Ask the Author: Zorlon
Answered Questions (8)
Zorlon
Hi Nico! I'm currently reading a history of Brazil by Boris Fausto which is pretty decent, though the modern sections dip a bit too much into economic policy to the detriment of everything else. Overall, though, the book is good. I can recommend it. I don't have anything to recommend for Mexico, since I haven't gotten there yet in my reading.
Zorlon
Hi Ray! I'd say yes to "light" as far as the tone, though as Thelonious Monk, I think, said, "It's always night or we wouldn't need light" so they aren't consistently undark. But I personally thrive on the absurd and people find them funny, so I guess they are humorous. I like to think they are a nice balance of the wacky and the weird.
Zorlon
Thunder clapped. So did the corpse.
Zorlon
I almost always pick favorites from among my characters, although no one is free from the literary wringer I like to put them through, so the relationship is, at best, probably criminal.
Zorlon
Writer's block for me is rare, fleeting, and easily remedied, like the first hint of athlete's foot: a gentle scrubbing and urine soak usually does the trick. But when I do suffer from the occasional "inflammation" of the stymie gland, I find it useful to use soundtracks. Yes. Soundtracks. I make a soundtrack for every novel I write, often 30-40 songs, either chosen at random as I'm writing along or beforehand, as a kind of inspirational dirge for the process. It's easy. Spotify or iTunes have playlists. Use them. Flag scenes. Imagine your novel as a movie or television programme. Or an opera. An opera about athlete's foot...
Zorlon
The meds make everything a lot less fuzzy. This to the benefit of the reader more than anything, though, and I hope you enjoy the book!
Zorlon
I'm currently working on a science fiction novel, essentially eleven short stories all linked together by a group of characters unaware that they're basically repeating the same day over and over again in increasingly challenging situations. It's more in the humorous vein of The Poem-Skull, but a little more refreshingly apocalyptic.
Zorlon
I got the idea for my current novel from an article in Scientific American several years ago. The article detailed futurists' guesses as to what might be the state of the world by 2050. I thought, these would make for neat short stories which evolved into, hey, this would make a great entire story, linked by a cycle of reincarnations of the main characters in alternate realities.
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