Ask the Author: Ed Protzel
Answered Questions (11)
Ed Protzel
Just saw your question, Ian. I'll be in touch soon. - Ed
Ed Protzel
A student in 1960s America finds demons are behind the Vietnam War. He attempts to reach the public but is trapped in a spirit-ridden labyrinth ruled by the ghost of Genghis Khan.
Ed Protzel
I'd travel to Faulkner's Yoknapatawpha County, buy a mule and begin breaking the fecund soil. Otherwise I'd live in Isaac Asimov's world and test robots.
Ed Protzel
Sorry about the delay; I've been traveling. I'm beginning research on the third novel of the DarkHorse trilogy, Something in Madness, so, unfortunately, a lot of my reading time is absorbed with histories of the post Civil War reconstruction in Mississippi. I've got a stack of them. For fun, my reading's eclectic, whatever comes to hand. I've just finished Four Princes: Henry VIII, Francis I, Charles V, Suleiman the Magnificent and the Obsessions that Forged Modern Europe by John Julius Norwich, a terrific writer. This is a superior look at the 16th century. Not A Distant Mirror by Barbara Tuchman, but what history is? Fiction-wise, I'm also getting to Dostoevsky's The Idiot, which I never read, and is going to take a bit of time. I might suggest Michael Chabon's The Yiddish Policeman's Union and Humberto Eco's Name of the Rose. Very good in different way. Have you found anything really good, fiction or history? Ed
Ed Protzel
Hi! Sorry I'm so long in replying, but have been traveling. To answer your excellent question: I try to practice structure, which is part of the process of a book or screenplay. That said, one of the great challenges in fiction is bringing your characters to life. You live with them a long time and should let them breath to fully become three-dimensional. Minor characters are the easiest. When they follow their own path, they can really add a whole dimension to the story and its themes. My minor character Ellen, in The Lies That Bind, is an example. She only appears about 4 times, but readers love her, with her innocence and limited view believing she is being guided by God to free all the town's slave. As for the major characters, they must have a trajectory and change as they learn and experience obstacles. I like to have an end in mind for the work and, while letting them be themselves, kind of bend their behavior to fit situations--and throw obstacles up that require them to change. Mrs. French and Devereau fit where I put them in TLTB, but their conflict and tense relationship really developed them. In that I believe in constant conflict in every scene, the people must learn to deal with their different challenge. Incidentally, you'll find great dialogue popping into your head as the characters you live with express themselves fully--and that comes from their strong motivations. My dialogue has been cited in my novels and scripts. Hope that helps a bit. -- Ed
Ed Protzel
I was encouraged by professors and mentors when I was in college, although I began writing before that - for my own amusement and out of lonliness and poverty!
Ed Protzel
A lover of Faulkner and Southern lit, I was distressed by the portrayal of slaves and women. The Lies That Bind began as a screenplay and outgrew the form.
Ed Protzel
Having a means of expressing my ideas - even when I feel no one is listening :)
Ed Protzel
Not an affliction I struggle with - thankfully!
Ed Protzel
Write every day, even - or especially - when you don't feel like it. I get my best ideas when I'm not expecting them.
Ed Protzel
Honor Among Outcasts, Book 2 in the DarkHorse Trilogy, due out next year by TouchPoint Press.
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