Ask the Author: P.M.F. Johnson
Answered Questions (11)
P.M.F. Johnson
As the shadows at last drew back, dawn illuminated the drowsy creature's pelt and the skulls of the hikers. Sunlight formed shining rainbows on the oily pools of blood.
P.M.F. Johnson
Evenlyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited and Graham Greene's Heart of the Matter. I want to see how the big dogs ply their craft. ;->
P.M.F. Johnson
I spent some time in Guatemala, so the idea of a journey through such a challenging environment has been bubbling under the surface for years.
P.M.F. Johnson
I go to the core: what matters to me as a person. Then, for fiction, I work out what the big challenges are that arise from that. How would my character overcome the barriers to success. For poetry, it's how do I describe a moment of change and mystery.
P.M.F. Johnson
Well, it's fun. But I think a more thorough answer would include the challenge of thinking more deeply about the world, trying to understand myself and others, and then creating an entertaining story out of the conflicts of our lives.
P.M.F. Johnson
My favorite fictional couple: Rev and Stara from my Saga of Sinnesemota series. They have such a romantic meeting, down in the prison of the Oracle in the book Trollen Rose, and bring so many wrongheaded notions into their romance. But slowly they form a partnership as they learn who they are themselves, what they can contribute to their life together, and what they cannot. Then of course miscommunication affects their life in the upcoming book in the series. They are young, after all!
P.M.F. Johnson
Christopher, thanks for the question! I considered a few points. I was working on a world with its own magical system as I wrote the westerns. I wanted the magic to fit in with that. And since the heart of gunfighting is the fast draw, I thought elemental magic, with its casting of fireballs, was ideal. Fast, violent, flashy, mano-a-mano. Magic is best limited, so no one gets more than a handful of spells in reserve. Also, the world in westerns is a huge antagonist, so I went with a world of wild magic my characters must respect, even fear at times. And lastly, the world had to be mostly wilderness, essential to a frontier, and adding to the unknown.
P.M.F. Johnson
You are most welcome. I so enjoyed the book. And we'd love to see you if you ever find yourself in the chilly land of Minnesota! Peace, P M F
P.M.F. Johnson
I am putting together books of my poetry (I figure I have about 6 books worth). As far as fiction goes, I am writing a sequel to Disk of Dragons. Things go very well.
P.M.F. Johnson
Couple things: writing takes a huge amount of time with no guarantee of external success. I have found it critical to determine what I want to write about, what issues/stories move me, and what I consider most important, and then to write about that. But readers don't read to be lectured to, they read to be entertained, enlightened, uplifted. Art is an emotional delivery vehicle. It's gotta be fun, in some sense of the word fun.
P.M.F. Johnson
I write both poetry and fiction. If I don't know how to resolve something in fiction, I work on a poem, and vice versa. It's kept me going for years.
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