Ask the Author: B.J. Cyprian
Answered Questions (5)
B.J. Cyprian
Thanks Mrs. Becker. So anxious to hear what my favorite English teacher would think. I will check out your recommendation! I hope you and Mr. B are well!
B.J. Cyprian
Generally I spend my time cooking, watching TV with my wife (and not all action, believe it or not. She has a thing for medical dramas, and I like nerdy sci-fi like superhero shows and whatnot) and I play video games. We also like to play music together. She is a classically trained pianist and I play several instruments by ear. Mostly we play the piano together.
As far as the action scenes, I guess I just have an active imagination. :)
As far as the action scenes, I guess I just have an active imagination. :)
B.J. Cyprian
Wait... who? I----a T---p? What's the missing letters? LOL
B.J. Cyprian
There are 5 major things I learned on this journey that I wish I knew going in:
Sometimes the manuscript you intend to produce will not be the one produced, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
When I decided to do this, I looked up methods of keeping myself focused and one I kept running into was the whole outline your plot thing. I tried that, but it did not work for me. There were themes I thought I would explore that I didn’t, and others that I didn’t even consider that showed up out of the blue.
If you write from your heart, you may learn some things about yourself.
I learned this and whew, did my therapist and I have some words! There were aspects of my inner psyche that I did not know existed. There were demons that I thought I slayed but came back to me as I wrote. I think sometimes its easy to just say this is just fiction. But if you listen hard enough, you could be helping yourself cope and heal.
This is a hard and emotional process.
It’s not for the faint of heart. Sitting down and writing is how I started, but when I decided that I may want to try to go to publishing, it became more difficult. Just like my previous attempts, I thought I wouldn’t finish this one. But having the awesome wife that I do, who gave me constant encouragement when I was ready to throw in the towel, I kept at it. I can honestly say that when you finish your first novel, it is a very emotional thing. It’s euphoric and sad at the same time. As you write, you start to grow attached to your characters and when you’re finished, you kind of get sad that they’re gone.
Thesaurus!
I did not realize how limited my vocabulary was until I began writing a full novel. Unless you have an English or Journalism degree, you will be surprised as well. There’s nothing wrong with having a Thesaurus handy.
You WILL second guess yourself. You WILL wonder if you should keep going. KEEP GOING! You never know what your book can be until you finish it!
Sometimes the manuscript you intend to produce will not be the one produced, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
When I decided to do this, I looked up methods of keeping myself focused and one I kept running into was the whole outline your plot thing. I tried that, but it did not work for me. There were themes I thought I would explore that I didn’t, and others that I didn’t even consider that showed up out of the blue.
If you write from your heart, you may learn some things about yourself.
I learned this and whew, did my therapist and I have some words! There were aspects of my inner psyche that I did not know existed. There were demons that I thought I slayed but came back to me as I wrote. I think sometimes its easy to just say this is just fiction. But if you listen hard enough, you could be helping yourself cope and heal.
This is a hard and emotional process.
It’s not for the faint of heart. Sitting down and writing is how I started, but when I decided that I may want to try to go to publishing, it became more difficult. Just like my previous attempts, I thought I wouldn’t finish this one. But having the awesome wife that I do, who gave me constant encouragement when I was ready to throw in the towel, I kept at it. I can honestly say that when you finish your first novel, it is a very emotional thing. It’s euphoric and sad at the same time. As you write, you start to grow attached to your characters and when you’re finished, you kind of get sad that they’re gone.
Thesaurus!
I did not realize how limited my vocabulary was until I began writing a full novel. Unless you have an English or Journalism degree, you will be surprised as well. There’s nothing wrong with having a Thesaurus handy.
You WILL second guess yourself. You WILL wonder if you should keep going. KEEP GOING! You never know what your book can be until you finish it!
B.J. Cyprian
This is a question my wife and I have kicked around several times. I can only give a mild idea for some, but I had an actual actor's face in mind for others.
Dom - Lena Waite (This one isn't set in stone, but probably the closest I can think of off the top of my head)
Layla - Janelle Monae (This is one we've kicked around a few times and we keep coming back to her, although she's much shorter than Layla's description) I also have been thinking about Kylie Bunbury lately.
Rose - Grace Byers or Tessa Thompson
Vasquez - Eva Mendes or Jessica Alba or someone like that. I would want a Latina, but one who would, like Vasquez, "pass"
Ryan - Morris Chestnut (He's who I keep envisioning)
Robert - Donald Glover would probably be my first inclination.
Lewis - We've kicked around several names. I like Domenick Lombardozzi, but he probably doesn't meet the full criteria. lol Maybe Michael Weatherly, he'd be good I think.
Tristan - this is the one I've ALWAYS had the same guy in mind even while writing, Neal McDonough.
SARA - Another I just have in mind because I LOVE her and her accent work - Toks Olagundoye.
Judge Benjamin - Vondie Curtis-Hall or Craig David would be cool.
Kensie Benjamin - I know she doesn't fully meet the description, but Dana Delaney would be dope.
Joyce Jenkins - We keep kicking around so many people on this one. We've said Debbie Allen, Loretta Devine, Anna Deavere Smith and others.
Whew, that's pretty much all we've talked about. Would LOVE to hear your ideas.
Dom - Lena Waite (This one isn't set in stone, but probably the closest I can think of off the top of my head)
Layla - Janelle Monae (This is one we've kicked around a few times and we keep coming back to her, although she's much shorter than Layla's description) I also have been thinking about Kylie Bunbury lately.
Rose - Grace Byers or Tessa Thompson
Vasquez - Eva Mendes or Jessica Alba or someone like that. I would want a Latina, but one who would, like Vasquez, "pass"
Ryan - Morris Chestnut (He's who I keep envisioning)
Robert - Donald Glover would probably be my first inclination.
Lewis - We've kicked around several names. I like Domenick Lombardozzi, but he probably doesn't meet the full criteria. lol Maybe Michael Weatherly, he'd be good I think.
Tristan - this is the one I've ALWAYS had the same guy in mind even while writing, Neal McDonough.
SARA - Another I just have in mind because I LOVE her and her accent work - Toks Olagundoye.
Judge Benjamin - Vondie Curtis-Hall or Craig David would be cool.
Kensie Benjamin - I know she doesn't fully meet the description, but Dana Delaney would be dope.
Joyce Jenkins - We keep kicking around so many people on this one. We've said Debbie Allen, Loretta Devine, Anna Deavere Smith and others.
Whew, that's pretty much all we've talked about. Would LOVE to hear your ideas.
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