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Showing posts from February, 2022

Writing Older Protagonists

Why did I choose to write an older protagonist? … Do most writers create their characters on purpose? They aren’t born fully formed from your mind as Athena was to Zeus? Huh. I have to think about this one, and you get to receive my stream of consciousness in written format. I knew I didn’t want to write a coming-of-age tale. I’ve read tons of those, and I still enjoy them, but as I’ve grown older and I watch my friends age with me (ten or twenty years ahead), my mentality on it all has changed as well. It is my belief that our culture, society, what-have-you tends to glorify youth and the lessons that come from it. Truthfully, they’re often more exciting – jumping a train and accidentally ending up near the next state’s border – compared to the ones that come in adulthood, like doing your taxes wrong and living with anxiety for the next four months or more. Worrying about your next martial arts test instead of whether your chronic pain flares will be manageable today. Bu

Influential Authors

I was asked which authors most influenced me as a young reader. I often think about a couple of major ones, and then my mind is flooded with the stories and adventures I read about and I have to stop trying to list it out and just start writing.  In no particular order: To start with an easy one: Orson Scott Card. I often remind my friends and family that I  inhaled  read Ender's Game MUCH too young, and it influenced my thinking in significant ways. This isn't the time or place or audience to discuss my childhood tendency to get into fights, end them quickly, and ensure that the adults in my life had no idea about it. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets  was the first book that I read on my own. Well, part of it. As soon as they were finally in  the chamber and I was sweating and shaking and wide-eyed with anticipation, my mother received a phone call and it lasted an ENTIRE HOUR, until I finally took the book from her lap and discovered how the characters survived on my