What inspired your latest novel? It was the film Lord of The Rings that inspired me to write Illusional Reality duology. By the time the ride from the cinema was over I had the initial story and characters. The Quest is the concluding part Illusional Reality and was written after watching Two Towers.
How did you come up with the title? If you suddenly woke up and found you were in a magical land; wouldn’t you think you were dreaming. That it was an illusion? But you see, when Becky learns who she really is, Thya, her previous life becomes the Illusion and her life in Tsinia is now her reality. The Quest was named as such, because Thya is forced to travel to locate a crystal called the Darkeye.
I’m normally pretty good with word play and don’t have a problem coming up with suitable titles.
Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp? Gosh, there are messages running all the way through the two books, but it’s been my readers that have found them. I didn’t deliberately add these messages. Each reader can take something different from it.
How much of the book is realistic? The Quest which is the second book of the duology is fantasy. When you write fantasy everything and anything can be believable. That’s why I had so much fun writing the books.
Are your characters based on someone you know, or events in your own life? No. Total fabrication of my warped mind.
Where can readers find you on social media and do you have a blog? http://bit.ly/PKKFB FB personal http://bit.ly/FBFPKK FB fanpage http://bit.ly/INSTKK INSTAGRAM http://bit.ly/TwittKK TWITTER http://bit.ly/BLOGKK BLOG http://bit.ly/KKGRE Goodreads Do you have plans or ideas for your next book? Is it a sequel or a stand alone? The Quest is the concluding part of Illusional Reality duology. My next book is a collection of flash horror stories. Called A Flash of Horror. I also have a MI5 thriller, Broken Chains, to finish and an erotic horror called Predator. So, plenty to keep me going for a while.
Of the characters you have created or envisioned, which is your favorite & why? It would have to be the MC, Thya. I have lived in her shoes and mind for many years and we’ve been through a lot together. Thya is head strong, selfish and argumentative, proving she’s more human than a Bora.
Do you favor one type of genre or do you dabble in more than one?
I do. I’m a prolific author and write in most genres. I do have a passion for the MC thriller genre, because of my past and I had so much fun writing the fantasy duology, Illusional Reality.
Do you plan your stories, or are you a seat of the pants style writer?
Both. I start with an initial plot and then once the story takes off, I let the characters takeover.
What is your best marketing tip? Market yourself as an author before you market your books.
Do you find social media a great tool or a hindrance? Can you imagine where we authors would be without SMP(Social Media Platforms) Even if we are taken advantage of, that’s where most of our readers are and where we get our sales. Readers want to get to know you before they part with their cash, and SMPs help with that.
OPTIONAL QUESTIONS
What do you enjoy most about writing? Being creative and using my imagination and allowing my warped mind free reign.
Where is your favorite writing space?
I love sitting outside a coffee shop watching the world go by while I’m listening to rock music through some earphones. That’s where I love to write.
If you could meet one favorite author, who would it be and why?
S.E.Hinton, author of The Outsiders is my favourite author. Her books Rumble Fish, That Was Then This Is Now, Tex and Taming of The Star Runner, just sparked such a feeling in me that I had to pick up a pen and write my story. My first publication, In Times of Violence has been labelled as The Outsiders on motorbikes. What an honour that is. In Times of Violence was my first novel and still remains my bestseller to date. I would love to meet, thank her and let her know how much her books mean to me.
If you could live anywhere in the world – where would it be? I live in Greece and I’m sure many would love to swap with me. Lol I would love to have a small cottage in the Cotswold UK. I have roots in Canada and Ireland so it would be nice to visit.
Do you see writing as a career? It started off that way. I think we all dream of becoming best selling authors with a nice fat monthly royalty check and an agent who has just signed a deal for the book to be made into a movie for the big screen… after a while that dream fades. I’m happy to know my books are being read and people are enjoying them. That’s why I write. I also run Author Assist, offering an Ala Carte menu of affordable author services. So, I spend most of my time helping authors with their book promotion and making sure their name and book/s are known around social media.
It can be argued that speeches are not strictly a literary genre, however a speechwriter requires the same writing skills and experience in formulating a well structured and informative speech for a diverse range of people as a non-fiction author covering a specific topic.
The definition is: a speechwriter is someone hired to prepare and write speeches that will be delivered by another person. They are employed by a variety of people, such as senior-level elected officials and executives in the government as well as in the private sector. They can also be employed to write for weddings and other social occasions. Speechwriters specialize in a writing style that merges marketing, theater, public relations, sales, education and politics all in one presentation.
The actual process of writing a speech has several steps. Initially, they need to meet with the executive and the executive’s senior staff to determine the broad framework of points or messages that the executive wants to cover in the speech. With this information they will then research the topic to flesh out this framework with anecdotes and examples. They must also consider the audience for the speech, which can range from a town-hall meeting of community leaders to an international leaders’ forum. Once this framework is created, the speechwriter blends the points, themes, positions, and messages from their research to create an “informative, original and authentic speech” for the executive. This draft is then presented to the client and the executive (or the executive’s staff) make notes, revisions or changes to it. If the speechwriter is familiar with the topic and the positions and style of the executive, only small changes may be required.
Credit for speeches is mainly contributed to the person making it rather than the speechwriter, much like a ghost writer. Their name may never appear in public or a credit given on paper. However, a good speechwriter will be known for their work in select circles, such as in a government setting.
Have you written speeches? Was it for a person setting or for a client?
It can, depends on what and where and when I am writing.
What is your writing Kryptonite?
Crown Royal, a good Martini or constant interruptions…
Did you ever consider writing under a pseudonym?
No
What other authors are you friends with, and how do they help you become a better writer?
Too many to mention, but, we all feed into each other. Read each other’s work and give constructive criticism when and where needed.
Do you want each book to stand alone, or are you trying to build a body of work with connections between each book?
Excellent question. Whereas I try to make each book readable on it’s own, I do incorporate characters and elements from prior novels in each book unless it is truly a stand alone story.
What was the best money you ever spent as a writer?
Editors
What was an early experience where you learned that language had power?
11th grade, Drama class…we did an impromptu ad-lib skit
What’s your favorite under-appreciated novel?
‘Still Waters’
As a writer, what would you choose as your mascot/avatar/spirit animal?
Horse
How many unpublished and half-finished books do you have?
None anymore
What does literary success look like to you?
Folks reading and enjoying my stories. Getting rich from writing is a pipe-dream, one of which I have never fed into.
What kind of research do you do, and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book?
Long hours of research if it is warranted for the story. So, I guess that would depend. I have researched for months, and I have researched for only a couple hours.
How many hours a day/week do you write?
12-15
How do you select the names of your characters?
Yet another good question. I find names popular or prominent in the old west, and then remember that almost everyone on the outlaw trail had a nick-name. Hit and miss, I reckon.
What was your hardest scene to write?
The death of Bobby Malloy in ‘The Rights of Men’.
Why did you choose to write in your particular field or genre? If you write more than one, how do you balance them?
Expertise in the field. Know what you write and write what you know.
How long have you been writing?
10 years
What inspires you?
Just about everything.
How do you find or make time to write?
Along with running a small publishing company and preparing for a weekly radio show, it’s my job.
What projects are you working on at the present?
The building of an artificial leg that works like a normal leg in 1876.
I do most of my writing in the morning, but after a shower. I get up just after 5 am and get an early start at the day. It energizes me, and gets my brain and body going. I find that by doing this, I can go to my day job and be extremely productive. If I’m on a push, or am doing NaNoWriMo (writing 50K words in a month) I’ll write right after work as well, before dinner. I am not a late-night writer.
What is your writing Kryptonite?
I don’t get writers block. I have very specific projects, and for the most part they are outlined, at least as bullet points, with the tighter plot in my head. I made writing part of my daily routine last summer, and when you do that, you get trained to need that time. But if I have to choose something, I’ll say golfing. In the summer I love to go golfing once or twice a week, and that can end up taking out some desk time.
Did you ever consider writing under a pseudonym?
My novels are all currently under my real name, but I do have a series coming out late this year that will be using a pen name. It’s a collaborative project, and it works out better that way.
What other authors are you friends with, and how do they help you become a better writer?
I’ve been lucky enough to make a really close-knit group of author friends that I talk to on a daily basis. Without them I wouldn’t be the same writer today. I also interact with a wide net of amazing indie science fiction authors. Being able to bounce ideas off them, whether its marketing or cover ideas is priceless. They are all virtual friends, but I’m heading to a 20bookstoVegas event this November where I’m going to meet a bunch of them.
Do you want each book to stand alone, or are you trying to build a body of work with connections between each book?
I’ve written two stand alone’s so far. Sleepy Grove is a supernatural thriller about a woman who works at a cemetery and see spirits. It was a great experience but I don’t think it will see the light of day. Red Creek is out May 18th, and is a hometown horror. It may be my best novel to date (according to me) and I had such a great time writing it.
That leads to what I’ve done with my Sci-Fi series, The Survivors. It starts with The Event, and so far it’s a three book series with the first two out, and book three out May 29th.
They say splitting genres isn’t ideal, but I have so many stories to tell, that I will break conventions to get them out there if necessary.
What was the best money you ever spent as a writer?
Covers and editing. A book needs professional editing, and when I was publishing my first Explorations anthology, I found the artist many of the top selling SF authors were using and had him custom make the cover. I’ve used him for nearly all of my Woodbridge books, and all 4 of my own novels. Tom Edwards is amazing!
What was an early experience where you learned that language had power?
I was a reader from a young age. My mom claims to have taught me to read when I was 3, and I loved to read. I remember winning the book award in grade one, which was basically a construction paper bird travelling around the room on a scale of books read. I still have little stories from grade 3-4 I wrote.
What’s your favorite under-appreciated novel?
I read a lot of books, mostly fantasy and science fiction. I also have read a ton of indie stuff, so I could name far too many that are under-appreciated.
As a writer, what would you choose as your mascot/avatar/spirit animal?
I’d be a duck. Calm on the surface, but flailing around under the water.
How many unpublished and half-finished books do you have?
I have Sleepy Grove sitting there, and me and my writing partner are working on a 3 book series to release this fall. Book one is done, and I’m currently writing book 2.
What does literary success look like to you?
I’ve never wanted to write that masterpiece high school students read in a hundred years. I want to write books people can enjoy, and move on to the next one. My first book only came out two months ago, and I still have a best-seller tag on Amazon, so I’ve already surpassed any life-time goals on that front.
What kind of research do you do, and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book?
Depends on the project. I use google maps a lot, and to be honest, I try to write what I know. You’ll see a lot of New York in my writing, and that’s because I’ve been there on vacation four times, and love the place. I find that life experience is the best research for writing you can find.
How many hours a day/week do you write?
I write almost every day of the week, and would say I spend at least 20 hours on book stuff a week. (Plus the time thinking about it…)
How do you select the names of your characters?
Some of the names are nuggets for people I know, and some are random. I try to fit a name with the vibe of the character or location. Not a lot of science to it for me.
What was your hardest scene to write?
I’ve written some heavy scenes. The Event has a particularly emotional one. The main character’s wife died a few years before the book, and I have a few flashbacks of them together at the start of the book, which are relevant to the plot of the series. Here’s an excerpt:
Janine was in bed sleeping soundly when I stepped into the room. The hot soup cup was burning my hands, and I just stood there with the pain. I felt like I needed the distraction, like the burning would make my other pain go away somehow. Even though we were in our own house, the smell of the hospital still stuck in my nostrils, and I wasn’t sure if the chemical scent would ever be gone.
It was time, and Janine demanded to come home for the end. How could I deny that beautiful woman’s wishes when she was so small and frail, her life slipping away in hours and minutes instead of decades and years like someone her age should have left?
I put the soup down, sat at the foot of the bed, and just watched her breathe. The sounds lulled me, and I felt my own eyes getting droopy. I lay down and curled up beside my wife like I always did when we went to bed. Even if it was too warm, I needed to feel her body next to mine to fall asleep. I’d become dependent on her in so many ways, and I had no idea what I was going to do when she was gone. As I closed my eyes, I thought about dying and wondered if we would be together in some sort of afterlife if I ended my own life when she was gone. My last thoughts were of a bottle of whiskey and a vial of pills before sleep took over my exhausted body.
I woke to her touch. A soft kiss on my lips; her hair cascading down on my face. I cried and felt shame in my pain. She was the one dying and I was the one crying about it like a baby constantly. The worst part was, it seemed like she was okay with having a husband who couldn’t stop blubbering.
“Janny, I love you so much. I’m so sorry this happened,” I blurted between sobs.
She looked me in the eyes, and for the first time in weeks, I saw her own eyes well up. A single tear fell slowly and splashed on my cheek. It mingled with my own, and somehow, I felt better for it.
Why did you choose to write in your particular field or genre? If you write more than one, how do you balance them?
I love science fiction, and always have. It was natural for me to write there. I also have a long-time love of horror, and needed to write in that genre too. My main focus will be in Sci-fi now that I’ve found success there, but hope to still do some passion projects.
How long have you been writing?
I used to dabble, but really only for the last 4 years. I started to write, and the floodgates opened up inside me. There was no turning back.
What inspires you?
A lot of things. The outdoors, trees, green grass, the smell of autumn, the energy of a big city…so many things inspire my thought process, and I take them all and use it in my writing.
How do you find or make time to write?
Routine. I get up early to do it. No excuses.
What projects are you working on at the present?
I’m working on my final final final proof read of Red Creek, and about to send New World (Survivors book 3) to my formatter.
What do your plans for future projects include?
I’m going to be releasing a 3 book pen name series this fall, as well as book 4 of The Survivors. From there, I have many plans for 2019!
Share a link to your author website.
You can follow along at www.nathanhystad.com I haven’t been around it to blog much lately, but you can follow my newsletter from there, and see what I’m up to. I also run www.scifiexplorations.com with some friends where we promote the best indie authors and their deals and new releases. Follow along there for some amazing promotions.
Bio:
Nathan Hystad is an author from outside of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. He lives there with his wife, dog and piles of books. He runs Woodbridge Press, and is the series editor and creator of the Explorations series of anthologies.
Energize mostly, I think. I can write for very long periods and get a lot of the story down in a single writing session. Of course, at other times as well I can spend hours trying to work something out and at the end of the process have only completed a short paragraph, so it does vary. It can be exhausting at times but I’ve been writing for many hours in the day and well into the night for many years now, so I guess I’ve got used to the fatigue.
What is your writing Kryptonite?
Probably the very complex plots and themes that I include in many of the novels. There always seem to be very intricate issues to resolve as the story takes shape or at the end once the main plot has been completed. It’s my own fault of course since I do tend to write about time travel, parallel universes, alternate realities and that kind of thing. Any of the novels without those elements have usually been written more quickly, if I recall correctly. However, the very complicated storylines are often what I prefer to write, so this particular brand of kryptonite will probably be with me for some time to come.
Did you ever consider writing under a pseudonym?
Not really. I’d probably consider it if I wanted to write and publish in a radically different genre, such as horror, romance, or thrillers for adults, for example, although that can be a tricky proposition if your main genre is books for children and young adults. After all, even if it were supposed to be a secret, the true identity of the author would probably get out somehow. I have written eight guides for aspiring writers that are for adults rather than young readers, but these aren’t under a pseudonym.
What other authors are you friends with, and how do they help you become a better writer?
I’m friends with many authors, both here in Calgary, elsewhere in Canada, and around the world. I’m also the founder of Children’s Writers and Illustrators on Facebook, which now has around 8,000 members. I’m not sure if any of them have influenced my writing, but some of them have been a great help with things such as marketing and promotion, working with ebooks, and self-publishing.
Do you want each book to stand alone, or are you trying to build a body of work with connections between each book?
Some of the published novels have had sequel potential but I was usually too busy with the next project to explore that potential fully. The most recent novels, such as the Flashback series and the Shadowzone series, have been trilogies, and I’ll probably continue in that direction. I’m also working periodically on more adventures in the land of Koronada, which features in The Sphere of Septimus, published in 2014, and two sequels to Future Imperfect, which came out in 2016.
What was the best money you ever spent as a writer?
I would say either the writing course I took years ago with the Institute of Children’s Literature, which started the ball rolling, or Guerrilla Marketing for Writers, a book I bought to learn more about sales and marketing when I first became a published author. The book appeared before self-publishing, ebooks, and social media were well established but at the time it provided invaluable advice.
What was an early experience where you learned that language had power?
That’s an interesting question, but apart from listening to bedtime stories as a child I’d probably have to say comic books, which I read all the time when I was growing up. Although they were of course filled with illustrations, the stories, particularly in Marvel Comics, were so good and often had such elaborate and grandiose themes, often spread over several issues.
What’s your favorite under-appreciated novel?
I wish I had an answer to this one, but I can’t think of a novel that would fit this description, my apologies.
As a writer, what would you choose as your mascot/avatar/spirit animal?
A dog of some kind, I think. I’ve had both dogs and cats throughout my life but have valued dogs as companions for many years and will most likely always have one or more in my life.
How many unpublished and half-finished books do you have?
I don’t have any full finished books that haven’t been published yet and the only partially finished novel is the current work in progress. I do however have many files of varying sizes with reasonably formed story ideas, crammed with notes, ideas, and full or partial outlines, along with other documents containing just a vague story idea and so on.
What does literary success look like to you?
It’s always a great feeling when people enjoy my work and tell me that, especially in person. I’ve met people in their late teens or early twenties that read one or more of my books when they were younger and it’s wonderful to think that I had some kind of an impact on their lives when they were growing up.
What kind of research do you do, and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book?
It depends on the book. For the time travel novels, I’ve had to conduct extensive historical research in the time period in which the story is set. The Sorcerer’s Letterbox involved extensive research into medieval England, the Tower of London, Richard III, the Wars of the Roses, and the mystery of the Princes in the Tower. The Heretic’s Tomb involved research into both the Black Death and medieval medicine. For The Doomsday Mask, I investigated the legend of Atlantis and the many theories about where it might have been located, if it existed. The current novel I’m working on takes place in the turbulent period at the end of the English Civil War in the late 1640s, so at the moment I’m researching that time period and the trial of Charles I. I don’t really research before I begin a historical novel since I have a history degree, so I’m already familiar with most of the historical eras that I’m interested in featuring in stories. However, once the novel is in the process of being written I spend quite a lot of time doing research and making sure that everything is accurate.
How many hours a day/week do you write?
I don’t really keep track but I write all the time so that encompasses much of the day and the week. This isn’t always on novels as I often edit books for other authors, write nonfiction books and articles, create content for the business market for websites, social media and other online locations, and prepare workshops and lesson plans.
How do you select the names of your characters?
For the young characters in the novels, I have a list of names I like that I think would be a good fit for a novel. For adult characters, such as the lead villain of the story, I just seem to be able to think of a name that works.
What was your hardest scene to write?
I can’t think of a particular scene from a novel, but the toughest writing I’ve had to do so far has probably been for the Flashback or Shadowzone books, mainly because the plots were so complicated.
Why did you choose to write in your particular field or genre? If you write more than one, how do you balance them?
I have many story ideas for adults but the best thing about writing for young adults is that it allows me to write about the kinds of things that used to fascinate me when I was growing up. And of course, the stories can be very imaginative if they’re for younger readers, which makes writing them so much fun. My first novel, The Alchemist’s Portrait, was published in 2003 and I began writing on a serious basis a few years before that. When my children were small, I starting reading children’s books again for the first time in many years. This made me wonder if I could write stories of my own. I started thinking that I should write fairy tales and picture books for younger children but after reading the first three Harry Potter novels, I realized that I wanted to write for the age group that those books are aimed at. I wasn’t interested in writing about the same things, such as magic, wizards, and imaginary creatures, and instead focused on themes that I was interested in, such as science fiction, fantasy, time travel, history, comic books, ancient mysteries and civilizations, superheroes, other dimensions, and the paranormal.
How long have you been writing?
The first novel came out in 2003 and I began writing seriously a few years before that.
What inspires you?
Ideas can come from anywhere and everywhere. Out walking the dog, in the car, something in a conversation, a newspaper story, a billboard, an item on the evening news, books, historical events, other people’s stories, movies, or something out of the blue. I often find myself wondering ‘what if?’ Sometimes the challenge is to stop having ideas. Some may never be used, but I try to record as many as I can. I never know when they might fit in with a story I’m writing. Even ideas that don’t seem to work right away may provide a spark of inspiration in the future.
How do you find or make time to write?
I don’t have a problem finding time to write since I’ve been doing this full time now for many years. I do struggle to find time to work on my own novels at times, since I’m so busy editing those written by other authors or I’m working on something to do with marketing or a project for a corporate client.
What projects are you working on at the present?
I’ve just published the second part of The Children’s Writer’s Guide, which like the first book provides tips and advice for all authors, not just for those that write for children and young adults. The third part of the Flashback trilogy will be published in the spring and I have a few edits to do for that one. The current novel project is the one about the English Civil War, which I’m hoping to get finished by the end of the summer. I’m also working on several children’s nonfiction books for educational publishers over the coming months.
What do your plans for future projects include?
I have many ideas for future projects and hope to be able to publish all the novels over the next few years.
Share a link to your author website.
You can learn more about me and my work on my website at www.simon-rose.com or online at the following social media sites:
Simon is a regular presenter at conferences and festivals, and served as a juror for the Governor General’s Literary Awards for Children’s Literature, the Saskatchewan Book Awards, the Parsec Awards and the Sunburst Award for Canadian Literature of the Fantastic. He is the founder of Children’s Authors and Illustrators on Facebook and was the Assistant Regional Advisor for SCBWI Western Canada.
Apart from the above, Simon also offers a wide variety of presentations, workshops and author in residence programs for schools and libraries, covering such topics as the writing process, editing and revision, where ideas come from and how writers turn them into stories, character development, historical fiction and historical research, story structure, the publishing world and more. He works as a creative writing instructor throughout the year, is an instructor for adults with the University of Calgary, Mount Royal University and Chinook Learning Services. And offers a variety of online workshops for both children and adults, including editing, writing workshops and coaching, plus copy writing services for the business community.
