Ask the Author: R.J. Van Cleave
Answered Questions (6)
R.J. Van Cleave
Well, since I'm still one myself, I don't really have much other than the old Nike slogan: "Just Do It." I wish I had written my first novel before my mom died. That was something I hadn't expected to happen, and now live with the fact that she'll never be able to read it. Oh! Have your work professionally edited, even if it's after the fact. I couldn't afford to hire one right away, but eventually I saved enough and was referred to one by another indie author who is an acquaintance of mine.
R.J. Van Cleave
Watching something that I've created come to life. I was very much into B&W - photography in high school - that was my creative outlet then. I can't draw to save my life, and I can't sing either. Photography allowed me to capture visions on film, writing allows me to capture them on paper.
R.J. Van Cleave
The second of three books in the MacLane Family series. Three of the four brothers will each have a stand alone novel, and maybe the youngest sister will eventually get one, too. The fourth brother (in my mind at least) has already gotten his HEA.
R.J. Van Cleave
I sleep on it. I discovered I have to step away and shut down my brain, and let the characters dictate where they want me to take them. I didn't have much of an issue with Demons, the first book in the series, but the characters in book two are proving to be a bit more challenging. And ironically, the characters form book three are chomping at the bit for me to get to them.
R.J. Van Cleave
Watching an episode of Duck Dynasty with my family one night. It wasn't the actual first book I had planned to write, but the characters just wouldn't go away. That first book is still in my head, and parts are down on paper, but it will have to wait just a bit longer.
R.J. Van Cleave
My mom, Dolores, first an foremost, and then my high school English teacher, Bill Madigan. My mom loved to wrote poetry and little things -but she was never one for writing a novel. However, from the time I was a little girl, she ALWAYS had a book in hand when she had some down time. Moms in my day didn't do spa days, or get their nails done. So my mom's free time was spent reading. I still have it the Iris Johanson book she started reading before she died. As for Mr. Madigan, he had us read the greats from American and British Lit in my Junior and Senior years of high school. While many of my classmates hates the reading and the writing, I fell in love.
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