Ask the Author: Rain Stickland
Answered Questions (7)
Rain Stickland
It took me a while to get used to the negative reviews, to be honest, but the positive ones kept me going. In some cases criticism has merit, and I try to take what I can from that, while understanding that there are definitely people in the world who are far more negative than others. Not everyone is going to like my work, though, so I have to let those readers go and write for the people who do enjoy it. When I get e-mails from people who can't wait for the next book, they make it truly worthwhile to keep going.
Rain Stickland
I don't think there's anything that isn't inspiring in some way. If you're a writer, everything can be used as subject matter. Not that I don't experience periods where I take a break from writing, but it's always there in the back of my mind.
Rain Stickland
Write a million words. Yes, seriously. By the time you've written that many words, your voice will start to show itself, and things will come far more naturally. When I read that advice years ago, I had no idea how true it was. You can begin to concentrate on polish, rather than the nitty gritty.
Rain Stickland
The best thing is being able to get the images in my head out into the world for other people to see. There's nothing more enjoyable, frustrating, obsessive, or humbling, than being a writer.
Rain Stickland
I've got Ground Zero on the go right now, which is the second book in the Tipping Point Trilogy. I've also got a dystopian anthology in the works, called Imperfections - I'm editing it, and have a couple of my own short stories in it.
Rain Stickland
My former boss was, at one time, an executive for Ontario Hydro. He told me after the 2003 Northeast Blackout that the outages would only get worse. I just couldn't let that idea go, both personally and professionally.
Having been raised on a farm where we were pretty self-sustaining (except for our power supply), I knew all about raising animals for meat (chickens, turkeys and rabbits) and growing a large vegetable garden. Since I lived with my grandparents, who were partially disabled, I was required to do a large portion of the physical work. I was also taught how to use power tools, build furniture, and maintain the house, so I had a bit of an advantage growing up.
We put up an addition that connected two separate parts of the house, too (there had been a fire that burned down the middle section), so I learned a lot about building construction. I was raised in an area where nobody paid to have a house built, and everyone was pretty handy and expected hard work.
Having been raised on a farm where we were pretty self-sustaining (except for our power supply), I knew all about raising animals for meat (chickens, turkeys and rabbits) and growing a large vegetable garden. Since I lived with my grandparents, who were partially disabled, I was required to do a large portion of the physical work. I was also taught how to use power tools, build furniture, and maintain the house, so I had a bit of an advantage growing up.
We put up an addition that connected two separate parts of the house, too (there had been a fire that burned down the middle section), so I learned a lot about building construction. I was raised in an area where nobody paid to have a house built, and everyone was pretty handy and expected hard work.
Rain Stickland
I don't get typical writer's block, though I can certainly go through dry spells. If I'm not writing, it's more likely there's an outside reason - such as laziness, burnout, procrastination, or the I-don't-wanna bug. If I have to write about a specific topic, such as with my non-fiction articles, I usually have no problem writing or coming up with ideas. Writing prompt have always helped me a great deal, however. I've written for sites that have a theme for the week, and I have to say that really got me in the habit of being able to write about anything at any time.
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