Ask the Author: Meredith R. Stoddard
Answered Questions (7)
Meredith R. Stoddard
Yes. Book 3 will be released September 27th.
Meredith R. Stoddard
I'm too new at this to be giving much advice, but I would have to say reading. When I read a book, I am always analyzing how the author is choosing to tell the story and why they made the choices that they did, And of course, would I have done it differently. That goes for good books and bad ones. I read them all, and learn the craft from them all.
Meredith R. Stoddard
Entertaining readers. With bringing these characters to life being a close second.
Meredith R. Stoddard
I outline and plan like crazy, so I don't tend to get blocked often. I just "plan the work, work the plan". But when I'm not feeling it flow, I usually take a shower or a drive, because ideas and especially dialog always tend to come to me when I'm not near a keyboard or can't write them down. I also find listening to Chopin helps filter out distractions and concentrate.
Meredith R. Stoddard
It's really a melding of a couple of my areas of interest. I studied Folklore in college and love Appalachian and Scottish culture. I come from a long line of Carolina Scots, so it seems natural to me that much of the folklore in North Carolina has a definite Scots-Irish flavor.
Also, I read Holy Blood, Holy Grail when I was in high school (long before The DaVinci Code was published) and was fascinated by that whole idea that there was a secret society guarding some earth shattering secret and hoarding some special knowledge from the rest of us.
Those two things were my jumping off point. My research, and the story blossomed out from there.
Also, I read Holy Blood, Holy Grail when I was in high school (long before The DaVinci Code was published) and was fascinated by that whole idea that there was a secret society guarding some earth shattering secret and hoarding some special knowledge from the rest of us.
Those two things were my jumping off point. My research, and the story blossomed out from there.
Meredith R. Stoddard
Reading. I read everything, but history tends to inspire me the most. I like to take things from history and imagine what the people would have been like and what motivated them to do the things they did. "The White House" is a prime example of that. I heard a couple of legends about Blackbeard in Beaufort, North Carolina and started to mentally fill in the blanks.
Meredith R. Stoddard
The sequel to The River Maiden. Can't give any definite dates, but I hope to have it out in the next year. In the meantime I am also working on some short pieces in the same world to tide readers over.
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