Ask the Author: Alan Denham
Answered Questions (5)
Alan Denham
No mystery - but my experiences under a bullying boss have fed into my novella "An Accidental Death" ( https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5...)
Alan Denham
I am in the fortunate position of not being financially dependent on my writing - so if I get a 'block' I can put it aside, go do something else - which might mean writing in a different world, or might mean doing something completely different (my other hobby is woodcarving).
Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Later I will come back to whatever was blocked, and maybe I will have an idea, or maybe I will have to throw a lot of it away and start over. So it goes.
Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Later I will come back to whatever was blocked, and maybe I will have an idea, or maybe I will have to throw a lot of it away and start over. So it goes.
Alan Denham
There is no best thing about being a writer - unless perhaps you count the fame, status, kudos, etc.
Mostly it is something that you just have to do, like it or not - and I don't mean you have to do it for the money (I haven't made any yet) - it is just that some ideas need writing down.
Mostly it is something that you just have to do, like it or not - and I don't mean you have to do it for the money (I haven't made any yet) - it is just that some ideas need writing down.
Alan Denham
That varies a LOT! Quite often I get an image in my head of the big 'payoff' scene (or one of them). Then I write an outline, then I send it to Graham and he adds characterisation, background, improves the flow, etc . . .
Sometimes Graham and i just toss ideas at each other over a pint (or three)
Sometimes Graham and i just toss ideas at each other over a pint (or three)
Alan Denham
You mean the last one published, or the one I am still working on? In the first case, it needed several ideas - 'Magic' is a collection of related short stories. Some of the ideas were mine, some were Graham's. Some of them are quite old (ideas Graham and I first played with many years ago), some were new(ish). They mostly integrated fairly well.
If you meant the book I am still working on - one of the shorts from 'Shades of Magic' was too good to leave - that short is (hopefully) becoming the first chapter in the next book.
If you meant the book I am still working on - one of the shorts from 'Shades of Magic' was too good to leave - that short is (hopefully) becoming the first chapter in the next book.
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