Ask the Author: Tom McCaffrey
Answered Questions (12)
Tom McCaffrey
Thanks Rhett - Sorry if I got those two mixed up. You are the only one to catch it, so do me a favor and keep it under your hat ;)
Tom McCaffrey
1) Hogworts. 2) Be an awesome wizard.
Tom McCaffrey
What would my life had been like had I accepted the offer that led to the writing of TWA?
Tom McCaffrey
I'd go to Hogwarts and study to become a powerful witch, then stick around and teach.
Tom McCaffrey
From Claire the mule. She's brilliant.
Tom McCaffrey
When I'm not actually working as an attorney or writing, I spend my waking hours observing the world around me. When I see something interesting occur, I log it away in the back of my brain to trot out when the time comes to write. Once enough of these gobbits build to the critical mass of a complete narrative, I know I'm ready to start writing.
Tom McCaffrey
I'm getting mentally prepared for writing the prequel to The Claire Trilogy, which I'm tentatively calling The Riverdale Chronicles. The reader will get a chance to see what made Jimmy McCarthy the character that captured Claire's devotion. I'm hoping to get started sometime in the late fall of this year.
Tom McCaffrey
Don't listen to anyone tell you how to write. Screw the rules and the pundits.
Just sit down and start typing. Write first and foremost for yourself, and if you are happy with your final product that is all that matters. Sooner or later you are going to come up with a story that will resonate with others. And practice does make perfect. The more you write, the better you will get at writing. If you want to learn how to write effective dialogue, go to a local coffee shop and eavesdrop on other's conversations. You will learn that no one speaks in complete sentences and there is rarely a subject, verb, object structure to the spoken word. Finally, never give up. Ever. Ever.
Just sit down and start typing. Write first and foremost for yourself, and if you are happy with your final product that is all that matters. Sooner or later you are going to come up with a story that will resonate with others. And practice does make perfect. The more you write, the better you will get at writing. If you want to learn how to write effective dialogue, go to a local coffee shop and eavesdrop on other's conversations. You will learn that no one speaks in complete sentences and there is rarely a subject, verb, object structure to the spoken word. Finally, never give up. Ever. Ever.
Tom McCaffrey
Making your readers happy.
Tom McCaffrey
I force myself to blog every day - Thewisenovelist.com - so that I am always writing. This creates a mental muscle memory that allows me to turn on the creativity almost at will.
Tom McCaffrey
I never heard the approach of the creature behind me. By the time I felt its breath on the back of my neck, I was dead.
Tom McCaffrey
With my day job as an attorney and trying to get my last two books of The Claire Trilogy to bed, I have limited time to get to my favorite hobby. However, this summer I have read Mind Games by Margaret Reyes Dempsey, No Way Home and Finding Home by Christy Cooper-Burnett and New Moons by Nancy Asmead. Each very different in style and subject matter but I highly recommend all of them. I also read The Writing Irish of New York, edited by Colin Broderick, which is a must for any Celtic writer.
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