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Q&A's

 
How long have you been writing and what first inspired you to start? - ???

        I suppose an honest answer is that I've been writing for as long as I could hold a pencil. My mum likes to tell me about the stories I would write as a child, before I even knew the alphabet! Apparently, I would scrawl pages and pages of 1's and 0's, kind of like binary, and then be able to 'read' back some wild story that I'd made up.
In terms of seriously writing, it would be roughly five years now. Before that, I would start a story and then lose interest before I ever came close to finishing it. It took quite some commitment for me to finally see a project through to the end, but I am pleased that I did! I think that what inspired me to find that commitment was just the fact that I have such imagination and so many stories inside of me. It felt like a waste not to write them down and share them.

 
Are any of the characters in 'Dying to Live' based on you, or someone you know? - Virginia S, WI

        It may sound a bit cliché but I'd say that every character has certain traits that I recognise in myself. No single character is written in my image, but I feel like I have put a piece of myself into each of them. There is only really one character that I based on a real person and it was actually someone famous. I don't know them per se, so I cannot say that the character is a true representation of them but they were my inspiration. I don't want to name names, however I will say that if you know of the person, you will recognise the character immediately. If you don't recognise any of them, well, what wonderful characters I dreamt up! 

 

What are your inspirations when writing and do you have any advice to a young wannabe Author? - Daniel M, CA

I'd say that a lot of my inspiration comes just from listening to people, watching the world and generally observing things that happen around me. You never know what someone might say that just resonates inside of you. You could watch a news report that could trigger something, or listen to a new friend tell you about the place they lived in as a child. A big inspiration when it came to writing Dying to Live, was my friends in America who would tell me about all kinds of amazing places. Once that seed was there, it just spiralled into a novel. There is also a reserve of inspiration just waiting to be tapped in other books/television shows etc. It's not about taking someone elses ideas, it's about that moment when you see how they play out and form an opinion on it. For instance, you might read a book and think 'the ending was disappointing... What if this had happened instead?... And then this could have happened too'. Once you start to think those things, you have the inspiration to think of something better.  Another source of inspiration, for me, is my dreams. I have always had an active mind at night. I can have crazy, vivid dreams, all night long. Sometimes I just have to write them down when I wake up and then I can build on them and make them work.

As for advice, I think that all I can say is keep going. It is harder than anyone ever tells you and sometimes it seems like it would be easier just to give up, but don't! Be observant, experience as many things as you can and make as many friends as possible. Use what you know and what you love and make them into something that you would enjoy reading. At the end of the day, if you enjoy it, someone else will too! Just know that you CAN do it. Good luck!

 

What could you tell us about any upcoming titles that you're working on? - ???

        I don't want to give too much away in regards to the plots of any projects I'm working on at the moment, but I will tell you what I can. I have two main stories that I am currently writing and both are radically different, not only from each other but from Dying to Live too. I'm sticking to similar genres, one of them is pure, simple horror and the other leans more towards the sci-fi side of things. I have a rough outline in mind for both of them but I'm a very unorganised writer. I don't do alot of intricate planning because I prefer to let things flow and see what happens. I have no idea which will end up being the first to see the light of day as they are both equally vying for my attentions. I also don't have much more than ten thousand words down for each one but I think I know where they're going. Needless to say, I am excited about both of them. The closest thing to a 'spoiler' that I will give is this: One of them is set in the future and will see a race of people who have changed a lot over the years. The other will feature a toxic duo who, as individuals, are just 'misunderstood'.

 
Which 5 books would you take to a desert island? - Louise C

        Now there's a tough one! I would have to say Pet Sematary by Stephen King, although I could happily include a number of his works (The Stand, IT, Misery...!). My second choice would be Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by (obviously) J.K. Rowling. I love Harry Potter but if I was to pick one favourite, that would be it. I'm currently reading A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin, so I would take that one to finish. I also love The Last Templar by Raymond Khoury, it was very thought provoking and I keep meaning to read it again. My last choice would have to be a sensible one. If I'm on a desert island, I want to have a survival book with me! So, I suppose the last one would be something by Bear Grylls?

 

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