Ask the Author: A.E. Lowan
Answered Questions (8)
A.E. Lowan
Oo, the first one is tough, but we think we would go with the books of Anne McCaffrey to keep us entertained and inspired to work on our own stories throughout the year, the music of Sam Tsui to keep us moving and singing to keep our spirits up, and unless we need to say water (just to be practical), then a year's supply of magically refrigerated and stable sushi.
A.E. Lowan
The sound came from the airlock. I wasn't alone.
A.E. Lowan
The Books of Binding is a project that has been developing for more than fifteen years, so at this point it is very difficult to recall what triggered the idea, but we do know where. On vacation at a lake house in the Missouri Ozarks, we were talking about magic and a character began to take shape - a very sad woman with long white hair who was close to giving up on her world. Over the years the cast has ebbed and flowed around this character, who we will introduce as Winter Mulcahy this spring, but this series, and all the work we have put into bringing it to the world all started with the sad eyes of a defeated young woman.
A.E. Lowan
We find inspiration in the weirdest places - song lyrics, music videos, billboards, random things that catch our attention while shopping for shoes. Everything we encounter in the world has the potential to trigger an idea for The Books of Binding. One of our favorite examples of this is a K-Pop video that inspired an entire new category of magic users in our world.
Artists all look at the world a little differently than non-artists, and writers are no exception. Sometimes all we need is the slightest push from a smirk in a magazine ad, or the sudden flash of pain from eating ice cream too quickly to have a flood of inspiration. This is one of the reasons that people who live with writers need a good sense of humor. They may not understand why we reach for our laptops when the guy in spiked leather in line in front of us is as gentle as can be returning the run-away toddler to her frazzled grandmother, but they've seen us do it often enough that they know it will lead somewhere great.
Artists all look at the world a little differently than non-artists, and writers are no exception. Sometimes all we need is the slightest push from a smirk in a magazine ad, or the sudden flash of pain from eating ice cream too quickly to have a flood of inspiration. This is one of the reasons that people who live with writers need a good sense of humor. They may not understand why we reach for our laptops when the guy in spiked leather in line in front of us is as gentle as can be returning the run-away toddler to her frazzled grandmother, but they've seen us do it often enough that they know it will lead somewhere great.
A.E. Lowan
We are working on a dark urban fantasy series - The Books of Binding. The first novel in this series, Faerie Rising is due out in April of 2017. The second novel, Ties of Blood and Bone, is what is dominating our minds at the moment. We have been working on this series for many years and are very excited to see it finally being set loose on the world.
A.E. Lowan
There is a lot of advice we could give, but think that the most important thing aspiring writers need to hear is writers write. There are rules to learn and to learn to break, there are hundreds of small pieces that go into publishing your work, but at the end of the day, those are skills anyone can be taught. No one can be taught to have stories inside them that demand to be told. If you are one of the afflicted who can't go a weekend without hitting the keyboard or scribbling in your journal, then you are a writer.
If you want to improve your writing or to publish and move from writer to author, then we would suggest reading widely and joining groups with other writers. The are many excellent books on how to go about moving into writing professionally. There are fantastic blogs about the life of a writer, the pitfalls to avoid, and how to publish. There are amazing writing communities online and in many cities that can offer advice and support on your authorial transformation. But, most aspiring writers we meet tell us they want to be a writer "someday." To those people we say if you are writing, if you couldn't stop if you tried, if your brain peppers you with stories every moment it can - then you are already a writer. Welcome to the club.
If you want to improve your writing or to publish and move from writer to author, then we would suggest reading widely and joining groups with other writers. The are many excellent books on how to go about moving into writing professionally. There are fantastic blogs about the life of a writer, the pitfalls to avoid, and how to publish. There are amazing writing communities online and in many cities that can offer advice and support on your authorial transformation. But, most aspiring writers we meet tell us they want to be a writer "someday." To those people we say if you are writing, if you couldn't stop if you tried, if your brain peppers you with stories every moment it can - then you are already a writer. Welcome to the club.
A.E. Lowan
The best thing about being a writer is that we get to portray the world not as it is, but as it could be. We think that every writer of speculative fiction indulges in some degree of wish fulfillment. In writing The Books of Binding we get to explore the importance of found families and the impact a small, but dedicated, group can have on the world around them. Who wouldn't want to have the chance to make the world a better place? Through writing, we get to do just that through our characters.
A.E. Lowan
When we get stuck for a while we have a couple of tricks we try.
First, we step away for a day of what we call filling the well. Writing, like other creative endeavors, takes a great deal of both physical and emotional stamina. Often, when we are staring at the blinking cursor and nothing is springing to the page, we are simply exhausted and need a day to recharge. We spend a day reading, watching television or movies, listening to music, playing a video game - anything that both relaxes us and reawakens our own creativity.
If, after a day of refilling our creative well the words will still not flow, then we take a look at the detailed outline for the scene that we are struggling with. We do additional pre-writing, make sure that the scene still works at this point in the plot, and sometimes even act out what needs to happen.
First, we step away for a day of what we call filling the well. Writing, like other creative endeavors, takes a great deal of both physical and emotional stamina. Often, when we are staring at the blinking cursor and nothing is springing to the page, we are simply exhausted and need a day to recharge. We spend a day reading, watching television or movies, listening to music, playing a video game - anything that both relaxes us and reawakens our own creativity.
If, after a day of refilling our creative well the words will still not flow, then we take a look at the detailed outline for the scene that we are struggling with. We do additional pre-writing, make sure that the scene still works at this point in the plot, and sometimes even act out what needs to happen.
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more