Ask the Author: Philip A. McClimon
Answered Questions (11)
Philip A. McClimon
Hi, Sam,
Thanks for reading my stories! DeadLand Volume Two is an exclusive book offered to people who signed up for my newsletter, or took part in some other promotion I offered. It is currently not listed on any of the major book outlets and so there is no place to leave a review. Thanks so much for reading it. I am very glad you liked it.
Thanks for reading my stories! DeadLand Volume Two is an exclusive book offered to people who signed up for my newsletter, or took part in some other promotion I offered. It is currently not listed on any of the major book outlets and so there is no place to leave a review. Thanks so much for reading it. I am very glad you liked it.
Philip A. McClimon
Yes. I touch upon this in chapter three, TICKET TO RIDE. Even as a kid myself, I remember seeing the movie OMEGA MAN, remade as I AM LEGEND with Will Smith. It was one man alone (or so he thought) in a big city after an apocalypse. The attraction for me was the whole city was his oyster. He could go anywhere he wanted, take anything he wanted. We see this kind of thing play out in more recent shows like THE LAST MAN ON EARTH when the main character has all kinds of national treasures hanging on his walls and he is living in the White House. In the third chapter of ROKKETS, the kids are sitting around talking about taking advantage of this, of the places they might go, things they might do. Each one has their own thoughts on the matter. Area 51? For one reason or another, Misty wants to go see Johnny Rokkets who every "sane" person thinks died years ago. For one reason or another, it's decided and then it's destination: Memphis.
Philip A. McClimon
The current first chapter is NOT the original first chapter. It is originally the third chapter. The original first and second chapters are now the last two chapters. They form an epilogue under the section "Six months before any of this happened" I moved them because I felt like it was taking too long to intro the main characters of the story. I wanted us to meet the characters and get on with the story faster than we were originally. I liked those first two chapters and so we get a look at them at the end. They tell us the circumstances that brought on the zombie apocalypse in the first place.
Philip A. McClimon
In chapter one, it is definitely Sarah. In chapter two, it is definitely Misty. The thing is, each of the six kids works under a burden of some sort, that hopefully by the end of the story they can unload. That being said, bottom line is, I think the one who has the farthest path to travel is Misty. She is very sad about the loss of her father. This has resulted in some coping problems. Is it really healthy to carry around a zombie hand in a pickle jar? It is Misty who is driving the action throughout the book, the reason they are going to Memphis anyway. But, Sarah is not without her burden either. Her burden is less obvious than some of the others, but she is under tremendous stress to take care of these kids when nobody else is around to do it. She feels this burden and longs to be free of it and just be a sixteen year old. To her credit, she has the courage and the self-sacrifice to put her own needs aside and care for them. So, this story is her story, too. And zombies.
Philip A. McClimon
The place I got my latest idea is run by a litigious entity with the word "enterprises" in the title. It is the reason I could not name by book something else besides Seeing Johnny Rokkets. That being said, it was a trip to Memphis, to a particular house. In this particular house, you can't go upstairs on the tour and the upstairs windows are all covered over. There is some fairly robust urban legend and mythology about the previous owner. Mix in zombies, and that is how I got the idea.
Philip A. McClimon
I don't "get" inspired to write, I am always inspired to write. I have more ideas in my story file than I think I could ever write, but that's not going to stop me from trying. Ideas hit me all ALL the time and I am obsessively compelled to stop whatever it is I am doing and jot them down.
Philip A. McClimon
Putting the final final final touches on Seeing Johnny Rokkets and doing a healthy edit on Substation: The Last Stand Of Gary Sykes to get it ready for republishing, with an updated cover, too! After editing some earlier works, I really need to write the full length sequel to Nicole's Odyssey, so that's next.
Philip A. McClimon
I am one. My advice is something I didn't want to believe at first. If you start now, in ten years you will begin to be where you need to be as a writer. The problem is, too many people, myself included almost ten years ago, say, eh, I wanna be a writer. It's easy.
Nope, it's not.
If I'm not writing, I am reading books and if I'm not reading books, I'm reading books on writing. I am starting to feel like I am finally "getting it" and so you know what I'm doing? Going back and rewriting my early books that I wrote when I thought I "had it" I am fortunate that I got a pass from readers early on and some pretty good reviews, too, but from a technical standpoint, they really need some work. I know that now, almost ten years later. Where will I be in another ten years? Better.
Nope, it's not.
If I'm not writing, I am reading books and if I'm not reading books, I'm reading books on writing. I am starting to feel like I am finally "getting it" and so you know what I'm doing? Going back and rewriting my early books that I wrote when I thought I "had it" I am fortunate that I got a pass from readers early on and some pretty good reviews, too, but from a technical standpoint, they really need some work. I know that now, almost ten years later. Where will I be in another ten years? Better.
Philip A. McClimon
Absolute Power! It's funny cause it's true. Not necessarily over your characters, cause a lot of the time they tell me what they are going to do and say. It really boils down to creating worlds and taking journeys of the mind to anywhere and anytime I want. What's really cool is when others see where you're going and want to come along.
Philip A. McClimon
I do not believe in writer's block. If I do feel at a loss for what to write, or how a character should be, I check tried and true resources to get the creative juices flowing. Some of these are: The Negative Trait Thesaurus, The Story Structure Architect, various writing prompts books. Sometimes I pick up something like Grimm's Fairy Tales and read one and then say, "Okay, now if instead of a fairy tale, what if this was the plot of a spy thriller?" I haven't written that one yet, but I have a pretty sweet idea for one based on "The Wolf and the Seven Young Kids".
I can't remember who, but someone really smart said writer's block is just the writer saying I don't want to do the work today. That's true.
I can't remember who, but someone really smart said writer's block is just the writer saying I don't want to do the work today. That's true.
Philip A. McClimon
There are several reasons: I wanted these kids to start off with some problems dealing with things. I wanted these problems to be fairly debilitating. Also, I wanted these kids to be on their own, to have come from unfortunate backgrounds, and so for various reasons these kids are also orphans. I wanted their chance of having an easy route, of having a family diminished by some unfortunate coping mechanisms. Lastly, I wanted adults to not be the answer. I wanted these kids to be the driving force in their own lives and to maybe come to the conclusion that the only family they would ever need is each other.
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