Ask the Author: C.B. Pratt
Answered Questions (4)
C.B. Pratt
Hi, Lili. All *five* are now up on Kobo. Happy reading!
C.B. Pratt
My inspiration comes from myths and legends and my twisted sense of humor. I put them all in a blender and write what comes out.
My next book will be the last in my Eno the Thracian series in which he winds up in Ancient China -- where a battle is brewing between two dynasties but the real war is among the Gods.
My next book will be the last in my Eno the Thracian series in which he winds up in Ancient China -- where a battle is brewing between two dynasties but the real war is among the Gods.
C.B. Pratt
Keep writing. No matter what. Find the time.
Keep reading. Read the best books you can find. Including the 'classics'. Dickens will teach you a lot about characterization, Poe about pacing, Austen about how to make relationships come alive on paper. They aren't 'easy' but they are very rewarding if you want to have a career as a writer.
Try to limit your television watching. TV's great but they use shorthand for characterization that 'reads' as 1-dimensional if you try it in a story. They also recycle ideas which isn't a benefit to a writer.
Keep reading. Read the best books you can find. Including the 'classics'. Dickens will teach you a lot about characterization, Poe about pacing, Austen about how to make relationships come alive on paper. They aren't 'easy' but they are very rewarding if you want to have a career as a writer.
Try to limit your television watching. TV's great but they use shorthand for characterization that 'reads' as 1-dimensional if you try it in a story. They also recycle ideas which isn't a benefit to a writer.
C.B. Pratt
Thanks for the question!
The ancient myths were originally translated from Latin or Greek into English by men who had a religious training...priests, vicars, etc. Their quasi-religious style deadened what were extremely exciting and vibrant episodes. The Ancient Greeks, and indeed most ancient people, had a breathtaking love of life. We see it in their surviving art. But the myths we are given show none of that. And they're funny too -- not always but often -- with plenty of slapstick humor. So when the idea of Eno came to me, I wanted to write his adventures as if they were translated by someone really cool and not a stuffed shirt. By the way, 'cool' was used in exactly that way in Ancient China.
Some of his mindset is more modern, esp. in his relationship to women. Greek women were not permitted much freedom at all...which is one reason why Eno is a Thracian, not an Athenian even though he lives near to Athens.
The ancient myths were originally translated from Latin or Greek into English by men who had a religious training...priests, vicars, etc. Their quasi-religious style deadened what were extremely exciting and vibrant episodes. The Ancient Greeks, and indeed most ancient people, had a breathtaking love of life. We see it in their surviving art. But the myths we are given show none of that. And they're funny too -- not always but often -- with plenty of slapstick humor. So when the idea of Eno came to me, I wanted to write his adventures as if they were translated by someone really cool and not a stuffed shirt. By the way, 'cool' was used in exactly that way in Ancient China.
Some of his mindset is more modern, esp. in his relationship to women. Greek women were not permitted much freedom at all...which is one reason why Eno is a Thracian, not an Athenian even though he lives near to Athens.
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