Ask the Author: J F O'Toole
Answered Questions (10)
J F O'Toole
I would go to Cambridge in the fabulous utopian Facial Justice by L. P. Hartley. I'd be dictator in a matter of hours, guaranteed.
J F O'Toole
Apparently the back catalogue of the 14th century! I don't really do reading lists per se, I go with what I feel like at the time, but on research for a new novel I've added a lot to my present collection regarding the 14th century. One book for this era I'm looking forward to is Joanna: The Notorious Queen of Naples, and a Petrarch biography, due to a partial Napolese setting, and also the box set Scenes of Medieval Life, which I've dipped into for certain things, and which are a succinct but veritable wealth of information.
I'm hoping to fit a fiction book or two in when my brain can't take the Middle Ages anymore, of which I'm pondering The Girl with All the Gifts , or Sacred Hearts by Sarah Dunant, because they're near the front of my shelf.
I want to start The Abolition of Liberty by Peter Hitchens on Audible too, but I'm not allowed until I finished the other two I started...
So, too many it seems...
I'm hoping to fit a fiction book or two in when my brain can't take the Middle Ages anymore, of which I'm pondering The Girl with All the Gifts , or Sacred Hearts by Sarah Dunant, because they're near the front of my shelf.
I want to start The Abolition of Liberty by Peter Hitchens on Audible too, but I'm not allowed until I finished the other two I started...
So, too many it seems...
J F O'Toole
Then if you've got people already buying it elsewhere than home, and good feedback, I wouldn't worry too much. All books tend to find their market. That's also why travel writers are so popular; people want to learn about new things and different experiences. Good luck with it :)
J F O'Toole
I've not read your book, I'm afraid, and I've no idea why you would ask me, but I'll answer anyway.
If it's like Fox TV humour then probably not. If it's like George Carlin humour then absolutely. However, if this particular question is a quip you might use - though I shouldn't really speak for an island of 60 million people - then I'd probably go with nope, because it could be deemed to have a waft of underlying nark and condescension. But that might just be the internet and its lack of emotive connection.
Personal experiences, no matter how nuanced, are human experiences, so why not?
If it's like Fox TV humour then probably not. If it's like George Carlin humour then absolutely. However, if this particular question is a quip you might use - though I shouldn't really speak for an island of 60 million people - then I'd probably go with nope, because it could be deemed to have a waft of underlying nark and condescension. But that might just be the internet and its lack of emotive connection.
Personal experiences, no matter how nuanced, are human experiences, so why not?
J F O'Toole
If it's mild, I go and write something else. A scene I really want to write, or am in the mood for. A scene of something else. Eventually I'm led back to where I should be. If it's bad, a three-hour walk, a trip to the cinema, a two-week holiday, you know.
It might be too much caffeine, not enough sunshine, not enough peace and quiet, too much etc. Treat your body well and go and try something new, that usually works for me. But then again so can lazing about watching the entire five years of Merlin episodes sometimes, so there you go.
The best thing about block, though, is the epiphany moment, when your story comes together all of a sudden and you feel complete inside. Except for the editing. And book 2. And 3...
It might be too much caffeine, not enough sunshine, not enough peace and quiet, too much etc. Treat your body well and go and try something new, that usually works for me. But then again so can lazing about watching the entire five years of Merlin episodes sometimes, so there you go.
The best thing about block, though, is the epiphany moment, when your story comes together all of a sudden and you feel complete inside. Except for the editing. And book 2. And 3...
J F O'Toole
I think all the best advice has already been given in my opinion, but one of my favourites is via Whoopi Goldberg in Sister Act 2.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5Cyu...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5Cyu...
J F O'Toole
How do I not! I've been writing since around age 7 so I can't really remember a time I wasn't inspired, and everything I see or experience can spark the creative. I've been inspired by dreams, namely my Prenitia series, a statue in an art gallery, horse riding, science history, castles (of course!), strands of hair - and of course, other people's work in whatever format can nudge ideas along.
J F O'Toole
I think really, for everyone, it boils down to ego. You really want people to read and like your work, to experience these characters lives as you have, and when they do there's no better feeling!
J F O'Toole
The whole Prenitia series came from a dream when I was about 15 years old. It has stayed with me, as have the original four characters, until I finally let them into the world. To be honest, I never thought it would expand to the point it has, and I can't see it stopping. I still have four novels in the Prenitia run to go (it's split into two series) so not much chance, or want of it to. :)
J F O'Toole
Getting my brain back together after completing the (long!) Prenitia sequel! I have a Prenitia novella planned after that, an urban comedy-drama (no magic!) and of course, Prenitia volume 3.
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