Ask the Author: Kevin Dickson
Answered Questions (7)
Kevin Dickson
I'm really looking forward to an early read of Lindsey Kelk's I Heart Forever, and I want to do a complete re-read of His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman before The Book Of Dust comes out this fall.
Kevin Dickson
I go for a walk. A long one. Eight miles, thereabouts. Maybe longer. In the mountains near my home, or sometimes around the LA Zoo a few times. And usually, somewhere around mile five, the characters will tell me where they're going. I listen to them, they're the truest compass a book can have. Most times, it turns out the writers block was just a case of me pushing them in a direction they'd never go in real life, and me subconsciously knowing that.
Kevin Dickson
Being able to spend your workday with a chihuahua inside your t-shirt and your favorite records blasting.
Kevin Dickson
Write. That's simply it. If you're not writing, it's hard to call yourself a writer. Set ridiculously short deadlines, and try to meet them. Enjoy hanging out with your characters in your head, otherwise it's going to be miserable. I've had the Blind Item crew living rent-free in my brain for four years. It's time they went and lived somewhere else for a while, but I've enjoyed having them there. I think that's key for me.
Kevin Dickson
The sequel to Blind Item is getting really close to done.
Kevin Dickson
I don't give myself that luxury. Writing is a job, writing has a deadline, even if it's just something amorphous in the future. So even on days when I feel like I'm running on empty, I will force myself to sit and write. I know that at the end of the day I will feel better for trying, and I can always improve on something. I'll put on a record I like, make a comfy bed for my dogs, and get started.
Kevin Dickson
Jack and I worked together for years, him as a publicist for some scandalous clients, me as an editor at either In Touch or Life & Style. We'd have lunch all the time, and share stories that we both knew could never be printed. At the end of the lunches, one of us would say, "one day, we'll write a book with all this stuff in it" - and that's what we did. We wrapped all that stuff up in a love story.
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