Ask the Author: M.R. Graham
Answered Questions (11)
M.R. Graham
I absolutely will! I don't have a set date yet, but Book 2 will be titled "The Death of a Swan."
M.R. Graham
It will be out this year! I can't be specific, just yet, but I'm aiming for July or August.
M.R. Graham
Really, most of my inspiration comes from just paying attention, seeing or hearing something that sticks and won't go away.
The Siren was inspired by a comment on a Youtube music video. (It was a Vitas video, for the record. Opera #2.) It said something like "This guy can't be human." At the end of a five-hour drive spent mostly stewing on that comment, I had the outline of a story.
The entire Liminality series started with one substitute teacher from Liverpool with stereotypically bad teeth, who exclaimed, in class, "I'm not a vampire! I'm English!" Of course, it's gone through an awful lot of enormous changes since I first started writing it in high school.
One of my current back-burner projects, one that will be out possibly in 2019 or 2020, started when I read an article about the Fiji Mermaid. (No spoilers, but it's not actually a mermaid story.)
I have a small yellow Moleskine notebook full of one- or two-line jottings of all those little things that stuck and that might have a story in them somewhere.
Others stem from long-time obsessions. That is to say, pastiche, which is what you call fanfiction when you're hoping it will be taken seriously.
For instance, I've known since I was about ten that I would eventually write a Sherlock Holmes story.
A bona fide Hammer afficionado, I also knew I would write a Dracula story, someday, and that one should be out this year.
Buried deep in the to-write pile is a Daphne du Maurier tribute that may or may not ever see completion.
That Fiji Mermaid story merged a little with my Hammer obsession and took on some of the more flamboyant aspects of their version of Frankenstein.
So, in a nutshell: Life, other people's conversations, and classic works I really admire.
The Siren was inspired by a comment on a Youtube music video. (It was a Vitas video, for the record. Opera #2.) It said something like "This guy can't be human." At the end of a five-hour drive spent mostly stewing on that comment, I had the outline of a story.
The entire Liminality series started with one substitute teacher from Liverpool with stereotypically bad teeth, who exclaimed, in class, "I'm not a vampire! I'm English!" Of course, it's gone through an awful lot of enormous changes since I first started writing it in high school.
One of my current back-burner projects, one that will be out possibly in 2019 or 2020, started when I read an article about the Fiji Mermaid. (No spoilers, but it's not actually a mermaid story.)
I have a small yellow Moleskine notebook full of one- or two-line jottings of all those little things that stuck and that might have a story in them somewhere.
Others stem from long-time obsessions. That is to say, pastiche, which is what you call fanfiction when you're hoping it will be taken seriously.
For instance, I've known since I was about ten that I would eventually write a Sherlock Holmes story.
A bona fide Hammer afficionado, I also knew I would write a Dracula story, someday, and that one should be out this year.
Buried deep in the to-write pile is a Daphne du Maurier tribute that may or may not ever see completion.
That Fiji Mermaid story merged a little with my Hammer obsession and took on some of the more flamboyant aspects of their version of Frankenstein.
So, in a nutshell: Life, other people's conversations, and classic works I really admire.
M.R. Graham
My advice is going to sound an awful lot like everyone else's.
First: Finish it. Whatever it is you're working on, stop tweaking that first page and actually write a complete product. THEN you can tweak. But a completed thing, no matter how shabby, is better than half a thing, because in practical terms, half a thing is nothing.
Second: Show it to other people. There's no room for shyness, here. You must get out of your echo chamber and seek other people's opinions. If they tear your work to pieces, that's a good thing. Analyze their advice and use it to decide how to make your shabby completed product better.
Third: Stop romanticizing it. The mystical part happened when your initial idea came to you. It's over and done with. Turning that mystical inspiration into a story is work, not magic. It can absolutely be fun. It can transport you to a world of your own making and all that jazz. But it's still work, something you have to make yourself do even when you don't feel the muse stirring. Waiting for the muse is just a mask for procrastination, and that's why you're still aspiring. The fastest way to quit aspiring is to start doing.
First: Finish it. Whatever it is you're working on, stop tweaking that first page and actually write a complete product. THEN you can tweak. But a completed thing, no matter how shabby, is better than half a thing, because in practical terms, half a thing is nothing.
Second: Show it to other people. There's no room for shyness, here. You must get out of your echo chamber and seek other people's opinions. If they tear your work to pieces, that's a good thing. Analyze their advice and use it to decide how to make your shabby completed product better.
Third: Stop romanticizing it. The mystical part happened when your initial idea came to you. It's over and done with. Turning that mystical inspiration into a story is work, not magic. It can absolutely be fun. It can transport you to a world of your own making and all that jazz. But it's still work, something you have to make yourself do even when you don't feel the muse stirring. Waiting for the muse is just a mask for procrastination, and that's why you're still aspiring. The fastest way to quit aspiring is to start doing.
M.R. Graham
Hello, Sam! I'm glad The Wailing got to you all right, and I hope you enjoy it.
Gosh, I can't remember a time when Sherlock Holmes wasn't a part of my life. My mother and grandmother are both reading specialists, and my mother used the Adventures to teach problem-solving skills in her high school classes, so I was very familiar with the stories long before I was able to read them for myself. I remember being very, very young when I first sat down in front of the old Peter Cushing adaptations (which were probably waaaaaay too intense for me, come to think of it). My grandmother gave me a copy of the Adventures when I was eight and, ah, neglected to tell me that they continued beyond The Final Problem, and I was in deep mourning for a solid week before my mother finally asked what was wrong and hustled me off to Barnes & Noble to fix the problem! Then there was the Wishbone version (!) and the Russell & Holmes series by Laurie R. King.
It's my oldest fandom.
Gosh, I can't remember a time when Sherlock Holmes wasn't a part of my life. My mother and grandmother are both reading specialists, and my mother used the Adventures to teach problem-solving skills in her high school classes, so I was very familiar with the stories long before I was able to read them for myself. I remember being very, very young when I first sat down in front of the old Peter Cushing adaptations (which were probably waaaaaay too intense for me, come to think of it). My grandmother gave me a copy of the Adventures when I was eight and, ah, neglected to tell me that they continued beyond The Final Problem, and I was in deep mourning for a solid week before my mother finally asked what was wrong and hustled me off to Barnes & Noble to fix the problem! Then there was the Wishbone version (!) and the Russell & Holmes series by Laurie R. King.
It's my oldest fandom.
M.R. Graham
Hello, Jeffrey! Correct me if I'm wrong, but you're looking for used books? I don't have any on me at the moment (I just gave them all away, sorry!), but you might try one of GR's book trading groups..
M.R. Graham
The best part so far has been receiving surprise fan art from someone who has since become a friend. Realizing that, even though I pretty much do write for myself, someone else out there loves these stories.
M.R. Graham
We should absolutely do this, and you know it. It'd wind up both awesome and ridiculous.
I do happen to be working on a not-strictly-Holmes-but-Holmes-related story at the moment. Taking a foray into YA.
I do happen to be working on a not-strictly-Holmes-but-Holmes-related story at the moment. Taking a foray into YA.
M.R. Graham
Proof does, but only in that it takes place in the same universe and follows the same Rules. Truth of the Matter isn't directly connected in any way, but I suppose it COULD be in the same universe.
M.R. Graham
I'm glad you asked that!
The Books of Lost Knowledge are not a series in the sequential sense. They don't necessarily need to be read in any particular order, though there is a mystery in Shadow of the Mountains that won't be quite as mysterious to anyone who has read the other books first. Lost Knowledge covers all of the books that take place in this same world. They share some characters and a common mythology, but not an overarching plot.
Liminality is a sequential series, starting with The Medium, and it's actually going in a particular direction. Shadow of the Mountains covers some of the events of the end of The Medium, but from a different perspective and including a lot that was happening offstage, as it were. I've had several people tell me that they prefer to have read both to get the whole picture, but it's not necessary.
The Books of Lost Knowledge are not a series in the sequential sense. They don't necessarily need to be read in any particular order, though there is a mystery in Shadow of the Mountains that won't be quite as mysterious to anyone who has read the other books first. Lost Knowledge covers all of the books that take place in this same world. They share some characters and a common mythology, but not an overarching plot.
Liminality is a sequential series, starting with The Medium, and it's actually going in a particular direction. Shadow of the Mountains covers some of the events of the end of The Medium, but from a different perspective and including a lot that was happening offstage, as it were. I've had several people tell me that they prefer to have read both to get the whole picture, but it's not necessary.
M.R. Graham
Writer's block is a myth, in my opinion. You may lose motivation or confidence, or feel as though you have no good ideas, but a serious writer will continue to write, regardless. No one ever talks about banker's block or teacher's block; whatever your chosen profession, you continue to do it even when you don't feel like it. You keep going until it passes, because if you chose to be a writer, you know yourself well enough to know that your motivation will eventually return.
Recreational writers talk about writer's block, too, and I don't understand that. If it's something you do in your free time because you love it, and you don't love it any more, why keep trying? If you're one of those who only writes when feeling inspired, go do something else until your inspiration comes back. Read or learn woodworking or pick up a part-time job or volunteer somewhere. Inspiration comes from experiences.
Recreational writers talk about writer's block, too, and I don't understand that. If it's something you do in your free time because you love it, and you don't love it any more, why keep trying? If you're one of those who only writes when feeling inspired, go do something else until your inspiration comes back. Read or learn woodworking or pick up a part-time job or volunteer somewhere. Inspiration comes from experiences.
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