Ask the Author: Timothy G.M. Reynolds
Answered Questions (8)
Timothy G.M. Reynolds
No. If it fits the story, I use it. If it doesn’t and it’s well written, I keep it for another story.
Timothy G.M. Reynolds
No. But here is one in 100 words. It was a winner of the Jeffrey Archer Short Story Challenge.
Temper Temper by Timothy Reynolds
Leon slammed the spade’s blade into the dirt cellar floor. “Hack my Facebook account will she? Bitch! No wonder Dad ran off with the babysitter-slash- cheerleader when I was ten.”
The pile of dirt grew. A car door banged shut. He dug faster, mumbling. “I’ll kill her, bury her, hack her Facebook account, and make it look like she’s travelling.” The shovel hit something hard. “What the hell?” He brushed off dirt. In the dim light it looked like two skulls and a pompom.
“Whatcha doing, Honey?”
Leon spun at the sound of his mother’s voice, but not fast enough.
###
Temper Temper by Timothy Reynolds
Leon slammed the spade’s blade into the dirt cellar floor. “Hack my Facebook account will she? Bitch! No wonder Dad ran off with the babysitter-slash- cheerleader when I was ten.”
The pile of dirt grew. A car door banged shut. He dug faster, mumbling. “I’ll kill her, bury her, hack her Facebook account, and make it look like she’s travelling.” The shovel hit something hard. “What the hell?” He brushed off dirt. In the dim light it looked like two skulls and a pompom.
“Whatcha doing, Honey?”
Leon spun at the sound of his mother’s voice, but not fast enough.
###
Timothy G.M. Reynolds
"The Broken Shield" started with the bottle-picker mentioned above and asking myself the simple question: 'what if that bottle picker isn't who we think he is, but he's a hero saving the world, even as he picks bottles?'
Timothy G.M. Reynolds
I remain open to the world around me and keep a notebook close at hand. That sounds like airy-fairy BS, but it's true. I drive 7 hours a day and just let the input from the city around me bounce off my subconscious as I go about the day.
I saw a bottle picker on his way to a recycling depot and it grew into my novel, "The Broken Shield". The bottle-picker scenes never made the final edit, but that's where the main character started and it is still at his core.
I saw a bottle picker on his way to a recycling depot and it grew into my novel, "The Broken Shield". The bottle-picker scenes never made the final edit, but that's where the main character started and it is still at his core.
Timothy G.M. Reynolds
Another time-travel short story (my favourites), a roaring-twenties novel loosely based onan incident in my own family history, a steampunk novel, and a dark fantasy about the deterioration of the human mind.
Timothy G.M. Reynolds
Everyone tells young writers to write, write, write...but that's not enough. We didn't have the internet when I was young which would have made this so much easier: Find a mentor who has had success in the field you want, then listen and learn.
Timothy G.M. Reynolds
I get to create any world or situation I want, populate it with people and creatures from my mind, and then I get to create and resolve situations as I see fit. Real life isn't so easy.
Timothy G.M. Reynolds
I get it quite often and it can be crippling to my writing, so I try to change focus and do something that's equally creative, but has different requirements. Examples? Um, I'll work on covers for stories in progress, I'll work on marketing unpublished short stories which are ready to be released into the wild, or I'll grab my camera and go birding.
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