Ask the Author: Mark Justice
Answered Questions (9)
Mark Justice
Decades of struggle with my Fundamentalist Christian faith and all of the problematic passages in the Bible, the ones the church ignores. I needed to get all of it out of me, the fight, the frustration, the pain, and incredulous anger that so much of the Bible was utterly ignored by so many Christians, who are oblivious even to how ignorant they are about the Bible.
The church gives half the picture. I wanted to give the other half, expose Toxic Christianity and its doctrine, and in doing so, remove that cancer from myself.
The church gives half the picture. I wanted to give the other half, expose Toxic Christianity and its doctrine, and in doing so, remove that cancer from myself.
Mark Justice
In a very specific sense, writing isn't the first part of the creative process. It's usually third, after letting the imagination invent, which is its own process and takes its own time. Then, there's structure, organization, which allows you to refine and further develop and expand the initial imaginative spark. That's when the idea slowly takes shape and molds itself into a tangible, executable form.
Once that form is established - for me, a detailed outline - that's when I get truly inspired to write, the act of writing.
In terms of a general sense, though, I have a pretty active imagination, and it's always doing something creative in the background, so I just let it run around and throw stuff up at me whenever it feels like it.
Once that form is established - for me, a detailed outline - that's when I get truly inspired to write, the act of writing.
In terms of a general sense, though, I have a pretty active imagination, and it's always doing something creative in the background, so I just let it run around and throw stuff up at me whenever it feels like it.
Mark Justice
Having the freedom to create worlds from mere imagination.
Seeing characters take on lives of their own beyond what you invent them to be. They start of as just a rough sketch, but in time, they become almost living entities. That's incredibly exciting, and at those times, the act of writing feels more like simply recording what these characters are saying on their own rather than through your invention.
When you find out that other people enjoy your work. That's immensely satisfying.
Seeing characters take on lives of their own beyond what you invent them to be. They start of as just a rough sketch, but in time, they become almost living entities. That's incredibly exciting, and at those times, the act of writing feels more like simply recording what these characters are saying on their own rather than through your invention.
When you find out that other people enjoy your work. That's immensely satisfying.
Mark Justice
Don't let fear of what you think you can't do stop you from doing. I kept away from long fiction far too long because I was afraid I'd never write convincing dialogue. When I channeled my writing into movies and wrote three scripts, I realized what I had done - told a story with almost nothing BUT dialogue. That gave me the confidence to push into long fiction. Now that I've written three books, I mourn for the years I let fear dictate what I wrote. Don't do that!
Mark Justice
There is something to having a plan before drafting. I have a fairly detailed outline going in, which helps keep me on track and looking at the big picture, but some days, the rusty gate doesn't want to budge. I accept that. On those days, I'll try to write something other than what I'm working on, or I'll take a day off. There's no reason to not give your brain a rest when it's fatigued. Writing is challenging. It's normal to tire. I give myself permission to rest when it's warranted.
Mark Justice
I am working on the next book in my Season's Change cozy mystery series, the first installment of my Death's Head pulp series, and a RPG supplement.
Mark Justice
The cackling no longer came from under her bed. It now breathed in her ear.
Mark Justice
Arrakis. I want to see Fremen summon one of the humongous worms and watch it breach the desert floor.
Mark Justice
I'm reading through the complete works of Poe and Lovecraft. Just wonderful.
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