Ask the Author: Jerry Hanel
Answered Questions (3)
Jerry Hanel
AJ, my friend!! I'm so sorry. No, the two books are not the end for Brodie. No, I don't think I can make it go on and on forever. (I can only be Brodie's kind of crazy for a little bit each year.) And finally, ... Yes, there is a third and final book to the Brodie Wade series. I have a distinct story to wrap up all of the insanity that he faces that will (hopefully) explain why he is the way he is. However, I had two other characters in my head that were literally threatening to beat me up if I didn't let them out.
I negotiated a hostage arrangement with them by letting one out in a new release coming up this month (Fort Reiley). Then, I hope to return to Brodie's story and wrap it all up for him.
Thank you for being patient, and I promise to let you know what's going on soon.
I negotiated a hostage arrangement with them by letting one out in a new release coming up this month (Fort Reiley). Then, I hope to return to Brodie's story and wrap it all up for him.
Thank you for being patient, and I promise to let you know what's going on soon.
Jerry Hanel
My advice is this: Writing is tough. If you want to get into writing because you want to make money, just stop now. 99% of authors do not make enough to support themselves without a working spouse or a day job of their own. Besides, if your only reason is money, your works won't be worth much anyway because the writing will lack the soul required to draw an audience.
That being said, if you hear my warning, and want to venture forward anyway, then you obviously have something your soul wishes to share with the world. Go for it. You seriously need to do these three things:
1) Get involved in a local critique group. Not a group of friends that won't tell you the harsh, honest, bone-cutting truth, but a group of individuals that won't spare a single punch. Only THEN will you be able to see your own mistakes. I can't stress this point enough.
2) Write, write, write. I don't care if you have to write things on napkins at lunch... write. You'll throw 99% of it away. But the 1% that remains will be gold.
3) Be prepared for rejection. Lots and lots of rejection. People saying you're not smart enough, good enough or talented enough. That's part of the process. And they MAY just be right, too, that's what hurts the most. Consider the source of each comment and take the advice with two asprin and a shot of coffee, and get back in there.
Being a writer may not be profitable, but if not putting your stories onto paper would feel like utter madness inside, then do it to the best of your ability.
That being said, if you hear my warning, and want to venture forward anyway, then you obviously have something your soul wishes to share with the world. Go for it. You seriously need to do these three things:
1) Get involved in a local critique group. Not a group of friends that won't tell you the harsh, honest, bone-cutting truth, but a group of individuals that won't spare a single punch. Only THEN will you be able to see your own mistakes. I can't stress this point enough.
2) Write, write, write. I don't care if you have to write things on napkins at lunch... write. You'll throw 99% of it away. But the 1% that remains will be gold.
3) Be prepared for rejection. Lots and lots of rejection. People saying you're not smart enough, good enough or talented enough. That's part of the process. And they MAY just be right, too, that's what hurts the most. Consider the source of each comment and take the advice with two asprin and a shot of coffee, and get back in there.
Being a writer may not be profitable, but if not putting your stories onto paper would feel like utter madness inside, then do it to the best of your ability.
Jerry Hanel
A friend and I sat down over lunch one day, many years ago, to discuss if dinosaurs are real, yet no longer roam the earth, what about things like trolls, faeries, elves, etc. Just because we haven't found evidence of them doesn't mean that they never existed, especially since almost every culture in the world discusses creatures fitting these same stereotypes.
Being a Christian, I thought I'd look up scriptures to see what God had said about such creatures. After all, Genesis talks about the world being a sphere and it was written 6000 years before Christ... 8000 years ago. And what I found astounded me. There ARE creatures that the bible references that we have no modern contemporary equivalent for. That lead into me imagining how other things might have come into existence... darker, more sinister things.
And thus, the idea for Fort Reiley, my latest project.
Being a Christian, I thought I'd look up scriptures to see what God had said about such creatures. After all, Genesis talks about the world being a sphere and it was written 6000 years before Christ... 8000 years ago. And what I found astounded me. There ARE creatures that the bible references that we have no modern contemporary equivalent for. That lead into me imagining how other things might have come into existence... darker, more sinister things.
And thus, the idea for Fort Reiley, my latest project.
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