Ask the Author: D. Alexander Ward
Answered Questions (6)
D. Alexander Ward
Don't try so hard to open the floodgates that you won't recognize when the tide opens them for you. There are a lot of great ideas hidden in the simplest concepts. Free association exercised help. Watching, reading what you love helps, and think of ways you might take a similar premise of something you like and make it your own. You might end up with something entirely different but that is OKAY!
D. Alexander Ward
Being surprised by where a story goes spontaneously or where a character takes it that you had not planned but makes it all the richer. Getting heartfelt praise from someone who truly enjoyed your work always brings a smile, too.
D. Alexander Ward
Just keep at it. Develop a thick skin when it comes to rejection, criticism and reviews because the things some people hate about your work will be the very things that give others a thrill. Be professional and, for the most part, follow the rules of writing and take to heart the advice of other professional writers. That's harder than you might think but very important. And read. And write.
D. Alexander Ward
I'm in the planning stages for the next book in The Blackguards series, the sequel to Blood Savages. I also have another book I'm working on that involves a little magical realism but definitely has a dark thriller vibe. It'll be something different for me but hopefully something really cool. There are also various anthology projects I am working on in an editing capacity.
D. Alexander Ward
I just come across things that spark an idea honestly. Could be something in the newspaper. Or just in conversation even. Sometimes from dreams. Really, I think most writers just get inspired by the experience of every day life.
D. Alexander Ward
With Blood Savages, I had written a previous story about a villain turned legis private detective in New Orleans. That's the character of Dixon Kane. I knew I wanted to do more, kept coming up with more character ideas for good guys and bad guys, for what would be a series. But I wanted to keep it fun and in the vein of action horror movies from the 80s and 90s with great one-liners and a devil-may-care attitude. Next thing I knew, I was writing the beginning and including some vampires as the bad guys. So what I hope I ended up with is kind of like a mash-up of Near Dark, From Dusk til Dawn and Big Trouble in Little China.
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