Ask the Author: R.A. Nelson
Answered Questions (6)
R.A. Nelson
I was driving early one morning, listening to classical music, when a sacred medieval chant began playing. I have always had an affinity for this genre of music; and, as I let its beauty wash over me, a line of monks appeared in my mind's eye, singing as they stood in the chapel of their monastery. Suddenly, my author's imagination noted that one of them was not a monk at all - in fact, he wasn't even human. He was an Ancient - the last Ancient - taking refuge at the monastery. I went home that night and sat down, intending to jot down some notes for a future book. An hour later, I had the first half of the first chapter.
R.A. Nelson
I am a very active person, so I find many of my best ideas or inspirations come while walking or running, particularly if the scenery is beautiful. Music is deeply important to me also; I will find a particular artist, song, or album that seems to fit with the story I'm trying to tell, and listen over and over as I write, letting the feeling of the song weave itself into my words.
R.A. Nelson
After having spent the past several years working on the Gatekeeper trilogy, which is a *loosely* autobiographical "coming of age" tale with a dash of mystery and European travel, I am excited to be returning to my fantasy roots with my new novel, The Ancient. The Ancients are an immortal race of beings, guardians of the Light of creation and taking the form of the mythological creatures that have always haunted men's dreams. In the book, the last two Ancients - a griffin and a phoenix - encounter a young, blind, Irish monk in a 10th-century monastery, and the three of them make one last mighty endeavor to save the Light from the hideous powers of the Wasting. Stay tuned!
R.A. Nelson
First, READ - widely, deeply, often.
Second, WRITE - every day, even if it's a few scattered sentences in a journal or a paragraph that you know you'll revise completely tomorrow or a poem that you throw in the trash immediately afterwards. Write.
Second, WRITE - every day, even if it's a few scattered sentences in a journal or a paragraph that you know you'll revise completely tomorrow or a poem that you throw in the trash immediately afterwards. Write.
R.A. Nelson
I love Story, and I love Words, and I love Beauty. Writing allows me to enter fully into the realms of these three passions - and, on the truly transcendent days, to weave them together into a luminous unity that is far greater than the sum of its parts.
R.A. Nelson
When I can get over my stubbornness and acknowledge that I am indeed dealing with writer's block - and that sitting there, determinedly pounding out nonsense, is not going to help - I have three main strategies:
1) Make a cup of tea.
2) Go for a walk.
3) Do something completely different, like bake a cake or read a book or call a friend, and then try again when I've given myself some space and feel refreshed.
For extreme cases, there's the fourth strategy, which comprises a combination of the other three.
1) Make a cup of tea.
2) Go for a walk.
3) Do something completely different, like bake a cake or read a book or call a friend, and then try again when I've given myself some space and feel refreshed.
For extreme cases, there's the fourth strategy, which comprises a combination of the other three.
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