AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Sam Hawkins

Tell me about yourself. What got you started in writing?

I was raised in Riverton, Utah and am the fourth child in a large family. Growing up I discovered I had dyslexia and was sent to resources classes. I hated words and could barely write or read. In 9th grade, my English teacher gave the assignment to write a short story using dialogue. I did everything possible to get out of the assignment. My wonderful teacher, Rosie Ruff, wouldn’t budge. Instead, she helped me push through. Inch by inch, I discovered I enjoyed the creative process  The scenes came to live in my head. Once I turned in the story, I began writing for myself and never stopped.

How do you schedule your writing time? When do you write?

I don’t have a particular time to write. When I can fit it in, I do. Often times, I’ll skip extracurriculars to ensure I do get writing done.

How and where do you write? Do you prefer a laptop or some other method of getting your words down?

I write on my laptop, when possible. If I don’t have it with me, I use my phone or grab paper and whatever writing utensil I can to make notes for when I get home. At the moment, I'm writing in my bedroom, in a large, red, rocking chair. I play soundtracks and classical music matching the mood of the scene and off I go. Dialogue is usually a great place for me to pick up from when I have taken a break, I can jump right into the moment. I try to begin at soon as possible in the day. My brain enjoys jumping into the story fifteen minutes before bedtime. Many times, I roll with it and stay up until three to get a scene written.

What's your favorite part about writing? Your least favorite part about writing?

I don’t have a favorite part of writing. I enjoy all of it in turn. Development is a blast. Seeing characters come to life and then take off in directions I wasn’t planning for them to go in. Conflict and battle scenes get my adrenalin going, but usually, require me to go a bit slower. I want to make sure I get battles right. I even enjoy the revision process, especially when I see eye to eye with my editor. Collaboration to make my work better or see it in a way I hadn’t consider, gets me excited, most days.

My least favorite part is the anxiety; the anxiety of being judged. The anxiety of letting my dyslexia get the best of me. Worrying that perhaps, my fantastic story idea isn’t as mind-blowing as I believed it to be in my euphoric state of madness of development.

How did you come up with your book idea? How long did it take you to write your book?

I came up with the idea of Deadly Seven from a dream I had back in 2007. The dream gave me the basic concept and my wonderful family helped me develop around it. I managed to write the first draft in eleven months.

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What types of marketing do you do to promote your writing?

At the moment, my marketing tactics have been Facebook, Twitter, and local events: Local Authors & You, Spring into Books and Barnes & Noble’s Author Palooza and word of mouth. 

What are you currently working on? Do you have a new book out?

I am working with an editor to finalize the other two books in the Deadly Trilogy, Deadly Fables, and Deadly Consequences. To keep my creativity going, I am working on Fantasy/ Sci-Fi, working title “Ragnarok”. A twenty-something woman working through mental illness gets swept up in her delusions and is carried away to Asgard, home of the Norse gods, only to discover, she’s not as crazy as she has been forced to believe.

Do you have a project on the backburner? Tell me about it.

I currently have eleven books started or somewhat developed waiting for my attention. I enjoy using myths and conspicuous theories combined with aspects of our day-to-day lives. I mix sci-fi and fantasy together quite a bit.

What would you tell a beginning writer who wants to publish but doesn't believe he/she has enough talent?

I would tell new writers, any time you write or read, you’re learning and getting better at your craft. Write for the sheer love of writing. Fear stems from being judged, if the focus shifts to fear, the love gets lost in the shuffle. Every person has at least one story inside them, just bursting to get out. Write the first draft for yourself and write it with all the love you are capable of. If your work is written in love, you can’t miss.

Facebook link - https://www.facebook.com/sam.hawkins.58152

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 A Question for Kathryn:

Is there actually a right or wrong way to write and publish?

We each have our own voice and we each have our own direction to follow. We should write what brings us joy, not what is currently selling online at Amazon. We should publish the way we want to publish. I began traditionally and decided that being traditionally published wasn't for me. Now I self-publish and have my own company where I assist other authors in publishing.

AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Scott Tarbet

1    Tell me a about yourself. What got you started in writing?

My dad was a professional technical writer and editor, and aspiring sci-fi scribe, my mom an inveterate storyteller. Between the two of them I was so steeped in the craft that I started composing tales as soon as I could talk, and writing them down before I was out of kindergarten. The first time I saw my writing in print was in fourth grade.

Scott E. Tarbet

How do you schedule your writing time? When do you write?

First thing in the morning. Every day. I'm an early riser, so I'm at my desk by 5:00. I have specific word count goals for each session and track them assiduously.

How and where do you write? Do you prefer a lap top or some other method of getting your words down?

I have a home office with a good, up to date desktop computer. All my writing lives in the cloud, so I can get on with Office 365 and write from my laptop, iPad, or even my phone. And I often do. You can never tell when the muse will tap you on the shoulder.

What's your favorite part about writing? Your least favorite part about writing?

Favorite: deadlines. I work very best when my publisher has a gun to my head. Especially my publisher; short stories have benefited from that. Least favorite: deadlines. I hate being under the gun.

    How did you come up with your book idea? How long did it take you to write your book?

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The concept for “A Midsummer Night’s Steampunk” came from the phrase ‘rude mechanicals’ in the Shakespeare play. Wouldn't it be great to make the Bard’s bumpkins actual semi-mechanical men, in a Steampunk setting at the end of Victoria’s reign? The rest followed naturally, over the next ninety days.

    What types of marketing do you do to promote your writing?

My publisher, Xchyler, has extensive social media efforts. Besides their work, I do lots of signings, convention appearances, etc. My basic philosophy is that writing is easy half of the job: then the hard stuff starts.

    What are you currently working on? Do you have a new book out?

I'm in the last week of first draft of “Dragon Moon”, a techno-thriller that sends Navy SEALs, Russian Spetsnaz, and a Chinese American spy on a mission to stop a madman’s aspirations for world domination. It is scheduled for publication later this year.

Close on the heels of that one will come “Rise of the Stripling Warriors”, an LDS YA, then “The Thousand: First Worlds”, first volume in a YA/NA hard sci-fi series.

    Do you have a project on the back burner? Tell me about it.

I have so many projects in the pipeline that I will have to live to be a hundred and twenty to get them all written. And that's just what is already in my writer's notebook. The Thousand series alone should consume the next three or four years.

What would you tell a beginning writer who wants to publish but doesn't believe he/she has enough talent?

I would ask that beginning writer what in the world they meant by ‘talent’. Is s/he gauging talent by getting their first draft of their first effort accepted for publication by a big house? If so, virtually no writer Is ever ‘talented’.

Writers become published authors when they combine desire to write with extensive practice in the craft, discipline, and endurance. No one ever emerged from the womb with their name on the New York Times bestseller list.

If our fictional writer truly needs outside validation that they should continue on the long hard road to literary flare, technical competence, and marketability, they should hand their work to a group of writers whom they respect, and ask for a brutal assessment. For my part, I have never heard a writer tell another writer, “Give it up. You stink.” We give each other feedback, gentle or occasionally brutal, but we never try to deprive each other of the only outlet for those of us driven to tell stories in the written word.

All that said, some writers just never reach the point of readiness for the jump to published author status. If that is you, beginning writer, keep writing for your own enjoyment. And your mom's. Always your mom's.

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Learn more about Scott and his writing: 

http://scotttarbet.timp.net/