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Ask An Author #21

Renee Stevens

Entry posted by Renee Stevens in Author Interviews

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It's hard to believe that it's already October, and with the start of a new month, it's also time for the newest Ask An Author monthly feature, provided by Dark! Do you have a favorite author on-site? Have you had a question that you've been wanting to ask them, but haven't? If so, send it to Dark and you might just see it in an upcoming Ask An Author feature!!

Ask an Author #21

 

Welcome back to another quirky question and answer session with your favorite authors!

 

In AtA #20, we had questions for authors Aditus, Celethiel, and TetRefine.

 

In AtA #21, we hear from authors comicfan, K.C., and reddirtwriter.

 

For their protection, the members who asked these questions shall remain nameless (unless they choose to reveal themselves). :lol: Please note that all author replies are copied as is, spelling errors and grammar eccentricities original to the individual.

 

Our first author today is Comicfan, a member of the Forum Moderation Team. Comicfan (perhaps so named due to his love of Peanuts?) and I have been members for about the same amount of time :o but you might be most familiar with him as the instigator of Friday’s prompts, evil creature that he is. In case you didn’t know, as a New York-er, Comicfan equates sarcasm with love ... when he’s not cursing at the craziness that amounts for island living, that is. :gikkle: It’s been a busy summer for Comicfan, a summer of new beginnings at a wedding and of goodbyes, specifically making room in the old noggin for some new memories by excising the old. While still cranking away at his multi-chapter story, The Strange Life of Jonas Marks, Comicfan has gifted the September Anthology (Scars) with two new stories! Both have about 4k words, with Fang and Claw falling in the werewolf/supernatural genre and crossing over into the crime drama genre and Body and Soul a more modern drama. Have you checked them out yet? While you’re at it, take a look at the other anthology offerings.

To Comicfan: Where do you get your inspiration for the prompts you come up with? Do you ever have a response in mind when you come up with them?

 

Prompts come from a number of places. There are ideas for stories that I don't have time to write, conversations overheard, times spent people watching, and sometimes suggestions made to me by other members, like the bacon prompt by AJ. People have requested picture prompts, first line, and lists of words which is why they appear so often. Mainly I try to create something that will give people an idea they can make their own. I love seeing what people do with the ideas. Some create great little gems to read and others have turned them into multi chaptered tales. That is the great thing about the prompts, they are as unique as the author who takes up the challenge.

 

Also joining GA around the same time as Comicfan and myself is recently-promoted K.C. As of April 2014, K.C. has joined the ranks of our Signature Authors. Congrats, K.C.! You may be asking yourself “Why him?” and I’d tell you, but it’s best you find out for yourself by reading one of the tons of stories he’s posted. Many of you have already sampled Pour Me Another and Great Balls of Fire, two winners from 2013’s Reader’s Choice Awards, but he has actually written some stories not for the anthologies. I think I still like best Chasing the Shadows, written way back when in 2011, but there’s also A Grim Fairy Tale, a short story about my favorite holiday: Halloween!

To K.C.: What was it like to get promoted from Promising Author to Signature Author?

 

I'm always amazed that people actually read my stories! LOL Winning awards or getting promotions for something that I do because I love it, is incredible. I remember looking at the Hosted/Signature Authors & Promising Authors with stars in my eyes when I first joined
GA
. I aspired to reach that point and now to be rubbing elbows among them is unbelievable.

 

My writing has improved as I've learned so much over the years with help from many
GA
members with beta readers, editing, and readers encouragement that it has pushed me to keep trying harder with every new project I take on. Reaching this point doesn't mean I get to slack off and enjoy, now the real work begins 'cause people are watching and will know if I screw it up!
:lmao:

 

Today we finish up with author reddirtwriter. He’s a bit of a food connoisseur and you can check out some of his favorite new recipes by venturing over to the blog he started about a year ago in May of 2013. (You can also find out his super-secret name!) reddirtwriter has led an eclectic life, migrating from the southwest to the Midwest (crazy man to stay there, lol) and having held quite a few jobs has accumulated some serious story fodder. In the short time he’s been churning out good stories, reddirtwriter has also become published through not one but three different publishers and has also self-published. Find out where on his blog. I think he’s most well-known on GA from his story Wrangler Butts, a story that was no doubt influenced by the time he spent as a ranch hand. I like it because, well, come on, cowboys! There’s nothing quite like a good butt in a tight-fitting pair of jeans, and these guys have attitude to match.

To reddirtwriter: What was your first story and what inspired you to write it?

 

My first story was Wrangler Butts. It's a western romance between two graduate students in an Agricultural college. Why did I write it? I grew up in a pretty rural setting and like the whole ranch and cowboy thing. Unfortunately, most of the stories in those settings had the characters sounding and acting like morons. I didn't like their versions of the people I'd known, so Wrangler Butts was born. It now has two sequals and a fourth in the works.

 

That’s it for now! For more info on these authors, go check out their stories, post in their forums, and/or catch them in chat!

 

Coming next time: Stay tuned for the Ask an Author #22, an ultra-special installment with 2 questions each for 4 different authors: comicality, Nephylim, Rob Colton, and Sasha Distan. Can you believe I’ve been compiling these for almost two years now? :blink:

 

Want to ask your favorite author a question? Simply PM me (Dark).
Until next time!
Dark

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Aditus

As I said before, I love the prompts. I could never come up with so many different ideas every week. Oh and don't forget the ship/rowing boat prompt.  :P

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Mann Ramblings

I've always enjoyed this feature. Getting inside the author's heads and getting otherwise unspoken background is always a treat. Let's hope it never stops! :D

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Valkyrie
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I always wondered how Wayne comes up with the prompts each week... ;)  I love both reading and writing prompt responses.  :) 

 

I'm very happy to hear that there is a fourth Wrangler Butts story in the works.  It's a great series.  :)

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K.C.

I'm jumping on the "Where does Wayne come up with those crazy prompts?" bandwagon too!! :P  He does a great job at getting those ideas churning. Even if I don't have time to write one, I still kick around prompt ideas and play the "what if" game to see what spills out of my head :D

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