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Ask the Author: Grayson Taylor

“Have a question? Ask me here.” Grayson Taylor

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How can I make a reader get overwhelmed by stakes the characters are facing? Not bad overwhelmed, but where they want to keep reading. I read a book called A Night Divided by Jennifer A. Nielsen, and she made me never want to put the book down. I just HAD to see what happened next because of all the pressure that was put on these characters.
Grayson Taylor I'd give two main recommendations for building stakes. First, make it personal. Something internal should be on the line for your characters (like their moral values or relationships), not just something external (like survival). The more levels of stakes—physical, emotional, philosophical—the more overwhelming they'll be in aggregate.

Second, use escalation. Static stakes tend to be boring; if the stakes evolve and grow over the course of the story, expanding in intensity and scope, that helps create the page-turning momentum you're aiming for.
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I just became a Forester. How can I ARCs?
Grayson Taylor It'll be a few months before ARCs of Catalyst of Control are available, but you'll get an email when they are. And updates will be posted in the Groups on the Forester site (winterforestpress.com/foresters).
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What’s your advice for aspiring writers?
Grayson Taylor You're never too young to start writing. I wrote my first full-length, 50,000-word novel when I was 7. The sooner you start, the better, and the more of a headstart you'll have in the craft. The act of simply writing is by far the best way to get good at the craft, and the more experience you have doing it, the better. And don't give up, even if your work isn't that fantastic at the beginning.
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How do you get inspired to write?
Grayson Taylor A lot of my inspiration comes from watching films and reading other books. Also, going to museums often sparks my imagination, and seeing pieces of art and artifacts has inspired several parts of my books. Sometimes I'll get an idea from a location that I visit, see pictures of, or hear about. Inspiration comes from all sorts of places.
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