Ask the Author: Nied Darnell
Answered Questions (6)
Nied Darnell
Well, let's talk about the most recent Weird West tale, which was a novella in the Covert Cogs series that I finished and released in 2020. It's called THE CASE OF THE HOLE IN THE WALL. As I have the first book in my planned trilogy written, I've been trying to give each of the main characters (and there are 6 of them at least, possibly 7) a prequel novella. This time out I wanted to "play" with Heath Haymes, my British accented actor who is a master of the villainous sneer, though he's one of the good guys. I took him out on a case that involved dinosaur bones found in the desert area that was described as bordering on the Mormon lands and had him stumble upon a hidden world where another of the characters to surface in the trilogy lives. Loved this specifically because I could write total comedy scenes in it as well as the dangerous ones. Plus, I love hanging out with Heath. So the idea here was all about "what kind of cases would my Covert Cog agents investigate in 1875? And which one of my heroes could I lumber with it. I'd already had a mechanical bank robber taken down, and an officer dealing with the mechanical parts that replaced those he'd lost in battle, so the archaeological situation was very 1875.
Nied Darnell
Ideas just pop into my head. I realize that is absolute no help at all, but it's what happens. Always has!
Nied Darnell
Well, nothing in Steampunk/Dieselpunk/Gaslamp at the moment, though the second novel in a trilogy is in slow progress for Weird West. Right now I'm finishing up a contemporary romantic suspense novel under my Beth Henderson name.
Nied Darnell
Don't give up! If writing fiction is your dream, then keep writing fiction. But also keep rewriting those same stories because the more you write the better you get. And read voraciously in all kinds of genres, not just the one you want to write in. You'll see how other tale spinners put stories together, hopefully soak up new to you ways of presenting the story, too. I spend over a decade rewriting the same three novels, using the suggestions editors that were rejecting the stories gave me, and when the first book picked up by and editor went to contract, the other two got contracts very shortly after that. From then on it was spinning new stuff that didn't need quite as much rewriting as those first three did. But if you want to be a selling writer, you have to keep writing AND submitting. I suggest submission to traditional publishers, of which there are many small houses these days, before ever going the Indie route. However, having said that, I DO consider (and release) Indie publication as a pump primer with novellas and short stories that lead readers to my novels.
Nied Darnell
Heading off to live in a different world in my head. One where MOST of the time (but not ALL of the time) I can dictate what happens. However, my characters are always going off on tangents of their own and tend to follow them.
Nied Darnell
I finds ways around it. Actually, after over 30 years of being a published novelist (under various names) I have more than one way to go about this. I don't use all these ways all the time but if one doesn't do the trick another usually does. Actually, I have a book where I complied them, written under one of my other names: 60 Ways to Plot or Dodge Writer's Block by Beth Daniels
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