Ask the Author: E.J. Fisch
Answered Questions (11)
E.J. Fisch
Ha! Well I will definitely do my best to make sure you don't have to wait too much longer 😊
E.J. Fisch
Hi Kevin! So glad you've enjoyed the series so far. My initial plan was to have Embers out by the end of 2020. At this point I don't know if I'll hit that deadline (Life™ has been happening a lot lately and I haven't made nearly as much progress as I should have/wanted to), but I'll give it my best shot, and it should be close!
E.J. Fisch
Hi Sarah,
Wow sorry it took me so long to see this question! Yes, I'm actually currently working on 2 more books that take place in the Ziva Payvan universe, Fracture and Embers . This duology will kind of be a sequel to the trilogy as a whole; it features a number of familiar characters and builds off plot points that were introduced in Ronan , but I'm also considering it separate from the rest of the series. As I very eloquently explained it once, it's "the same but different" ;) Information on both stories is available on my site—there's a little more substance to the Fracture page, including an excerpt. Progress is being made!
In terms of general sci-fi, I have a couple of unrelated projects brewing in the back of my mind. One is more of a near-future-Earth cyberpunk/psychological thriller setup, while the other is a semi-comedic Ocean's Eleven-style heist/space opera. No idea when I'll ever get to those, but the ideas are definitely there.
Wow sorry it took me so long to see this question! Yes, I'm actually currently working on 2 more books that take place in the Ziva Payvan universe, Fracture and Embers . This duology will kind of be a sequel to the trilogy as a whole; it features a number of familiar characters and builds off plot points that were introduced in Ronan , but I'm also considering it separate from the rest of the series. As I very eloquently explained it once, it's "the same but different" ;) Information on both stories is available on my site—there's a little more substance to the Fracture page, including an excerpt. Progress is being made!
In terms of general sci-fi, I have a couple of unrelated projects brewing in the back of my mind. One is more of a near-future-Earth cyberpunk/psychological thriller setup, while the other is a semi-comedic Ocean's Eleven-style heist/space opera. No idea when I'll ever get to those, but the ideas are definitely there.
E.J. Fisch
Sometimes it seems REALLY long, other times it seems really short. There are times when I know what I need/want to write but I can't do anything other than stare at my computer screen. But then sometimes I'm almost typing faster than my brain can think.
*shifty eyes* I think it depends a lot on what I've been eating...
*shifty eyes* I think it depends a lot on what I've been eating...
E.J. Fisch
I'm currently working as fast as I can on Ronan, book 3 of the Ziva Payvan series. Hoping to get it released in August but we'll just have to see how everything goes!
E.J. Fisch
I feel like writing is something I've always enjoyed. I started trying to do some serious character development around the time I was in junior high. All the writing I did back then was purely for fun - I had almost a roleplaying game going on with some friends where we wrote a story together starring each of our individual characters. I feel like I really started writing seriously during late high school, and I have been since then. I didn't start writing to publish until just last March. Can't believe it's already been a year!
E.J. Fisch
Well, some of the character names (Jayden, Kade, Adin, etc.) are obviously normal "human" names, sometimes with a little twist on the spelling. Other names were inspired by different sources. Ziva actually came from Ziva David on NCIS - the character was introduced to the show right around the time I was starting to develop my Ziva (back when she was a little baby filler character!). Zinni was inspired by one of my cats. Any time I hear of a person or a street or a town with a somewhat odd name or, I write it down. A lot of my other character/location names are just words I made up. For example, Aroska was one of the names that randomly came to me one day - it was originally supposed to be kind of a unisex name, but in the end I thought it would be better for a guy. In cases like that, I try to come up with a last name with contrasting vowel sounds. I have a big stash of all the names and words I've come up with over the years, organized by what would sound better for people, planets/cities, and materials. So whenever I need to create a new character or name the capital city of some planet, I reference that list and see if there's anything I like. I currently have two full notebook pages of names (three columns across) as well as a list on my phone. I've also used online generators for some of the material names, just so I'm sure it's an element or metal or something that doesn't already exist ;)
E.J. Fisch
Without giving too much away, the plot of Nexus was inspired greatly by the movie Shooter. I've done my very best to put my own twist on the story, but there are definitely some parallels.
As far as Book 3 goes, it consists of lots of little ideas I've gotten while writing Dakiti and Nexus. While there is a main plot, I think all the little ideas are part of the reason I've had trouble making progress on it; there are too many little things that don't necessarily fit together so they don't integrate very well into the main storyline.
As far as Book 3 goes, it consists of lots of little ideas I've gotten while writing Dakiti and Nexus. While there is a main plot, I think all the little ideas are part of the reason I've had trouble making progress on it; there are too many little things that don't necessarily fit together so they don't integrate very well into the main storyline.
E.J. Fisch
As of late, I've been getting a lot of inspiration from Pinterest (let's face it, looking at sci fi concept art and alien makeup is a lot more fun than weddings and recipes!) and seeing those images makes me think about my own characters and environments and I suddenly get excited to write.
I get a lot of brainstorming done when I'm doing something active by myself. When I go to the gym, I really have nothing better to do while I'm on the treadmill or elliptical staring out the window. And I'm usually listening to some sort of epic instrumental music (Two Steps From Hell, Audiomachine, etc.) so that's also a contributing factor. I almost always find some sort of writing inspiration while walking the dog.
I get a lot of brainstorming done when I'm doing something active by myself. When I go to the gym, I really have nothing better to do while I'm on the treadmill or elliptical staring out the window. And I'm usually listening to some sort of epic instrumental music (Two Steps From Hell, Audiomachine, etc.) so that's also a contributing factor. I almost always find some sort of writing inspiration while walking the dog.
E.J. Fisch
Hahahahaha I don't
Really, I probably "deal" with writer's block in the worst way possible: I just don't write. As I've mentioned, Nexus: Ziva Payvan Book 2 took me just about 2 1/2 years to write, mainly because there were two different periods during that time when I went 4 or 5 months without getting any writing done at all.
When I take long breaks from writing, it's not always because of writer's block. Sometimes I'm just exhausted and don't want to even try writing because I know the quality will be bad (yes, I've heard of editing, but still). Even when I'm not actually writing though, I'm usually brainstorming for future scenes or coming up with art concepts, and I like to think that counts for something :)
Really, I probably "deal" with writer's block in the worst way possible: I just don't write. As I've mentioned, Nexus: Ziva Payvan Book 2 took me just about 2 1/2 years to write, mainly because there were two different periods during that time when I went 4 or 5 months without getting any writing done at all.
When I take long breaks from writing, it's not always because of writer's block. Sometimes I'm just exhausted and don't want to even try writing because I know the quality will be bad (yes, I've heard of editing, but still). Even when I'm not actually writing though, I'm usually brainstorming for future scenes or coming up with art concepts, and I like to think that counts for something :)
E.J. Fisch
In a way, I have two projects going at once. Technically I'm "working" on Nexus: Ziva Payvan Book 2. Working is in quotes because I'm actually already done with the story itself; it just needs some sprucing up before it's ready for publishing. But I want to wait a little while to release it so that the books are a little more spaced out. Nexus took me 2 1/2 years to write, so I don't want to release it immediately and then make readers wait that long for Book 3. Ergo I've set Nexus aside for a little while as I try to make some progress on Book 3 - here's to hoping it won't take me over 2 years to finish!
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