Ask the Author: E.R. Torre
Answered Questions (11)
E.R. Torre
Deep under the earth and in the bunker, Earth's last survivors let out an anguished cry when they heard the approaching noises. Those vile, terrifying creatures could gnaw through concrete and metal just as easily as human flesh.
E.R. Torre
This is a very difficult question to answer. Usually, the fictional "worlds" I tend to read about are dystopian to one degree or another. For example, I find William Gibson's sci-fi worlds (especially that in the steampunk Difference Engine) fascinating... but I don't think I'd want to live there!
Perhaps the "best" fictional world/universe I can think of is that presented in the original Star Trek series (I know, we're talking TV show but plenty of books and stories have been written in and around it). It presents such an "optimistic" view of where humanity goes that it is encouraging. Then again, there is still plenty of death and destruction so...
Another very appealing fictional book world is that presented in the pulp novels of Doc Savage. While ostensibly set in the then "present" of the 1930's-very early 50's, it was a fantastic presentation of such a world and, though filled with intrigue and the possibility of gruesome death(s), its an exciting alternate world view of that epoch, when the future and future technology was viewed as fascinating and potentially revolutionary... except when in the wrong hands! ;-)
So in sum, two worlds appeal to me, the futuristic Star Trek (original series) universe and the pulp fictional 1930's-very early 50's.
Perhaps the "best" fictional world/universe I can think of is that presented in the original Star Trek series (I know, we're talking TV show but plenty of books and stories have been written in and around it). It presents such an "optimistic" view of where humanity goes that it is encouraging. Then again, there is still plenty of death and destruction so...
Another very appealing fictional book world is that presented in the pulp novels of Doc Savage. While ostensibly set in the then "present" of the 1930's-very early 50's, it was a fantastic presentation of such a world and, though filled with intrigue and the possibility of gruesome death(s), its an exciting alternate world view of that epoch, when the future and future technology was viewed as fascinating and potentially revolutionary... except when in the wrong hands! ;-)
So in sum, two worlds appeal to me, the futuristic Star Trek (original series) universe and the pulp fictional 1930's-very early 50's.
E.R. Torre
Have a number of books around, so far got to...
Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie. Liked the book, especially the climax and Ms. Leckie is a really great writer ...but... this novel is, I must warn others, a slow burn and it may not grab readers like it should. Further, as someone who didn't read Ancillary Justice, the first novel of this series, I suspect that was a big mistake. The call backs to what happened in that book I often found more interesting than what was happening in this, the second book in the series. Sooo... I should have read that book first. My mistake.
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie. Many state this, the fourth Hercule Poirot novel, is the very best of Ms. Christie's Poirot novels. It is indeed a fascinating mystery yet I can see why some feel the book's resolution was something of a cheat. Not to brag (too much), but I figured the whodunnit a little before the book's end. With Ms. Christie, her favorite "go to" move is to have the person you least expect be the murderer. This was most certainly the case in this novel! Regardless, a fun read and an easy recommendation.
Now, I hope to get to...
The Peripheral by William Gibson
Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
Six Wakes by Mur Fafferty (I think this is the one I'll be hitting next)
One Second After by William Forstchen
I'll keep it to that. As much as I want to read read read, I've also have to focus on getting my own novel finished up!
Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie. Liked the book, especially the climax and Ms. Leckie is a really great writer ...but... this novel is, I must warn others, a slow burn and it may not grab readers like it should. Further, as someone who didn't read Ancillary Justice, the first novel of this series, I suspect that was a big mistake. The call backs to what happened in that book I often found more interesting than what was happening in this, the second book in the series. Sooo... I should have read that book first. My mistake.
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie. Many state this, the fourth Hercule Poirot novel, is the very best of Ms. Christie's Poirot novels. It is indeed a fascinating mystery yet I can see why some feel the book's resolution was something of a cheat. Not to brag (too much), but I figured the whodunnit a little before the book's end. With Ms. Christie, her favorite "go to" move is to have the person you least expect be the murderer. This was most certainly the case in this novel! Regardless, a fun read and an easy recommendation.
Now, I hope to get to...
The Peripheral by William Gibson
Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
Six Wakes by Mur Fafferty (I think this is the one I'll be hitting next)
One Second After by William Forstchen
I'll keep it to that. As much as I want to read read read, I've also have to focus on getting my own novel finished up!
E.R. Torre
Snarky answer: How I survived to this day without going absolutely crazy.
Less snarky answer: How did I get that strange scar on my wrist? To this day, have no idea how it got there. It certainly wasn't the result of a suicide attempt ...I'd most certainly remember that!... yet I nonetheless have a perhaps three inch long scar on my right wrist which goes up and down (not the suicidal side to side) that I cannot account for and have absolutely no memory of how I got it.
Weird.
Less snarky answer: How did I get that strange scar on my wrist? To this day, have no idea how it got there. It certainly wasn't the result of a suicide attempt ...I'd most certainly remember that!... yet I nonetheless have a perhaps three inch long scar on my right wrist which goes up and down (not the suicidal side to side) that I cannot account for and have absolutely no memory of how I got it.
Weird.
E.R. Torre
I'd go with Nick and Nora Charles from Dahiell Hammett's The Thin Man. They were a great couple who seemed to fulfill each other, though by today's standards their free-wheeling drinking was...concerning.
E.R. Torre
Ghost of the Argus, my most recent book and #5 in the Corrosive Knights series, was a novel I've been planning since waaaay back in The Last Flight of the Argus, Corrosive Knights book #2. When I wrote the first two books and was about to start on #3, I had a general idea of where I wanted to bring all the various plot threads together. Several years later, I finally had it all written down!
E.R. Torre
I'm always thinking about my current writing(s) and trying to come up with new wrinkles on story ideas and/or better ways of presenting scenes/story elements. The act of actually sitting down before the computer and typing tends to inspire me as well. Rarely do I leave a writing session without some new ideas to explore!
E.R. Torre
Corrosive Knights book #6 and 7. I just finished the first draft of what will be the "final" Corrosive Knights book, but this one may not appear for a while!
E.R. Torre
First, recognize the great mythologies tied to being an author and accept them as being just that. Not to be crude, but the mythologies I'm talking about, usually perpetuated in the media, involve the idea that an author "shits out" his novels during a couple of hours of his/her free time and spends the rest of their day solving mysteries, romancing supermodels, and/or wining and dining.
If only this were true!
Writing is hard work. The process of creating a novel, to me, at a minimal takes many months -and sometimes a couple of years!- of very hard work before I'm satisfied it is ready to be released to the general public.
Secondly, just because you've written a novel doesn't mean the world is going to stop and everyone is going to read it while showering you with cash. First time successful authors are a rarity and you should be ready to continue working. If your first novel doesn't light the world on fire, maybe your second, third, or tenth might. In the meantime, each new novel surely brings you new fans.
Third: Recognize that your time is precious and limited and, given the amount of it required to write a book, try to the best of your ability to weed out the "bad", "so-so", or "average" ideas while focusing on the ones that are the most promising. In this respect, you have to be your own harshest critic and you need to constantly push yourself to create your best work each and every time.
Finally, and perhaps paradoxically, take a break now and again. Sometimes I'm guilty of spendomg waaaaay too much time focused on a work to the exclusion of everyone and everything around me. Letting your mind "rest" might just be the best remedy to figuring out that particularly knotty problem in your latest book's second act.
If only this were true!
Writing is hard work. The process of creating a novel, to me, at a minimal takes many months -and sometimes a couple of years!- of very hard work before I'm satisfied it is ready to be released to the general public.
Secondly, just because you've written a novel doesn't mean the world is going to stop and everyone is going to read it while showering you with cash. First time successful authors are a rarity and you should be ready to continue working. If your first novel doesn't light the world on fire, maybe your second, third, or tenth might. In the meantime, each new novel surely brings you new fans.
Third: Recognize that your time is precious and limited and, given the amount of it required to write a book, try to the best of your ability to weed out the "bad", "so-so", or "average" ideas while focusing on the ones that are the most promising. In this respect, you have to be your own harshest critic and you need to constantly push yourself to create your best work each and every time.
Finally, and perhaps paradoxically, take a break now and again. Sometimes I'm guilty of spendomg waaaaay too much time focused on a work to the exclusion of everyone and everything around me. Letting your mind "rest" might just be the best remedy to figuring out that particularly knotty problem in your latest book's second act.
E.R. Torre
That's easy: Creating a complete piece of work you can be proud of coupled with the pleasure others have in reading that work.
E.R. Torre
Peanuts creator Charles M. Schultz is quoted as saying "Writers block is for amateurs".
I tend to agree with that statement. For whatever reason it is not terribly hard for me to come up with a good (ie, worth pursing) story beginning and end but somehow always sweat out the middle, connective material. This is the part of writing process that is the most labor/intellectually intensive and often results in many, many lonely hours between myself and the computer. I find if I'm patient and persistent enough, good work will eventually come.
I tend to agree with that statement. For whatever reason it is not terribly hard for me to come up with a good (ie, worth pursing) story beginning and end but somehow always sweat out the middle, connective material. This is the part of writing process that is the most labor/intellectually intensive and often results in many, many lonely hours between myself and the computer. I find if I'm patient and persistent enough, good work will eventually come.
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