Ask the Author: Holly Barbo
Answered Questions (7)
Holly Barbo
Sunstone began from watching and being irritated with the news. Throw in my exploring the steampunk genre and the death of my mother and you have about ninety percent of the seeds for the story.
Holly Barbo
Something will trigger a thought. It could be a phrase or a song that stirs an idea which begins to coalesce into a story. I was working on a short story for a multi-author collection and was a bit stymied. One of the other authors mentioned something about furniture (My day job is designing and building furniture). All of a sudden I knew the direction I wanted to go and began researching.
Holly Barbo
Sunstone is currently in edits and I can hardly wait to have it launched. It is a stand-alone steampunk novel. I'm also putting together a short story anthology and a new story is forming in my head for the next book.
Holly Barbo
Keep polishing your skills and when you think you are finished get a good editor and some beta readers who aren't afraid to give their honest opinion.
Holly Barbo
The thrill of creating is a real turn on! Working out things that bug me inside the story is wonderfully therapeutic. For instance, I take issues of today's world and fix them on another world. The saying: "Don't p!ss off a writer or you will find yourself as a character and at the mercy of the author" is very true.
Holly Barbo
I do a combination of waiting it out and research. Eventually something clicks and the story begins to come together. The block never happens while I'm in the story...only between books. I also write short stories to explore concepts and other genres.
Holly Barbo
I've always have been fascinated with space and the possibilities of other habitable worlds. From there it was just a matter of figuring out possible characteristics and doing research. There is a give and take. If I have this element what would be the ramifications. Right now I have a book that will be out soon. I chose a habitable moon circling a ringed gas giant. In order for it to work there would be three twilight days (due to being in the gas giant's shadow) followed by three "normal" day/night patterns.
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