Ask the Author: Leslie R. Waggoner III
Answered Questions (11)
Leslie R. Waggoner III
The short answer, it came through life experiences culminating into ruminations about the what ifs. I wanted to follow up on my father's interest in our family coat of arms, which I failed to trace back to anyone that would suggest we were entitled to claim one.
So, I embarked on a journey to create and then register one of my own that I can hand down to my daughter.
This led to writing a short piece about the shield with my coat of arms emblazoned on it and an accompanying sword. I called this piece the Heater and the Hack.
I then questioned myself what lead to the scene in this prose? I started writing "The Heater and The Hack" Tome I in the Chronicles of the Dance and I have been working on the world of Alaeon ever since.
So, I embarked on a journey to create and then register one of my own that I can hand down to my daughter.
This led to writing a short piece about the shield with my coat of arms emblazoned on it and an accompanying sword. I called this piece the Heater and the Hack.
I then questioned myself what lead to the scene in this prose? I started writing "The Heater and The Hack" Tome I in the Chronicles of the Dance and I have been working on the world of Alaeon ever since.
Leslie R. Waggoner III
The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde has the hands down answer to this question. If I must limit myself to any fictional book... why not a fictional book that has the possibility to open up EVERY OTHER book?
I have not yet read it, though I have added it to my want to read list. I had to search for a book that had the premise or close to the premise I was looking for. I had thought there was a pre-1990 novel with similar tone and notes, from a library environment, but I could not find one.
I have not yet read it, though I have added it to my want to read list. I had to search for a book that had the premise or close to the premise I was looking for. I had thought there was a pre-1990 novel with similar tone and notes, from a library environment, but I could not find one.
Leslie R. Waggoner III
Though it is not in my own life, the Ellsworth Axe Murders in 1911 were enacted upon my great-granduncle and his family. It would make an interesting time-travel detective story.
Leslie R. Waggoner III
While it is not directly in my life, the Showman family murders in Ellsworth, KS are my great-granduncle and his family.
It would make a good retro-time travel mystery thriller.
It would make a good retro-time travel mystery thriller.
Leslie R. Waggoner III
Most of my reading has suffered because of my technical background requiring in depth skimming rather than out and out reading, and for about two decades I read little but instruction manuals and emails. The authors which I am familiar, Zelazny, Tolkien, Donaldson, Heinlein, Asimov, etc. have gone by the wayside, and in their wake... the new authors I want to focus on start out with Le Guin and Sanderson.
Leslie R. Waggoner III
Writer's block for me is simply not understanding what the goal of my scene is... and since I am a pantser.. it is easy for me to enter a scene and not quite understand what I want to get out of it.
For me, I just write what is going on, what is being enacted in front of me and soon I will have enough to know where I want to take the scene, and sometimes I need to back track a bit and push it in a different direction.
But the long story short is... when I am blocked, I just write without intention until it surfaces.
For me, I just write what is going on, what is being enacted in front of me and soon I will have enough to know where I want to take the scene, and sometimes I need to back track a bit and push it in a different direction.
But the long story short is... when I am blocked, I just write without intention until it surfaces.
Leslie R. Waggoner III
If you think about writing, find a mentor you can trust. Understand what you want to write... for me it was 16 months into writing that I understood I never want to write a straight forward novel. I feel that people are much to complex to be simply angry or joyful. I also feel like Chekhov's gun is good for short stories but for an epic series it needs to be ignored. If you are writing for epic series... imagine your protagonist looking around... all the little things he sees... how much of it is wonderous to our world, but mundane in his.
Understand that you are neither as good as your best reviews, nor as bad as the worst reviews would lead you to believe.
Understand why you write... and keep doing it until you no longer want to... then do the next thing.
Understand that you are neither as good as your best reviews, nor as bad as the worst reviews would lead you to believe.
Understand why you write... and keep doing it until you no longer want to... then do the next thing.
Leslie R. Waggoner III
I started writing by accident. I was never one to appreciate the art of writing, though I always appreciated the writers, it was never my "bag."
As I dug deeper into creating my coat of arms, I was able to write a little piece about a shield and a sword sitting out in the field. Once I finished with it, I thought... I wonder how they got there... so I started writing and this is what I ended up with.
As I dug deeper into creating my coat of arms, I was able to write a little piece about a shield and a sword sitting out in the field. Once I finished with it, I thought... I wonder how they got there... so I started writing and this is what I ended up with.
Leslie R. Waggoner III
The best thing about writing is the imagining each what if...
What if this or that happened or what would it look like if this or that.
Sometimes, as I write, I close my eyes and just follow the scene, what are we seeing, what is Emanrasu experiencing... I find myself imagining the things he does not yet know... and the things he might know but only in the common sense. There are common things in his life that invoke wonder in different settings and context.
What if this or that happened or what would it look like if this or that.
Sometimes, as I write, I close my eyes and just follow the scene, what are we seeing, what is Emanrasu experiencing... I find myself imagining the things he does not yet know... and the things he might know but only in the common sense. There are common things in his life that invoke wonder in different settings and context.
Leslie R. Waggoner III
I am currently working on RCotD -:- Tome II, and Tome III.
I am also working on the following:
A book of short stories to explore the depth of world-building for Alaeon (the world, not to be confused with Aleon, the geographic region).
Two in-depth fictional non-fiction looks at the first of the three conlangs, Hadokai Tubatonona.
Planning the second trilogy, which is set a millennia before this trilogy, and mulling over the final trilogy, set a millennia after the first trilogy.
In the process of penning two tie-in novellas that will intersect the main first trilogy story arc.
I am also working on the following:
A book of short stories to explore the depth of world-building for Alaeon (the world, not to be confused with Aleon, the geographic region).
Two in-depth fictional non-fiction looks at the first of the three conlangs, Hadokai Tubatonona.
Planning the second trilogy, which is set a millennia before this trilogy, and mulling over the final trilogy, set a millennia after the first trilogy.
In the process of penning two tie-in novellas that will intersect the main first trilogy story arc.
Leslie R. Waggoner III
As the sunlight faded as the sun set, she looked up and watched the dishwasher, Jim, walking across the parking lot to his car, leaving her counting her tips at the cash register.
She glanced over, and the creepy guy sitting in the corner continued staring at her as he stood and slowly crossed the room, steadily and purposefully...
She glanced over, and the creepy guy sitting in the corner continued staring at her as he stood and slowly crossed the room, steadily and purposefully...
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