Ask the Author: Andrew Sweet
Answered Questions (8)
Andrew Sweet
When I was a child, my father always told me about a hovering light on the horizon he saw one night. It swung down low and then zipped up into the moonless sky over the yaupon and oak trees of the Texas forest. I'd love to know what that was, and why it flew the way it did.
Andrew Sweet
My best book would have to be Bodhi Rising as of yet. However, I love the first in the series as well. Usually, my "best book" is whatever I happen to be working on because I always love writing, and exploring human nature is a fun pastime.
I like the main character from Bodhi Rising a lot, and I even like who Harper turned out to be in it better than she was in the Models. She's truly risen to the occasion, and is a dynamic and powerful force in the sequel, whereas before, she was a little bit of a sad sack. Models had the difficult task of forming the world, not just for the readers, but for me as well. I had to "build" the world for Bodhi Rising (for it to work as a standalone), but not invent it again.
I hope that came through in the writing and that I improve with every effort!
I like the main character from Bodhi Rising a lot, and I even like who Harper turned out to be in it better than she was in the Models. She's truly risen to the occasion, and is a dynamic and powerful force in the sequel, whereas before, she was a little bit of a sad sack. Models had the difficult task of forming the world, not just for the readers, but for me as well. I had to "build" the world for Bodhi Rising (for it to work as a standalone), but not invent it again.
I hope that came through in the writing and that I improve with every effort!
Andrew Sweet
When his hands wrested the ornately carved box from its hiding place, relief swept through his tired soul that this nightmare might finally end. Instead of the ceremonial blade, Akuji found only an indentation and a peculiar sensation of emptiness as the screaming closed in around him.
Andrew Sweet
Black Table by Anttimatti Pennanen
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5...
The idea is intriguing and seems very exciting to me. Comicon and aliens? It was a book waiting to be written, and Anttimatti wrote it. I can't wait! Otherwise, with three releases, I'm kind of slow at reading right now.
I did just pick up Divergent (audiobook) and Planetfall, so I'll be working through those as well.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5...
The idea is intriguing and seems very exciting to me. Comicon and aliens? It was a book waiting to be written, and Anttimatti wrote it. I can't wait! Otherwise, with three releases, I'm kind of slow at reading right now.
I did just pick up Divergent (audiobook) and Planetfall, so I'll be working through those as well.
Andrew Sweet
I think the message I would give is to keep writing. But if you're a writer, chances are you don't have much of a choice in that! If that's you, then the other piece of advice that I have is draw a line in the sand. You will never be done working on your novel, but if you want anyone to see it, you'll have to be done enough to let it go at some point. It's better to work towards something.
Andrew Sweet
This is hard. I had writer's block for two days this week, and I spent that time focusing on marketing my book. Then I sat down, and explored the story in my head. For me, writer's block is an indication that the story is heading in a direction it shouldn't. I basically spend the time figuring out what's wrong with it. Sometimes I take the character, and ask, would the character really do xxxx? Often the answer is no, and that's what the problem is.
Other times, the plot is boring me. If it's boring me, then it's probably boring others. Those times I have to re-evaluate the entire book and find the spark. I phrase this as a question to myself: "Okay, so what really happened?" This helps me acknowledge that I got it wrong and investigate it. Sometimes it's easier to do a post-mortem than to create new, especially went the inspiration is low!
Other times, the plot is boring me. If it's boring me, then it's probably boring others. Those times I have to re-evaluate the entire book and find the spark. I phrase this as a question to myself: "Okay, so what really happened?" This helps me acknowledge that I got it wrong and investigate it. Sometimes it's easier to do a post-mortem than to create new, especially went the inspiration is low!
Andrew Sweet
The sequel to Models and Citizens - Bodhi Rising. The book right now seems like it's going to be upwards of 120k words, just because of the span. I may have to break it into two books, which will be really strange because I have already written the third book (Libera, Goddess of Worlds).
Bodhi Rising is about the promise of immortality and the lengths that people will go through to achieve it. This is explored when changes to the laws make it more difficult to justify cloning at the same time that it Emergent Biotechnology opens a new market - cloning as a form of immortality.
At least, that's what it's about so far. Harper is a key character still, and Ordell seems to be working his way back into it too.
Bodhi Rising is about the promise of immortality and the lengths that people will go through to achieve it. This is explored when changes to the laws make it more difficult to justify cloning at the same time that it Emergent Biotechnology opens a new market - cloning as a form of immortality.
At least, that's what it's about so far. Harper is a key character still, and Ordell seems to be working his way back into it too.
Andrew Sweet
Models and Citizens has been almost 3 years in the making. The book was a response to our 2016 election here in the states. I wanted to explore how a normal person would react in an environment that marginalized a large swathe of the population. How do we behave when doing the right thing means sacrificing our own comfort? What about when our livelihoods hang in the balance?
The United States election in 2016 brought these questions to my mind, and Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go gave me the perfect perspective with which to explore them.
The United States election in 2016 brought these questions to my mind, and Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go gave me the perfect perspective with which to explore them.
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