Who are you?
My name is Liam. I am not really sure what my original last name was. My father was “unknown” and I have been in foster care, adopting others’ family names for my entire life.
Where do you live?
I live wherever I am sent. I have been living with the Conway family. It was not an easy transition.
What is your problem in the story?
I have nightmares and clips of memories. Sometimes it seems like I am being watched. Shadows move around me without any source.
Do you have a problem that wasn’t mentioned in the story?
Do you know that feeling people get when they fall in love? You know the one where you just can’t keep your mind off of someone? I have it all the time. But the problem is that the girl only exists in my dreams!
How do you see yourself?
I’m a normal teenaged guy.
How do your friends see you?
I don’t make many friends. I have moved so many times that it hardly seems worthwhile.
Do you have a goal?
Of course. I want to complete high school and find a way to get a place of my won. I may travel a bit. This time I could choose where I want to go. And maybe I can find some answers about these crazy dreams. College would be good too.
What do you want?
I want to have clear answers. I want to know why the things happen in my life the way they do.
What do you believe?
I believe in past lives. Do you think maybe that is what I am remember?
What makes you happy?
Dreaming of this gorgeous blonde whose name I can never remember!
What are you afraid of?
I am afraid of running out of time. I want to do something with my life, but with my luck I don’t know how long I have to try!
What, if anything, haunts you?
I wish I knew!
Are you lucky?
Not at all!
Who is your true love?
A dream. I guess she is too perfect for the real world….
I was invited to participate in this writing process tour by author Sara Gauldin. Her latest book, The Corporeal Pull, is free at the moment on Amazon! You can find out more about her writing at SEBGwrites.wordpress.com.
1) What am I working on?
Having just published my third YA action/adventure fantasy novel, Prince of Malorn, on Kindle, I’ve started the process of formatting it for paperback. Next in line is the fourth book in the Annals of Alasia series, tentatively titled King of Malorn. It’s been “finished” for a couple years now, but I need to go through and make sure everything ties in properly with Prince of Malorn. I hope to have it ready to publish in the fall, though. Then I have a book called The Collar and the Cavvarach, which I drafted last November during National Novel Writing Month. It needs more polishing, but I’m excited to get that one ready for publication, too, hopefully by the end of the year.
2) How does my work differ from others of its genre?
My Annals of Alasia series is unique because the first three books take place at more or less the same time (at least, there’s quite a bit of overlap). They each describe the same major political event: the invasion of the kingdom of Alasia by the neighboring kingdom of Malorn. Prince of Alasia begins on the night of the Invasion and describes what happens to twelve-year-old Prince Jaymin after he is forced to flee for his life. In the Enemy’s Service tells the story of those who were not able to escape from the Alasian palace when the enemy invaded. Prince of Malorn begins several months earlier and focuses on the Malornian perspective of the events leading up to the Invasion. In each of the books, main characters from the others make brief appearances and interact with each other at the point where the time frames and settings overlap. King of Malorn will be different, though; it takes place five years later and brings together the main characters from all three of the other books.
The Collar and the Cavvarach is unique because it’s hard to even classify it under a specific genre. The story is set in a world almost exactly like ours in almost every way, except that slavery is legal and widely practiced there. I’m calling it “speculative fiction”, which is a nice broad term that can encompass pretty much any form of fiction that isn’t strictly realistic.
3) Why do I write what I do?
I write the stories that come to me. Realistic fiction has just never come to me. I think it doesn’t offer my imagination enough freedom.
4) How does my writing process work?
After I finish drafting a scene or chapter, I let it sit for at least a day. Then I go back and re-read it, fixing any obvious errors and adjusting the word choice and sentence fluency to make it sound as good as it can. I go on to the next scene after that, and so on. When I’ve finished the whole book, I read through it at least once, often twice, checking for inconsistencies and making sure it all flows right. Then I read it aloud to my students and/or send it to beta readers for their feedback.Next Monday, find out about these other great authors and their writing:
Sherry Chamblee lives with her husband, six kids, two dogs, and a cat in southern California. She doesn’t really have free time, so she wrings some writing time out of hours normally meant for sleeping. You can visit her blog and learn more about her family and her books here: www.sherrychamblee.weebly.com.
R.A. Meenan has been writing since she was old enough to hold a pencil. Her first novel, The Stolen Defender, is the first of a long series and will come out later this year. She lives in Southern California with her husband Joe, and her two cats, Annie and Ziggy. http://zyearth.blogspot.com