Ask the Author: A.G. Carpenter
Answered Questions (9)
A.G. Carpenter
Hello, Amina! I haven't forgotten about you. (I have your book wrapped and ready to go, but lack of transportation and unusually cold weather has kept me from the post office. But it should go out this week. So sorry you've had to wait.)
A.G. Carpenter
It took most of the day and a lot of bleach to get all the blood cleaned up. Clearing her conscience proved more difficult, but the whiskey helped.
A.G. Carpenter
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A.G. Carpenter
If you want to get serious about your writing you need to spend your time reading, and writing. There is almost always free time available to write if you look for it. (I don't watch TV much anymore because I'd rather spend that time creating something.)
Reading will help you learn what other authors do. And writing as frequently as you can (I suggest writing every day, but the important thing is to do it on a regular basis) will help you practice what you are learning. It's not an overnight thing. The whole "million words" argument is pretty accurate, but you should find that over the course of a few months or the year that you start to notice that you are doing some things better.
Don't worry if what you are doing doesn't match up with other authors you know. Everyone is a little different. The skills we learn and how quickly we learn them are unique to us.
Be persistent. Not everyone is a great author, but most of us can learn to be good authors if we practice and stick with it.
Reading will help you learn what other authors do. And writing as frequently as you can (I suggest writing every day, but the important thing is to do it on a regular basis) will help you practice what you are learning. It's not an overnight thing. The whole "million words" argument is pretty accurate, but you should find that over the course of a few months or the year that you start to notice that you are doing some things better.
Don't worry if what you are doing doesn't match up with other authors you know. Everyone is a little different. The skills we learn and how quickly we learn them are unique to us.
Be persistent. Not everyone is a great author, but most of us can learn to be good authors if we practice and stick with it.
A.G. Carpenter
I'd go to the world of Robin McKinley's Sunshine and eat at the bakery.
A.G. Carpenter
I have never had an actual mental block. I do sometimes suffer from "burn out" or "writer's exhaustion" - just needing to take a break for a while to let the creative energy come back.
I typically take a couple of weeks to read, watch movies, and listen to music. After a while the energy and desire to write returns. When I'm in the middle of a project I also have an informal schedule where I set aside time to write every day - just like it's a normal job. That's helps keep procrastination at bay and keeps me in a mode of putting something down on paper on a regular basis. (Sometimes it's terrible, but most of the time it's easier to fix something than it is to write that first draft.)
I typically take a couple of weeks to read, watch movies, and listen to music. After a while the energy and desire to write returns. When I'm in the middle of a project I also have an informal schedule where I set aside time to write every day - just like it's a normal job. That's helps keep procrastination at bay and keeps me in a mode of putting something down on paper on a regular basis. (Sometimes it's terrible, but most of the time it's easier to fix something than it is to write that first draft.)
A.G. Carpenter
I've not read a lot that I would classify first as "Magicpunk" (although I'm working on writing a novel that does), but Tad Williams "Otherworld" series is close - though perhaps more advanced tech interface than what I, personally, reference. And also Max Gladstone's series (Three Days Dead, etc) although I've heard that described as being more of a "weird" genre.
A.G. Carpenter
For me, magicpunk is about a world (or worlds) in which magic functions as one of several technologies. It can either be used to hack the existing tech - using magic to run a boiler instead of steam, for example - or other forms of energy can be used to hack magic-tech.
The other tech doesn't have to be advanced, but it can be, and it's all visible. (Not like Harry Potter where the magic exists alongside Muggle technology but is kept hidden.) So, for me, magicpunk is an exploration of "What if magic could be treated like science?" along with the tropes that come with exploring scientific boundaries and the ethics and responsibility of that exploration.
The other tech doesn't have to be advanced, but it can be, and it's all visible. (Not like Harry Potter where the magic exists alongside Muggle technology but is kept hidden.) So, for me, magicpunk is an exploration of "What if magic could be treated like science?" along with the tropes that come with exploring scientific boundaries and the ethics and responsibility of that exploration.
A.G. Carpenter
I'm always working on finishing a project, starting a new one, and polishing an old one. At the moment I'm working on finishing a draft of a magic-punk novel, starting a few new short stories, and revising an older urban fantasy novelette.
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