "vanity press" (i.e. a book printing company) to produce several thousand copies of your book (a typical minimum print run was anywhere from 2000-5000 copies). Then try to sell these yourself. Most of the time, hopeful authors were stuck with a garage full of their own books.
But now, "vanity press" has become "self-publishing" and "independent publishing." Anyone can upload a formatted manuscript to an online bookseller and in a few moments have an ebook and a print-on-demand paperback for sale to anyone in the world. The fact that there are no gatekeepers anymore means that a great deal of dreck is for sale online. But there's gold, too. It's a whole industry unto itself now. Independent authors now have access to publishing professionals--editors, manuscript formatters, and book cover designers--that were previously off limits to all except publishing insiders.
Start here: https://reedsy.com They'll help you find resources to help you publish your books independently.
Beware: there are scam artists out there who will gladly take your money and your intellectual property rights in exchange for doing a poor job of publishing and promoting your book. Here's an article on Reedsy that may help:https://blog.reedsy.com/guide/publish...
Clare T. Walker
The book I'm working on now is a veterinary medical thriller about a veterinarian (animal doctor) who gets mixed up in a political scandal during a presidential election year. One of the subplots was inspired by some disturbing facts that have come to light in recent years, namely that people in the veterinary field suffer from mental illness and suicidality at a higher rate than the general population. See the website "Not One More Vet" for more info. https://nomv.org
Clare T. Walker
Just start typing. Sometimes that's the hardest part because I'm interested in so many other things and so easily distracted. Plus, I'm an extrovert, so sitting by myself in a room thinking about imaginary people is not always what I want to do. Sometimes I want to be with *real* people! But once I sit down and start typing, something good usually happens. At worst, I've got a few hundred words that need serious editing! This is waaaaay better than a blank page!
Clare T. Walker
I'm working on my second novel. Like my first novel (The Keys of Death), this one is also a veterinary medical thriller. I have completed a 300-page "2nd first draft." It is currently "fermenting" a bit--that is, sitting quietly in a 3-ring binder on my shelf. When I feel ready, I will read through it with a fresh critical eye and see what needs to be cut and what needs to be added.
Update 7/13/23: The draft is done fermenting and I am actively working on it, getting it ready for a team of "beta readers." (The best beta readers are a) fast and b) good at spotting the flaws in a book and c) specific in their suggestions for improvement.)
Update 7/13/23: The draft is done fermenting and I am actively working on it, getting it ready for a team of "beta readers." (The best beta readers are a) fast and b) good at spotting the flaws in a book and c) specific in their suggestions for improvement.)
Clare T. Walker
Most of the non-fiction I write is book reviews. I love doing this because I receive a free copy of a book I usually wanted to read anyway, I enjoy reading it, and then I get paid to write about it. It's a win win win!
With fiction, the best thing is hearing from readers who enjoyed the book or story that I wrote!
With fiction, the best thing is hearing from readers who enjoyed the book or story that I wrote!
Clare T. Walker
2021: The Martian Chronicles, Watership Down, The Abolition of Man, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
2022: Brave New World, A Canticle for Leibowitz, Tess Gerritsen's medical thrillers: Bloodstream, Harvest, Life Support, Playing With Fire, Pegasus Descending (by James Lee Burke), A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction (by Christopher Alexander)
2023: The Chronicles of Narnia, True Grit, Dante's Inferno, The Human Factor (by Graham Greene), some of Michael Connelly's hard-boiled detective mysteries: The Dark Hours, The Night Fire, and Desert Star, Apocalypse Never (by Michael Shellenberger), Digital Minimalism (by Cal Newport), Catch-22
2022: Brave New World, A Canticle for Leibowitz, Tess Gerritsen's medical thrillers: Bloodstream, Harvest, Life Support, Playing With Fire, Pegasus Descending (by James Lee Burke), A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction (by Christopher Alexander)
2023: The Chronicles of Narnia, True Grit, Dante's Inferno, The Human Factor (by Graham Greene), some of Michael Connelly's hard-boiled detective mysteries: The Dark Hours, The Night Fire, and Desert Star, Apocalypse Never (by Michael Shellenberger), Digital Minimalism (by Cal Newport), Catch-22
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