Ask the Author: Eric Gerds
Answered Questions (6)
Eric Gerds
Creating worlds.
Eric Gerds
I switch to another book until I have worked out the problem with the story that caused a block.
Eric Gerds
Inspiration is all around. I just think....."What If?"
Eric Gerds
1) 2/3 done on outline on sequel to Plague of Vampires.
2) Chapter Six done on first draft of other fantasy Novel
3) Liz - 1/2 outline of other fantasy book.
(yes, we have 3 in the works)
2) Chapter Six done on first draft of other fantasy Novel
3) Liz - 1/2 outline of other fantasy book.
(yes, we have 3 in the works)
Eric Gerds
Sit down and write!
You are allowed to let your first draft to suck! NO ONE writes a perfect first draft!
You are allowed to let your first draft to suck! NO ONE writes a perfect first draft!
Eric Gerds
f you read the earlier blog post you will know that this novel comes from an audio drama concept. During that time I was looking at all the sub-genre of popular science fiction and fantasy such as urban fantasy, space military and so on. In looking at each one of these genre I was very cold blooded about it and was trying to think up ways that I could take each genre and twist them to get something different and new from them.
When it came to the Vampire genre several ideas came together to create the world for Plague of Vampires. The first was that I didn’t want to do the standard paranormal romantic story. Even with this being the “hot” genre at the moment it I could not think of anything new or interesting to do with it. And to be honest, if I see one more vampire, half-breed, hunter novel I think that I would scream.
From not wanting to do paranormal romantic it led me to the thought of what make a vampire a vampire? Would someone who has to drink blood to live but not for supernatural reason be considered a vampire? Once I asked myself this question I felt that I had something because it also lead to the thought that if the media called someone, a vampire wouldn’t people except them as vampires? In this day and age media labels do have a powerful impact on the public. I remember reading a news report years ago in which a farmer had killed all of his pigs because he was afraid to catch the swine flu. Now this farmer’s attitude is a bit extreme but it does show how people can confuse the name of something with the facts of what something really is.
Now I had the start of concept which was rich with conflict. The concept is simple: What if there was a disease which mimicked some aspects of vampirism, how would the public react? When you’ve got an interesting dilemma, you’ve got a start of a story idea.
When it came to the Vampire genre several ideas came together to create the world for Plague of Vampires. The first was that I didn’t want to do the standard paranormal romantic story. Even with this being the “hot” genre at the moment it I could not think of anything new or interesting to do with it. And to be honest, if I see one more vampire, half-breed, hunter novel I think that I would scream.
From not wanting to do paranormal romantic it led me to the thought of what make a vampire a vampire? Would someone who has to drink blood to live but not for supernatural reason be considered a vampire? Once I asked myself this question I felt that I had something because it also lead to the thought that if the media called someone, a vampire wouldn’t people except them as vampires? In this day and age media labels do have a powerful impact on the public. I remember reading a news report years ago in which a farmer had killed all of his pigs because he was afraid to catch the swine flu. Now this farmer’s attitude is a bit extreme but it does show how people can confuse the name of something with the facts of what something really is.
Now I had the start of concept which was rich with conflict. The concept is simple: What if there was a disease which mimicked some aspects of vampirism, how would the public react? When you’ve got an interesting dilemma, you’ve got a start of a story idea.
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