Ask the Author: Charles Conway
Answered Questions (6)
Charles Conway
I open up a new document on my computer and type something. Anything at all, even if it's just my to-do list for the day. That way I'm not looking at a blank screen, which can be intimidating when you have a target of x number of words for that day. Inspiration usually finds me!
Charles Conway
Getting honest reactions from the people who read my books! One of my test readers, the daughter of a friend, came up to me after reading Lucy's Web and jumped up and down screaming "I love it I love it I love it I love it!" It truly made my day!
Charles Conway
Just do it! There's no point sitting there thinking "I'll do it one day" because one day won't come on its own. If I had to give one piece of advice though it would be to make sure that the world you create for your characters is represented consistently throughout the stories you tell. Create a database of your characters and locations and update it as new information is presented to your readers, so that little Jimmy doesn't have blue eyes in one story and green in the next. Your readers will notice any inconsistency and pull you up on it!
Charles Conway
Steve, the protagonist in Steve's Web, has a friend called Mickey who is a bit of a computer genius. I had a sneaking suspicion that he might just be up to something, and I was right! Mickey's story is likely to be a long one, so it might take a while and there could be more short stories before his is ready to share with the world.
Charles Conway
Each new short story that I write, and the characters that appear in them, inspire me to write new stories. For example, Steve was a character in one of Lucy's stories, then it became clear that he had stories of his own to tell, so I wrote them too and decided to release the two books simultaneously. Online safety is such a rich subject matter that I think I have a long way to go before I run out of stories!
Charles Conway
Each new short story that I write, and the characters that appear in them, inspire me to write new stories. For example, Steve was a character in one of Lucy's stories, then it became clear that he had stories of his own to tell, so I wrote them too and decided to release the two books simultaneously. Online safety is such a rich subject matter that I think I have a long way to go before I run out of stories!
Charles Conway
Lucy and Steve, the protagonists in my two books of stories for children, have been part of my life for quite a while! I work with children, foster-carers and childcare professionals as an Internet Safety trainer and presenter, so I've heard loads of stories about the trouble young people get up to online. Lucy's early adventures were designed as a set of classroom resources, including comic-book style booklets and lesson plans around the stories. I decided recently that they could reach a larger audience in short story format, so got on with it!
Charles Conway
Lucy and Steve, the protagonists in my two books of stories for children, have been part of my life for quite a while! I work with children, foster-carers and childcare professionals as an Internet Safety trainer and presenter, so I've heard loads of stories about the trouble young people get up to online. Lucy's early adventures were designed as a set of classroom resources, including comic-book style booklets and lesson plans around the stories. I decided recently that they could reach a larger audience in short story format, so got on with it!
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