It's a blast and its continually evolving. Because of my professional background, my first novel HEAVILY plotted. After writing a few three books and listening to multiple booktubers, my process changed. I have evolved from a plotter to a pantser. I have gone from treating a novel like a military operation, to watching a movie.

Great question. The business side of me wants to tell you that I do great targeting and I see what's working. But that's not really how it goes. I've been taught you need to write for an audience, but I do think of ideas I find interesting. I'm influenced by authors like Tolkien, Lovecraft, Max Brooks, and Timothy Zahn. Really, my ideas come from combining different ideas to create something different.

It means you should focus on something different. The authors that I love to listen to, say you have to push through it. Louis L'Amour said, if you get stuck, keep writing. Stan Nicholls said that as a full-time author, he couldn't afford to have writer's block. Jordan Peele stated that as a film director/screen-writer, you "always had to be having fun," meaning if you get tied down with something focus on something else--marketing, editing, creative writing.

I worked in Insurance for a little bit. In sales you are taught that "no," leads you to "yes." Please note, I am NOT saying "no means yes." What I am saying is that, if someone tells you "no," you no longer have to focus any attention towards trying to sale to that person and you can go find a new potential buyer...you are getting closer to "yes." If someone says they don't like my novel, many times, it's not the right genre. If they don't like the genre, no big deal. However, you do need to be able to sift through the reviews. I am NOTORIOUS for having a ton of characters. This has been brought up in reviews and it has helped me refine my writing. ALSO I will say this. If you have a fan that LOVES your stuff and a critique that HATES your stuff. Your DUTY is to the fan that loves your stuff. Don't get bogged down by someone who hates your work. Learn from it, but you owe to the loyal reader. Work for them.

As Shia LaBeouf said, "just do it! Make your dreams come true!"

My plots come pretty natural because I've studied a lot of history. My characters are a little bit different. From reading The Secrets of Story, I learned to take someone I know/respect and try to split their personality into mind, heart, and, gut. Once, I've determined my three way split, I put them i

Four books. My favorite is The Dark Elf of Oklahoma BUT My best selling one, right now, is Kaw Lake.

Godzilla and Oklahoma. Lord of the Rings and Oklahoma. Overall, Stan Lee, really influenced my writing because he didn't make up places like Gotham City, Emerald City, Central City, or Coastal City the way DC Comics did. He writes about real locations. I always thought that was cool. It influenced me to do the same with my stories.

I was trained as a Paratrooper. Paratroopers are taught to think on their feet and to follow the Commander's intent. While planning and having all these resources are great YOU REALLY Need to just write. I focus on times and intent more than a perfect place to write. So, ultimately, I think my answer for this is just willpower.

Stan Nicholls, the author of Orcs.

Ha! I google my pen-name almost everyday in order to check on sales and reviews. Two days ago, when I googled my pen-name, I discovered that my novel, Kaw Lake had been reviewed by Outstanding Creator Awards