Ask the Author: M.C. Coward
Answered Questions (6)
M.C. Coward
I write anyway. It goes back to the idea of writing being like any other job: you have to show up. There's always something that needs doing, and if writing the next word, sentence, or paragraph in a story just isn't happening, there's always something else I could be doing to move the story forward and make progress: editing, social media presence, character/world-building, etc. Ideally, I'll have something that I want to write, even if it's not in the story I should be working on, and if I visit that, it often gets the juices flowing.
M.C. Coward
It's cathartic for me. I can look at certain passages in my work and know where I was at that time in life. I love writing stories that I want to read.
M.C. Coward
Write anyway. That's been my mantra through most of this process. Sure, writing might be fun or a hobby, but if you want to be a writer—an author—you have to actually write. That means you have to show up, just like you would any job. If you don't show up, the job doesn't get done. Chefs cook, salespeople sell, and painters paint. There may be lapses in doing those things because of job or life circumstances, but at the end of the day, those people are what they are because they show up to work.
M.C. Coward
Right now, I'm gearing up to publish my debut novel, Outland. I'm also writing in my next story, Rightlight, which involves two characters stuck between two warring nations on an Earth-like planet with Saturn-like rings.
M.C. Coward
I was encouraged to be creative from a very young age, but found that I wasn't very gifted in the visual arts. But I had an aptitude for writing and my English teachers were extremely encouraging. I wanted to tell stories, and writing seemed like the most natural way to do so. I love how the right words can make a beautiful story. A picture may paint a thousand words, but a good writer doesn't need a thousand words to paint a picture.
M.C. Coward
This was an idea I've had for a long time. I read part of The Gunslinger by Stephen King as a young teenager and pretty much forgot about its existence, but it must have left an impression.
From the movie Interview With a Vampire (I would later read the book), it intrigued me to think of being who would live for centuries during which they could spend more than a human lifetime growing in skill and wisdom. I thought, what if they lived into the future? And then, what if they destroyed the world?
The Interview inspiration was coupled by an abridged reading of Paradise Lost required in high school. There's a scene where Satan (the Morning Star) muses that they nearly overthrew God, and I wondered why the Judeo-Christian mythology never had a third angelic being attempting to succeed where Satan failed.
From the movie Interview With a Vampire (I would later read the book), it intrigued me to think of being who would live for centuries during which they could spend more than a human lifetime growing in skill and wisdom. I thought, what if they lived into the future? And then, what if they destroyed the world?
The Interview inspiration was coupled by an abridged reading of Paradise Lost required in high school. There's a scene where Satan (the Morning Star) muses that they nearly overthrew God, and I wondered why the Judeo-Christian mythology never had a third angelic being attempting to succeed where Satan failed.
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more