Ask the Author: Steven McKinnon
Answered Questions (8)
Steven McKinnon
Hi Nancy, thanks for your question. My books are intended for adult readers, so I wouldn't recommend them for your grandson right now.
I hope you find his next read soon!
Best,
Steven
I hope you find his next read soon!
Best,
Steven
Steven McKinnon
Hi, Julie - I'm glad to hear you're enjoying the Audible edition of Symphony of the Wind! Serena is great to write about, she's one of those characters that sprang fully-formed from the outset. And of course I love Gallows and Damien, too - in many ways their friendship is uneasy, and in other ways they're the only friends each other has who truly understands them. I think that's an interesting dynamic to play with.
It's certainly my hope to produce an audio edition of Wrath of Storms, but it depends on how the Symphony audiobook does in terms of sales - I hope there's enough demand that I can invest in future audio editions.
Thanks for asking your question, Julie, and I appreciate your feedback!
Best,
Steven
It's certainly my hope to produce an audio edition of Wrath of Storms, but it depends on how the Symphony audiobook does in terms of sales - I hope there's enough demand that I can invest in future audio editions.
Thanks for asking your question, Julie, and I appreciate your feedback!
Best,
Steven
Steven McKinnon
'Boldly Going Nowhere' actually started life as a blog. (It's now defunct.) I wanted to document some things and say some things and - yep - think of excuses for rubbish jokes.
I also wanted real life to throw a big daft adventure my way like 'Are You Dave Gorman?' by Dave Gorman and Danny Wallace, or other Danny Wallace books like 'Join Me' or 'Yes Man', and while that's not quite what happened, those books and writers are a great influence on it. I only wish I was as funny as either of them.
I also wanted real life to throw a big daft adventure my way like 'Are You Dave Gorman?' by Dave Gorman and Danny Wallace, or other Danny Wallace books like 'Join Me' or 'Yes Man', and while that's not quite what happened, those books and writers are a great influence on it. I only wish I was as funny as either of them.
Steven McKinnon
Um, I'm not really sure. Sometimes it's just a prompt (that's how the aforementioned novel started life). Other times it's a specific scene springing into my head. More often than those though, is thinking of a joke and constructing a hundred-page narrative to build up to it.
And then realising it's not funny.
And then realising it's not funny.
Steven McKinnon
I am currently working on a novel I started in 2011. I aim to have it finished by 2035.
Steven McKinnon
Just write.
That's normally what I tell people when they ask. It's also what Max Brooks told me when I asked him at a signing of 'World War Z' not long before the movie came out (part of it was filmed in Glasgow).
As a former 'pantser', I recommend becoming a 'plotter', or at least reading Libbie Hawking's 'Take Off Your Pants!'. It's short, sweet and full of good advice.
That's normally what I tell people when they ask. It's also what Max Brooks told me when I asked him at a signing of 'World War Z' not long before the movie came out (part of it was filmed in Glasgow).
As a former 'pantser', I recommend becoming a 'plotter', or at least reading Libbie Hawking's 'Take Off Your Pants!'. It's short, sweet and full of good advice.
Steven McKinnon
Too many to mention!
Maybe it's the suffocating loneliness that comes from working in isolation or how you tell your friends and family you're a writer and they stifle their laughter before asking why you don't have a proper job
Actually, the best thing about being a writer is creating - that initial burst of a story weaving its way through a page without having to think about. It's an unadulterated rush, and it's glorious.
Maybe it's the suffocating loneliness that comes from working in isolation or how you tell your friends and family you're a writer and they stifle their laughter before asking why you don't have a proper job
Actually, the best thing about being a writer is creating - that initial burst of a story weaving its way through a page without having to think about. It's an unadulterated rush, and it's glorious.
Steven McKinnon
I'm very fortunate in that I've never encountered writer's block. Writer's-writing-being-rubbish and writer's-oh-my-god-what-am-I-doing-with-my-life I contend with daily, but never writer's block (so far!).
On the days where writing feels like I'm trudging through mud and the words on the page look like senseless squiggles, I'll do something else (i.e., eat something sugary). If it's a particular project I'm struggling with, I'll work on something different to get the creative juices flowing again.
On the days where writing feels like I'm trudging through mud and the words on the page look like senseless squiggles, I'll do something else (i.e., eat something sugary). If it's a particular project I'm struggling with, I'll work on something different to get the creative juices flowing again.
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