Ask the Author: S.W. Clemens
Answered Questions (9)
S.W. Clemens
I don't read a lot of Fantasy or Science Fiction, and I wouldn't care to visit any of those worlds. They're fascinating, but I read and prefer fictive worlds that are set in the real world, but in different eras. In terms of the fiction I've read about, the era I'd most like to visit would be 1782 to 1805 in America. And though I've never read a book of fiction set in very ancient Egypt, that's the era I'd most like to visit.
S.W. Clemens
Beneath a Scarlet Sky, Moonglow, Dinner with Buddha, and two soon-to-be released books by Alexander McCall Smith and Martin Walker.
S.W. Clemens
1. My wife's uncle went into business with his brother-in-law. Accused of embezzlement, the uncle shot his brother-in-law dead was convicted of murder and sent to prison for life.
2. My grandfather was an evangelical preacher and ladies' man. He married four times, changed his name when he abandoned one wife, and buried three others. He continually lied about his age, and claimed U.S. citizenship, though he was born in Canada.
3. My aunt was the mistress of a married man for 35 years before he divorced first wife and they finally married.
4. I was involved in a love triangle that could have turned deadly.
2. My grandfather was an evangelical preacher and ladies' man. He married four times, changed his name when he abandoned one wife, and buried three others. He continually lied about his age, and claimed U.S. citizenship, though he was born in Canada.
3. My aunt was the mistress of a married man for 35 years before he divorced first wife and they finally married.
4. I was involved in a love triangle that could have turned deadly.
S.W. Clemens
I was on vacation with my wife in Santa Barbara, and we got to talking about the kind of situation might lend itself to a Mystery. We kicked around a few "what if" ideas. What could drive a normal person to murder? And what are the moral implications? The blurb will probably read something like this: "Everyone knew Evelyn Marsh wouldn't hurt a fly, but they never counted on a mother's love, nor the fury of woman scorned."
S.W. Clemens
Inspiration comes in different ways. My first novel was inspired by a roommate from hell. The second by a white collar crime my brother discovered. The third came to me in a dream — I woke in the middle of the night laughing, got up to make notes, when back to bed, dreamed the next scene, got up to make notes, all through the night. By the morning I had the outline of a story that became With Artistic License.
S.W. Clemens
I finished a novella (200 pages) this month called Evelyn Marsh. I'm currently copy editing it and will offer it as an ebook in a month or two.
S.W. Clemens
Don't procrastinate. Write the book, even if it's not up to your standards. You can only get better if you keep at it. I'm a writer, not a natural storyteller. As a freelance writer and editor, for most of my career I concentrated on writing non-fiction (wine, food, and travel). Along the way I wrote a couple of unpublished novels. Decades went by before I turned my full attention to fiction. I wish I'd spent more time on it when I was younger. If you're not a natural storyteller, i.e. you've internalized the proper structure of storytelling, I recommend Larry Brooks's Story Engineering. It's made my life so much easier.
S.W. Clemens
Honestly, even though I enjoy constructing sentences, the greatest joy comes from those rare moments when my subconscious supplies a twist I didn't expect, or a character that demands to be heard. That's magical.
S.W. Clemens
I don't really suffer from writer's block, per se. I suffer from procrastination. I procrastinate out of fear of getting it wrong, but I always feel better once I sit down and start typing. I love the process of molding words into sentences, sentences into paragraphs, and creating a flow.
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