Ask the Author: H. Dean Fisher
Answered Questions (6)
H. Dean Fisher
I'll provide two answers to this question because people might call foul on my first answer: I would travel to the fictional book world of Star Trek. I realize it started as a television series, but I have dreamed of traveling the stars on the starship Enterprise since I was a child. I would do that in a second!
If that's not good enough because of the television connection, then here's my second answer: I would travel to Sarah Zettel's world of Isavalta ("A Sorcerer's Treason") and be a sorcerer. That world was so wonderfully, beautifully envisioned that I can still recall details of it today after reading it more than 15 years ago.
If that's not good enough because of the television connection, then here's my second answer: I would travel to Sarah Zettel's world of Isavalta ("A Sorcerer's Treason") and be a sorcerer. That world was so wonderfully, beautifully envisioned that I can still recall details of it today after reading it more than 15 years ago.
H. Dean Fisher
My advice is simple: Write.
People like to say, "Yeah, I have an idea for a book," but they never write it. People say they would like to write a book, but then they never do it. People say, "I wish I had the time to write," but they don't carve out the time from their schedule to sit down and write.
Writing a book is difficult, and it takes time, but the best thing you can do to accomplish it is to...write. And then write some more. And more after that. Do that enough times, and pretty soon the book will be done. Do that one time, and you know you can do it again.
People like to say, "Yeah, I have an idea for a book," but they never write it. People say they would like to write a book, but then they never do it. People say, "I wish I had the time to write," but they don't carve out the time from their schedule to sit down and write.
Writing a book is difficult, and it takes time, but the best thing you can do to accomplish it is to...write. And then write some more. And more after that. Do that enough times, and pretty soon the book will be done. Do that one time, and you know you can do it again.
H. Dean Fisher
I always have multiple projects going at once, which means I always have some project that can move forward in some direction. Right now, for example, I'm:
1) Writing the 1st draft of my mythological/urban fantasy (Goddess Arisen) due out 2022.
2) Outlining a different urban fantasy (untitled vampire novel) due out 2023.
3) Editing the second book in my Zhava series (The Novice) due out Thanksgiving 2020.
4) Editing a 20-year-old science fiction novel (The Jungle God) due out 2021.
5) Marketing the religious fiction novel I published three months ago (A Revelation of Our Savior).
6) Preparing for the worldwide launch of the hardcover of Zhava 1 (The Initiate) at the end of this month.
So no matter where I might be experiencing a momentary block, there's someplace else I can go to get something done: I can write new material, outline new material, edit old material, or market current material. Each of those activities lights up a different part of my brain, so whatever part is feeling a bit sluggish can take an evening off. Tomorrow night...time to do something else.
1) Writing the 1st draft of my mythological/urban fantasy (Goddess Arisen) due out 2022.
2) Outlining a different urban fantasy (untitled vampire novel) due out 2023.
3) Editing the second book in my Zhava series (The Novice) due out Thanksgiving 2020.
4) Editing a 20-year-old science fiction novel (The Jungle God) due out 2021.
5) Marketing the religious fiction novel I published three months ago (A Revelation of Our Savior).
6) Preparing for the worldwide launch of the hardcover of Zhava 1 (The Initiate) at the end of this month.
So no matter where I might be experiencing a momentary block, there's someplace else I can go to get something done: I can write new material, outline new material, edit old material, or market current material. Each of those activities lights up a different part of my brain, so whatever part is feeling a bit sluggish can take an evening off. Tomorrow night...time to do something else.
H. Dean Fisher
I'm working on multiple projects at different stages of development. My debut novel, "The Initiate," will get its worldwide release on Ingram this summer (June 30); the sequel, "The Novice" will go worldwide on Ingram this holiday season, right before Thanksgiving; I have an SF novel coming out next summer; and I'm writing the first draft of an urban/mythological fantasy to be released summer 2022. It's a busy time!
H. Dean Fisher
I love the characters. They live in my head, and they become my friends. I get to go on brilliant adventures with them. IRL I would never get to fly a spaceship or throw fireballs or destroy a demon, but in my writing I get to do all that with (and through) my characters and the lives they live - and my readers get to come along for the ride. How fun is that!
H. Dean Fisher
I'm already reading them. The first "Crescent City" by Sarah Maas, and a couple books written by friends of mine: "The Watchers" by Eilidh Miller, and "The Back of the Beyond" by James Stoddard. Other than that, I want to hit my backlog of graphic novels, mostly Batgirl and Batman, two of my favorites. I also want to find a good SF novel for the summer while I (impatiently!) wait for the final James S.A. Corey "Expanse" novel. It's been too long since I've read really good space opera.
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