I do not outline my books. I know there are some out there who would say that I’m not a real writer because of that, but it doesn’t mean that I don’t have an idea of where the stories are going. There are times when I have to sit and write; I really don’t have any choice. So I write at least a paragraph to nail down the idea, although that usually goes from one paragraph to two, then three, then often into twenty pages. Another reason why I don’t outline my books is this: when I’m putting in concentrated work into a novel, when I surprise myself, then I know it will surprise others. So, if I sit back and say, “Whoa, didn’t see that coming …!” I’m positive others will have the same response, and that’s my goal. I want people to be surprised, to have an emotional response. I don’t have a set number of drafts before a book is “ready.” I always try to knock out a first draft while things are flowing. However, on Crown Prince, I decided to try something new. Each time I sat down to write, I would go back about 10 pages and revise them, then go right into writing fresh copy from there. It made for a much cleaner “first” draft. With Crown Prince, I also started reading my books to my wife at night; she called them her “bedtime” stories. That allowed me to get a wave of editing in by reading them out loud. Incidentally, I think reading your work out loud is the most effective way to edit your own work. All that being said, with the New Blood Saga, because it was flowing so well, I planned on future waves of edits while writing the first wave. I knew that something would need more fleshing out, so I would give it a quick, not-as-specific pass, then I might further develop that same concept in, say, book four, and come back to flesh it out. So, in essence, I was (and still am) writing and revising all eight books concurrently. I am also still tweaking here and there. For example, with Crown Prince, I need to make an edit because I just learned that, in Medieval times, they didn’t say that hair was “braided.” They said it was “plaited.” So I need to go back and tweak that.

I have written around a single character and I have also written around an event. In each case, I refer to them as the kernel around which everything else was built. Sometimes, I come up with an idea for a character, so I’ll write a few paragraphs, or a few pages, to nail down that character for future reference. Other times, I have an idea for an event or series of events, so I’ll go through the same process. Often, different elements like that are put together for a single project. The New Blood Saga was like that. Natharr was inspired by Socrates, then I had a recurring dream that would leave me in tears when I woke up in the morning. Then I was experimenting with some graphics software to draw maps digitally, rather than by hand, and created a map of a world where there was a race of people called the Aa, so a lot of the place-names have double-As in them. All three were thrown into the pot that became the eight books of the New Blood Saga.

Nothing. I have never experienced writer's block. If I'm working on a project and I'm not sure what's coming next, I switch to another project (shifting gears, in a way) and get some work done there, which usually opens back up the channels in my mind.

You can't please everyone. It's just not possible. That said, if you're putting your work out for the public to see, then you have to develop a thick skin. In college, there was an English professor who used to send us (the campus newspaper) hate mail almost every week. She didn't like that we used the Associated Press Stylebook, she didn't like who was chosen to be quoted, she didn't like that certain stories were done at all, she didn't like the photos (granted, with a weekly paper, sometimes we didn't have the time to reshoot pix ... can't say much more on that one), etc. This helped me develop a thicker skin. Now, when I get a bad review, I vent with my wife, then I do my best to just let it go. I know, it's not easy. The bottom line is, how many books has that person written? None? Then that person has no idea how much time, effort, sleepless nights, waking up at 3 a.m. and going down to write or you'll never get back to sleep, etc. That's how I deal with it. On the positive side, that's also why I never give a book less than 3 stars (out of 5), because I know how much work it is, and I refuse to slam someone for having the passion and the work ethic to write and publish a book.

Research plays a huge role in my writing. It's challenging, but also very rewarding. In my fantasy writing, I do a lot of research into specific cultures, technology that was available in medieval times, even word usage. I find that it helps make the world more real, aside from giving me great material to use. As a result, I have people ask, “How did you come up with that?” My answer is something like, “I didn’t. It was still in practice in England till the 1880s.” For my science fiction, research plays an even bigger role, researching technology, as well as the latest discoveries in space exploration. I’ve always been a space buff, so I have a pretty significant library. I never took a physics class, but I’ve read some of the most influential books at the time in quantum physics.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been writing and telling stories. Before I learned how to write, I would draw pictures of spaceships, then act out the battles, drawing in the laser blasts and explosions after erasing parts of the ships that were blown away by enemies. I’ve blown up the U.S.S. Enterprise 10,000 times. I originally wanted to be a cartoonist and start my own line of comic books. I loved superheroes (and still do!) and would draw the comics, as well as write the stories. My first comic-book character was Super Mouse, created when I was 5 or 6. He was pretty much Superman, but a mouse, and he beat up cats. It was very serious stuff, not Tom and Jerry. That was my dream until I wrote my first fantasy novel, when I was 12. I was first published when I was 9, when a teacher entered a poem I wrote into a contest without my knowledge. It won and was published. I was first hired as a professional writer when I was 15, as an editor for a sports publication. Funny thing, the sports publication rescinded the offer to be an editor and changed it to a reporter position when I told them I didn’t have a driver license. I was editor-in-chief of both my high school newspaper and literary magazine, and editor of my college newspaper. Since I wrote my first novel, I always had pencil and paper with me, so I could jot down a few ideas when the need hit me. Since publishing four novels, it’s amazing how many people I grew up with who mention my red, three-ring binder I carried around with me, loaded with lined paper, so I could write down my thoughts as they came to me. That compulsion persists to this day, although I’ve since updated for the computer age.

The best advice I have is write, write, write. You see a movie and a line of dialogue has you going down another path, write it down. You hear a song and a lyric strikes you, write it down. The best advice for someone wanting to be a writer is just that: start.

I think that's addressed well enough in question 1.

I've written 31 books, of which five are in print, and who knows how many more are in various stages of development? Which is my favorite? Might as well ask me which of my children is my favorite. I can't say. I can name things that I really love about certain areas of certain books, but no one book is my favorite.

"Hard" is a moving target. If it's something that required a lot of research, that might be "hard." Like describing a ritual performed to summon a Demon. If it's something that was emotionally taxing, that might be "hard." Like the death of a character that was particularly poignant, bringing me to tears. If it's something that just didn't sound right for a few passes, that might be "hard," just because there was so much going on and trying to keep it straight, while maintaining a sense of chaos without losing clarity. All of those things are hard.

I touched on this with the New Blood Sage in question 2. However, with Pale Face, I wanted to enter the L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Contest, and the Novella category had a word limit. I didn't have anything that short! So I had to write something new. I love science fiction, so I decided it would be sci-fi. I have Cherokee lineage, so I wanted to incorporate that. I decided to go present-time because it would be easier to meet the word limit. I decided to go with a UFO angle which, of course, HAD to be in New Mexico. Then I checked into the Native American Reservations in New Mexico, and none of them are Cherokee, so I had to adjust to make my main character Navajo. My favorite literary hero is Hector in the Iliad. So I named him Hector, which then meant that his parents were a bit Anglicized, so Hector was educated in the white-man school, which made him an outcast. I know someone who is Native American and his last name is Whitehorse. So that became Hector's last name. Growing up, my aunt had an Appaloosa named Spirit, so that became Hector's. So how could I tie in the UFO angle ...? Cowboys and Aliens wouldn't come out in theaters for another 20 years ... so that wouldn't work ... I loved John Carter from Mars, but something like that would make it too long ... the whole Roswell Incident is largely believed to have been some sort accident ... so it happened once, why not again? An interplanetary traffic accident .... It must have worked, it received Special Recognition.

In Pale Face, the hospital scenes, detailing Hector's recovery after being in a coma. It required a lot of research, as well as a lot of thought into how to take someone who was basically debilitated (at the beginning) and still making it exciting.

Not much. I can focus fairly easily. However, I enjoy listing to music while I write. Whatever I'm in the mood for at the time, ranging from loud, thrashing heavy metal to Jethro Tull to Celtic instrumental to oldies rock.

Aristotle. He is believed to have been the last person to know everything that was known. Stuff he wrote is still being taught, 3,500 years later. Definitely Aristotle.

I can't remember exactly when it was, but I found wrestling stuff (after 20 years of coaching, it's always there) and book stuff, including an interview for a blog that I forgot I did and had never seen.