Ask the Author: Rett MacPherson
Answered Questions (7)
Rett MacPherson
A very broad question. If you mean, what is my advice to you on finding an agent or getting published, that would take more space than I have here. If you're talking about advice on the physical act of writing, my advice is to read. And then write. Carry a notebook and pen with you when you go places. Write down thoughts that come to you. Sometimes I write down snippets of dialogue that belong to characters I've not even named yet. I see so many people in the park or in restaurants just scanning their phones. I'm the dinosaur in the corner with a book, reading. Or a notebook, writing. Even if I do get ketchup on the pages.
Oh, and turn off the television and turn off the computer. Biggest time suckers in the universe. (I try to schedule my TV and computer time so that I still stay connected, but so that neither control my life.)
Oh, and turn off the television and turn off the computer. Biggest time suckers in the universe. (I try to schedule my TV and computer time so that I still stay connected, but so that neither control my life.)
Rett MacPherson
A Victorian-era mystery with a very interesting and unique cast of characters.
Rett MacPherson
Stephen King pretty much answered this question for all time. He said, “Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.”
There really is no magic formula for any of it. Not for the actual act of writing. (Do you write at night? During the day? In a corner? In a field? With a cat? Like there's some special list of ingredients that you follow and you'll have a best seller. Doesn't work that way.) Nor is there one for the inspiration, either. If you wait for the muse to find you, you'll grow old and dusty in the process. You have to hunt that muse down and make her your bitch, basically. Although, it *is* awesome when inspiration just happens to hit at the same time you're on a deadline. Basically, I read. Read for pleasure, read to learn, read to live. If you're a writer, pretty soon those words will start boiling over and begging you to write them down.
There really is no magic formula for any of it. Not for the actual act of writing. (Do you write at night? During the day? In a corner? In a field? With a cat? Like there's some special list of ingredients that you follow and you'll have a best seller. Doesn't work that way.) Nor is there one for the inspiration, either. If you wait for the muse to find you, you'll grow old and dusty in the process. You have to hunt that muse down and make her your bitch, basically. Although, it *is* awesome when inspiration just happens to hit at the same time you're on a deadline. Basically, I read. Read for pleasure, read to learn, read to live. If you're a writer, pretty soon those words will start boiling over and begging you to write them down.
Rett MacPherson
My most recent book is Sleeping the Churchyard Sleep. It's based loosely on my mother's childhood. She grew up dirt poor in rural West Virginia and then contracted polio at the age of ten. From there, Olivia's (my main character) life and my mother's life sort of fracture and are very different. It's more my imaginings of what her life would have been like if a number of things had happened. The mystery itself came about after several conversations with distant cousins and I wanted to convey that sense of wonder that comes with being on the outside looking in. The boarding house is based on the boarding house that my grandmother's family all worked at. It was definitely an inspired story and a total love letter to my mother's people and my Appalachian roots.
Rett MacPherson
Creating something from nothing.
Rett MacPherson
I don't really get write's block while writing a book. If I do, it's usually because the plot isn't holding together and I need to go back and examine what's going on. Usually once I start a book, if I make it past the fourth chapter, I'm good to go. However, what I suffer from is sort of a "block" in between books. That can last for months. I try to read as much as possible during those blocks, because usually that will help to start the juices flowing. And I still try to write, even if it's just a blog entry or long, rambling emails to friends. Because it still keeps me in the habit of producing words.
Rett MacPherson
Not as of right now. I'm currently working on a Victorian era mystery that should be a lot of fun. After that, I may visit Torie and New Kassel again.
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