Ask the Author: Miles A. Maxwell
Answered Questions (7)
Miles A. Maxwell
I guess when I get to read my own work. The final couple of edits after taking a break from re-reading it for the nth time. When I can sit back and enjoy it and say, "Who the heck wrote this? It's good."
Miles A. Maxwell
I'm strongly motivated to write by any injustice in the world.
I began working on the State Of Reason mystery more than fifteen years ago because of my displeasure over the injustice of the lack of true protection of my own property rights and how the insanity of religion feeds into that.
I look at where things stand. whether it be medical science and the lack of focus on solving the problem of re-growing teeth, the perfect laboratory to solving the problem of organ replacement (which I address in the forthcoming "Death By Dentistry"), or millionaires who promote communism and seek to destroy other people's property rights through politics.
At the root of all these ills is the human injustice to women, poor and ignorant people known as the insanity of religion -- the acceptance of the evidence-less claims of charlatans who seek control over others through fear.
Not all my motivation comes from the negative, though. I love progress of any kind. Science. Psychological. I love life.
There are many books I love but no all time favorite.
I love Julian Jaynes "The Origin Of Consciousness In The Breakdown Of The Bicameral Mind" for it's understanding of how the human race has evolved and is evolving mentally. I love Ayn Rand's "The Fountainhead" and "Atlas Shrugged" for their understanding of integrity and the best possible within in each of us. I love James Patterson's "Kiss The Girls" and "Along Came A Spider" for their villains and efficiency of brevity. I love J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series for it's characterization and for the moments when people rise above the basest of human frailty. I love Stephen King's "Pet Sematary" for its down-home-ness and one of the most outrageous fight scenes of all time -- at a funeral of a child; and his short story "Rita Hayworth And The Shawshank Redemption" for its demonstration of how someone can rise above great injustice.
Nearly all these great books have weaknesses. Jayne's book is roughly organized and contains too much chaff. Rand's work is overly repetitive and interruptive of story flow in its description and metaphor, particularly in Atlas. Patterson's work moves so fast it can be difficult to remember. Rowling's is mystical and slow-moving at times. King's Pet Sematary is mystical, but his Shawshank Redemption has possibly no flaws at all. I ignore these weaknesses when I read them and enjoy them for their greatness.
I have the entire State Of Reason mystery in rough draft form already so I'm constantly working to perfect each chunk, or book, for release. Meanwhile, I have a dozen other books or so in various stages of completion that address mini-themes that are corollaries to the big injustices of weak property rights and religion.
Choosing which to complete next is a developing process based on how a particular story feeds into a certain point in the State Of Reason mystery, and how my readers react.
I began working on the State Of Reason mystery more than fifteen years ago because of my displeasure over the injustice of the lack of true protection of my own property rights and how the insanity of religion feeds into that.
I look at where things stand. whether it be medical science and the lack of focus on solving the problem of re-growing teeth, the perfect laboratory to solving the problem of organ replacement (which I address in the forthcoming "Death By Dentistry"), or millionaires who promote communism and seek to destroy other people's property rights through politics.
At the root of all these ills is the human injustice to women, poor and ignorant people known as the insanity of religion -- the acceptance of the evidence-less claims of charlatans who seek control over others through fear.
Not all my motivation comes from the negative, though. I love progress of any kind. Science. Psychological. I love life.
There are many books I love but no all time favorite.
I love Julian Jaynes "The Origin Of Consciousness In The Breakdown Of The Bicameral Mind" for it's understanding of how the human race has evolved and is evolving mentally. I love Ayn Rand's "The Fountainhead" and "Atlas Shrugged" for their understanding of integrity and the best possible within in each of us. I love James Patterson's "Kiss The Girls" and "Along Came A Spider" for their villains and efficiency of brevity. I love J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series for it's characterization and for the moments when people rise above the basest of human frailty. I love Stephen King's "Pet Sematary" for its down-home-ness and one of the most outrageous fight scenes of all time -- at a funeral of a child; and his short story "Rita Hayworth And The Shawshank Redemption" for its demonstration of how someone can rise above great injustice.
Nearly all these great books have weaknesses. Jayne's book is roughly organized and contains too much chaff. Rand's work is overly repetitive and interruptive of story flow in its description and metaphor, particularly in Atlas. Patterson's work moves so fast it can be difficult to remember. Rowling's is mystical and slow-moving at times. King's Pet Sematary is mystical, but his Shawshank Redemption has possibly no flaws at all. I ignore these weaknesses when I read them and enjoy them for their greatness.
I have the entire State Of Reason mystery in rough draft form already so I'm constantly working to perfect each chunk, or book, for release. Meanwhile, I have a dozen other books or so in various stages of completion that address mini-themes that are corollaries to the big injustices of weak property rights and religion.
Choosing which to complete next is a developing process based on how a particular story feeds into a certain point in the State Of Reason mystery, and how my readers react.
Miles A. Maxwell
Find your motivation, your drive. Read, write, edit, repeat.
Miles A. Maxwell
Can't help it. Have to. But reading a good book definitely motivates.
Miles A. Maxwell
The first Naomi Soul mystery / thriller. Former Olympian. FBI agent (for now).
Twisty mysteries. Getting Finding Reason ready for release.
Twisty mysteries. Getting Finding Reason ready for release.
Miles A. Maxwell
You'll never need a therapist.
Miles A. Maxwell
A long time ago, I took out a hacksaw, cut the links in the chain that connected the block to my ankle and threw the block in the river, never to be seen again.
Kidding aside, I have so many ideas, so many books in progress, it's more a matter of which one to work on.
I keep a pad by the bed and wake up to write ideas down I get in the middle of the night. Most of the work for me is in the editing anyway. Haven't you ever been reading a book and just thought, "Why doesn't the author just . . . "?
When I was a kid I used to keep a tape recorder by the bed. I'd wake up my brother sleeping in the bunk above me, whispering my dreams into the recorder.
He'd yell, "Shut up down there!"
Kidding aside, I have so many ideas, so many books in progress, it's more a matter of which one to work on.
I keep a pad by the bed and wake up to write ideas down I get in the middle of the night. Most of the work for me is in the editing anyway. Haven't you ever been reading a book and just thought, "Why doesn't the author just . . . "?
When I was a kid I used to keep a tape recorder by the bed. I'd wake up my brother sleeping in the bunk above me, whispering my dreams into the recorder.
He'd yell, "Shut up down there!"
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