Ask the Author: Sean Patrick Little
Answered Questions (18)
Sean Patrick Little
Hoping for a trilogy. We'll see how people like the first one, though. I do have an outline for a three-book concept.
Sean Patrick Little
First off, thank you so much. I really appreciate it. Secondly, the Survivor journal's omnibus is just the three books you've already read, but with some annotation of why I did what I did and backstory about it. The new book, WE STILL REMAIN, is it an entirely new story with new characters set at the beginning of The Flu. I would go to that one.
Sean Patrick Little
I lost a wallet in college once. No idea what happened to it. I would like to know the answer to that.
Sean Patrick Little
I'd like to go to Discworld and hang with the Night Watch.
Sean Patrick Little
Nothing at the moment. I used to teach English and English-adjacent classes like screenwriting, composition, copywriting, and creative writing.
Sean Patrick Little
Early March. Ideally, the first week.
Sean Patrick Little
Anything is possible. ;)
If I get a chance to write a third book, that might figure into it. I have a third book outlined already, I'm just hoping that sales warrant investing time into it.
If I get a chance to write a third book, that might figure into it. I have a third book outlined already, I'm just hoping that sales warrant investing time into it.
Sean Patrick Little
"All the White Castle you can eat," said the demon with a wicked smile. "Just beware: No bathrooms in Hell."
Sean Patrick Little
Thanks so much. I appreciate that.
I can only write books I'd want to read. I think that's true for all writers.
I can only write books I'd want to read. I think that's true for all writers.
Sean Patrick Little
Please! Go ahead and pry! The sequel is coming along slowly. I have been getting another project out of the way but I put in a paragraph or two on the sequel whenever I can. As of right now it stands around twenty-five or thirty thousand words. It is outlined, it is plotted, and I am anxious to get back to it. However there needs to be more hours in the day. I still hope to finish it sometime before the end of the year if I can, and publication possibly next spring. As of right now, the working title is "The Long and Empty Road."
Sean Patrick Little
For Summer of 2017, I've got a stack of new books to take down. Currently, I'm reading the new Robin Hobb book, the conclusion to the Fitz and Fool trilogy, which is the conclusion to the trilogy of trilogies about those characters. So far, I'm not enjoying it. It's like when you have a twenty-year history with a friend, and that friend is telling you a long and involved story. I'm reading it out of respect for the characters, really. It's sort of dragging.
I'm also reading the new book about Grand Admiral Thrawn that Timothy Zahn wrote. Again, it's not riveting at the moment, but it's there.
I picked up Sebastien de Castell's new YA book, Spellslinger, and I aim to start that soon. The fourth book in de Castell's Greatcoats series should be out in June, and I will definitely be reading that as soon as it is released.
I've also got Stephen King's IT on my dockett, as well as a few cozy mysteries written by Madison authors, and I still want to start the Malazan series by Steven Erikson. Everyone tells me it's great, but I have only waded into the first few chapters.
I'm also reading the new book about Grand Admiral Thrawn that Timothy Zahn wrote. Again, it's not riveting at the moment, but it's there.
I picked up Sebastien de Castell's new YA book, Spellslinger, and I aim to start that soon. The fourth book in de Castell's Greatcoats series should be out in June, and I will definitely be reading that as soon as it is released.
I've also got Stephen King's IT on my dockett, as well as a few cozy mysteries written by Madison authors, and I still want to start the Malazan series by Steven Erikson. Everyone tells me it's great, but I have only waded into the first few chapters.
Sean Patrick Little
As a Wodehouse fan, it has to be Jeeves and Wooster. When I was kid, my mother made me watch the wonderful Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie series, and when I was in college I started reading Wodehouse's books. They are intelligent, but farcical. They are clever, but not above a reader. And they're funny. Hilarious, even. The reserved Jeeves, who seems to know all and see all, and the clueless Bertie are some of the best buddy comedy ever put down on paper.
Sean Patrick Little
AFTER EVERYONE DIED came about because I connected two dots.
The first was that every piece of post-apocalyptic fiction I've ever read was about warring factions or dystopian societies. It was never about a dude just having to be alone.
Then, after I started pondering that point, I had a bad day on the road. Too many people were driving poorly, and I got angry. I wanted them all to be off the road so I could just get to where I was going.
When I connected those two dots, it made sense to me to write an atypical post-apocalypse novel. I wanted to write a book about loneliness and isolation, not necessarily a survival novel, but one where the character was safe and had food, but just didn't have anyone around.
I think sometimes we wish for that. We want the whole last-person-on-Earth scenario, but I think most of us would lose our minds eventually.
The first was that every piece of post-apocalyptic fiction I've ever read was about warring factions or dystopian societies. It was never about a dude just having to be alone.
Then, after I started pondering that point, I had a bad day on the road. Too many people were driving poorly, and I got angry. I wanted them all to be off the road so I could just get to where I was going.
When I connected those two dots, it made sense to me to write an atypical post-apocalypse novel. I wanted to write a book about loneliness and isolation, not necessarily a survival novel, but one where the character was safe and had food, but just didn't have anyone around.
I think sometimes we wish for that. We want the whole last-person-on-Earth scenario, but I think most of us would lose our minds eventually.
Sean Patrick Little
There is no inspiration. I just do. I have ideas in my head, they have to come out.
Writing is about perspiration, not inspiration. Take a seat. Put your hands on the keyboard. And grind it out. Word by word. Sentence by sentence. Paragraph by Paragraph. And page by page.
Writing is about perspiration, not inspiration. Take a seat. Put your hands on the keyboard. And grind it out. Word by word. Sentence by sentence. Paragraph by Paragraph. And page by page.
Sean Patrick Little
I always have a half-dozen things going. Right now, I'm working on a secret novel that I can't talk about yet, and I'm starting the sequel to AFTER EVERYONE DIED.
Sean Patrick Little
Write. A lot. Keep writing. Don't just write the same genre, either. Expand your horizons. Experiment. If you usually write first-person, switch it up and go third. If you usually write from a male perspective, switch it up and go female. Or elderly. Or from a cat's point of view.
And read. A lot. Keep reading. Read fiction and non-fiction. Read your favorite genre, but read others things, as well. Read an author you hate. Pick a random book off the library shelf and start reading it without knowing anything about the book.
Also, get into a writer's group of some sort. Talk to people about writing. Make contacts and connections. Workshop other people's work and get good at offering critiques.
And read. A lot. Keep reading. Read fiction and non-fiction. Read your favorite genre, but read others things, as well. Read an author you hate. Pick a random book off the library shelf and start reading it without knowing anything about the book.
Also, get into a writer's group of some sort. Talk to people about writing. Make contacts and connections. Workshop other people's work and get good at offering critiques.
Sean Patrick Little
When someone genuinely likes something you've written is always nice, but really I would write if everyone hated everything I've written (like my mother does!).
I write because I have to. It's how I exorcise demons and relax my brain. It allows me to voice things that only I see in the hopes that others will see them, too.
I write because I have to. It's how I exorcise demons and relax my brain. It allows me to voice things that only I see in the hopes that others will see them, too.
Sean Patrick Little
I don't really get writer's block. I have tons of ideas. It's more difficult for me to find time to write, given my work schedule. That's more of a challenge than not knowing what to write.
I used to think I had writer's block occasionally, but it turns out that it was just laziness. I made excuses.
I saw a quote from Guillermo del Toro once, and I'm paraphrasing here, but he basically said that if you ever say you're bored, you're not ready to be a writer. There should always be ideas in your head and you should always be willing to commit them to paper.
I used to think I had writer's block occasionally, but it turns out that it was just laziness. I made excuses.
I saw a quote from Guillermo del Toro once, and I'm paraphrasing here, but he basically said that if you ever say you're bored, you're not ready to be a writer. There should always be ideas in your head and you should always be willing to commit them to paper.
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