Ask the Author: Michael Aurelius
Answered Questions (6)
Michael Aurelius
I usually walk away from the keyboard/screen for a couple of days.
For me, writer's block means one of two things: either I've gotten too far ahead of the story and I'm waiting for my characters to catch up, or they've gotten involved in the minutiae of their lives and it's boring to the point where they don't want to talk to me about it.
--just kidding, I don't need a 72-hour psych hold--
Then, after a couple of days, I go back a couple of chapters and start reading and re-re-re-editing what I've written. Sometimes, I'm blocked because I've written myself into a corner and my brain is struggling with how to deal, or I lost the thread of the narrative and just needed a break to get it back.
There have been times where I've ripped out two or three chapters of what I thought was really good writing, but on the re-read, it turned into pure drek.
It hurts nothing to put a work on hold for months at a time while you work on something else!
For me, writer's block means one of two things: either I've gotten too far ahead of the story and I'm waiting for my characters to catch up, or they've gotten involved in the minutiae of their lives and it's boring to the point where they don't want to talk to me about it.
--just kidding, I don't need a 72-hour psych hold--
Then, after a couple of days, I go back a couple of chapters and start reading and re-re-re-editing what I've written. Sometimes, I'm blocked because I've written myself into a corner and my brain is struggling with how to deal, or I lost the thread of the narrative and just needed a break to get it back.
There have been times where I've ripped out two or three chapters of what I thought was really good writing, but on the re-read, it turned into pure drek.
It hurts nothing to put a work on hold for months at a time while you work on something else!
Michael Aurelius
Taking the ordinary world around me and turning it into something exciting. Having my characters experience events first-hand, and watching to see how it changes them. Putting a different spin on seemingly ordinary things just to see what happens.
Michael Aurelius
Sit down and write. It doesn't have to be about anything extraordinary.
Michael Aurelius
Succubus, Part Three and Hunter Part Two.
Michael Aurelius
This is sort of funny -- I did it bass-ackwards. The first book that I wrote isn't due to be published for another couple of months, but the prelude to that story was just published in August 2021 (Succubus, Part One).
I'm a very chaotic writer and I've usually got four or five chapters being written more or less simultaneously, plus rounding out chapters in other books. I'd written 'Blood of Patriots' as the first book, but my editor and friends wanted to know what led up to the events in that book, which lead to 'Succubus', and then to 'Hunter', which takes place 220 years later.
I'm a very chaotic writer and I've usually got four or five chapters being written more or less simultaneously, plus rounding out chapters in other books. I'd written 'Blood of Patriots' as the first book, but my editor and friends wanted to know what led up to the events in that book, which lead to 'Succubus', and then to 'Hunter', which takes place 220 years later.
Michael Aurelius
I pay close attention to current events -- at the local, state, national, and international levels. These play into setting a theme and thread for the setting, and from there, I extrapolate "what if".
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