Ask the Author: Steven D. Nickell
Answered Questions (9)
Steven D. Nickell
Probably Trantor, but before the fall of the Galactic Civilization. Obviously.
Steven D. Nickell
I don't have a summer reading list, since I will be starting my new book around the 1st of June, 2024, and I don't read a lot when I'm drafting. It tends to mess with my "voice" if I'm reading other authors while actively drafting. I am reading now in the downtime after publishing my debut novel, however. I'm reading The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch, City of Liars by Michelle Fogle, Avalon Found by EM Hanzel, and Death's Debt by Dennis Crosby.
Steven D. Nickell
Probably the story around my ancestors settling in America, participating in the Revolution, and settling the Ohio Valley. Not a mystery necessarily but certainly a lot of unknown history there.
Steven D. Nickell
I don't believe in writer's block, per se. I think about what Michelangelo said about sculpting. He said that he could see the finished sculpture inside the block of marble and it was his job to reveal it. I look at writing stories the same way. Somewhere in my head, the story is fully formed and knows what it wants. It's my job to listen and write it down. If I can't move forward, then it's because I stopped listening or made a mistake somewhere. To move forward, I either need to listen better or back up until I find where I went wrong and fix it.
Steven D. Nickell
Everything starts with somebody writing something down. If you're the one writing it down, then it starts with you. That's both an amazing privilege and an awesome responsibility.
Steven D. Nickell
Read. Consume stories in all forms. Then, study the theory-crafting of storytelling. There's art as well as science involved. Read to appreciate the art and study to understand the science. Story theory goes back to the Greeks, so there's plenty of it out there. Always be writing something. Read it back to yourself. No one will read your work as much as you will, so make sure your work excites you first and foremost. Worry about about others later.
Steven D. Nickell
I've just released my debut novel, so I'm attending to the marketing and administrative details that coincide with a new release. I plan to begin drafting Book 2 of my series The Aeronaut & the Acolyte on or about June 1st.
Steven D. Nickell
I don't know if "inspired" is the word I would choose. I either feel it or I don't. A hot shower helps a lot. Something about the relaxing steam, the isolation, and the white noise of the running water helps the words to flow like they're coming out of the faucet alongside the water. Music helps tune my emotional state to the requirements of whatever scene I'm writing.
Steven D. Nickell
It started as a prompt from a friend for a short story about her D&D character but turned into something else.
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