And it’s a guest! And he has a book out! Yes, we’re not all lazy like me! š People, let’s welcome and cheer J Andrew Corbett! Let’s see what he has to say, and don’t forget to check out his book! Ain’t it a neat cover (below)? Happy Sunday!
Where do you live and write from?
I live in Michigan in the middle of nowhere, a place called Munith.
What genre(s) do you write?
I started off years ago writing horror, but Iāve moved into science fiction / fantasy.
What does your writing routine consist of?
Most importantly, I canāt have on a radio or a television. Has to be nice and quiet to get started. After that, I usually read the last paragraph or two I wrote, then let the story come out.
What do you feel are your strengths as a writer? How have you developed these qualities?
To me, dialogue is what drives a story. Narrative is necessary, but Iām part of the āshow me, donāt tellā me school of writing. The stories I write have been kicking around in my head for many years usually before they go down on paper. The characters become almost real to me as they flesh themselves out long before a sentence is ever written.
Where do you find your inspiration? Do you put yourself in your stories?
Some of my greatest inspiration has come from music. When you hear a song and you see a movie playing in your headā¦ only itās not a movie youāve seen, but one youāve created. Putting myself into my writing does happen. Iāll give a character a personality trait of my own (see Gaius gnawing on his thumb, for instance). Itās a way I heard of to endear your characters to yourself a bit more as a writer.
Outliner or improviser? Fast or slow writer?
I do try getting together an outline prior to writing, but itās usually a very loose one. I know the ending, I know the beginning, but the characters will dictate the pacing and the path to get there. Sometimes I travel in a straight line; other times they travel elsewhere, like Sam and Frodo on the trek to Mordor. Flying the eagles to Mount Doom wouldāve been a great idea, but think of all those stories we would have missed out on.
Once the story gets going, I tend to write pretty fast. Sometimes Iāll sit down at midnight and tell myself āSelf, write for about an hour.ā Around four in the morning I realize that Iām ten pages into a great side story that I donāt want to stop and have to pry myself away.
Tell us about your latest book
Simple Tricks and Nonsense. The best way to summarize the plot: Jesse Pinkman from Breaking Bad survives an alien invasion. Fifteen million years passes. This is his story.
Ok, itās a bit more detailed than that, but itās the quick and dirty way I like to explain it. Itās a sci-fi story about an Empire that was formed under the best of intentions, but has become a mockery of what it stood for. I set out to tell the Julius Caesar story in space. Letās hope it comes through in the writing.
āLaws followed for fifteen million years are disregarded by a demagogic Emperor in favor of remaining in power. With absolute control over the courts, he is only steps away from seizing power foreverā¦
And forever is what it would be.
For a people who have conquered the stars, traveled to more galaxies than stars in the night skies, who have transcended mortality and made order out of a disordered universe, the sunset of everything theyāve ever known may be at hand. The enemy within is a far greater threat than the enemy without, and it falls upon a now disgraced hero to rise once more and combat the monster he helped to create at the beginning of time. Do you love a thing so much that you will help tear it down and remake it in its former glory? Or would you simply go along to get along? Traitor or hero, those words are defined solely by the victor.ā
It can be purchased now at www.allofuspublications.com and on Amazon (link to .com).
Any other projects in the pipeline?
Simple Tricks and Nonsense is part one in a six book series. So yeah, thereās a lot of projects coming down the pipeline.
What is the best piece of writing advice you’ve ever been given?
Write for yourself, not for others.
Anything else you’d like to add?
To add to that last question, Iāve always written things that I wanted to see. When I find one other person who gets my vision and enjoys what Iāve written, itās the best feeling in the world.
FIND J.ANDREW CORBETT online
Barbara G.Tarn - writer 