Ask the Author: Brian Lancaster
Answered Questions (8)
Brian Lancaster
Hi Diane. Don’t Point At The Moon has now been added. Apologies for the delay.
Brian Lancaster
Hi Alan,
Yes, I have a spin-off to Companion Required which tells the story of Leonard Day, Kennedy’s friend, who was introduced on the cruise in the story. Kieran and Kennedy make a cameo appearance in the story. Pride Publishing have agreed to publish the book which will be released on 5th October 2021.
I am also hoping to have another book ready for the Christmas market, which has a working title of Salvaging Christmas, and tells the story of Trevor and Rudy.
Yes, I have a spin-off to Companion Required which tells the story of Leonard Day, Kennedy’s friend, who was introduced on the cruise in the story. Kieran and Kennedy make a cameo appearance in the story. Pride Publishing have agreed to publish the book which will be released on 5th October 2021.
I am also hoping to have another book ready for the Christmas market, which has a working title of Salvaging Christmas, and tells the story of Trevor and Rudy.
Brian Lancaster
Tough one. I usually have a number of projects on the go, so if the block is really bad, I’ll put the story away, and concentrate my energies on another. Sometimes, all I need is a small distraction; a cup of tea and a brisk walk to clear my head and get me writing again. Very rarely do I decide I can’t continue with a story.
Brian Lancaster
Companion Required had been hanging around for a couple of years after some good friends talked about their experience on a gay cruise, and how bringing a group of friends along made everything so much more enjoyable. And then I saw a documentary on Netflix called Love Boat, and the idea took off. I already had the characters of Kieran and Kennedy in my head, and they felt like the right combination for this kind of adventure. Finally, having the support of a gay writing community helped me to shape the story as I wrote.
Brian Lancaster
Ideas usually come to me when I’m reading other books, or watching something on television, and I get a sudden ‘what if’ moment which then blossoms into the seed of an idea. If the moment is strong enough, my imagination goes into overdrive and I have to get ideas down as soon as possible, as and when they come to me.
Brian Lancaster
My three published novels have minor characters, and I like to give some of them their own story. In Companion Required, for example, Lenny Day is a friend of the main character, Kennedy, who joins him on the cruise, and I have given him his own story on the GA website (www.gayauthors.org), a novel called Any Day. And at the end of The Missing Ingredient, the character called Trevor who turns up to the garden party, has his own story and romance told in the novel The Twelve Gays of Christmas, also published on GA. As for new work, I’m currently trying to finish a three-part murder mystery with an MM romance, which I’ve been working on for the past five years. I want to have all three completed before submitting them to a publisher.
Brian Lancaster
Find what works for you, harness your imaginative energy, and just write. There’s a lot of advice on the internet, especially on YouTube, and a lot of self-appointed experts dictating how you should do this. Read it, by all means, but find what works specifically for you. My own advice is personal, and I talk from my own experience.
1. Roughly plan out the whole story: I’ve learnt the hard way, from a pile of unfinished manuscripts, that I need to plan out a story to give me writing goals, a plot and structure and an ending, believable characters, and firm deadlines. I say roughly, because I still keep things loose enough that I can change direction or even the plot line as I’m writing (or change them later, although that often involves a lot of rework) if I think the story or a protagonist is becoming too predictable. I’ve known authors who plan a story to death, leisurely spending time building their worlds, their cast of characters, defining the plot arc and even creating tiny details they plan to include - and then find they’ve lost the impetus to write when they attempt to start a story. Find what works best for you.
2. Try to bulletproof your sensibilities: you are likely to receive harsh criticism during the writing process. Take it on the chin. Some beta readers and a structural editor I used in the past pulled no punches. After getting largely ‘constructive’ feedback on a 150 page crime thriller manuscript I had sweated blood over, I truly went through the five stages of grief until I finally arrived at acceptance. At the beginning I felt like throwing the whole thing into an industrial shredder. Sometimes you need to step away, let the dust settle, and come back later.
3. Pick beta readers carefully: I thoroughly recommend using beta readers to get feedback on the early drafts of your story, but be crystal clear about what you want. Don’t let them get bogged down in providing detailed edits (typos, grammar checks, consistency errors - you can come to that later) but ask them to look at the bigger picture. Most important of all, give them a template or list of the things you are looking for (see my questions below). I had one author/beta reader in the past who wrote things like “I didn’t really get this character, they did nothing for me,” or “there’s too much tell and not enough show.” These are perfect examples of what I call ‘lazy feedback’ because the person provided no examples or context. If this is your beta reader’s preferred style, then decline their assistance. As an author you will be faced with enough of that kind of unhelpful, negative feedback once you're published. I right mainly MM romance-themed novels, so I use the following list of questions:-
1. What did you think of the story as a whole?
2. How did the main characters develop throughout the story?
3. At what point did you feel like “ah, now the story has really begun!”
4. Were there any parts you found yourself skimming?
5. What was your favourite part of the story, and why?
6. What was the most suspenseful moment in the book?
7. How did you feel about the romantic element of the story?
8. Who was your favourite character and why?
9. Were there any moments you wish had lasted longer?
10. What is the theme/message you took away from the story?
1. Roughly plan out the whole story: I’ve learnt the hard way, from a pile of unfinished manuscripts, that I need to plan out a story to give me writing goals, a plot and structure and an ending, believable characters, and firm deadlines. I say roughly, because I still keep things loose enough that I can change direction or even the plot line as I’m writing (or change them later, although that often involves a lot of rework) if I think the story or a protagonist is becoming too predictable. I’ve known authors who plan a story to death, leisurely spending time building their worlds, their cast of characters, defining the plot arc and even creating tiny details they plan to include - and then find they’ve lost the impetus to write when they attempt to start a story. Find what works best for you.
2. Try to bulletproof your sensibilities: you are likely to receive harsh criticism during the writing process. Take it on the chin. Some beta readers and a structural editor I used in the past pulled no punches. After getting largely ‘constructive’ feedback on a 150 page crime thriller manuscript I had sweated blood over, I truly went through the five stages of grief until I finally arrived at acceptance. At the beginning I felt like throwing the whole thing into an industrial shredder. Sometimes you need to step away, let the dust settle, and come back later.
3. Pick beta readers carefully: I thoroughly recommend using beta readers to get feedback on the early drafts of your story, but be crystal clear about what you want. Don’t let them get bogged down in providing detailed edits (typos, grammar checks, consistency errors - you can come to that later) but ask them to look at the bigger picture. Most important of all, give them a template or list of the things you are looking for (see my questions below). I had one author/beta reader in the past who wrote things like “I didn’t really get this character, they did nothing for me,” or “there’s too much tell and not enough show.” These are perfect examples of what I call ‘lazy feedback’ because the person provided no examples or context. If this is your beta reader’s preferred style, then decline their assistance. As an author you will be faced with enough of that kind of unhelpful, negative feedback once you're published. I right mainly MM romance-themed novels, so I use the following list of questions:-
1. What did you think of the story as a whole?
2. How did the main characters develop throughout the story?
3. At what point did you feel like “ah, now the story has really begun!”
4. Were there any parts you found yourself skimming?
5. What was your favourite part of the story, and why?
6. What was the most suspenseful moment in the book?
7. How did you feel about the romantic element of the story?
8. Who was your favourite character and why?
9. Were there any moments you wish had lasted longer?
10. What is the theme/message you took away from the story?
Brian Lancaster
Being a writer is a choice, and it’s doing what I love. For me, it’s also about getting up close and personal with the story and the characters, living my life through them, and having the kind of relationship with them that excites me. I love waking in the middle of the night with an idea of how I can twist the plot or make a character do something that surprises the reader.
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