Ask the Author: James Peters
Answered Questions (7)
James Peters
If I'm really struggling to find inspiration, I start doing research. I find that a trip down Wikipedia looking up things that I just have a general idea of tends to spark my imagination. Sometimes it takes longer than others, but eventually, I get to writing.
James Peters
My latest Novel, Black Swan Planet can trace its routes to a story I began writing that was intended to be serialized, with an update each month. This was from the POV of an investigative reporter exiled to Earth. After writing and submitting the first few episodes, the publisher shut down the project, so they never got used.
That idea then got turned over, sideways and twisted into the novel.
That idea then got turned over, sideways and twisted into the novel.
James Peters
I have to write - I wake up with stories in my head and if I don't get them written down, they haunt me. Of course, I can procrastinate just like the next author, but when it is time to write, I have a routine. I have a Spotify "writing tunes" playlist, and I play it through, in order when I write. The familiarity and inspiration of the music tend to put me in writing mode, almost immediately.
James Peters
Read a lot, even genres that you don't intend to write in. Connect with other authors who will give you true, constructive criticism. Write, and know that your first draft is just the first step. You'll need to back away from it, re-read it, have beta readers go through it, and edit it several times. Then, it may be ready for others. Your first story won't be as good as your second, and so on.
James Peters
A man, blind since birth awakens to find his eyes are working perfectly. He discovers his favorite shoes are Crocs.
James Peters
I can drink while on the job
James Peters
Several project currently. First is "Black Swan Antithesis", book 2 in the Black Swan Planet trilogy. Next I have two short stories at about the 1/2 way done point. One is science fiction for an anthology that should be released in the next few months, the other is a western/occult story that has haunted me for a while. I don't have a market in mind for that story yet, will shop it when complete.
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