Ask the Author: Gary Corbin
Answered Questions (5)
Gary Corbin
I look at my list of bills to pay, my bank balance, and the deadlines on my to-do list, and then I harness the resulting fear. It makes thrillers much more real!
Gary Corbin
As they say, you can't beat the hours.
Except, of course, when you can't sleep because your characters just won't shut up and won't stop doing crazy things, so you have to get up and turn on the computer and write until you should be getting up anyway.
Except, of course, when you can't sleep because your characters just won't shut up and won't stop doing crazy things, so you have to get up and turn on the computer and write until you should be getting up anyway.
Gary Corbin
My most recent book was inspired by its predecessor in The Mountain Man Mysteries series, so in fairness I should divulge how I got the idea for THAT book. Which was...
I was driving one day and daydreaming about what unexpected surprise I might discover along the way - a wild critter, say, or at least a stray dog. That got me to wondering: how could an innocuous event like that change someone's life? What if, say, a guy who feared dogs picked up an injured stray one - and had to bring it to his ex's vet clinic to get it treated? And what if she was spoiling for a rekindled romance with the guy?
Then it became a matter of just how messed up and dangerous a person's life could become, just because one day they did something nice for a change. If you roll in small-town corrupt politics (like I've seen in a number of places I've lived), you find rich ground for fun story-telling...and an unlikely hero.
I was driving one day and daydreaming about what unexpected surprise I might discover along the way - a wild critter, say, or at least a stray dog. That got me to wondering: how could an innocuous event like that change someone's life? What if, say, a guy who feared dogs picked up an injured stray one - and had to bring it to his ex's vet clinic to get it treated? And what if she was spoiling for a rekindled romance with the guy?
Then it became a matter of just how messed up and dangerous a person's life could become, just because one day they did something nice for a change. If you roll in small-town corrupt politics (like I've seen in a number of places I've lived), you find rich ground for fun story-telling...and an unlikely hero.
Gary Corbin
On the rare occasion I feel "blocked," I will use external prompts to get myself writing - say, opening a random book to a random page, blindly touching a word or sentence on the page, and using that to begin my writing for the day. I give myself permission to throw it all away before I even start, which usually liberates my pen and imagination considerably. I'll also imagine my character in unusual situations and write from their perspective as to how they'd feel in that situation, as if they're writing in their own journal. I learn a lot about my characters that way.
Gary Corbin
I'm currently working on getting my next novel (Lying in Vengeance) ready for publication, and editing and revising the next novel, The Mountain Man's Badge. I'm also drafting a new full-length play, a tragicomedy called "Voodoo Snowball," about a family dealing with terminal cancer. Yes. It's a comedy. I hope.
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