Ask the Author: T. Edwin Perry
Answered Questions (7)
T. Edwin Perry
Personally, I have to go with Han and Leia. (Yes, Star Wars: don't judge!) Starting in A New Hope, he's a scoundrel and she's an idealist, so you don't think they'd have a shot (and, based on The Force Awakens, they didn't), but by Return of the Jedi, they have influenced each other dramatically. She's still an idealist, but so is he, putting his life on the line to fight her war. On the other hand, he's still a scoundrel, but so is, too, going so far as to infiltrate Jabba's lair by posing as a bounty hunter and threatening to blow the whole place up! Perhaps the best part is the fact that their love is so deep that it doesn't have to be spoken, and when it is, the only response needed is, "I know." Say what you will about Gomez and Morticia, Wesley and Buttercup, or Romeo and Juliet: for my money, the Force is strong with Han and Leia.
T. Edwin Perry
I have no clue where my ideas come from, but once I'm writing, I tend to set goals for myself regarding how much I need to write and when. It's not a matter of convenience: it's about scheduling and planning. So long as I keep to my schedule, the inspiration takes care of itself.
T. Edwin Perry
I'm currently focused on marketing the first two installments of The Chronicles of Whimsy Trilogy, Birthright and Broken, and finishing the last chapters of the third installment, Reborn. I'm not sure what project I'll start next, but I think it's going to be very different.
T. Edwin Perry
My wife loves reading fiction, particularly adventures with a supernatural element. I started writing The Chronicles of Whimsy because I wanted her to read something I had written. I originally expected it to be something like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but with Fae (faeries) instead of Vampires. That idea didn't pan out very well, but, by the third attempt to start the story, it had evolved into an epic adventure that has dominated the past three years of my life. It's been a truly awesome experience.
T. Edwin Perry
The best part of being a writer is that moment when you realize that people are reading your creation and you have no idea who they are. It's one thing when your friends and family pat you on the back and tell you how great it is that you've done this amazing thing, but when a complete stranger is impressed enough to spend their money on your work...even if it's just a couple of bucks for an eBook...there's something magical about that feeling. It can't be about the money. The odds of ever making enough money from your books so that you can just be a writer are somewhere between slim and none, but knowing that someone is reading it: that makes it all worthwhile.
T. Edwin Perry
"Don't Quit Your Day Job," which sounds rude until you realize that I'm not talking about giving up on your dreams, but rather that you should embrace everything that you do and do it to the best of your abilities. Don't just go to work: actually experience it, every little nuanced detail of it. If you work outside, make a mental record of the ache in your back, the dirt on your hands, the pounding in your chest, and the glare of the sun. Work in a restaurant? Note the smells from the kitchen, the frustration of your customers, the awkward feeling of singing "Happy Birthday" for the twentieth time this hour, and the joy of that unexpectedly big tip. If you work in an office, how about the sound of your computer fan, the flicker of the fluorescent light, and the irritating tone in your coworker's voice when you hear her whispering about you on the other side of the cubicle wall? Writers write what they know, but you don't really know anything until you've experienced it. If you embrace your "Day Job" today, someday you might put those details to good use describing a familiar character or scene in a way that only someone who has experienced it can.
T. Edwin Perry
I tend to write in phases, completing five or six chapters at a time. When I hit a wall, I go back and proofread and/or refine the chapters I have already finished, which usually helps me to either break through the wall or change direction and go around it. It usually helps to make the story better in the long run.
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